October 2018 Spending Report

Hi folks,

Welcome to my eighth spending report where I'll be bringing you up to speed on my progress during the tenth 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 June 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...


DIY SPENDING SUMMARY


During October 2018:                   £140.47

Total so far:                                     £16552.38


ESTIMATED MONEY SAVED

During October 2018:                    £350.00

Total so far:                                      £17225.00


TIME SPENT ON DIY


During October 2018:                      2 days

Total so far:                                        102.5days


NUMBER OF DIY PROJECTS


Small DIY Projects completed in October 2018:

Total so far: 11

Large DIY Projects completed in October 2018:

Total so far: 5.5


How do you estimate the money saved?

Log Burner

Winter is coming!!! So I got ready and finished installing my log burner. We bought the thing two years ago and it's been sat in my garage since. Hopefully it works because I probably can't send it back!

logh burner with fire lit on a granite hearth

This report carries on from February's Spending Report on the Lounge, where I'd installed the hearth and purchased the log burner for £1147.13. December's Spending Report includes the bit when I dropped the flu down the chimney, which cost £377.81

In this report, I cover the other bits - Installing the Oak mantelpiece, lining the rear and sides of he recess with HardieBacker Cement Board, installing the register plate and the lintel along the top of the recess.

close up of log burner sam installed

As I write this, it's 5th November, so happy bonfire night! So far, we've had the log burner going loads and haven't  put the heating on yet!... As a result, we're looking at halving our gas usage bills compared to the same period last year.

INSERT PICTURE HERE

DESC

  • Total cost of DIY Project: £140.47
  • Estimated Money Saved: £350 (2 days for an average plumber)
  • Time Taken: 2 full days
  • a Small DIY Project

Description

DIY COST BREAKDOWN (all incl. VAT)

  • Mantelpiece:
    • 1.2m long x 200mm high x 100mm thick Oak Mantelpiece - £36.00
    • 4 small angle brackets to hold Mantelpiece to wall - £1.00
    • 1m length of 12mm diameter threaded rod - £3.49
    • 1 tube anchor resin (for the threaded rod) - £11.34
  • To sort out the surrounding masonry:
    • 3 sheets of 0.6m x 0.8m HardieBacker Cement Board, 12mm thick - £37.73
    • 6 jigsaw blades to cut the cement board - £5.64
    • 2 25kg Knauf Dry Wall Adhesive bags - £15.43
    • 1No. 75mm x 100mm steel reinforced concrete lintel - £9.32
    • a bit of cement and yellow sand to mortar in the lintel - £2.00
    • 1 tube fire cement - £2.52
  • To install the log burner:
    • 3m length 6mm fire rope - £11.00
    • 200x200mm 1.2mm thk galvanised steel register plate - £5.00

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