Renovation & Repairs
Twenty months of house projects: what paid off and what didn't
17 October 2026Looking back at every job since we got the keys: the ones that changed how the house feels, the ones that saved money and a couple we regret.
Rebuilding the leaning garden wall before it fell on the footpath
2 September 2026The stone retaining wall along the side of our garden had started leaning towards the gennel. Two quotes, a waller and a very muddy week.
Insulating the back bedroom wall over half-term
3 June 2026Matt's half-term week went on the coldest wall in the house. Insulated plasterboard, a plasterer for the skim and what it cost in total.
Pricing up a proper kitchen for 2027: three quotes and a spreadsheet
29 April 2026The painted 1990s kitchen has a year or two left. What three kitchen quotes looked like, where the money goes and how we're saving for it.
The mouldy bedroom corner, one year on
18 March 2026Last February we wiped black mould off the back bedroom wall. A year of hygrometer readings, three fixes and whether the corner stayed clean.
Internal insulation on one cold bedroom wall: quotes and second thoughts
14 February 2026The back bedroom's end wall is the coldest surface in the house. Three quotes for insulating it from the inside, and what losing 6cm means.
Every pound we spent on the house in 2025
30 December 2025Eleven months in our own house, totted up from the spreadsheet. What the repairs, projects and surprises cost us in our first year as owners.
An extractor fan for a bathroom that was growing mould
13 November 2025Our bathroom had a window and nothing else. How an electrician fitted a humidity-sensing fan for £285, and what changed on the ceiling.
Capping the chimney we'll never use
21 October 2025Our chimney hasn't had a fire in it for decades. Why we had the pots capped and vented rather than sealed, and what the £340 bill covered.
A leaking gutter, a wet gable wall and the £420 fix
27 September 2025The mould in our back bedroom started outside. A cracked gutter joint soaking the end wall, two quotes and the repair that let the wall dry out.
A kitchen refresh for £1,160: painted doors, new worktop, same layout
20 May 2025We can't afford a new kitchen yet, so we gave the 1990s one a facelift. Paint, a laminate worktop, a new tap and tiles, with every cost listed.
The damp specialist wanted £3,800. The independent surveyor found a path.
13 May 2025High readings on the front wall led to a quote for injected damp-proofing. A second opinion found the real cause, and it cost far less to fix.