The House Projects Thread

[Mito Man]

Yep, I double checked that in the listingMaterial information

Construction materials: Brick
Roof: Asphalt

Made in USA alright

[Beany]

Home Alone house for sale.

Lots of (Mercuns?) complaining on twitter that they’ve not kept the interior as it was for the film (although apparently most of it was filmed on a set, it was modelled on the actual house interior).

Do they....do they think the film distributors own every house they film in and around?

Are they literally mentally deficient?

[Ascender]

Home Alone house for sale.

Lots of (Mercuns?) complaining on twitter that they’ve not kept the interior as it was for the film (although apparently most of it was filmed on a set, it was modelled on the actual house interior).

Do they....do they think the film distributors own every house they film in and around?

Are they literally mentally deficient?

I mean, they are American....

House looks amazing though.

[Swervin_Mervin]

There are some amazing houses over there. This prompted me to dig out a listing from a few years ago of my Uncle & Aunt's old place in SC:

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandho ... 942#photo0

My Aunt never forgave him for them having to sell up that place. Stayed there in '94 and the cellars weren't done out at that time - they still had the lockers...And if you look at the photo of the rear of the house you'll see 2 rear doors.

[Gavster]

Very pissed off this morning.

Been informed that a judge (HHJ Luba) on one of his last days before retirement has kicked our case into the multi-track which is usually reserved for large and complex cases, rather than simple cases such as ours. Our assumption is that the judge has looked at the large quantity of paperwork and assumed this is a complex case, rather than a yes/no to the question of "did you provide access to a surveyor?". The multi track also brings a bunch of pre-trial protocols that need to be addressed, starting with a costs case management conference in September. Basically a massive and costly pain. We're going to apply for a disposal hearing and hope that we can get the possession claim heard and disposed of instead.

If we are successful in getting listed for a disposal hearing, it's questionable if we'll get one this year. Perhaps late November or December if I'm lucky, or could be as late as Jan. And then even if we do get that, it's going to be another 6 to 9 months or more for enforcement after that date.

It's 5 years this month since I first engaged my solicitor on this issue and looks like we have another 18 months or more to go. Most of the time has been spent waiting for a) Covid to disappear back in 2020/21 and b) court dates, each time we need to go to court it adds 6 months onto the process while we await a hearing date. Bah.

[Rich B]

What a load of shit. The whole legal system in this country is a complete waste of time. We've had a few cases at work that despite £10k+ outstanding it's basically not worth bothering.

[mik]

Our assumption is that the judge has looked at the large quantity of paperwork and assumed this is a complex case, rather than a yes/no to the question of "did you provide access to a surveyor?". The multi track also brings a bunch of pre-trial protocols that need to be addressed, starting with a costs case management conference in September. Basically a massive and costly pain. We're going to apply for a disposal hearing and hope that we can get the possession claim heard and disposed of instead.

Must be intensely frustrating.

[Gavster]

What a load of shit. The whole legal system in this country is a complete waste of time. We've had a few cases at work that despite £10k+ outstanding it's basically not worth bothering.

Yep, once you get out of the small claims track it's suddenly a whole new world of money and time to pursue someone.

@mik it is intensely frustrating. A lot of work needs to be done to the exterior of the property which isn't realistic to commence until this is all wrapped up, and I'd struggle to sell my place while this is all going on. It has essentially frozen my ability to forward plan anything with my home until it's all wrapped up. By the time it's all done I'm gonna be ready to move to a remote island, miles away from anyone, somewhere like Australia.

[Ascender]

There are some amazing houses over there. This prompted me to dig out a listing from a few years ago of my Uncle & Aunt's old place in SC:

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandho ... 942#photo0

My Aunt never forgave him for them having to sell up that place. Stayed there in '94 and the cellars weren't done out at that time - they still had the lockers...And if you look at the photo of the rear of the house you'll see 2 rear doors.

That also looks incredible. As a child of the 70s brought up on American movies in the 80s, I'd love to own a house like that which is straight out of Ferris Bueller or Halloween.

[Ascender]

Very pissed off this morning.

Been informed that a judge (HHJ Luba) on one of his last days before retirement has kicked our case into the multi-track which is usually reserved for large and complex cases, rather than simple cases such as ours. Our assumption is that the judge has looked at the large quantity of paperwork and assumed this is a complex case, rather than a yes/no to the question of "did you provide access to a surveyor?". The multi track also brings a bunch of pre-trial protocols that need to be addressed, starting with a costs case management conference in September. Basically a massive and costly pain. We're going to apply for a disposal hearing and hope that we can get the possession claim heard and disposed of instead.

If we are successful in getting listed for a disposal hearing, it's questionable if we'll get one this year. Perhaps late November or December if I'm lucky, or could be as late as Jan. And then even if we do get that, it's going to be another 6 to 9 months or more for enforcement after that date.

It's 5 years this month since I first engaged my solicitor on this issue and looks like we have another 18 months or more to go. Most of the time has been spent waiting for a) Covid to disappear back in 2020/21 and b) court dates, each time we need to go to court it adds 6 months onto the process while we await a hearing date. Bah.

And I take it there's no easy, common sense way to appeal that?

FFS This country... How can they expect anyone to put their lives on hold for this in any way? Not to mention the financial impact? Stress?

