UPDATE: 12/03/2023 Lots of work has been done but due to redoing the living room 3 times it looks like less. Since being in the house the layout in my mind has changed a bit. I've been given a quote on a summerhouse and it's much cheaper than I was expecting so that will be happening soon so the pool table won't need to go into the living room. Here's the promised floorplan with some changes which make it not pop up on a few reverse image sites. FLOORPLAN floorplan by MLyons posted 12 Mar 2023 at 19:40 I don't yet have the full design here yet as I've made some changes since I did the 3D model but it gives some idea of the space and will hopefully get you got suggesting ideas. The general plan is: Living room TV, Sofa, gaming system, racing sim Dining room Gym or Office Top left room Gym or Office Top right room Master bedroom Other two rooms Guest rooms WORK DONE Networking Virgin media 1 gig has been installed and it's glorious. Low ping, 1.2 gig down and 50ish up. Setting up systems during downloads has been great and the Virgin Stream box for sports hasn't stuttered at all. I've also ran an ethernet cable under the carpet to my gaming / Office desk until the two are split later on. It's not a perfect job but it's mainly to prevent people from yeeting it into the garden when walking outside. 20230311_143645 by MLyons posted 12 Mar 2023 at 19:48 20230311_143647 by MLyons posted 12 Mar 2023 at 19:48 Chairs I've finally got chairs and a TV in place. It's not great but it's sort of starting to feel like a home. I can sit down and relax now. You'll also note the trusty guard doge. 8dcdda89-ac0c-42fe-806b-6e0423785f69 by MLyons posted 12 Mar 2023 at 19:51 Home Assistant So I've done a lot of work here. I've done some measurements of the downstairs cupboard and the old opening that used to go into the living room is 22 inches and a rack mounted case is typically 19 inches. The shelf below goes up to about my shoulders which gives me plenty of room. I plan on having a perforated door in the living room that lets me work on the front of the machines and get some air flow in. I'll also have a vent at the back putting the warm air back into the living room. The distance between the two should minimise the amount of air that gets recirculated. I just need to be mindful of the sound. 20230304_100427 by MLyons posted 12 Mar 2023 at 20:00 I've also gone around the house and made note of every type of lightbulb and type, So I can start to plan out exactly how many I'll need to replace to have everything controlled by HA. This week the plan is to start clearing the back garden of all of the bushes and poorly placed trees. This will start the prep for clearing where the summerhouse will go. I'm also shopping for paint, fridge, freezer, washer and dryer this week as I've been getting clothes cleaned at my aunts and can only store food for a week in the fridge.
The monitor used as a doorstop, and flammable polyester couch against the fireplace is far more troubling. Does 'summer house' means some kind of attached greenhouse, or is it just a shed? The paint in that corner is peeling like it gets wet or is poorly insulated.
The monitor isn't being used to stop the door from opening, that's done by locking it on the site of the door which has been done. That fireplace isn't on. It's not even setup to be turned on. The house is plenty warm without it. The summerhouse will be a sort of shed yes. It's going to be used for a pool table primarily but will also have a fridge and darts board. Which picture are you talking about? wallpaper was striped from the living room one so it's why the paint looks ****.
The pic with the modem. I thought maybe that vent-like object was the culprit. In my experience a corner that looks like that it means it has been drawing moisture. It's good to know it was just demolition. I've had walls, (usually in a garage,) that the old paint would stick more to a paint roller than to the wall. Just teasing about the other things. -but I've had tenants do some scary dumb stuff.
That was some expensive double glazing. Back in the early 90s I used to build those sealed units. I don't miss the desiccant drying my hands to the point they used to crack. Any way, the reason why they would have been measurably more expensive than crap ones? the size of the bars. IE the width of the alu spacer bars. The bigger they are? the better and warmer your glazing is. You can always tell the crap cheapo sealed units by them being 10mm or less. /boring mode off.
I'll tell you what. The house does stay shockingly warm. We've worked out that the gas bill for the month is only going to be around £50 including the standing charge. Good to know
Yeah the noise suppression is madly different too. The woman who lives nextdoor to my mother has the same house only in reverse. Yet it is much noisier in there. She done her wad on rugs etc trying to change it, but didn't realise it was literally due to her windows. She does have double glazing, but her windows are half as thick as my mother's. She didn't try and copy her there though, as that would have been expensive.
