First topic message reminder :

In March I started renovating our property, with a budget set of £7,000 I was told we'd never come in on target, but more likely find it being around the £20,000 mark

Anyway with the help of my brother in law, a brickie, we both set too and the first job was getting a bathroom built, at my age and with my arthritic joints, squatting over a triangular hole was not something I could handle for long

We paid a local to dig out the cesspit, at one point I was convinced he was going to end up in Australia as he went that deep, I suppose thats the advantage of living on a hill Lol but when it came to laying the pipes we hit a snag, no straight connectors for the 4 inch pipes ? I eventually sussed out that with the use of a gas blow torch you simply heat the end of the pipe evenly and you can insert the next pipe into it to make a nice tight joint

After 2 weeks the pipes were laid, the walls were built and the roof in place, next job was the plumbing, unfortunately it was more plastic pipes so we needed to employ a plumber with the proper equipment to plumb in the bathroom and kitchen sink etc, next was the electrics, we'd decided that even though I was capable of re-wiring the house, it would be best left to a bulgarian electrician thereby ensuring the insurance company couldn't wangle out of paying up in the event something happened due to an electrical fault.

Next was joining both properties together, there was a 4 foot gap between them and after demolishing the living room gable end made of mud bricks, we had increased the living room by 5ft, it doesn't sound much but it makes a big difference The downside was that we had to alter the roof from a 45 degree angle to a straight overlapping roof where the 2 buildings were joined, new joists and supports were installed and everything was in order.

The ceilings were a mess, made of any old hardboard and chipboard they had been able to lay their hands on, I decided on plasterboard from the local builders yard in Svishtov, and Satengips as the finishing plaster.

Never having plastered a wall in my life I decided the only way to learn was hands on experience, and 21 walls and 8 ceilings later the job was done, not expertly but good enough to be proud of

Concrete floors replaced the Mud floors (Which were left in place for insulation) and underfloor heating was laid before being covered with ceramic floor tiles, the kitchen was fitted, and despite being brought from the UK it was undamaged in transit Lol

The total renovation period took from 20th March until 4th June and came in just over budget at £7,600 but that was blamed on the woodburning oven and the higher quality tiles used on the living room floor, the remainder being Praktica specials

I took loads of photo's during the restoration, I'll dig out one of my server accounts and upload them onto the server with a link from this posting when I have a couple of hours to kill

Thank you the video's are a plus and helps us all see what was and whats to come thank you very much indeed

Well done keep the pictures coming its real good to see something like this thank you