Tarting the house up - my idea

Phil_aka_Pip

Strip paint from door frames & skirting boards, go over bare wood with Danish Oil
Wash ceilings & walls with sugar soap: one coat of polycell basecoat, another of ICI Dulux Dog Pure Brilliant white (or in the loo, bathroom & kitchen, a washable substitute)

Start in the downstairs loo, may remove paint from window ledge as well. Replace carpet tiles on floor with vinyl that looks like wood blocks. Replace silly no-grip taps with proper lever taps.

Whatever is learnt from that exercise to be applied to elsewhere in the house.

Other possibilities:

The internal doors are all cheap'n'nasty wood-alike. I'd like to replace them with those ol' fashioned kind that look like vertical planks held together with Z-shaped battens on one side, and a proper Suffolk latch.

The carpets HAVE to go. But only after I've finished sloshing paint about. And most of the curtain rails are horrible, and half-hanging out of the wall, I want them replaced with round rods that have wooden rings sliding along them.

I have no immediate plans to sell up - can't afford to move anyway - but I'm hoping that doing the above will move the property from being at the bottom of the price band applicable to its type & area to near the top of it. Better external doors & windows would help but they're not broken ATM and while I'd like better than white plastic (brown wood-alike plastic would be so much better) I can't justify changing them.

Can't do all the mods at once, but I think I can do it one room at a time

Sambostar

Buy yourself a decent mitre saw and a table saw.  Rip all the architraves out.  Buy a load of new ones, pre stain / oil them and fit new throughout.  Wait for ome decent used on ebay or make your own oak ones.

Make a router table, make your own sash windows or whatever and mouldings or architraves too.

randomhandclaps

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think you two getting married and cohabiting could be a wise financial decision for you both.

Phil_aka_Pip

@Sambostar That goes against the principle of "Every expense must be spared in an attempt to show that no expense has been spared"

Phil_aka_Pip

randomhandclaps said:

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think you two getting married and cohabiting could be a wise financial decision for you both.

I'd be happy to just buy him a pint, and leave it there

Deadman

I've just spent 300 quid on our kitchen. I sprayed the cupboard doors white after adding some 'architrave' (glued on with contact adhesive). Its given them some depth/character with a modern twist.
Then I replastered the old artexed ceiling, repainted the whole lot in white, ripped off the old tiling and have new ones ready to fit in the new year. Lastly I fitted some new lino.
The transformation is massive, it just proves that you don't need to spend thousands to improve on what you already have. Shop around, be thrifty and do it all yourself, Phil. Sounds like you have the right idea anyway.

Phil_aka_Pip

@Deadman exactly. You don't need to spend a fortune, but you do need a modicum of practical skills

WezV

Sambostar is right though, much easier and cleaner to replace all the wood than try stripping it.

But I kind of like the stripped wood look when there is the odd bit of paint and unintentional scorchmark

Phil_aka_Pip

I once replaced a skirting board in the flat: previous damp problems had rotted it and what was left was not really attached to the wall. The damp problem had long been solved and gone away, so after the wall had been painted I got a plank of wood and attached it to the wall using No-More-Nails, before painting it. As it was not shaped in any way it did look slightly out of place, but it did the trick.

I'm sure I could rip out architrave - using a crowbar? - but putting it back: where would I start?

Deadman

Sometimes I look at myself as a bit of a tight arse, Phil, but the results really are decent. I have friends who would have budgeted 10 grand for what I've just done.... not me. Looking for a second hand cooker too in the new year, as long as its clean and modern I'll be happy to spend around £150.
(Not that you need it), but my tip would be to shop around for absolutely everything you need before you buy it and make a proper list of essentials and stick to it. Good luck in transforming your place in the knowledge that you're adding value on a shoestring. It's extremely satisfying

boogieman

Unless you're prepared to spend days on end stripping the paint, I seriously wouldn't bother. It's a horrible job at the best of times, let alone grovelling on your hands and knees doing skirting boards. Either just sand them down and repaint them or rip them out and replace them. You can even get prepainted MDF ones from Wickes which make it a doddle. Cut to size and glue them on, job done.

Ceiling paint. Buy trade emulsion. I've just started using it and it's seriously a revelation. It covers brilliantly, dries quicker, has so much more body to it and actually works out cheaper than the normal Dulux/Crown domestic stuff. I used Crown Trade because it was on offer at a local paint shop but the builder we had in to do our extension swears by Leyland, which you can get from Screwfix.

Iamnobody

Deadman;913177" said:

Sometimes I look at myself as a bit of a tight arse, Phil, but the results really are decent. I have friends who would have budgeted 10 grand for what I've just done.... not me. Looking for a second hand cooker too in the new year, as long as its clean and modern I'll be happy to spend around £150.









(Not that you need it), but my tip would be to shop around for absolutely everything you need before you buy it and make a proper list of essentials and stick to it. Good luck in transforming your place in the knowledge that you're adding value on a shoestring. It's extremely satisfying

You could get a new cooker with a warranty for less than £150!

Phil - stripping is hard work! I'd just repaint in a bright white satin.

