Owning your own home

From the pile in the back right (ivy pulled from the lawn) onwards is brambles. About the same distance as from where I was standing to the pile again. There's a rusty wheel barrow and a full plastic patio set that has been reclaimed by nature. That I can see so far anyway.

On the plus side I finally got to explore the weird rear access path to the garden between the park and our shed and it will definitely accommodate the widest of bars. Just need to put some kind of portal in the shed to use it.

That's cool! Beyond the end of our garden is Norbury Brook, then Thornton Heath Rec. We basically have a moat.

Side access though as we're end terrace.

1 Attachment

That is....cool.

Here's the path, complete with the garbage I chucked over the fence/shed to save myself the trauma of carrying it through the house. Cat for dramatic effect (it was like this when I got here etc)

1 Attachment

One of the boxes of waterlogged books was the heaviest single item I have ever carried. Getting it off the ground I swear something was going to pop. It was just at that point where you put 100% in to it and you are surprised when it moves... so against better judgement you continue. This was after drilling the sides to let the standing water drain away.

The brook was a pain in the dick when buying though. The flood risk map shows it coming into the garden by a couple of feet at the worst projections. But there's 6 ft of culvert before then. And on the other, lower bank, it has the whole rec to flood first. Then even after the rec (and most of Croydon) floods, there's another 10 or so feet vertical and 70 feet horizontal to get to the house. And we don't have a basement. The solicitors sent the report off to a specialist and he basically told them to wind their neck in, it's fine.

Also, there are (currently on hold, due to Croydon having no money) plans to rewild the brook, removing the culvert and turning it back into a river in the open parkland areas and reducing flood risk even further. Which would be cool. As it is, mini_com loves going to the park (walk around about 20 houses), crossing the river then walking along it. My neighbour runs the Friends of Thornton Heath Rec and the community garden, also organises the brook clean ups in the summer so looking forward to getting involved with that. Nice to have a link to the Wandle in the back garden.

I meant to ask how you got the nicotine stains off? The same gloop as the bathroom? I’m about to attach some upvc window frames that haven’t been touched for a decade.

CIF on the uPVC. It is apparently not the done thing but I reckon they mean for general cleaning. The vinegar was only really necessary for breaking down the limescale, the CIF is plenty abrasive enough for nicotine on the window frames. Vinegar on the glass to finish though.

I'm getting more and more jealous of your house.

Obviously I'll wait till you've got rid of the last of the nicotine stains and the fireplace, but then can we swap?

So you're happy with the exterior render work, the £6k door restoration, the two new bathrooms, the replastering of 80% of the rooms, the wonky floor and ceiling in the back bedroom that makes you sea sick, the fox that keeps shitting in the front yard, the new kitchen and whatever else needs doing? Sure!

fox that keeps shitting in the front yard

Motion sensored squeaky thing from cough Amazon cough sorted this for us.

The ceiling in the bathroom that makes you seasick.... LOLLLLL

Vetoed. They had one when we came round for the viewing. I couldn't hear it but ms_com nearly kicked it into the brook.

yeah, cif worked wonders on our uPVC. had read all of the horror stories online beforehand about it being too abrasive and 'delaminating the finish' but... well, :shrug:... we've had no issues since we've done it and it came up sparkling so crack on, I say

QC in wife's kimono with baseball bat is better, I hear

Citric acid. Bulk purchase. eBay.

And sodium bicarbonate in bulk.

And acetic acid.

For reals tho - citric by the kilo means clean toilets,kettle & coffee machines, and bicarb makes stain removal easier.

The acetic acid is for the volcanos.

Yeah, we had some of this when we lived in London and it was great

IIRC, the brook goes to the River Wandle in Colliers Wood, its a covered river as its cross Thornton Heath and Norbury

edit: just read your next post

ms_com bought a load of spray bottles of white vinegar from Wilko.

Anyone built a shed on that plastic grid stuff you fill with stones?

Just noticed this.

No. But I moved one that was already build from a concrete slab to the plastic grid stuff.

Why?

Keep the spray bottles, fill with ACID.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJnqRCwPeSw

🦊 and 🐱

Please let it be lots of really cute little bears instead. :)

The Gypsy Hill Bear (Ursus Viatorem) is sadly no more, having been hunted to extinction by the savages from the wastelands north of the River Thames.

Do you still get ursus falsus viator, though?

Ouch, that's quite a list.

I haven't even written ours out yet because I'd rather keep covering my ears and shouting loudly, but it includes some pretty weighty jobs. No nicotine though, luckily.