How do I bathroom / kitchen / extension? etc.

It's just time and money isn't it? Reasonably priced trades aren't going to be able to spend as long on getting a perfect finish as a DIYer would. High end trades might be able to.

We have occasionally had people say 'i can do the perfect job for £3x or a satisfactory job for £1x, up to you', but that seems quite rare.

Obvs the tiler up thread was just a bit shit though

i'd agree with this - i have a hard time employing trades to do stuff that i know that i can do because i care (or maybe obsess) about the details. cost is also a factor of course!
the knock on is that it takes me a lot longer than if i'd paid someone else do it.
i did all of the fitting out of our extension (kitchen, cloakroom, flooring throughout) but it has been 2 years since the build was completed and there are still loads of bits that need finishing off...

I'm very much in this camp. I am more than happy to employ trades when I know its out of my comfort zone (electrics, gas and some plumbing) and also if cost and details are not important but speed is.

Ground floor flying up. Surreal standing in there and convincing myself it’s actually happening.

Rounded exposed steel column finally installed in loft as well.

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I find it disheartening that the majority of trades simply don't care about the quality of finish

Isn't this just a natural consequence of our impoverishment thanks to first the Great Recession and the permanent low interest rates it bought, then Brexit and finally Covid?

A good finish takes time and experience and both cost a lot of money these days. Or rather, the money we had has been devalued to such an extent that it looks expensive to us, but to matey who borrowed a load of cash at 2% and bought a load of sports Rolex and Bitcoin in 2014 it looks pretty cheap.

Super exciting question - where's good to buy curtain rails for a bay window?

polesandblinds.com did me right for simple pvc tracks. Bent around our small bay pretty easily. Get some WD-40 silicone to reduce friction.

Cheers! I'll have a look.

I think the issue is a lot of people now just look at the price and from experience go for the cheapest and then moan when they didnt get what they really wanted.

Not everything is the customers fault

Imo people also have unrealistic expectations. No doubt everyone here always gives 110% in their job with unwavering dedication to the corporate mission. But a lot of people want to get paid for a job and go home.

Also building is hard work, with a high rate of accidents and fatalities. Unless there is a project manager of some sort it's pretty much all self motivated.

We got a quote for a second hand front door we bought to be fitted in a new wooden frame. The carpenter who quoted for it on Monday said this:

I’ve done thousands of doors and frames over the last 20+ years. However, I don’t have a joinery shop with spindle moulder so will need to use glazing beads and door stops on a standard square frame. If you are looking for a moulded door frame I’d suggest going to a joinery shop

What does it mean?

It sounds like he cannot make a one piece frame side/top as he cannot profile it so he needs a square piece and to fix beading to it to make it have a fancy profile.

I believe the spindle moulder is used for creating interesting profiles. Kind of like a router bit, with a more complicated shape, fixed to a table and the workpiece is passed across it, which you could use for making (e.g.) skirting boards, trimmings for doors and windows etc.

So I guess he is saying that he can do the job, but the frame is not going to be a great visual match for the door that you've bought because the carpenter doesn't have a workshop with the equipment needed.

It might be worth asking if he has an example of making a frame in this way before. It could well be that he thinks its a sub-optimal approach but you find it perfectly acceptable.

The general consensus with a front door is that you want the stop (the lip of wood the door closes against) to be a solid part of the frame - ie the frame starts as a big chunk of wood and the recess for the door is removed from that chunk.

If that’s not possible, or if it’s an internal door, the stop is added to a plain frame by screwing / nailing / gluing a bit of wood on. It’s less secure but if it’s glued I doubt a burglar is going to lever off all the stops around your door to get in. Even then the lock and hinges would keep the door in place.

What is it you want?

tl;dr - you should be asking him

Thanks all, that's really helpful.

I don't think we want anything too decorative so it should probably be alright as it is, but I'll go and look at others on the street to try to get it in keeping with them.

I need a full height fridge/freezer in my kitchen

current kitchen is ikea and looks like this:

simplest change is, either freestanding or integrated, not sure which:

If i was going wild i think id maybe look into something like..

although i think that puts the sink in a shit position...

im stuck basically any other ideas?

Do you have wall cabinets? And a window?

where are the windows? above the current sink position?
take into consideration moving sink location to the other side of the room will require running drainage under the floor.
similar issue with services if your oven is gas.
maybe upload a couple of photos?

@chiroshi @bigshape

sales listing photo should help, very large window on the current sink side

single open shelf right now on the internal side

oven is electric, no gas in the room at all.

yeah moving drainage could be an issue

The simplest option is often the best, we've had something similar in our last couple of places. Means you've got the left side for food prep, right of hob for dirties & right of sink for drink prep.

We went free-standing but boxed in when we did ours recently, seemed like the best of both worlds as you've got more choice with freestanding but it all looks quite tidy like integrated.

personally I'd go with your first option, unless you were planning on redoing everything anyway, but the kitchen looks pretty good in the photo IMO.
anything else is going to mean a pretty major re-model.
I'm not a huge fan of integrated fridges but that's up to you.
spend the money on a posh fridge.