Natural wood doesn't always look good - very much depends on the character of the house.

Phil_aka_Pip

I've watched a few how-to videos on youtube. The wood work I want to strip paint from is fairly plain with no fancy mouldings. The house dates from the early 70s and probably has more than 1 layer of paint on its woodwork.

What criteria decides whether to use chemicals or a heat gun?

boogieman

Chemicals make a helluva mess. Try a heat gun first

TTony

@Phil_aka_Pip - are you planning / needing anything for the kitchen?

I ask because our current kitchen units are coming out sometime in the spring, and I really cba putting it all on eBay (as I've been advised to do).

You'll get an idea of the colour/style on the video

Sibelius

Phil_aka_Pip said:

Strip paint from door frames & skirting boards, go over bare wood with Danish Oil
Wash ceilings & walls with sugar soap: one coat of polycell basecoat, another of ICI Dulux Dog Pure Brilliant white (or in the loo, bathroom & kitchen, a washable substitute)

Start in the downstairs loo, may remove paint from window ledge as well. Replace carpet tiles on floor with vinyl that looks like wood blocks. Replace silly no-grip taps with proper lever taps.

Whatever is learnt from that exercise to be applied to elsewhere in the house.

Other possibilities:

The internal doors are all cheap'n'nasty wood-alike. I'd like to replace them with those ol' fashioned kind that look like vertical planks held together with Z-shaped battens on one side, and a proper Suffolk latch.

The carpets HAVE to go. But only after I've finished sloshing paint about. And most of the curtain rails are horrible, and half-hanging out of the wall, I want them replaced with round rods that have wooden rings sliding along them.

I have no immediate plans to sell up - can't afford to move anyway - but I'm hoping that doing the above will move the property from being at the bottom of the price band applicable to its type & area to near the top of it. Better external doors & windows would help but they're not broken ATM and while I'd like better than white plastic (brown wood-alike plastic would be so much better) I can't justify changing them.

Can't do all the mods at once, but I think I can do it one room at a time

Christ, I need a break after reading that.

Phil_aka_Pip

@TTony thanks for asking. I hadn't intended to replace the cupboards/worktops. I'm not too dissatisfied with the colour & style of the doors: had I wanted a change of finish I'd probably change the doors rather than the whole cabinet. If I have a gripe with the fitted kitchen furniture, it's with the door handles. They're knobs, just like on the drawers. On the drawers, the knobs are placed centrally, which makes sense, but on the cupboard doors the knobs are also placed centrally, not at the opposite edge to the hinges. WTF? Why make opening the doors twice as much work as it need be?

Although there is one surface, on the left of the thing that contains the sink/drainingboard, that goes over the washing machine, and I'm not too happy about it. In fact I'm not too keen on the sink/draining board OR the cabinet that contains them: the sink has a mixer tap (I HATE mixer taps), and the drainingboard doesn't drain because it is flat and water sits in a puddle on it rather than flowing off into the sink. I'd like a proper butler sink with separate (lever) taps and a draining board that sits at sufficient angle to drain the water off it. I like the shelf space under the sink though.

I haven't yet worked out a timescale for working on the kitchen. All I know is that I'll start with the downstairs loo, which will take as long as it takes.

However if it would help you to move a cabinet or two on in my direction such that my kitchen can be improved by doing so then I'm more than happy to cooperate, by exchanging measurements or even a visit in either direction (accompanied by a sociable pint), so let's stay in touch on the subject

Deadman

Iamnobody said:

Deadman;913177" said:

Sometimes I look at myself as a bit of a tight arse, Phil, but the results really are decent. I have friends who would have budgeted 10 grand for what I've just done.... not me. Looking for a second hand cooker too in the new year, as long as its clean and modern I'll be happy to spend around £150.









(Not that you need it), but my tip would be to shop around for absolutely everything you need before you buy it and make a proper list of essentials and stick to it. Good luck in transforming your place in the knowledge that you're adding value on a shoestring. It's extremely satisfying

You could get a new cooker with a warranty for less than £150!

Phil - stripping is hard work! I'd just repaint in a bright white satin.

Natural wood doesn't always look good - very much depends on the character of the house.

All the ones I've looked at look are, shall we say, not looking very good for that price. I 'can' get a brand new Les Paul for £150 too, but would I want one? Thanks for the advice, all the same.

Phil_aka_Pip

Iamnobody said:

Natural wood doesn't always look good - very much depends on the character of the house.

I don't think my house has much "character"*. I was hoping to give it some using the woody feel. Could you enlighten me as to why natural wood doesn't always look good? Do you mean it looks "out of place" in some environments?

EDIT *

It's an early 70s chalet-style semi with a kitchen at the front (good idea, that, I prefer it to having my music room on view to the rest of the street) and a garage protruding from the front in the middle where it joins onto Mick's gaff next door. He's turned his garage into an extra room.

Deadman

@Stevebrum, you remind me of my mother in law. She knows everything too )

octatonic

Just back from a friends house in Melbourne. He bought the house next door for a million dollars which enabled him to knock both houses down and build 3 townhouses on the two blocks. Clever bugger.