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It all began many years ago...

oranjeboom

Entry posted by oranjeboom

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Having rented all my life, desperation set in after being gazumped, shafted and outbid in the so-called 'property game'. But it's no game if there's no fun! Finally, after getting lucky with an honest and reliable estate agent, I came across a place on the fringes of a small Kent village.The empty property was snapped up by us as soon as we laid eyes on it. Overgrown, but cared for, it dates from the early 1950s and was (is!) structurally sound.

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Lots of vegetation on the plot and lots of it too close and too big, right next to the building. Loose gutters, heavy concrete roof tiles.

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It had it's issues being dated, oil central heating and a bit cramped with only 2.5bedrooms. It was also badly laid out with only 2 bedrooms looking out to the rear 1/2 acre plot.

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Things needed re-jigging, and in doing so, we would also extend the place.

 

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oranjeboom
1 hour ago, Crofter said:

Looks like a good project! Definitely doing reno rather than rebuild?

Not knocking down now:

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Doing a retrospective blog...

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oldkettle

Hi,

 

Are you converting bungalow to a house? Timber frame first floor? The reason I am asking is I have been looking to do something similar with our detached bungalow...

 

Kind regards,

Joseph

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oranjeboom

Sorry Joseph, 'just' came across your question. Two extensions are SIPs. No new 1st floor to bungalow. Bungalow has been gutted (slab, roof tiles, some ceilings, windows, wiring, plumbing, rads).

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oldkettle

Thank you, no worries.

 

The slab - have you dug deeper to insulate under the new slab? Any indication of the cost of this part at all?

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oranjeboom

Hi Joseph,

  • Digging out was a bastard (30mm screed), 100mm slab, the rest was a mix of post war rubble and clay.
  • 3 grab lorries (had a local guy who needed quite a bit of the rubble/soil so that helped me
  • 150mm hardcore back in (circa 12t), compacted and levelled with a 10mm tolerance.

Up to this point, probably spent £3200 in man hours plus materials, tools of £500.

 

UFH cost will be approx £1200 (will do that myself), insulation (£?) and some type of self laying/levelling concrete (£?)

 

Some will say the payback time will be quite some time, but I work from home so I expect the heating to be on low during the day when needed.

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oldkettle
20 hours ago, oranjeboom said:

Hi Joseph,

  • Digging out was a bastard (30mm screed), 100mm slab, the rest was a mix of post war rubble and clay.
  • 3 grab lorries (had a local guy who needed quite a bit of the rubble/soil so that helped me
  • 150mm hardcore back in (circa 12t), compacted and levelled with a 10mm tolerance.

Up to this point, probably spent £3200 in man hours plus materials, tools of £500.

 

UFH cost will be approx £1200 (will do that myself), insulation (£?) and some type of self laying/levelling concrete (£?)

 

Some will say the payback time will be quite some time, but I work from home so I expect the heating to be on low during the day when needed.

Thank you, I got the idea. I won't be doing it myself so most likely will have to pay more but overall seems to be 5K to 10K project.

 

Payback time is not important here - it is the comfort that counts. I am not enjoying how cold the floor currently is - even with carpets.

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