# Our first home



## Hereisphilly

After renting for just under 5 years and getting married 6 months ago, the missus and I finally moved into our own home at the weekend!

After lots of sorting out and moving things, it's finally getting to a completed state, so I'd thought I'd share some pics (taken over a few days when I could grab a spare few mins

Front of the house complete with LWB transit that was a godsend when we were moving









Kitchen (which we love)













































Bedroom 3 which is a dressing room









Bedroom 4 (yet to be sorted but will be a study / my man cave)









Bathroom 1









Now there's an ensuite to the master bedroom which we're going to rip out and re-tile at the minimum, no idea what the previous owners were thinking with the black slate all over the walls, makes it look like a black hole. Oh and add a shower door!









Big enough garden for just the two of us, grass needs a bit of tlc









And now for the most important parts 😂😂

Nice and wide block paved drive

















And the garage which is coming together nicely
Before 









After

















Unfortunately it's just a tad too small for everyday use, but manageable if we go away on holiday or something









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## Spike85

Looks really nice and congratulations


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## rob warrington

Congrats, looks really nice. Love the garage, Bet half the boxes haven't been unpacked yet but the detailing gear all set up ha. That would be me, 
Very jealous of the big drive and garage. 
Well done looks spot on


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## rob267

Wow. House looks great mate. Agree the kitchen is really nice. 
I am very jealous buddy. Well done to you and your partner 😀

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## DrEskimo

Congrats Philly!

To say I am immensely jealous of your driveway and garage is an understatement.....!

Heres to many happy memories living there


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## Cookies

That's a beautiful home for you both, Phil. Many congratulations and best washes buddy. 

The driveway and garage are fab!!!

Cooks 

Sent from my D6603


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## Pittsy

Nice one Phil, glad to see the garage is coming along, priorities 1st eh :lol:


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## nbray67

Looking good Phil.

Agreed, that en-suite shower is pretty dire.

You still across the 'water' from me?


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## LewisChadwick7

lovely looking place that dude... congratulations!!!  hope you have many happy years there!


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## Hereisphilly

Thanks for all your kind words!
It's been a big push for us in the last few months saving, as we found this house a little too early than we had planned, but we didn't want to let it go

Got a few more bits of furniture on the way, and then things on the list to sort are

Replace door handles with Pas 24 secure ones and put anti snap locks all round

Wire the hallway, Iounge and study with cat 6, done properly with faceplates, back boxes the lot

Change the glass in 2 of the upvc windows as it looks like the seals have gone as there is condensation between the two (knew about this when we viewed)

Fit new hinge mechanisms to all the windows as they're rough as hell and a few of them have sagged in the frame when closed

Fully tile out the ensuite, fit a shower door and towel rail. The slate walks just don't look good in my eyes, and the amount of dirt they retain is crazy. I'm all for slate tiles in the hallway and kitchen, but not in the bathrooms

Towel rail in the main bathroom, not sure if we'll rip out the tiles in that one too. 

Fully redecorate throughout, sorting out the silly sky cables that are in 4 rooms randomly drilled through the walls

Paint all the exterior wood as it's looking tired

Change the lighting in the garage as well as the ceiling there, as it's just been covered in what looks like thin cheap mdf, which has gotten a bit damp


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## Hereisphilly

nbray67 said:


> Looking good Phil.
> 
> Agreed, that en-suite shower is pretty dire.
> 
> You still across the 'water' from me?


Thanks mate, yeah still in Gainsborough, just moved to a quiet estate not far from our old house

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## WHIZZER

Looks great buddy congrats 

Get that jet wash on those pavers and it will come up looking great as well ( resand and seal)


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## Hereisphilly

WHIZZER said:


> Looks great buddy congrats
> 
> Get that jet wash on those pavers and it will come up looking great as well ( resand and seal)


Thanks very much! Yep, that's one of my jobs this week, jet em all down and get them clean, can finally put the patio cleaner nozzle to good use

What do you mean by resand and seal?

