Man Cave Mk2

[greenwoo]

good to see that you're getting time to get out and about with the camera...amongst learning new building skills.
( i built a rockery once too - i say a rocker, it was the 'spill' from digging out a pond', bt hey, it was a hillock wih stones, and that's a rockery - no?)

take care Bud

[b33fy]

Mastered rockeries a little while ago up here, costs me £700 each time to take then away!

Slow on the blocks and floor joists. Block work improving a bit though. There will be a stone apron around the extension so went to Glasgow today to grab some samples and persuade the company to deliver to the borders. All sorted except some details on the type of bond which will dictate size and quantities. Awaiting a response from the architect on that. Decided to dig out the ‘floor’ a bit more as its pretty close to the joists. The 19th century chippys decided to dump a load of top soil under it so cleared it out to help slow the damp breaching the wall plates. Should be able to finish this side of the living area floor fairly quickly now.

Been distracted with a few other things. Swmbos car was rear ended 7 weeks ago. Despite the third party accepting liability getting to the end has been painful. Won’t bore anyone with the details but the car was initially written off and a miserly offer offered. After a lot of pain, an offer is now on the table which I’ll believe when I see it. Regardless, a replacement car is required. Was thinking year old diesel Golf or similar.. until the salesman hit me with the price.. £29,000. WTF. Then had a look at some hybrids, and sat through the biggest load of bull coming out the salesman’s mouth. Had a look at some Mercedes and was blanked at the dealers. Nothing to do with the ‘work clothes’, builders boots and middle aged Yeti parked next to the S class land yacht. Gave up and now decided to go to plan b) and buy blind over the phone.

Other distraction has been selling a property in Scotland. A totally different experience than in England. Whilst there are good and not so good estate agents in Scotland, they are solicitor led. With that generally comes an extremely professional approach and service at no more cost than elsewhere. Our estate agent has been absolutely faultless. We have been kept totally informed along the whole journey and not needed to chase or hassle. The buyer is tied in legally to complete at an early stage of the process which has taken 59 days from sale launch to the agreed completion date, with the final sale price being 4% over the initial asking price. A result in my book.

[DJ.]

Selling a house can be a complete pain, so I'm glad that went well.

The price of second hand cars has gone nuts. We bought our Cactus on a 3 year plan just before Covid in March 20. This March it came to an end and the final payment was £6000, I went to the showroom to arrange the MOT and they had very few used cars, but a similar model to ours but a year older was up for £12999! As we like the car, paying the remainder and keeping it was a no brainer.

[b33fy]

Selling a house can be a complete pain, so I'm glad that went well.

The price of second hand cars has gone nuts. We bought our Cactus on a 3 year plan just before Covid in March 20. This March it came to an end and the final payment was £6000, I went to the showroom to arrange the MOT and they had very few used cars, but a similar model to ours but a year older was up for £12999! As we like the car, paying the remainder and keeping it was a no brainer.

All a bit of a minefield Duncan. Luckily the insurance payout goes a fair way to getting a reasonable replacement car. Probably another diesel Civic, hopefully a low mileage one from 2020 when they stopped making them. I don’t get the hybrid option, whilst they are greener on the road they are not so green when being built. They are crap on electric round town, then you gotta lug the extra weight of the batteries around with a 1.nothing engine killing the mpg. Hydrogen might be the way forward with Toyota and JCB developing different options. In the meantime a 70mpg euro 6 diesel civic will do the job.

[DJ.]

I think you've got it right, hybrids are good in suburban areas with a lot of traffic, but in the country they don't make sense as the electric range is pathetic and after that (as you say) the batteries are just balast.

[b33fy]

Managed to get half the floor joists finished today. Put a temporary floor of shuttering ply down so we can move tools etc and start on the other half. Then install some central heating pipes, insulation between the joists and finish with chipboard flooring. Picked up a sample of engineered oak flooring today, but doesn’t look it’s money. Also concerned about marking, gouges and wear and tear. Heart says real wood, head says LVT is best. LVT does seem to be able to take considerable abuse in the huts with the work boots etc.

[Wingco]

You are really getting on now Mike, you can start to see the floor plan now with some of the joists down. Hard work I would imagine

[greenwoo]

Hard work I would imagine

hmm, i don't like imagining hard work, unless it is indeed someone else doing it!

[b33fy]

Removed some of the remaining floor and did a bit of framing. Been mostly working outside in the good weather. Installing the drains, more blockwork, rerouting live cables and digging out and levelling for the slab.

Next milestone is finish the drains and pressure test for the building inspector. Fingers crossed he’s happy with it all.

Spent the day Sunday manning the Kelso Camera Club annual exhibition. Managed to get a couple of motorsport shots up on display.

Ongoing saga with Swmbos insurance claim, fingers crossed for a settlement this week.

[DJ.]

Good luck with the pressure test and the insurance.