DIY - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Well that looks very professional, good job done.

I’ve been busy since last November renovating after living in the house for 10 years. Doing things properly but slowly with some help of my gardener and 2 of his mates. New roof/garden tidied up/irrigation re-done/garden lights done, Garage 90% done and very happy with it, outside painting done with a local contractor (and having to pick up the pieces left over or not properly done). Currently painting the inside. So many things were not done properly when we built 10 years ago. The electrician had bypassed the earth leakage breakers so that is still on the agenda when I finally manage to get the (hopefully better) electrician in. So some of that is the bad and the ugly - but the good is the satisfaction of knowing it’s now done well and it’ll last a long time. After the painting I still have my daughter’s room to redecorate, sort out a better place for the barn owl in the ceiling and then get on with some smart home stuff and automation. Plus plenty of other details and fixes of course - it never does really end, does it!

IMG_4650.jpegIMG_6408.jpegIMG_6390.jpegA
 
It's always hard sorting put some one elses mess. The previous owner here had tidied everything up so that he could sell it but scratch below the surface and the truth is found. Wall cupbaords stock to walls with "No More Nails" or similar, tiles laid on top pf wooden floors and old tiles etc.

Each job needs time to unpick the mess before starting to put it back together correctly.
 
Mrs Bebs and I totally renovated a house and triple garage with flat above that we bought in 2017-2018.
Roof off, cement floors up, walls down, 20 steels in and so on. Too many pics to post.
I have been doing smaller jobs in our house in France since.
Will post up some pics when I finish the current door project.
:)
 
Given that I have built an addition to one house by myself, and was in process of gut renovation of our last place when we moved...what I'm doing to the current place pales in comparison as there's nothing "wrong," structurally. But there is a ton of updating/replacing/repairing...will see about pics.

Job well done, Andy!
 
When we first moved into our cottage about 25 years ago, the driveway was concrete pin curb and pea gravel (I hated it). 20231028_135131~2.jpg
So it was replaced with a concrete cobble printed drive, this was (IMO) in keeping with the cottage and nottoo expensive. This has been down for approximately 20 years now, showing it's age and no longer aesthetically pleasing on the eye. So I decided to give it a re-vamp. I decided to paint individual cobbles sporadically in 2 shades of grey, using my artistic background, I painted the cobbles giving them some patina to fit in with the existing. I did this in about 10 different sections at a time to allow for cars being moved etc. I had to do this in 3 stages.

1. Deep power wash of each section.
2. Painting of the cobbles in 2 tones with a concrete paint.
3. Seal each section with a concrete based sealant.
20260329_085710.jpg
20260329_085700.jpg
20260718_190045.jpg
20260426_200733.jpg
We also had to have a new post fitted to replace the rotten one. The men that did this were Randolph Scott and Clint Eastwood, as instead of digging under the raft for the concrete pad, they decided to cut a big chunk out of the drive without consulting me.....They didn't get paid! So I did a bit o form work and unfilled with concrete trying to copy the cobble pattern.
20260418_135050.jpg
It's taken me about 3 months with dodging weather, moving cars and holidays, but I finally completed it about 2 weeks ago!

Before
20260329_085639.jpg
After
20260822_153810.jpg
 
Vampyrebat said:
When we first moved into our cottage about 25 years ago, the driveway was concrete pin curb and pea gravel (I hated it). View attachment 152364
So it was replaced with a concrete cobble printed drive, this was (IMO) in keeping with the cottage and nottoo expensive. This has been down for approximately 20 years now, showing it's age and no longer aesthetically pleasing on the eye. So I decided to give it a re-vamp. I decided to paint individual cobbles sporadically in 2 shades of grey, using my artistic background, I painted the cobbles giving them some patina to fit in with the existing. I did this in about 10 different sections at a time to allow for cars being moved etc. I had to do this in 3 stages.

1. Deep power wash of each section.
2. Painting of the cobbles in 2 tones with a concrete paint.
3. Seal each section with a concrete based sealant.
View attachment 152365
View attachment 152366
View attachment 152367
View attachment 152368
We also had to have a new post fitted to replace the rotten one. The men that did this were Randolph Scott and Clint Eastwood, as instead of digging under the raft for the concrete pad, they decided to cut a big chunk out of the drive without consulting me.....They didn't get paid! So I did a bit o form work and unfilled with concrete trying to copy the cobble pattern.
View attachment 152369
It's taken me about 3 months with dodging weather, moving cars and holidays, but I finally completed it about 2 weeks ago!

Before
View attachment 152370
After
View attachment 152371
Click to expand...
Awesome work - very impressive!
 
We've got some Talented people on here.
I'll stick to Automotive.
The last renovation I did in the UK was 20 years ago in Somerset on what was then a 250 year old stone property.
I said never again.
Two years ago we started Full Renovations on mine and Ms French's home here in France again whilst living in it.
Boy it was stressful especially in the Winter.
Won't be doing another.
 
Here in France, we didn’t like the awful crimson red front and side doors on our house. Rather than just paint them a different colour, I came up with the idea of cladding them on the outside (and painting the inside) This also meant painting both door frames, inside and out. Since you can’t really leave front doors off during the night, it has taken quite some time to paint over the red, an absolute bugger to cover! Doors on, doors off.. and so on.
I finally hung the finished front door today and happy with the result. Side door tomorrow..
Before—>



IMG_0768.jpegIMG_0805.jpeg
During—>

IMG_0808.jpeg
After —>

IMG_0846.jpegIMG_0847.jpeg
 
Bebs said:
Here in France, we didn’t like the awful crimson red front and side doors on our house. Rather than just paint them a different colour, I came up with the idea of cladding them on the outside (and painting the inside) This also meant painting both door frames, inside and out. Since you can’t really leave front doors off during the night, it has taken quite some time to paint over the red, an absolute bugger to cover! Doors on, doors off.. and so on.
I finally hung the finished front door today and happy with the result. Side door tomorrow..
Before—>



View attachment 152401View attachment 152402
During—>

View attachment 152403
After —>

View attachment 152404View attachment 152405
Click to expand...
Dramatic difference.

I have to replace all the internal doors downstairs to get rid of the cheap pine the irish love so will be replacing them with ones similar to the kitchen door. Only issue there are 8 more to fit and paint along with all the skirting boards. I think we will be sick of doors by the time we finish.
 
zagatoes30 said:
Dramatic difference.

I have to replace all the internal doors downstairs to get rid of the cheap pine the irish love so will be replacing them with ones similar to the kitchen door. Only issue there are 8 more to fit and paint along with all the skirting boards. I think we will be sick of doors by the time we finish.
Click to expand...
Big job replacing 8 doors! Best of luck with it. I imagined doing both doors was enough, however, Mrs Bebs has now come up with another idea, cladding the wood store next to the front door identically as well..! I’ll leave that for next week I think…
 
Bebs said:
Big job replacing 8 doors! Best of luck with it. I imagined doing both doors was enough, however, Mrs Bebs has now come up with another idea, cladding the wood store next to the front door identically as well..! I’ll leave that for next week I think…
Click to expand...
In my first role in working life I spent 2 years fitting fire doors in Hospitals...if you have ever fitted one you know they are extremely heavy...I was managing 4 a day and my arms were like popeye's!
 
Having cladded the front door and prepped the back door (no sniggering at the back) I turned my attention to the log store next to the front door. The base was somewhat rotten so I had to repair and replace a few bits of wood. Then I painted all the edges black for a better cosmetic look once the cladding went up. There’s a little door on the side so needed to get the cladding spot on. Still need to do the left side and then lacquer all the panelling twice.

8B4744B6-EA47-4916-986F-83740C86264A.jpegIMG_0760.jpegIMG_0764.jpegIMG_0939.jpegIMG_0940.jpegIMG_0941.jpeg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top