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Post by Kathymel on Dec 17, 2013 9:26:20 GMT
Hello! I feel like I've been neglecting the forum, lately. I can't think about anything except the new cottage and all the work that I'm going to have to do before I move in and all the work that will take actual years to complete once I am in. And, actually, I'm still waiting to hear if the estate will accept the proposal I put to them yesterday regarding the work I need them to do before I can start. GAH! Have to prioritise so many things and am feeling quite resentful about bloody Xmas keeping on raising its ugly head and interrupting my morass of tool-buying/floor laying/learning how to wire a house/plumbing/plastering/hardcore and concrete thoughts, all of which are a bloody jumble as it is. And there's an attic full of spiders to be considered, too. All I've managed to do so far is download a design planning app, map out the floor plan, arrange my furniture in it, design a fabulous kitchen and 'paint' the walls. It looks awesome! Wish it was that easy, really! Obviously, I'm having an absolute ball with this, but I'm quite terrified, too. Not sure Epic Win will be able to keep up with this.
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Post by JJ on Dec 17, 2013 11:44:10 GMT
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Post by Kathymel on Dec 17, 2013 11:53:46 GMT
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Post by JJ on Dec 17, 2013 11:54:40 GMT
Hmmm - re wiring tho - I'd have thought they should do that tho....
There are legal obligations re electrical safety (and gas safety) when you let a property and, I'd have to check for electrics, but not adhering to the gas safety regs is a criminal offence for the landlord.
Also with electrics, there's been a huge amount of legislation in the last few years - sometimes it means that people have to pay £1000's to have something v simple done because electricians aren't allowed to do it until something else like the consumer unit has been brought up to standard.
All the above is part of my work, so I can find out exact info if you need xx
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Post by Kathymel on Dec 17, 2013 12:24:33 GMT
The estate has just spent huge amounts of money rescuing some of the derelict properties it has and has nothing left in the coffers. If someone was happy to live very basically, it would be possible to just clean the place and move in and that's the kind of tenant they were hoping for. However, I've offered to provide the labour to improve the property if they provide the materials and they're considering that at the mo. At the moment there are 2 sockets in each bedroom and 4 in each of the two downstairs rooms - can't cope with that. The radiators are heated by a back boiler on the woodburner. The plumber was tripping when he installed the pipework. I want to do it properly. The electrics are a big, messy, daunting project to think about but hopefully not too problematic to actually do. I'm fairly confident that I can install the cabling and get everything connected up neatly and safely (I have experience from working on site with Fabienne). Then, Fabienne is a qualified electrician and licenced electrical inspector, so will supervise (from a distance) and inspect and test it when she visits. There's no gas at the property - I wouldn't touch that, anyway. I'm crap at plastering, so that's one of the things I'm more worried about, strangely - how I'm going to get the walls looking nice again when I've finished mucking about with everything else! I've got to replace a floor, too, but that's just sawing and it needs to come up so I can redo the comedy plumbing, anyway. The kitchen will be a monumental job, but it can wait (possibly for years) and Genghis and I will be happy living off microwave meals in the meantime. Sorry for deluging you with details! I'm thinking aloud here to try to get it sorted in my head.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2013 12:37:21 GMT
Hmmm - re wiring tho - I'd have thought they should do that tho.... There are legal obligations re electrical safety (and gas safety) when you let a property and, I'd have to check for electrics, but not adhering to the gas safety regs is a criminal offence for the landlord. Also with electrics, there's been a huge amount of legislation in the last few years - sometimes it means that people have to pay £1000's to have something v simple done because electricians aren't allowed to do it until something else like the consumer unit has been brought up to standard. All the above is part of my work, so I can find out exact info if you need xx Fu**ing tell me about it. Got a degree in electronics/electrical engineering and completely re-wired a couple of previous homes. Now I can't touch a bloody thing without asking Building Control to sign everything off in triplicate, or to pay someone £500 for a simple extension to some existing wiring. And that's when I get the sharp intake of breath from some contractor who'll then say, "Aw weeeeeellll, you also need this done.....and that done....and of course, you'd be better off with the a new consumer unit (current one full of RCDs etc and only 10 years old)". To which I reply, "So if I do nothing, do you consider my house unsafe in your professional opinion?". To which they reply: FFS I wouldn't mind, but some of the so-called qualified sparkies sometimes don't do things correctly to current Building Regs. Most do, but some don't. Get really racked off with this, like: 1) When mixing old red/black with current blue/brown - no note on consumer unit 2) Plastering directly over wiring without appropriate conduit 3) Not inserting grommets into the sharp apertures of metal pattress boxes so insulation on wiring doesn't chafe thus causing a short. 4) Wiring directly into junction box that feeds exisiting alarm without first checking alarm box is electrically sound. 5) Using 6mm wiring into induction cooker when 10mm is required, which would of course lead to: Anyway, sorry to hijack your thread Kathymel, keep the stories coming.
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Post by Kathymel on Dec 17, 2013 13:42:05 GMT
I know what you mean, ADDJ (never quite worked out how to shorten your name in a way that works). I have a BTEC III in electronics. When I talk to electricians, they imagine little fiddly circuit boards and low voltage and warn me off the big stuff. I used to work on transmitters that had a potential output of 12kV - puts their puny 230v into perspective.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2013 17:46:22 GMT
I have a smartpants friend that invents electronic 'stuff' - it usually involves those high voltage/low wattage circuits that hurt but don't actually harm you.
Obviously they're hilariously overpaid children who are always bursting crisp packets behind someone at their workstation - which usually ends up with them touching something live.
And he owns the company.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2013 13:10:46 GMT
I know what you mean, ADDJ (never quite worked out how to shorten your name in a way that works). I have a BTEC III in electronics. When I talk to electricians, they imagine little fiddly circuit boards and low voltage and warn me off the big stuff. I used to work on transmitters that had a potential output of 12kV - puts their puny 230v into perspective. Agree, there's nothing wrong with keeping people safe but when more qualified people get patronised by a dumbed-down system, it's just a little bit galling.
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