Owning your own home

and zero taste

quite

It's not about draughts. It's about capturing warmth.

Think shaved head vs hair. The hair captures and holds onto warm air, insulating your head from the cold.

Stair runner from dunelm here . Not fitted yet. But hoping just grip strips not rods.

good point, i am happy to sacrifice on this given the extra vacuuming carpet invites 😂

Ours are extremely steep, wooden with no runner. We used Osmo Polyx Anti Slip which makes a big difference, and also installed a handrail on the wall side. The latter is a huge help if you ever have anyone elderly or infirm to stay, regardless of how slippy the stairs are. Don't feel the need for a runner, with those.

cheap office grade laminate everywhere and zero draught

Certainly sounds cosy

Thanks for the replies all. I think the issue is compounded by the fact that the staircase is quite fucking narrow too, which pretty much rules out a handrail. It seems like people is talking about sanded/treated floorboards rather than additional sheet(?) flooring (I have engineered oak downstairs)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWFFNM7zCQQ

Sorry if this is a dumb question but haven’t remortgaged before

Does the value of our house matter when remortgaging? It’s likely to have gone up since we bought it but not sure if this makes any difference (eg ltv)

Yes it will do.

Lender will probably do a desktop valuation rather than a full one but if values have gone up, mortgage can get cheaper as a result of better LTV.

You might find if you get a quote from your existing lender they have already come up with a value. YBS had when I did ours

I've just sanded my front room floor with a belt sander. The floor was not in good nick and it's taken me about 5 weeks to do so overall. Black tar all over the fucking place, removing screws and replacing with cut clasp nails etc.

I obviously should have just paid someone to do it because it was a really really grim and thankless task and it's not often I say that and I am usually willing to do most things myself. My enthusiasm sometimes goes too far and I get myself into trouble (like in may when I fell 5m off a ladder cleaning some gutters out and I broke my right arm and left kneecap).

Anyway, the floor is done and it looks acceptable. Ive also pumped nearly 10 tubes of brown acrylic sealant into the gaps. That was a tip someone gave me and it looks pretty good and is only 2 notes a tube.

@Tenderloin as above, they'll have an idea
But given the work you've done, if you think you'll fall into a different LTV bracket then I think you can tell them why the house is more than the "purchase price plus average movement for the area" estimate they'll have

Thanks folks. Is there likely a minimum bound for ltv or does it just keep going down?
We have 400k on the mortgage and would hope the value to be 1.3-1.4 but think a desk search would come back at 1.1-1.2. Would there be any benefit in pushing for this?

The cheaper deals are LTV below 55%, there isn't much (if any) better deals below that.

Many places stop at 75%.

Do you have a deal booked in already? Rates have been a bit weird lately up and down but we have a budget today and the next MPC meeting on the 7th when a quarter point drop is odds on but the change in fiscal rules/bond markets might mean no cheaper mortgage products.

Edit.

What they ^ said. Just been through the same question myself with our mortgage advisor for upcoming remortgage - No point if you're already over the 60% LTV mark. 40% equity is the point where most lenders offer their lowest rates with regard to LTV.

They care about the difference between 60 and 90%. You won't get a different rate for 30% vs 40%.

It will make a difference but bands are pretty broad (generally every 10%) and after a certain percentage (maybe 60%) don't make much difference so worth considering whether you may be on one of those boundaries.

They've got a broad brush index that they apply to reflect an average uplift but if you have had significant work done they may send a surveyor round.

Yeah this is what I thought. Ok sounds good.

Cab I ask which one that was?
I've been using this which was recommended by the bloke who refurbed them a while back.
He said the key is that it doesn't crack over time with floor movement and crumble.

And ladder falls... I did my gutters at a simular height recently and felt very sketch, not sure I will do it again.

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It's called 121 door and window brown acrylic sealant. If you buy it in bulk it's about 2 quid a tube but it's darker than the oak colour you've been using.

It looks ok though but I am absolutely sick to the back teeth of working on the floor, it was like staring at the sun.

Additional rate stamp duty going up for 3% to 5% tomorrow.
Feeling sorry for mortgage advisers and solicitors right now…

SiL buying a house Friday, wasn't able to sell her flat so plans to hold it for a year.

Expensive budget for her - extra £6k to find in two days. She'll get it back when she sells in a year but still, ouch.

If btl outside of the corporate structure wasn't dead this morning, this sdlt change will be the final nail in it's coffin starting tomorrow. Gonna cost thousands more now.