Who's idea was this house refurb malarky ?

I've no intention of ever moving house ever again when and if I get
this one finished I shudder to think of the new bodges I would find
elsewhere.

Trying to sort the bathroom so I can install my sparkly new white
suite instead of the chocolate coloured one that was pretending to be
a bathroom previously.

The list of things I've found is ridiculous for just one room that's
big enough for a bath, sink and toilet.

Artex on ceiling, scraped off by hand, painstaking but I can't be
arsed redoing it with new plasterboard, getting it skimmed as the
walls need doing anyway.

Found old pipes (gas water heater ?) still in the walls.

The nice original tiles on the windowsill which are rather nice in a
rustic way had been butchered and the faces broken off to fit some
crappy brown tiles over them.

The old bath I cut out to leave the taps for now and found the floor
under it rotten. I suspected this from a board that was the same in
the adjoining bedroom but didn't know the exact cause.

The sink I smashed to bits from around the taps in a fit of temper,
only to find a bottle of vodka hidden behind the pedestal !! Empty...

The toilet overflow is some really cheap plastic pipe and runs from
the toilet all the way across to room to the bath outfall. The
overflow in the wall runs uphill through the wall.... then even better
the elbow on the overflow pipe is smaller in diameter than the outfall
pipe so it has been rested on the lip of the outfall pipe.
So when/if the cistern overflows the water runs to the elbow and
fearing the lack of gravity runs out onto the floor.... flipping
outstanding workmanship !

Result, three full floorboards to cut out that had rotted, explains
the sag in the kitchen ceiling. The joists are thankfully ok apart
from some surface damage. The skirting along the same wall had rotted
as well.
Who thinks these things up.

Both the sink and bath wastes run uphill which would explain the stink
from the traps/pipes, both jointed with some massive blobs of mastic
of some sort. The bath one a triumph of bodging, waste trap then a
plastic connector which was fastened to a length of copper pipe which
goes into a plastic pipe then to the outfall.
The holes in the walls they made to fit them badly are huge, the sink
one you could get your head in. :-) They filled them in nicely
though with bits of sandstone from the garden and a cross between
filler and plaster, nice one there Mr Bodger.

The hole for the toilet waste I've not hacked out yet but the loose
stuff from behind it fell out when I took the skirting off so I can
guess it's a larger version of the other two.


I've thankfully Monday and Tuesday off work so hopefully might get the
outfalls replaced and the rest patched up if nothing else.


One note is it ok to cut off the existing copper pipework and replace
it further back with plastic pushfit to the new bathroom suite ?

I've a box full of connectors already (swapped for a pc months ago)
and like the idea of the individual service valves etc.

Sorry for the rant. ;-)

On the plus side inbetween the ceiling work I stopped scraping and
happened to overhear two neighbours outside in ones garden saying my
fence I've finally finished looked good. :-)

Mark S.

On Sun, 06 Jul 2003 01:06:35 +0100, Mark
wrote:

I've no intention of ever moving house ever again when and if I get
this one finished I shudder to think of the new bodges I would find
elsewhere.

You really must remember not to move into a Barratts house

Andrew

Do you need a handyman service? Check out our
web site at http://www.handymac.co.uk

Hi Mark,

snip

Trying to sort the bathroom so I can install my sparkly new white
suite instead of the chocolate coloured one that was pretending to be
a bathroom previously.

Lol, sounds as tasty as the advacadot suite in my place... it matched the
wall tiles too

The list of things I've found is ridiculous for just one room that's
big enough for a bath, sink and toilet.

Artex on ceiling, scraped off by hand, painstaking but I can't be
arsed redoing it with new plasterboard, getting it skimmed as the
walls need doing anyway.

Found old pipes (gas water heater ?) still in the walls.

How old is the house? If it's Victorian (ish) and the gas pipes in the wall
are about the diameter of your little finger, chances are they are for gas
lighting

snip

Well, to cheer you up, my Victorian pile was derelict for 2 yrs before I
moved in and the back of the place was damp from top to bottom. It had also
been previously inhabited by a master bodger
To compare bathrooms:
ripped out old suite
pulled down bust ceiling
new floorboards + 2 joists
hacked back and replastered the walls
new lintel
reset inside brick skin around / above window
new window box
new window
tiled walls
banged up battens to lower ceiling 16 inches
new ceiling
rewired with sealed mains spots
ripped out old lead replaced with copper
replumbed new bath sink and bog
new towel rad
tiled floor

I won't bore you with all the other stuff, I'll reduce myself to tears
Maybe I'll get round to putting it on a website or something.

On the plus side inbetween the ceiling work I stopped scraping and
happened to overhear two neighbours outside in ones garden saying my
fence I've finally finished looked good. :-)

Nice )

--
Jet
check spamtrap in reply-to

"Andrew McKay" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 06 Jul 2003 01:06:35 +0100, Mark
wrote:

I've no intention of ever moving house ever again when and if I get
this one finished I shudder to think of the new bodges I would find
elsewhere.

