That 'big project' I've been banging on about for a few years now....

[James Harrison]

Good points- but I'd already bought some timber strip moulding a few days ago.  This has a chamfer to it so when it's finally in place and caulked up it should just throw the water off the tiles and back into the bath.



I want to put a length of it across the head of the bath as well but that would be a nightmare of a cut to make (all of my saws are handsaws) so will have to wait until I buy a jigsaw.  Naturally this strip needs to be stained and varnished to within an inch of its life and - it's not there yet.  I reckon maybe another week or so of staining, varnishing and sanding and it will be ready to install. 



Another big piece of the trim has been cleaned up and re-stained, both the door and the panel above it.  The panel has actually had another coat of paint as well and now reasonably matches the walls, which makes a bit of a difference.  Whisper it, but this wall is now practically finished. 



Skirting board for behind the bathtub and WC has been bought - I purposely bought a smaller section of skirting because it's easier to fit it in around and behind the fittings.  The section behind the bath needs to be slid in from a precise location at a precise angle to get it to fit, if I'd gone for the skirting the same size as the rest of the room it wouldn't have worked.  Obviously I can't do much with this, beyond cut it to length and stain it, until the trim to the bath is in. 

As for the box out - there's only one place in town that sells the size of timber I need, it's a car ride away and (as usual) it's shut by the time I get home from work and only open on Saturday mornings at weekends.  So that's a job for tomorrow, to buy what I need for that. 

In terms of my getting thoroughly worn out and bored of the work - small steps and short work sessions seem to be the only ways of dealing with that. 

[James Harrison]

Today's little bits;
-I got the wood for the box-out carcass;
-I bought a jigsaw and a workbench (how have I gone so long without either of those?!?);
-That proposed second piece of bath surround has been cut, and started staining it;
-The remaining length of skirting for behind the bath has been cut to length and shaped to fit, and started staining it.

Tomorrow's session looks like a paintbrush and some woodstain.

[SeVeNeVeS]

I do hope you will mitre all the ends for a nicer finish.

A workbench and basic power tools are essential for a house refurb, sometimes good to buy some first before thinking about the materials, design etc.

[The Bullet]

A workbench and basic power tools are essential for a house refurb, sometimes good to buy some first before thinking about the materials, design etc.

True words.

Whan I bought this house in 2009 the fist thing for me was to do a basic fix of the workshop in the basement (just for it to last during the move) and put all my tools in place there. I also added a few cabinets (those with the tiny drawers) of assorted screws, nails. This also helped a lot.
People were joking about me like, "should do the bedroom first or will you sleep in the workshop?" but it was worth it. We did not waste any time looking for tools in the many boxes but had everxthing available.
All tools ready to go and a "worn out, old" workbench supporting a huge vice and my pillar drill.
After the move and having everything else set up I emptied the workshop completely and installed my kind of workshop. The old benches had woordworm, lighting was poor, just a few outlets for the tools...

My mail weapon still is my "outside workshop". This is a postable workbench with a huge bench vice and a pipe vice. It had been hand-built ages ago. The fold-away legs are 2" pipe, the wooden top is 1" thick and held in place by 1" x 1" angle iron. The thing is d##n heavy but also very stable. Due to its weight, you can really use the vices, even with force.
Good to have things like that.

[James Harrison]

Tools can be expensive and so I only tend to buy them as and when they're needed.  It's only because I now have more awkward cuts and some larger bit of timber to cut that I've invested in the jigsaw.  Similarly the workbench, most of the time I can use one of the kitchen worktops to stand at (obviously being careful not to wreck the worktop).

What I'm finding now though is that the more work that gets done, the fewer places I have where I might be willing to risk doing things like cutting.  The sitting room and dining room for instance are completely out of bounds for labour, and washing out brushes and the like is prohibited in the bathroom.  Whilst working in the kitchen is fine at the moment, at some point it's also going to become verboten.   

At present the majority of my tools are stored in the cupboard under the stairs (very neat and tidy, but an absolute nightmare the second I need to get one out, and painful too when I know  the one I need is right at the back of the cupboard but stubbornly refuses to make its presence known).  In the long term I'm planning to turn part of the garage into a workshop (to help my second long term project) but as it usually is by the time I'm ready to do that the house will be probably 85 - 90% done. 

I do hope you will mitre all the ends for a nicer finish.

That's the intention, assuming the 200mm deep sheet will fit inside my mitre saw stand. 

