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Since a few months I've been wanting to move out of my flat in the city back to a house in the countryside. Especially during the summer this place really sucks because my balcony is dimensioned for smurfs. In other words, if I want to get some sun and fresh air, I have to haul my ass to the park. On top of that there's the cat incident with my landlord. Not being allowed to keep pets bites. Time to move on...
The only problem was finding a decent house. And then it struck me: my parents moved out of our old home six years ago and since then it's been empty. Result: the place has been gradually decaying from a nice villa to... well, I think "disaster area" is a fitting description. On top of that, it got squatted a few times. No need to say there's a lot of damage and things are bound to get worse. So I made a deal with my parents: I move into the house and renovate the entire place myself in exchange for x months without rent.
So today I did a tour inside and around to determine the actual condition of the house and the garden and to make an inventory of actions that need to be taken.
When you take a look at the pics below, it shouldn't come as a surprise that this is going to be a huge project. I'm not going to tackle the entire place at once though. That would take too long and I want to move in mid October. So the plan is to renovate the master bedroom, kitchen and bathroom first so that I can live there. Afterwards I'll renovate the entire place one room at a time, starting with the livingroom and the winter garden.
Follow the guide please...
The driveway and garage - A lot of mowing, trimming and cleaning up here...
The carport and the front of the house - I need to get a new lawn here and the path next to the house needs to be redone...
The hall - New front door, new wallpaper, some fresh paint and an acid polishing for the marble floor (fuck, I hate that)...
A part of the kitchen - I'm not going to invest in a new kitchen at this point (sorry Jenks
), so a good paintjob should do the trick.
The living room with the fire place - Might need to plaster some areas of the walls which have suffered from moist, again a lot of paint, new wiring (electricity and (surround)sound), spots in the ceiling, new rosters for the convector pits, the wooden floor needs grinding and a new coating...
A view on the winter garden from the living room. It used to be a living/dining room, but I'm going to use it as a dining room only. Might put two seats in there as well since it's pretty cosy with the stove during winter - New wiring, new plastering for the walls (terrible state), new lights, new chimney, paint...
What used to be the bathroom... - New lighting in the ceiling, a new sink, bath and toilet (yup, they're missing), window needs to be replaced and the ceiling painted...
Bedroom 1. Since there are no short term plans for kids, it will be a dressing room for the time being - Still in a pretty good state, maybe some paint and a new coating for the wooden floor
Bedroom 2. Will be used as a guest room since it has a sink - Same to do's as above.
Master bedroom - Same work as above. I might need to check the rosters and the convector pits.
The study. I'm thinking of using it as a fitness room. Finally a decent spot to hang my boxing bag! - New paint and grinding/coating for the floor.
The hallway - New paint, new lighting, new doors for the wall closets (were stolen).
My old room above the garage. Since it's a bit separated from the rest of the house (only room apart from the attic which isn't located on the floor level) it's going to make a perfect spot for a home office - The wall to wall carpet needs to be replaced (going for linoleum this time), fresh paint, wiring for phone, new lighting in the ceiling.
The terrace - New floor tiles, new lighting, new wiring (sound) maybe build a fixed bbq
The backyard. Welcome to the jungle! There used to be a nice trimmed lawn here. Now there's only bushes and weed reaching up to 1 to 1,5 meter... - hardcore gardening required, might lay a garden path too.
Sorry, couldn't resist posting another pic of the backyard. I kinda expected to find what I have found inside the house, but seeing this wilderness was quite a shock. Mother Nature sure does take back what man tries to tame and control
Apart from all of the above the garage needs new floor tiles, new plaster on the walls, a new central heating system, new electrical wiring, the stair to my old room and the attic needs fresh paint. The storage room behind the garage needs tiles as well, the lighting needs to be replaced and since I'm going to put the washing machine there, I have to get some plumbing and electrical wiring going. The pantry next to the kitchen needs to be painted, some parts of the wall have to be replastered and the glass door needs to be replaced.
Yep, when you add it all up it's a hell of a project, but I'm really looking forward to dive right in. I have some DIY experience with wiring, plastering and construction, so I'm going to do the work myself as much as possible. It will probably take me a little longer, but bringing in professionals would be a catastrophe for my budget...
Deadline for the entire renovation: Summer 2007. I'm going to work there every Saturday and Sunday from now on until I can move in (deadline mid October). From that point on I'll throw in a few evenings during the week as well. Dunno if 11 months is a realistic estimate, but I'd like to get it done before Erzina moves to Belgium.
