Owning your own home

We have a brand new hive thermostat/controller thing in a box if anyone needs one, it’s a replacement from Hive because the old one ate batteries then we moved and it got thrown into a box by the packers.

Not been on the thread for a while.

That looks like a good buy from a quick look on the train just now. I live nearby and in terms of price p sq m looks absolutely fine. Garage is worth 20k on its own or £150 ISH p month. You can accurately work out what a place like that is worse in the condition by looking at sold prices of comparables in the area. Checking out the lease is a good shout - try and get a sense of is it well run and is maintenance done proactively. Much better than a modern lease where you can be paying the developer £200+ per month for not very much at all.

In terms of the heating thing, heat pumps not my area of expertise but I think they need to be 5m away from a neighbouring bedroom?

On the cost of renovating it and so on, if it's not a forever or long term home, depending on your philosophy you probably don't want to spend more than you'll get at the end. I've probably broken even with my place but I'm saving / paying myself back £££ p month by not renting which I didn't really factor in. Bristol trades can be expensive too (though not all of them). Having family to help is a plus. Advantage of a project is can do stuff as and when.

Don't let needing to move out of your rental place be a significant factor in what is a huge purchase. Lots of rooms come up if you need somewhere to live short term, even in the Bristol shit show. Saw one on npcc discord a few days ago.

Edit - says sold so good luck if you got an offer accepted and do go speak to neighbours! How long have they been there is a good metric

Thanks for the sage words!

We spoke to some of the neighbours and struggled to get a clear idea on what and wouldn’t be permitted. We still really liked the place after a second viewing, and did some more intensive research, but concluded it was a wee bit too much of a gamble. Such a shame as it’s a cool block but not quite right for our circumstances.

In the end, we decided to put an offer in on a really nice flat at the bottom of Clifton Vale, which was accepted. This is a much safer bet with the council as the freeholder, which has made it so much easier to get answers to questions. And it has two private bike stores! Things are moving at pace and, all being well (ha!) we could be in for January. We’re very happy with the decision we’ve made.

That's great news!

Hill climb on your door and close to the merchants which is a belting pub.

Do just check out the freehold / leasehold situation with the council still and what work they have done recently

Way ahead of you 😎 Prior to making an offer, I made enquiries and the leasehold has been extended to 200+ years, there are no schedule 20 consultations in place or planned works and the building has its fire safety certificate etc.

We are pretty buzzing about the location. That it’s a nice spot aside, a safe/pleasant ride to work was one of the few things we wouldn’t compromise on. If we hop over the wee island at the bottom of Clifton Vale, we can both roll into the centre traffic-free via the harbour. And I can do hill reps from the door! Fingers crossed all else goes fine.

On Tado here, for ~8 years. Apart from changing batteries a lot in the poorly insulated front bedroom, and needing to replace a receiver, it's been very useful. I can't imagine having to live with a one size fits all heating system now.

Best of luck! Lovely part of Bristol and you’ll have the bike jumble on your doorstep too!

Which is the better place for jobs? Mybuilder or the other one?

It's to replace/repair leaky guttering

I charge £120 to fit a hive.

Shit picture sorry and me again however how can one render this bit of building (on the left) without leaning on the building on the right with scaffold planks?
Neighbour is flat out like you can't touch our roof. I get it, wouldn't want weight on my roof, but don't know what the answer is

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You could erect a bridging scaffold if you have space to work on either side. But you can't cantilever a bit of scaffold over from one side only. Also depends how wide that bit of building on the right is.

Have you engaged trades in this work yet? It’s the type of constraints you need to give builder/scaffolder and see if they think it’s possible.

Cherry picker.

+1 to this

In case you didn’t know the next version called Tado X is available in Germany I think but not here yet, I’d expect it to be released here at some point soon.
It uses thread/matter for communication and the trvs have a rechargeable battery.

Thanks, yes I’ve been reading about that and maybe a better option for us.

I had a similar set up to yours (old wired thermostat controller) and it was easily solved with the standard Wired Tado unit, the wireless hub that plugs to the internet router and some rechargeable batteries for the Tado valves.

I am no wizard and with the Tado manuals and a couple of questions to their support team (they are super helpful!) it was all sorted in a couple of hours.

It is worth taking pictures of the cabling in your current setup and download the manuals the wired thermostat if you can to confirm what each colour cable does. Then you can easily use the information to choose an installation route in the Tado manual and/or ask their support team.

P.S: it is worth expending extra in good rechargeable batteries

“P.S: it is worth expending extra in good rechargeable batteries”
They recommend eneloop batteries but buy the ikea Ladda 2450Mah ones which are rebadged eneloop and cheaper

Good tips both, thanks

That’s a great tip, wished I knew before spending on the eneloop 🫤

I have got 2 trades lined up. One roofer for the coping stones (20% of total bill), one renderer (80% of total bill, incs the scaff).

They both seem, ace, have referenced them, have been patient enough to not walk away and have sat through 2 hours of my neighbour talk about his need for parking. render is still to send over his insurance though.

Going to invite his scaffolder over - good shout.

2 issues atm are 1) his parking 2) not being able to touch their roof. They suggested we scaffold from our buildings basement flat but that isn't going to work

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will look into this -thanks. I think they'd need it on at least 2/3 different days min (one to take off old render, one to put back on).

need some advice on floorboards... we are moving to a 3 storey 4 bed victorian house in a couple of weeks. ground floor flooring is mostly hardwood flooring which we are happy with. 1st and 2nd floor (bedrooms and halls) have really naff grey carpet. in the master bedroom it does appear there are nice floorboards hidden under this carpet....

• How easy is it to remove the carpet and treat (sand?) the floorboards so that they would be fine to walk on? do the gaps need filling somehow?
  
• I am a bit concerned about removing the insulating features of the carpet... is there anything that can be done to mitigate against this? insulation under floorboards? or just rely on rugs
  
  

I am not 100% against carpet. just swore I would never ever get cream ones again as after 6 years our current ones look TERRIBLE - even with use of a spot cleaner here and there. Given there (should) be less footfall to the 2x bedrooms at the top of the house - would be fine with keeping carpet there. or do we get hardwood throughout the house + a runner on the stairs?

Reckon you need to look under the carpet and see what's there/under it before you can move forward. Sanding floorboards has been discussed a lot in the DIY thread.
We've decided to lay cork flooring so we have warmth but clean floors.

As said, firstly pull up some carpet and check the condition of the boards, they may be fine with just a deep clean, maybe revarnish. Best result is obviously to sand, fill and refinish which you can do yourself if you’re keen.

If you do choose to sand them then do it before you move in. I wish we’d made the decision to sand our floors before we moved in but it would be too much trouble and dirt to deal with now. We just have rugs and tbh it’s fine.