Why You Haven't Seen Much From My Narrow Rebuild Lately

[Mark (smokey mow)]

An O/T Diy and building thread

Those of you that spend too much time on the boardroom may recall that the rebuild of my narrow Westfield came to a bit of a premature and abrupt halt back in early March after i had a bit of an accident in the early hours of one morning and knocked myself out on the kitchen floor  

Well after a couple of months of recuperation and generally not doing too much i eventually got all the feeling back in my hands again and now thankfully all is good other than a bit more missing hair that wont grow back

Not wishing to repeat said incident i decided that really i needed a bathroom a lot closer to the bedroom so it wasn't so far to walk when I'm half asleep so plans were drawn, Building Regulations applied for and then i set to work.

Now chez Smokey isn't the largest of establishments, indeed the garage is almost as big as the rest of the house so accommodating an en-suite would be a challenge as well as getting water and drainage to work. He's a quick layout to give an idea

After a bit of head scratching the best place was found on the front of the house, although fitting a WC down the side of my neighbours chimney would be a challenge.  

A few 3D drawings later, and everything seems to fit ok, so time to start building

More to follow

[Mark (smokey mow)]

First off, lift a few floor boards, and build the studwork frame.  As internal space is so tight i opted for 63mm studs, it wont be quite so rigid but when the internal dimensions are only just over 1m those extra 35mm make a massive difference

Once the studs were all in place, the next task was the electrics. As the new en-suite wouldn't contain a bath or shower, the electrical works wouldn't be notifiable for Part-P as I'm only extending the existing bedroom circuits.

In a effort to get the bedroom looking less like a building site the outside of the studs were plaster boarded.  My plastering skills are less than perfect, so instead i had a go at dry-lining and skimming only the joints.  Quite a bit of sanding was needed to get a decent finish but overall quite pleased for a first effort. 

A door and a few coats of paint later and things are almost back to normal again.

[Norman Verona]

looks good. Only problem is once you start it seems you can never finish.

Well I can't!

[Mark (smokey mow)]

looks good. Only problem is once you start it seems you can never finish.

Well I can't!

I know that feeling, i haven't stopped since i bought the house 9 years ago. I spent 2-1/2 years restoring it before i was even able to move in there's always something that needs doing with old places.

[Mark (smokey mow)]

Now I can shut the door on the mess, next up was the plumbing.  Getting a hot a cold feed from the boiler in the kitchen would be difficult so the easier option for me is to run in a new water main from the meter in the front garden.  Thats something for later, but for now, it just the copper for the basin and WC and the feed through the cupboard below.  Water heating will be dealt with by an under-sink electric water heater.

Plumbing in place and the walls could be insulated for sound deadening. I'm using sheep's wool insulation for this rather than the more usual rockwool as the acoustic properties are slightly better and it's not as though i need too much

[SteveD]

cant believe you have done all that when you could have just drilled a hole in the wall then stuck a funnel in it and p******** in that , or even just hang your ar5e out of the window

[Mark (smokey mow)]

cant believe you have done all that when you could have just drilled a hole in the wall then stuck a funnel in it and p******** in that , or even just hang your ar5e out of the window

PMSL why didn't I think of that not sure why neighbours would think much of me mooning at them out the window though

[Captain Colonial]

Is that loo pre-lit, narrow or wide?

[Mark (smokey mow)]

Is that loo pre-lit, narrow or wide?

It's certainly narrow

[Norman Verona]

I started the renovation of the house last August (2011). The following day HM was helicoptered to hospital and was there for 6 weeks then I had to take her back and collect her 3 days a week. I was starting work at 5, getting showered and going to the hospital at 11:00 and getting back at about 6. Work till 9 then food and bed.

We moved back in this time last year. In the meantime I had 3 months off with torn back muscles and then anther three months when I fed my thumb into the table saw.

Still not finished but getting there.

[mikef]

Space utilisation at its very best. Well done.

[SootySport]

Good job Mark is a skinny fellow, I would never fit in that little En Suite.

[KugaWestie]

Have you put an extract fan in?

[Mark (smokey mow)]

Have you put an extract fan in?

Good spot Gary, no I haven't.

One of my pet hates is the need in windowless bathrooms for the extract fan to have a 15minute over-run on it, and what most people seem to do is have the fan turned off at the isolator so it's noise doesn't disturb them. This to me defeats the object of having a fan if its always switched off.

I've instead opted for passive stack ventilation with a system from passivent. For those that aren't familar its a completely passive (no moving parts or electrical connections) that uses the natural chimney effect and the temperature and pressure differential between the inside and outside of the house to draw the air up an insulated duct and out through a vent tile terminal on the roof. That should ensure i get a good nights sleep

Link for those that may be interested

[Mark (smokey mow)]

Good job Mark is a skinny fellow, I would never fit in that little En Suite.

It's only a problem if you want to sit down.... Otherwise stand in the doorway and aim