Hi folks,
Welcome to my second spending report where I'll be bringing you up to speed on my progress during the first month of 2018.
Just in case you're new to this, I'll explain a little bit on what it's about.
Below is a detailed list of all the jobs I've completed during January 2018, split into the little and not-so-little projects. The major projects are ones that take me more than 5 days, the minor ones take 5 days or less.
I've gone into a little detail on each, and will eventually do some detailed how-to blog posts on them in time. Although I don't keep an exact tally of the time it takes me to do each DIY project, I have put a pretty accurate amount of days against each. I've also estimated how much I reckon I've saved by not paying a professional to do the work.
To the right (or below if looking on a phone) is a summary of the whole page. You'll notice that I keep a running tally of the figures that occurred in previous spending reports to give you a good idea of the whole costs.
That's it, enjoy reading folks and I hope you find this information valuable if you're about to start a similar project...
Jump straight to...
DIY SPENDING SUMMARY
During January 2018: £1037.98
Total so far: £11,950.30
ESTIMATED MONEY SAVED
During January 2018: £1,650
Total so far: £11,900
TIME SPENT ON DIY
During January 2018: 20 days
Total so far: 66 days
NUMBER OF DIY PROJECTS
Small DIY Projects completed in January 2018: 1
Total so far: 5
Large DIY Projects completed in January 2018: 0.5
Total so far: 3.5
The Dining Room
So, this project is taking a little longer than I thought but hay ho, these things happen. Here's a picture of it as of 17th February 2018, as I type:
To date, I have completely plastered and painted the walls, finished three plug sockets, got the blinds up and made a start on the shelf wall. Want to know more about my progress on the Dining Room, click here.
So far so good, but I still have a way to go, here's the facts:
- Total cost of DIY Project: £968.99
- Estimated Money Saved: £500 (plasterer), £300 (painter), £400 electrician. TOTAL = £1200
- Time Taken: 17 days and counting...
- Half a Large DIY Project (it's still ongoing!)
Click here if you want to find out more on The Dining Room.
DIY COST BREAKDOWN (all incl. VAT)
(NOT INCLUDING THE SHELF WALL & DESK, THEY'LL BE ON NEXT MONTHS)
- Misc.
- 2 Hillary's blinds = £345.00
- 750ml Everbuild Expanding Foam = £5.94
- Radiators, Valves & Pipework
- Urban Double Horizontal Flat Panel Radiator - Anthracite - 600x600mm = £120.79
- Tissino Hugo2 Pipe Finishing Kit - Anthracite = £13.29
- discounts = £15.00
- Reina Modal TRV Corner Radiator Valves with Lockshield - Chrome = £41.62
- Painting
- Tools:
- Bucket 7L = £3.72
- Set of Harris Paintbrushes = £7
- 3 dustsheets = £13.46
- 1 roll masking tape = £2.34
- 2 tins Dulux Matt grey = £32
- 1 tin Dulux Natural Slate = £16
- Tools:
- Electrics
- 7 Appleby 2 Gang 47mm Dry Lining Box = £7.70
- 7 Appleby 1 Gang 47mm Dry Lining Box = £6.75
- LAP 1-Gang TV Coaxial Socket Brushed Stainless Steel = £5.16
- LAP 1-Gang Master Telephone Socket Brushed Stainless Steel = £6.83
- 25m 1mm flex lighting cable @ £0.40/m = £8.33
- 7m 2.5mm flex ring socket cable @ £0.80/m = £4.67
- 4 steel channels = £4.00
- 6 Fire Rated Downlights With 5 Watt GU10 Dimmable LED Bulbs = £31.25
- 5 LAP 13A 2G SP Switched Socket + 3.1A 2G USB Charger Brushed Stainless Steel = £70.79
- 2 LAP 13A 2-Gang DP Switched Plug Socket Brushed Stainless = £16.00
- 2 LAP 1-Gang 2-Way 10AX Light Switch Brushed Stainless Steel = £9.50
- Plastering
- Tools (one off cost):
- Faithfull Plastic hawk = £15.79
- Faithfull Bucket Trowel = £7.92
- Tyzack External Corner Trowel = £7.18
- 11 2.4m x 1.2m x 12.5mm thick Plasterboard sheets = £67.85
- 5 25kg Knauf Dry Wall Adhesive = £38.58
- 5 2.4m Drywall Metal Anglebead = £5.94
- 45m Scrim tape = £2.58
- 5 25kg Thistle Multi Finish = £34.32
- 2m of sandpaper = £1.69
- Tools (one off cost):
The Kitchen
We had this 1960's kitchen that was terrible! Here's how bad it was:
If there's anything good I can say about it it's this: It was incredibly well built, there is no wonder why it's lasted this long.
- Total cost of DIY Project: £68.99
- Estimated Money Saved: £450 (3 days for carpenter)
- Time Taken: 3 days
- Small DIY Project
Luckily for us, my wife's mum was having her kitchen replaced. Her old one was 16 years old and yet a far sight better than our old kitchen, so we grabbed it and used the second hand carcasses and doors to replace the old ones.
DIY COST BREAKDOWN (all incl. VAT)
- Gas man to connect the hobs = £50
- Tap connectors & plumbing bits = £17.74
- Dishwasher hose clip = £1.25
We now have a complete kitchen worktop with a much better sink, the dishwasher now has a proper cupboard door on it, which is nice. Bear in mind this kitchen is a temporary step until we build a proper kitchen in the two storey rear extension (which I've still got to build by the way). Here it is now:
