Owning your own home

Save your money for a decent multi cooker (steam/pressure/slow/sear)

This.

I've got the sage one and it's great.

It even makes rice

it's liberating putting it in the bin instead of the van though.

The worst is when you move your stuff from the storage place and realise you have coped fine without it for the past 6 months while paying to store it 🤦‍♂️

My downstairs neighbour runs a removals company and offers long term (access within a couple of days, not immediate) storage which he outsources to a specialist/secure/insured firm elsewhere. He describes it as the easiest money of the lot.

We were ruthless when we last moved. Loads of stuff went to the tip before the packers came. Then more went to the tip (or had been earmarked for selling/donating) after the move.

Our rule was not to have any not-yet-unpacked boxes at the end of moving day (it helped moving in the morning and not having kids at that point.)

Things you own end up owning you etc

Our rule was not to have any unpacked boxes at the end of moving day

Somehow it made sense in my head the way I wrote it, still half asleep!

I am looking forward to the purge 2: the purgeoning when we find somewhere to move to and unpack all the stuff we didn’t have time to sort. Next immediate hurdle is moving in with in-laws tomorrow, bring it on. Hurdle after that is actually getting our house sale over the line.

He describes it as the easiest money of the lot.

Our move was booked very short notice immediately after Christmas. Everyone I called was ‘nah mate, no availability. Oh, a storage job? 6 months+ you say? Why of course, sir...’

We are house hunting at the mo. Double garage is a must. Purely so I can buy one of these..

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Our preferred storage place (that isn't a tin shed that destroys all your stuff) is totally full, I only want a tiny space to throw 12-15 tea boxes into... Nada!

It is money for nothing... Especially the tin sheds they have over here, I wouldn't leave anything in those fucking places...

Advice/suggestions?
Realised that there’s so quite significant damp in the corner of the lounge. It actually spans across the front, although this is the worst part. It’s behind a sofa so only just noticing.
It’s a Solid external wall and the house is just over 100 years old.
Outside is this french drain thing. It has gravel for the top 5ish inches and then it’s dense, clay-like soil beneath. Would it help to dig away more of this soil and put in more gravel?
You can see the top of a course of bricks in the photos, which I guess the house is built upon.
Any advice, hugely appreciated as I don’t want the damp issue to worsen!
Cheers!
Edit - I dug down ca. 18” and it’s clay all the way down. If removing some of this soil and replacing with gravel is the right approach, how far down do I go before the house falls down?

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We've been in for three months and we still haven't unpacked anything. Or made steps towards purchasing basic furniture items (although I am looking at lamps now. Got to enhance that empty hovel vibe!).

Also thinking of getting a toaster. Is there a four slice toaster that will fit 1.5 inch slices?

What's a really rough ball park figure for sorting out a garage with aspestos and fitting a more secure garage door than this? Cheers

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This also passes the aesthetic approval of my bank manager. Link saved for when we get in haha. For anyone who knows us I think this one passes as #placesnicolafitsin 😂

Any advice, hugely appreciated

It's difficult to tell where the damp proof course is with that pebbledash render and whatever is happening with the black stuff / cement parging.

If the DPC is covered over, that could be a reason way for wetness to get in.

You'd think that the DPC is just below the line of the render, but if it's not, and it's at the level of the base of the parging, then that's quite possibly your problem cause. In which case, you'd need to lower the ground level

Digging a deeper French drain likely won't hurt (you'll hit brick footings soon enough, I'd guess. Stop when you do...).

The render itself could be a problem if it's cracked anywhere - It's lovely and waterproof, whereas your 100 year old bricks and mortar are porous, and it will stop the water evaporating.

Stripping the plaster & looking under the floor will give you more answers.

Thanks for the reply.
So removing the crappy, crumbling slates to look for the DPC could be a good start?
When you say stripping the plaster do you mean inside?
Only recently laid a nice oak floor and decorated - not the news I wanted! (but thanks very much regardless!) If there's any other, less invasive things to consider first then I'm all ears. Otherwise I guess I'll have to accept that we're going to make a mess...

Terrible,terrible company. Do not use.

Conclusive. Sorry you had issues - I have similar thoughts about carpetright...

So removing the crappy, crumbling slates to look for the DPC could be a good start?

I reckon. If it's been cemented on, though, it may damage the brickwork when you remove it.

Also worth nothing that some buildings of that ear have slate DPC (also pitch, sometime none).

Taking the plaster off would allow you to see the problem with less stuff in the way, and to see if it dries with the outside fixes.

If it didn't, that's when I'd be thinking about lifting the floor.

Was there no damp when you laid the floor? Do you know what's under there?

Yeah there was some damp before. The old joists were rotten. Beneath the floor was full of rubble and crap that the builder said had breached the damp proof course and was confident we’d sorted the issues. Seems that we haven’t though...

I know your pain

The min you mention Asbestos your talking pricey for sure.

Thanks man 👊🏼