Now where's my hard hat?
The only problem was finding a decent house. And then it struck me: my parents moved out of our old home six years ago and since then it's been empty. Result: the place has been gradually decaying from a nice villa to... well, I think "disaster area" is a fitting description. On top of that, it got squatted a few times. No need to say there's a lot of damage and things are bound to get worse. So I made a deal with my parents: I move into the house and renovate the entire place myself in exchange for x months without rent.
So today I did a tour inside and around to determine the actual condition of the house and the garden and to make an inventory of actions that need to be taken.
When you take a look at the pics below, it shouldn't come as a surprise that this is going to be a huge project. I'm not going to tackle the entire place at once though. That would take too long and I want to move in mid October. So the plan is to renovate the master bedroom, kitchen and bathroom first so that I can live there. Afterwards I'll renovate the entire place one room at a time, starting with the livingroom and the winter garden.
Follow the guide please...
The driveway and garage - A lot of mowing, trimming and cleaning up here...
The carport and the front of the house - I need to get a new lawn here and the path next to the house needs to be redone...
The hall - New front door, new wallpaper, some fresh paint and an acid polishing for the marble floor (fuck, I hate that)...
A part of the kitchen - I'm not going to invest in a new kitchen at this point (sorry Jenks
), so a good paintjob should do the trick.The living room with the fire place - Might need to plaster some areas of the walls which have suffered from moist, again a lot of paint, new wiring (electricity and (surround)sound), spots in the ceiling, new rosters for the convector pits, the wooden floor needs grinding and a new coating...
A view on the winter garden from the living room. It used to be a living/dining room, but I'm going to use it as a dining room only. Might put two seats in there as well since it's pretty cosy with the stove during winter - New wiring, new plastering for the walls (terrible state), new lights, new chimney, paint...
What used to be the bathroom... - New lighting in the ceiling, a new sink, bath and toilet (yup, they're missing), window needs to be replaced and the ceiling painted...
Bedroom 1. Since there are no short term plans for kids, it will be a dressing room for the time being - Still in a pretty good state, maybe some paint and a new coating for the wooden floor
Bedroom 2. Will be used as a guest room since it has a sink - Same to do's as above.
Master bedroom - Same work as above. I might need to check the rosters and the convector pits.
The study. I'm thinking of using it as a fitness room. Finally a decent spot to hang my boxing bag! - New paint and grinding/coating for the floor.
The hallway - New paint, new lighting, new doors for the wall closets (were stolen).
My old room above the garage. Since it's a bit separated from the rest of the house (only room apart from the attic which isn't located on the floor level) it's going to make a perfect spot for a home office - The wall to wall carpet needs to be replaced (going for linoleum this time), fresh paint, wiring for phone, new lighting in the ceiling.
The terrace - New floor tiles, new lighting, new wiring (sound) maybe build a fixed bbq
The backyard. Welcome to the jungle! There used to be a nice trimmed lawn here. Now there's only bushes and weed reaching up to 1 to 1,5 meter... - hardcore gardening required, might lay a garden path too.
Sorry, couldn't resist posting another pic of the backyard. I kinda expected to find what I have found inside the house, but seeing this wilderness was quite a shock. Mother Nature sure does take back what man tries to tame and control
Apart from all of the above the garage needs new floor tiles, new plaster on the walls, a new central heating system, new electrical wiring, the stair to my old room and the attic needs fresh paint. The storage room behind the garage needs tiles as well, the lighting needs to be replaced and since I'm going to put the washing machine there, I have to get some plumbing and electrical wiring going. The pantry next to the kitchen needs to be painted, some parts of the wall have to be replastered and the glass door needs to be replaced.
Yep, when you add it all up it's a hell of a project, but I'm really looking forward to dive right in. I have some DIY experience with wiring, plastering and construction, so I'm going to do the work myself as much as possible. It will probably take me a little longer, but bringing in professionals would be a catastrophe for my budget...
Deadline for the entire renovation: Summer 2007. I'm going to work there every Saturday and Sunday from now on until I can move in (deadline mid October). From that point on I'll throw in a few evenings during the week as well. Dunno if 11 months is a realistic estimate, but I'd like to get it done before Erzina moves to Belgium.
Now where's my hard hat?
)
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