Thetownend.com

To convert a health hazard into a party zone is drawing to a close....  

Finally got the glass on the veranda, the outdoor speakers in place and the firepit up and running. Just the electrics to do this weekend whilst listening to the town beat Burton.

[url width=800 height=600]http://gallery.me.com/paul.rossiter/100092/IMG_0022/web.jpg?ver=13160721560002[/url]

[url width=800 height=600]http://gallery.me.com/paul.rossiter/100092/_MG_0323/web.jpg?ver=13160719280001[/url]

[url width=800 height=600]http://gallery.me.com/paul.rossiter/100092/_MG_0321/web.jpg?ver=13160719240001[/url]

[url width=800 height=600]http://gallery.me.com/paul.rossiter/100092/_MG_0324/web.jpg?ver=13160719200001[/url]

I wanted to say something derogatory about it but instead I'm finding myself thinking. Smart as fuck.

Where's the beer fridge going?

Looks great... someone is being paid too much ;)

Fair play that is looking top notch, please say that is County Ground turf in your garden ;)

If you are not going to re-use that old sink I could give it a good home.

The frame for the shed-style arrangement would have looked much better if you'd used a darker wood to match the decking.

Your lawn is wonky, shoddy.

You missed a bit.

It kind of took a battering during the build... [url width=800 height=600]http://gallery.me.com/paul.rossiter/100092/DSC01410/web.jpg?ver=13160752490001[/url]




recovered with the help of hallowed turf for this year



Next years project...

Did you use a spirit level on the front uprights?  ;)

In the outhouse next to the barby :D

Have you got a link to those pictures of the interior?

So when's the big TEF BBQ happening?

Surely that was the point of this thread?

I'll bring some burgers and JFW will supply the baps.

you mean these?

[url width=800 height=532]http://gallery.me.com/paul.rossiter/100092/IMG_5792/web.jpg?ver=13126235100004[/url]

[url width=800 height=532]http://gallery.me.com/paul.rossiter/100092/IMG_6009/web.jpg?ver=13160752530001[/url]

[url width=800 height=533]http://gallery.me.com/paul.rossiter/100092/IMG_5735/web.jpg?ver=13126236140001[/url]

I'd be happy to just have a bap party to be honest...

That's the ones! the bathroom was nice too...

Love the interior @Macphlea. Stunning.

[url width=800 height=533]http://gallery.me.com/paul.rossiter/100092/_MG_0327/web.jpg?ver=13160779540001[/url]

[url width=800 height=1199]http://gallery.me.com/paul.rossiter/100092/IMG_5737/web.jpg?ver=13126238260001[/url]

[url width=800 height=1199]http://gallery.me.com/paul.rossiter/100092/IMG_5738/web.jpg?ver=13126238750001[/url]

[url width=800 height=1199]http://gallery.me.com/paul.rossiter/100092/IMG_5745/web.jpg?ver=13126239870001[/url]

Nice  :)

Fucking hell, I need to become a groundsman

Ha! you'd be seriously disappointed - I get paid nothing for doing the pitch... 10 years of volunteering this year...

You wouldn't want to let a scruffy dog anywhere near a house like that.   ;)

The best thing we did was put in tiles throughout the ground floor... a combination of 2 mud covered dogs in the winter and red wine spillage would have written of any carpet in about a day (and there have been a shed load of those!).  Surprisingly the cream tiles aren't the cleaning nightmare you would think they might be.  With underfloor heating they are nice and toasty in the winter and cool in the summer

At Swindon?

Yes

I have to admit that is a very nice house, interior and exterior. Nice work.

Thanks CF - it has been a rolling project since 2008 and is now starting to get to the phase where I can start enjoying it...

My current list of DIY skills from this project stands at

Carpentry
Tiling
Plumbing
Wiring Prep
Patios
Decking
Whole House AV distribution
Networking
Green Oak timber frames
Glazing
Sandblasting
Paint spraying
Kitchen/Bathroom Design & Build
Roofing
Fencing
Interior/Exterior Design
Underfloor heating installation
Wetrooms

Most of which I had no idea of in 2007!!

If the worst happens I guess I could be a handyman... as long as it doesn't involve bricklaying or plastering...

Shit me, what do you do for a living ??

Research...

There's a ghostly figure hiding in your fridge. I don't think it has a head.

A picture of my office...

[url width=800 height=596]http://gallery.me.com/macphlea/100015/IMG_0221/web.jpg?ver=13160990830001[/url]

You're just showing off now.

MacPhlea can I move in?

That is a truly cool house and garden!!  Having just completed a search for a house to rent (Yes, back in Wiltshire) I can truly say I wish I'd seen something like that!! (But have found a very nice house near Wootton Basset, thanks for asking, and will at last be able to take my place at the hallowed turf ere long.)

I've seen better.

New parish or have you thrown in the vestal robe thing?

How much did it cost to do all that? Amazing.

Robes is out.....new kind of job running a charity based in Marlborough for now.  Thanks for asking!

There's a bottle dumped on the table despite the place mats.

Exactly what sort of riff-raff operation to do run?

Superb, congrats McPhlea

That is immense.  I absolutely love the kitchen and the bathroom.  Were they as expensive as they look?

Top notch,well done and the end results of your hard work is easy to see.

Is anyone else wondering how an ex-copper could afford all this? Are you a fellow fan of brown envelopes, @MacPhlea? ;)





I don't want to go home to my shithole of a flat now. Thanks!