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## Luke M

Congrats buddy. Looks lovely.


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## chongo

Your house looks lovely and I hope you and the mrs enjoy your new home.
Nice man cave:thumb: Any plans for it:thumb:


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## WHIZZER

Hereisphilly said:


> Thanks very much! Yep, that's one of my jobs this week, jet em all down and get them clean, can finally put the patio cleaner nozzle to good use
> 
> What do you mean by resand and seal?
> 
> Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk


When you clean pavers - it removes the sand between the gaps you need some dry kiln sand to brush back into the grooves - then if you like that finish you can seal the look in

have a look here 
http://www.pavingexpert.com/refurb_06.htm


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## Hereisphilly

chongo said:


> Your house looks lovely and I hope you and the mrs enjoy your new home.
> Nice man cave:thumb: Any plans for it:thumb:


Thanks mate, yeah thats becoming my computer room / study / man cave
The massive black tower on the right is my watercooled PC so that takes up a fair bit of space, and then the smaller black cube is the home server so I'm claiming that room for me


WHIZZER said:


> When you clean pavers - it removes the sand between the gaps you need some dry kiln sand to brush back into the grooves - then if you like that finish you can seal the look in
> 
> have a look here
> http://www.pavingexpert.com/refurb_06.htm


That looks awesome, I'll definitely look into this, sounds like a cheaper way of preserving the driveway

Just had the handles delivered, out with the old naff white ones and replaced with chrome
Can't fit the Mila Pro secure as the incorrectly sized existing locks don't fit



















Ordered 3 keyed alike abs avocets today for the front, rear and garage. Will be nice to only need one key

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## Hereisphilly

Bit more diy done today and I'm quite proud of it if I'm honest





































And I've put a TV up too!










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## Simz

Looking good mate, take a look on the Midland thread and let me know what you think reference a Stratstone meet please


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## chongo

Nice set up. Like the wooden clip on for your bottles, where did you get the metal clips from mate, very good idea mate.


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## MEH4N

congrats, look s lovely that. Decent garage and driveway.


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## MarkusF

Hereisphilly said:


> Bit more diy done today and I'm quite proud of it if I'm honest
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Very nice! Nice and tidy garage love it 

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## Hereisphilly

chongo said:


> Nice set up. Like the wooden clip on for your bottles, where did you get the metal clips from mate, very good idea mate.


Thanks! 
I can't comment if you're gonna use other bottles as they could be different sizes, but if you use the ones I have, you'll need the following

2" x 2" wood which is the perfect size to offset the difference in diameter between trigger and bottle. If it's 2" x 2" you can also rest the back of the trigger on top of the wood to take some of the weight too

These are screwed into the wall with 6 x 100 screws, 4 per m (ain't going anywhere)

Clips are these from screwfix http://www.screwfix.com/p/zinc-plated-tool-clips-10-pack/15750

3/4" is the perfect size, as the 1" is too loose. You just need to them apart a bit to creat a big enough opening once screwed in

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## LewisChadwick7

good progress already on the most important room dude!  cheers or the info on the clips i'll be saving that for when i get to do mine :thumb:


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## Hereisphilly

Small update today, new dining room table and chairs, and got the locks installed, can finally use the Mila Pro secure handle now that the proper size locks are installed



















We're now starting to have a good look at the ensuite, and have released that the shower inlets come from the ceiling, has anyone seen one like this before?

We want to change the shower to one with a fixed drench head, but they all have the inlets facing backwards coming out of the wall










We also need to get an extractor fan that actually works installed, preferably above the shower with an integrated light (as it currently doesn't have one) 
Anyone got any recommendations?

