The House Projects Thread

[Jobbo]

I love your tiles. There was a lovely old building I used to walk past regularly in Birmingham - Cornwall Buildings on Newhall Street - where they replaced the tiled entrance steps with something that was clearly intended to look like Minton tiles. But the tiles were all the same size and it looked like a child's collage: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ixMFqWuTrxFfr92P9 - if you click back to 2018 or earlier you can see it was plain grey before and looked far better. If you do it, you have to do it right like yours.

[GG.]

Thanks, Simon! Interestingly, it was actually something of a cheeky Singer-esque backdate on my part - our house is 1901 so on the Victorian / Edwardian boundary and it originally had red herringbone tiles (there was a remnant of them in front of the door). I thought it looked a bit too all red in combination with the bricks so I matched the more traditional B&W chequerboard that 95% of the other houses on the street have/had.

Our street looks a bit of a mess in that regard as people have replaced the tiles over the years with cheap substitutes. Most annoyingly the single most out of keeping renovations have been done by our next door neighbout (uPVC man to the left of photo) but not much we can do about that and he was there long before us (as you'd probably guess)! The joy of living in a street of terraced houses.

[Jobbo]

Not much you can do about the neighbours. Just block the view with privet Your house looks earlier than 1901 so the tiles really suit it.

Looking at Cornwall Buildings again, I realise that I particularly hated the way they'd tiled the upstands to match. It's way worse in the flesh too; the tiles are modern glazed tiles, not old tiles which I presume were encaustic or similar.

[IanF]

Was going to say, looks like an old person lives next door, and exactly how old and infirm are they!?

There was a chap in the house next door a property I rented in Windsor. He was born and raised in the same house and was late 70’s when I met him plus he had no offspring. House was “traditional “ inside with Bakelite switches and lots of brown/green decor.. soo much potential!

[mik]

Your "mosaic" feature bit looks great. Hopefully it's not slippy.

[Ascender]

Very nice @GG.! Amazing the difference its made and really finishes the front of the house off.

[Gavster]

Looks fantastic, I love those tiled paths on Victorian houses, they look amazing.

[Swervin_Mervin]

Looks good @GG.

I'd be tempted to go with a Yew rather than a privet though. Privets look a bit scruffy even at the best of times, whereas the foliage density of a Yew trims up much more neatly. Slower growing as well so less of a pita to keep on top of.

[Mito Man]

Ever watch citizen khan? You’ve already got off street parking




Mito, did you get sorted? Was away when you’d posted this so completely forgot

Yep, I think my poking the u-bend with a wire and then sticking Zep drain unblocker followed by some kettles of boiling water got it all clear again.

[dinny_g]

Learned something new about our new place today. We’re on a shared waste water pipe system. Something I didn’t know existed…

Lad from DynoRod took one look at the blockage and said the block isn’t in your boundary so get onto Anglia Water who are responsible.

So another 48 hours of watching our water use and checking the levels caused by someone else on our street.

Still, thankfully the DynoRod guy, after trying and failing said he’d report it as “Advice Only” and not charge me. So I bunged him £20 for a few beers after work

[DeskJockey]

Today I learned that uPVC doors have a summer and winter setting! Random YouTube video with someone explaining how to adjust them. One minute with an Allen key and the front door now seals a lot better, especially at the top. Small wins.

[Simon]

Today I learned that uPVC doors have a summer and winter setting! Random YouTube video with someone explaining how to adjust them. One minute with an Allen key and the front door now seals a lot better, especially at the top. Small wins.

Link please? I never knew that was a thing.

[DeskJockey]

Today I learned that uPVC doors have a summer and winter setting! Random YouTube video with someone explaining how to adjust them. One minute with an Allen key and the front door now seals a lot better, especially at the top. Small wins.

Link please? I never knew that was a thing.

[Jobbo]

That’s not really a summer/winter setting. It is just for fitting, so the door can be fitted correctly and then left in one place or adjusted if it moves over time. If the door is fitted correctly you don’t slacken it off for summer.

Use the trickle vents - they do have a summer/winter setting: either open or closed

[DeskJockey]

I did think it odd that a door needed a setting like that. Either way, it's made a difference, so that's a win.

[mik]

Many windows have the same same

[V8Granite]

I just adjusted ours to sealed, I dont want the a bit leaky adjustment as someone saw fit to have the option of opening them.

Dave!

[dinny_g]

I did think it odd that a door needed a setting like that. Either way, it's made a difference, so that's a win.

The uPVC outer door from the kitchen in our place gets direct sunlight for a lot of the day and it doesn’t close right in the summer. Closing and locking it takes some jiggling - I will look into this. I wasn’t aware

In other news, Anglia water sorted our drains this morning in about 20 mins. Needed to work the neighbours side but this freed up ours

[jamcg]

Not my project, currently installing a new heating system in an empty bungalow that’s not had any heating for about a year, temperature is about 5 indoors, it’s rough working

[Jobbo]

I was up on our roof today, cleaning the lantern window over the kitchen. It’s been a bit green for a while and finding a window cleaner who would do it is a struggle.

It’s nice and clean now but I don’t want to go on the roof again if I can avoid it