It depends on what you class as expensive - to do the shower room worked out at about £1,500 for all the bits - most of which I got of e-bay. The toilet I got for a song from B&Q because 'it didn't have a cistern' - they didn't realise it was a hidden cistern system so didn't have one in the first place and so dropped the price from £300 to £10!!!

We were quoted between £25k and £50k for the kitchen from 4 different suppliers.  Apart from the £50k quote, the corian island wasn't included and the units being supplied were of lower quality than the ones I eventually sourced myself at www.diy-kitchens.com (cheaper than B&Q, better quality than leekes).  Total cost of the kitchen was £15.5k (£11k of which was the appliances and corian island)

Fair play to you @MacPhlea! That's a bloody good house! Loving the picture of what it used to look like and what it's like now!

Before (when we bought it in 2002)
[url width=800 height=600]http://gallery.me.com/paul.rossiter/100030/DSC00805/web.jpg?ver=122398496400023[/url]

After (we had fucked about with it in 2011)
[url width=800 height=600]http://gallery.me.com/paul.rossiter/100092/_MG_0324/web.jpg?ver=13160719200001[/url]

I can't wit to see the photo where the real landlord catches you sneaking in his house takig snaps

Being a squatter is fucking ace...

Really nice house you have there!!  Where is your house?

4 posts above china

Haha... Very good! It's been a long project then or have only started re-building since a few years ago?

We bought it in 2002 and lived in it as it was for 5 years to get the feel for what needed doing and how we wanted to live (I think too may people move into a house and start changing things without really knowing how it will work ad then regret it afterwards). We started the planning process in 2007 and then started the build in 2008.

We were lucky in that we had room to live in a large caravan at the end of the garden and be on site whilst the shell was built.  We made a number of minor internal changes as it was built because we could see that what appeared OK on paper simply wasn't practical in reality.  Once the  shell was built and in the dry we then had the blank canvas to start the interior design layout and what you see is what I envisaged right at the start.

I was asked a couple of weeks ago if there was anything I would change if I did it again and my straight answer was no because if something needed changing I changed at the time rather than compromise on it.

Would I do it again?  No, this is my retirement home and i intend to enjoy it!

Fair play!

I've always liked the idea of buying a house and doing it up my own way. I'm yet to get 'on the ladder' but i'm not a big fan of there new build houses! I'm still only 24 so don't feel the need to have my own house yet. I'll enjoy the freedom of no bills and loads of holidays first! I'm also the worst person at DIY although i'm very good at painting - it's not that hard though!

You've done a great job though! Well done!

The prices you were quoted is what I class as expensive, what you paid is bloody good.  It's great to pick up bargains like the toilet. Did you do most of the work ie tiling yourself or get someone in?

We've currently got plans in with the council for a two storey extension.  I've been doing the rounds pricing kitchens in preparation and have found that the likes of B&Q only do flatpack units and we want better quality rigid.  I've found a couple of places online that seemed very reasonable and  the one you bought from is one of them.  I feel a bit nervous about ordering a kitchen online in case things turn up damaged or it doesn't look like I expected when it arrives. I assume you had no issues?

I'm still debating having an out and out island or having units in a u shape, but one side ending in a curve with stools at the other side.  We've also been told by a structural engineer that we need to leave a bit of the current outside wall for supporting purposes, so it's been a challenge to plan round that as it's quite central. Did you get the worktops online as well? One kitchen place told me that having a curved end/island  narrows down the options of which worktop you can have. 

Did about 95% myself ad if I ever got anyone in I only got them in once, watched how they did it then did it myself from there on in.  All the tiling was done by me - the secret is in preparation.

With regard to online kitchens I do technology research for a living so you can be rest assured that I researched this to death so of all the places you can get kitchens online this is by far the best. They are rigid units and if you need a non standard size they can make one for you at minimal cost. They also have a range of colours which can match the doors (something that really bugs me about most kitchen places who just have white or brown).

We paid the extra to have all the doors pre-fitted which meant it was only a case of getting them in order, level and then fixing them.

If you plan to use a design from another kitchen store make sure you double check any measurements against the plan  - they have an uncanny knack of making one or two measurements wrong on purpose to fuck up anyone who tries to take their designs and just use them somewhere else ;)

Because we are open plan, the island is great - it serves as a gathering point but also a place where everyone can be still part of the overall party atmosphere.  With regard to the curve end they are right which is why we did what we did, create the island as a square monolith and add the semi circular oak end piece - it makes use of an otherwise dead area with space for two more stools.  The bank of units also meant I didn't have to worry about tiling!!  If you are wondering where the extractor is for the hob it pops up out of the worktop :)

edit:  If you want an alternative design for a kitchen send me you layout and I'll take a look - I was amazed at how boring/lazy/ignorant most kitchen designers are - I even sketched out a plan of what I wanted and they still came back with a U shape traditionalist design which is why I designed it myself...  This is the other side of the island that you can't see with the obligatory wine fridge...

[url width=800 height=532]http://gallery.me.com/paul.rossiter/100092/IMG_5736/web.jpg?ver=13126237880001[/url]

I'm going to PM you, because I've got some more questions and don't want to bore everyone  :)

Where is the Darts board?

That's hidden the other side of the extractor. It senses when you're going to throw a dart and pops up so you get a 180 every time. Unless you're on a finish  ;)