[SeVeNeVeS]

Again Gumtree and Marketplace can be a good place for 2nd hand power tools but I'm always a little wary in case they could be stolen.

often people just retiring or wives clearing deceased loved ones possesions, I have seen some stunning bargains but I got most of what I want and need (from work).

I have a very humble setup, B&D workmate, powertools and hndtools, a bench vice and a good hoover for the mess I create, blowtorch and that's about it.

I wish I had space to set up a proper workshop but I make do. Most work is carried out in my kitchen.

Just as an example, I bought an electric compound chop saw from a second hand shop (cashconverters....on your high street) 20 years ago, as a throw away, just to cut my skirting boards in the whole house for £50. Its still going well and true and used for chopping fire wood now, same blade, been lent out and abused but worth the money for the years of service it has provided.

[James Harrison]

My list of tools at the moment is quite small but grows on an as-required basis;

-Workbench
-Jigsaw
-Mitre saw
-Hand saw
-Hammer drill
-Power drill
-Battery screwdriver
-Hand screwdrivers
-Chisels
-Palm sander
-Orbital sander
-Heat gun
-Paint scrapers
-Dremel-type hobbyists multi-tool
-Wrecking bar
-Rubber mallet
-Claw hammer
-Tile cutter
-Spirit level

Broadly, I'm about well-equipped to saw, drill, clean surfaces, smash things up and screw them back together.  At the moment that covers probably 90 - 95% of what I'm actually doing.  Quite what I'm going to do with this collection of handyman's implements after the house is finished I don't know. 

The bathroom's inching closer to completion anyway, there's a bit more trim that has been cleaned up (that now takes me up to the entrance door) and the length of skirting behind the bath and WC is ready to fit. 





Just loosely placed for the moment, there's no point permanently fitting it in and caulking it up until the strip around the bath is done. 

Speaking of that, the shorter section across the head of the bath has been cut now - that's why I bought the jigsaw - and it's been stained and partly varnished.  Once both sections of the strip are to the same level of completion (stained twice and varnished once) I'll work them up in tandem.  If I aim for the same level of protection as I gave the flooring, they will need to be sanded down, stained once more, then varnished twice more.  Unlike the flooring I'll be varnishing these both top and bottom three times.   

[SeVeNeVeS]

What to do with your tools?...... Keep them stored in safe place.......

A house is never truely "finished" requiring constant maitenance and up keep as things get worn in and worn out...... you never know what is lurking around the corner or in a few years time. 

[James Harrison]

Hmm.  Not convinced the box out as currently envisaged is a viable idea.  The timber section is too big to be worked with the tools I have.  One way of doing it, I suppose, would be to fabricate it from the leftover floorboards and then run a decorative strip wood capping along the top to hide the tongue and groove.  Might have a look at that tomorrow.   

[James Harrison]

Well, that's roughly the final effect - everything that still needs to be fabricated is being test-fitted here. 
The trim around the bath - that's ready to go.
The skirting behind the bath - that's ready to go. 
The boxing under the radiator - that's still a work in progress but the basic carcass is essentially done.

Other than that, well I've still got to clean up and stain the doorframe, and the door itself, and there's a strip to add below the door, and maybe a final bit of trim behind the head of the bath.   

[James Harrison]

I think I can now cross the biggest problem off the to-do list. 



Because the plastic foam and silicon solution to the gap honestly looked like some sort of horrible injury, I bought some timber strip moulding and I then spent weeks staining and varnishing it.  Once I was happy that it was sufficiently protected against damp and moisture, I glued it in place and siliconed it in.  But water just sort of wicked around it, and under it, and then dripped on the floor. 

It was a better solution admittedly but I still had some large puddles after showering.  So it was obvious really that something additional was needed. 

Therefore I bought some bath edging strip, and I put that on top of the wood and siliconed that on.  And that seems to have actually worked.  Because the water on the floor now is maybe one or two small drips - in other words, what you might expect anyway when showering - and I can control that. 

Right, next biggest thing on the to-do list now.  That box, perhaps. 

[James Harrison]

So; next issue. 

It's down to carrying on with restaining the wood trim, or building the coaming around the radiator pipes. 
I decided to do the radiator pipes.

A few weeks ago I measured up what I needed to build and bought some carcassing timber from a builder's merchant.  Unfortunately it was too large to be worked by the tools at my disposal, so I had to reconsider my plans. 