You really must remember not to move into a Barratts house

Andrew


Ahhhhh ( sigh).......Isn't it lovely the joys of home ownership can bring.
(?) Just think, in a few months time, when you've finished making good all
the bodged stuff, some innocent party will say " Do you think it will be
alright to change the.............AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !!!! NO !!!!
Definitely Not !!!

Ah Yes. I can hear those words of love ringing in my ears. :-))

Good luck with the rest of it Mark.


---
BigWallop

http://basecuritysystems.no-ip.com

Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.495 / Virus Database: 294 - Release Date: 30/06/03

One note is it ok to cut off the existing copper pipework and replace
it further back with plastic pushfit to the new bathroom suite ?

No problems doing that. It makes life so much easier in the future if you
have a service valve for every piece of kit.

Congratulations on the fence and good luck with the bathroom.

Sean

On Sun, 6 Jul 2003 08:51:44 +0000 (UTC), "Sean Delere"
wrote:

One note is it ok to cut off the existing copper pipework and replace
it further back with plastic pushfit to the new bathroom suite ?

No problems doing that. It makes life so much easier in the future if you
have a service valve for every piece of kit.

Congratulations on the fence and good luck with the bathroom.

Sean


One thing to watch out for with service valves is that they do reduce
the bore of the pipe quite a bit.

This may not matter too much with mains fed taps, but on low pressure
will slow the flow down a lot.

A good alternative with full bore is to use lever ball valves. They
do completely seal off (unlike gate valves which also tend to stick).



..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

On Sun, 06 Jul 2003 10:10:40 +0100, Andy Hall
wrote:

On Sun, 6 Jul 2003 08:51:44 +0000 (UTC), "Sean Delere"
wrote:

One note is it ok to cut off the existing copper pipework and replace
it further back with plastic pushfit to the new bathroom suite ?

No problems doing that. It makes life so much easier in the future if you
have a service valve for every piece of kit.

Congratulations on the fence and good luck with the bathroom.

Sean


One thing to watch out for with service valves is that they do reduce
the bore of the pipe quite a bit.

This may not matter too much with mains fed taps, but on low pressure
will slow the flow down a lot.

A good alternative with full bore is to use lever ball valves. They
do completely seal off (unlike gate valves which also tend to stick).



.andy

Thanks for the comments guys. :-)

And the pointers Andy, helpful as always.

Just have to decide now which neighbours offer of ladders to take up.
:-))

Mark S.

Mark wrote:

snipped tales of bodgery

This is entirely normal. When re-furbing a house you expect to take it
down to the structure and beyind, because the anything that can be
bodged, will have been. OTOH, if its warm, keeps the rain off yer head,
and has nice neighbours, count yer blessings and shut yer mouf.

In article ,
Adrian Simpson writes:

Hmm, could have been the same person that did mine (when was Avocado the
in thing ?).

Around 25 years ago.

The pipe connecting the cistern to the WC is poorly fitted, so there is
a permanent leak on it (the good news is that it is a bungalow, so no
problems with ceilings below). Not suprisingly, the floor under the WC
is not in a good condition, and just for good measure, someone has
removed the joist in that area. The WC is sitting at a slight angle,
which is an interesting experience for visitors.

That happened in a rented house I lived in for a couple of years.
It was an upstairs bathroom in a 1969 Anglia Homes house (chipboard
everywhere). One day, the loo just keeled over, and was only stopped
from ending up in the kitchen sink below by the lino on the bathroom
floor. Fortunately, no one was sitting on it at the time...

--
Andrew Gabriel

Mark wrote in message . ..
Who's idea was this house refurb malarky ?
snip

Gratitude makes all the difference.

Regards, NT

On Mon, 7 Jul 2003 05:39:46 +0100, "-= debully =-"
wrote:


"Mark" wrote in message
.. .
Who's idea was this house refurb malarky ?

I've no intention of ever moving house ever again when and if I get
this one finished I shudder to think of the new bodges I would find
elsewhere.

Trying to sort the bathroom so I can install my sparkly new white
suite instead of the chocolate coloured one that was pretending to be
a bathroom previously.

The list of things I've found is ridiculous for just one room that's
big enough for a bath, sink and toilet.


snip

I've a box full of connectors already (swapped for a pc months ago)
and like the idea of the individual service valves etc.

Sorry for the rant. ;-)

On the plus side inbetween the ceiling work I stopped scraping and
happened to overhear two neighbours outside in ones garden saying my
fence I've finally finished looked good. :-)

Mark S.


Can you do mine after?


Cheeky bugger. ;-)

Mark S.

On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 14:49:19 +0100, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:

Mark wrote:

snipped tales of bodgery

This is entirely normal. When re-furbing a house you expect to take it
down to the structure and beyind, because the anything that can be
bodged, will have been. OTOH, if its warm, keeps the rain off yer head,
and has nice neighbours, count yer blessings and shut yer mouf.


It's warm, keeps the rain off apart from the gutters where they join
on the neighbours, neighbours are putty in my hands, had Steptoe (only
in looks) across yesterday for a barrow of topsoil, got a couple of
tons spare, some bags and two fence rails for the guy next door in
exchange for his cement mixer when I need it, more offers of tools and
ladders, tea/coffee than you can shake a stick at so guess I should
keep quiet. ;-)

Mark S.