[DeskJockey]

Like all other services they're run into the ground. That's no excuse, but a fact. The delays and frustration must be immense.

[Mito Man]

That is beyond pathetic. 5 years

I have got some legal problems with the council, don't think it's sensible to share yet but for a council on the brink of bankruptcy I am surprised at the amount of resources they've thrown into this - full on private investigator levels of craziness going on. They could just arrange a meeting where we have a chat and decide on further steps but they seem intent on going down this path.

[KiwiDave]

We're nearing starting work on our place. Three bathrooms to be redone (including one new skylight), a laundry, a damaged extraction hood over the cooker (and its resultant damage to ceiling) and lining of a shed.

This has been some time in coming, partially due to my partner's utter lack of decision making capability and life organisation skills (irony given she's a planner and project manager) and partially due to being led along on a merry old goose chase by our first choice of building company. However, new company in place, start date all bar set, consents approved and about 6 weeks away from go. I've no idea how much (or little) to share in here, but suffice to say the vast majority of the issues are as a result of poor work carried out by previous owners. It turns out all three bathrooms and the laundry were refinished without the waterproofing membrane required by our building code. So when the shower trays leaked and when the washing machine dumped its waste water after the Mrs dislodged the waste pipe, the underlying floor (about 40%) of the upstairs of the house) became trashed. Side note, also don't ever fit Valsir (Italian) in-wall toilets to anything. Useless design.

We're also hopeful that the lining of the shed (kinda under the house as part of the building) will fix a lot of our rodent access to the house and assist in some acoustic mods I'm making to my drum room area for better sound proofing and neighbour relations. If anyone wants info on how to go about genuinely soundproofing rooms/outbuildings, I've been down the rabbit hole for the last 12 months.

[Simon]

Had a new garden fence fitted down the length of my garden from the garage. Local bloke whose work I'd seen elsewhere. £2250 but a top quality job. (Price of materials is crazy now it seems).

Also ordered a new shed (10x4) replacing the rotten 6x4 that is falling down. Should be with me first week of July.

Next up is to get the kitchen replaced. We've come to peace with the fact that we need to move, as getting the house extended still won't give us the space we want or need, so we'll fix up what we need to and move on.

Missed out on a nice 4 bed a few roads away for £800k that would've suited us down to the ground - really good layout, nice road and space for everyone, but it went very quickly. Not surprising as it's one of the nicest I've seen in the estate. My wife is very philosophical about things like this - she says that whenever we miss out on something is because something better is on its way - I hope that remains the case!

[dinny_g]

Next up is to get the kitchen replaced. We've come to peace with the fact that we need to move, as getting the house extended still won't give us the space we want or need, so we'll fix up what we need to and move on.

I'm sure you've been told this before but be careful putting in a new Kitchen to help sell your house. Unless you're current kitchen is a disaster area and absolutely needs to be replaced, you won't recoup anywhere near what you spend on it in increased house price.

We replaced the counter tops, sink and tap, painted the cupboard doors and put in a new blind - £400 all in and it looked brand new

[Simon]

Next up is to get the kitchen replaced. We've come to peace with the fact that we need to move, as getting the house extended still won't give us the space we want or need, so we'll fix up what we need to and move on.

I'm sure you've been told this before but be careful putting in a new Kitchen to help sell your house. Unless you're current kitchen is a disaster area and absolutely needs to be replaced, you won't recoup anywhere near what you spend on it in increased house price.

We replaced the counter tops, sink and tap, painted the cupboard doors and put in a new blind - £400 all in and it looked brand new

Oh absolutely - it'll probably be revenue neutral on the whole thing, but the current thing is trash. The laminate is peeling off the doors, a couple of the carcases are water damaged and swollen, tiles are off the wall etc. What it will do is make it more attractive to sell the house when the time comes. It'll be from DIY kitchens and a local installer and it's quite small anyway so not the priciest thing in the world.

[duncs500]

Been slowly working on realising my dream of having a nice garage. Had a new leccy door put in and stuck down some of those PVC tiles, pretty pleased with the results:



Took me ages as majority of it I've been doing on lunch breaks. And yes, there are expansion gaps on all edges before anyone asks.

I sealed the floor first and it's been a total game changer in terms of the dusty horror that was the old floor. Coupled with a door that actually seals against the floor instead of having a two inch gap, the car now doesn't instantly become a dusty mess when sat in there. Plus with the new door I don't have to clamber out to close the door all the time.

Can't describe how happy it makes me.

[dinny_g]

Then yes, definately worth it.

Stops buyers going "Needs a new Kitchen - take £20k off the asking price" etc.

[mik]

Looks good @duncs500 - is that a powered roller door?

Do you plan to add any extra lighting?

[duncs500]

Looks good @duncs500 - is that a powered roller door?

Do you plan to add any extra lighting?

Yes on both counts.

The light is poor, after investigation, part of that is because it's full of dust inside. In any case I've bought a foot longer, higher powered LED strip light to replace it with. However my plan is to paint the ply ceiling white (leave the beams wood). So I won't fit the new light until I inevitably cover the old one in paint.

Also began cleaning up the brick work and will seal that.

I know it would have been wise to do the walls and painting before the floor, but honestly the floor was doing my head in.