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## [email protected]

Brave living in gainsborough Haha lived there my self for many years now out in sturton by stow


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## Hereisphilly

[email protected] said:


> Brave living in gainsborough Haha lived there my self for many years now out in sturton by stow


Haha it's not too bad if you get the right areas! Still need to pop in to you guys, only a few mins down the road from me

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## [email protected]

Hereisphilly said:


> Haha it's not too bad if you get the right areas! Still need to pop in to you guys, only a few mins down the road from me
> 
> Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk


yes we are  we are just looking for a unit at the moment


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## Pauly.22

Congrats, Looks a nice house, drive and garage look good.


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## dionbee93

Congratulations - Looks a very nice pad! Garage looks very tidy too. 

Must say - I'm liking the kitchen, Belfast sink finishes it off.. very nice!


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## Hereisphilly

dionbee93 said:


> Congratulations - Looks a very nice pad! Garage looks very tidy too.
> 
> Must say - I'm liking the kitchen, Belfast sink finishes it off.. very nice!


Thanks! Yeah we really like it, the kitchen was one of the things that drew us to the house, it's really nice

The house just needs a bit of tweaking for us, but nowhere near the level of work you're undertaking! Christ you're a brave man

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## Hereisphilly

Home network bits arrived today, 100m of outdoor cat 6 solid copper and all the necessary keystone jacks, going to be a busy weekend!

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## dchapman88

Hereisphilly said:


> Bit more diy done today and I'm quite proud of it if I'm honest
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Just wanna thank you for the bottle holder idea. 
I have stolen it and adapted it for my own space!

Brilliant idea and saved me lots of space on my racking!


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## Hereisphilly

dchapman88 said:


> Just wanna thank you for the bottle holder idea.
> I have stolen it and adapted it for my own space!
> 
> Brilliant idea and saved me lots of space on my racking!


Awesome! Got any pics?

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## Hereisphilly

We decided we couldn't live with the ensuite for much longer, so at the weekend decided to start ripping things out

Working away at it every night this week in preparation for hopefully plasterboarding this eve, shower tanking tomorrow and then tiling on the weekend

Before



























Nice to see the original tiles making a comeback!



















Oh and if anyone is thinking of using natural slate in a shower, don't! Impossible to seal and there was water actually inside the tile!



















New shower tray trial fitted, shower inlets re run, and floor all scraped off














































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## WHIZZER

Lots of work but looking like you are getting there


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## graham1970

Have you considered not using tiles bud?
http://www.multipanel.co.uk/products/walls

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## Hereisphilly

graham1970 said:


> Have you considered not using tiles bud?
> http://www.multipanel.co.uk/products/walls
> 
> Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk


Yeah we did look at something like, work had something similar put in the toilets there
In the end decided we preferred the look that tiles gave us, but it does look a doddle to fit!
I've now got a pallet of tiles jamming up the garage along with the new bathroom, hopefully it'll all be gone soon

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## dchapman88

Hereisphilly said:


> Awesome! Got any pics?
> 
> Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk


Lol, literally just seen this post! 
Yeah this is what I did, just waiting to get my chemical resistant head sprayer bottles so I can fill her up! 









Looks like your cracking on well with the new house. Coming on a treat


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## 0-MAT-0

Good effort on the en-suite there. From experience it will be well worth it when you have finished.


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## Hereisphilly

Small update, started at the weekend and have been plugging away every night at tiling

Progress is slow in the evenings but I'm getting there























Shower has been re-plasterboarded and fully tanked









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## Hereisphilly

Bit of a bigger update
After plugging away every weekend and weeknight, the end is in sight!

Just got the tiles to wash down again, fit the sink, new lighting, riser fascia on the shower and then rehang the door going the other way


































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## nbray67

Cracking job that lot Phil.

You've saved yourself some serious coin by doing it yourself.


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## Hereisphilly

nbray67 said:


> Cracking job that lot Phil.
> 
> You've saved yourself some serious coin by doing it yourself.


Thanks mate, yeah I'm really pleased with it and its a massive improvement!

I should take out shares in screwfix, the amount of money I've plowed into them this month!

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## Estoril-5

Awesome job buddy, in the middle.of doing my folks bathroom at the moment.

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## WHIZZER

That's looking great


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