I had a few spare floorboards and an offcut of plywood from when I made that template for cutting the marble, and a few random lengths of small section timber that have been reclaimed from here, there and everywhere as I break things down and rebuild. 





So what I came up with was this, a couple of floorboards slotted together for the front and sides, mitred together, and a bit of 1" square timber section in the corners as reinforcement.  For the top, I used the 3mm ply offcut, with suitable cut outs so that the radiator pipes can poke out the top. 

Obviously there's still a lot of work to do on this but at least now I know where I'm going with it and I hope the worst of it is over because, so far as I can see, all that is left now to do is to restain it and put a suitable finish on the ply (I'm thinking of using up some of my leftover wall tiles to do that).

[James Harrison]

In place, with the tiles fixed in;



It's not fixed in place yet and to be honest I'm probably going to leave it so it can be moved (in case I ever need to get to the shower shut-off valves or anything else behind the bath).

Tomorrow night's little task should see this bit finished, because all I really need to do is grout up the tiles. 

Then I can clean up and stain the last bit or trim, and then it's just the door and the threshold to sort out and the room is (practically) done. 

[James Harrison]

And to all intents and purposes that's the end of the 2024 Programme. 







The last items on the to-do list were to clean up and stain the door and the doorframe, which was the work of maybe an hour this morning. 

So, now I have the fun task of deciding what will be on the 2025 Programme.  Watch this space, I guess.

[James Harrison]

Welp, this whole 'I want the Edwardian style, but I don't want to live in a museum' thing is going well. 





Because that's now another genuine piece of Edwardian furniture I've laid my hands on.

[SeVeNeVeS]

So, now I have the fun task of deciding what will be on the 2025 Programme.  Watch this space, I guess.

Maybe pull the bath out and do it right, it still leaks, don't look great and is a basic bodge on top of a bodge on top of bad fitting in the first place. Ditch the shower curtain and install a screen for a drip free shower experience.

Love the rest and I particularly like the fact you took time to line up the tiles on the boxing.

The devil is in the details.

Bit harsh I know, but there you go, all round a grand job.

[James Harrison]

So, now I have the fun task of deciding what will be on the 2025 Programme.  Watch this space, I guess.

Maybe pull the bath out and do it right, it still leaks, don't look great and is a basic bodge on top of a bodge on top of bad fitting in the first place. Ditch the shower curtain and install a screen for a drip free shower experience.

Love the rest and I particularly like the fact you took time to line up the tiles on the boxing.

The devil is in the details.

Bit harsh I know, but there you go, all round a grand job.

I don't disagree that there are a few compromises and rough edges and bits that could do with being improved.

But if I were to set that as a target next year, it would feel that the project has stalled. The room is now actually in a usable state and I don't think I want to be taking it back from that anytime soon unless I absolutely have to.

I have a few ideas of what I want to do next year, but no idea yet what form that will take. It will be another part of the house though.

[The Bullet]

So, now I have the fun task of deciding what will be on the 2025 Programme.  Watch this space, I guess.

Maybe pull the bath out and do it right, it still leaks, don't look great and is a basic bodge on top of a bodge on top of bad fitting in the first place. Ditch the shower curtain and install a screen for a drip free shower experience.

Love the rest and I particularly like the fact you took time to line up the tiles on the boxing.

The devil is in the details.

Bit harsh I know, but there you go, all round a grand job.

No.
Leave it as it is and use it for a year.
Then smooth out the rough edges.
There are things that will come up later and things that seem a problem at first but not after getting used to them.
Patience is the key.
Review after a yesr of use.

[James Harrison]

So, now I have the fun task of deciding what will be on the 2025 Programme.  Watch this space, I guess.

Maybe pull the bath out and do it right, it still leaks, don't look great and is a basic bodge on top of a bodge on top of bad fitting in the first place. Ditch the shower curtain and install a screen for a drip free shower experience.

Love the rest and I particularly like the fact you took time to line up the tiles on the boxing.

The devil is in the details.

Bit harsh I know, but there you go, all round a grand job.

No.
Leave it as it is and use it for a year.
Then smooth out the rough edges.
There are things that will come up later and things that seem a problem at first but not after getting used to them.
Patience is the key.
Review after a yesr of use.

That's exactly what I'm planning to do.

What I have found so far is that each room has gone through a process of evolution, I do what I think I want and then having actually lived with it for a little while I start discovering what actually works for me.