Finally, a plumber willing to visit the cottage

After several blogs in which i've talked about the need to find a plumber & several conversations with my mate the joiner, i find a plumber willing to come to the house to go over my options. In fact i've gone back to the plumber who did our house. We've discussed some ideas re. the heating & are probably going to go with electric as opposed to oil. OK, electricity is expensive but so is oil, but i don't need a boiler, a tank or lots of other expensive 'stuff'. There's already a hot water tank in place so i don't need another one. Even the plumbing for it still meets all the regulations that are in place today. The other problem i have is the limited space (in what i thought was a big bathroom) for a separate shower, as the hot water tank is taking up a large space & there doesn't seem to be room anywhere else. I may have to compromise & have a shower over the bath. This on initial thoughts would be cheaper than a seperate shower but my husband reminded me that you would need a lot more tiling & that isn't cheap. The other 'space' issue is in the new ensuite. I think it's going to take some careful thinking to fit everything in so it's not too cramped.
Anyway, the plumber is coming back on saturday morning to do some more investigating under floorboards & hopefully by then he will have come up with an economical way of heating the cottage & fitting both showers & loos etc,...fingers crossed.
I will post an update next week & hopefully i will have a comparison between oil & electric heating. I know which will be cheaper to install but by how much?

Existing fixtures & fittings

I didn't think i'd be creating a post regarding the current fixture & fittings that i was just going to 'throw out'. But hey, power of Ebay has stepped in. Last week i decided to list an old 1960's, kitchen island unit just to see if it showed any interest before i threw it on the tip! I listed it @ £8.99 to entice people to bid & 4 hours before the deadline i'm @ £62. In fact the lady came around this morning to have a look at the unit & within 15 mins. i ended up doing a deal with all the other items in the house! Now i didn't think there was anything left in the cottage to sell but she went head over heels with excitement when whe spotted the door handles, light fittings, coat hooks, an old heater that i was going to 'throw' & even the cooker which, like everything else in the cottage is at least 40 years old!!!!!
We then went outside...! i have some old sinks that came out of The Grange when we started renovating & my fellow ebayer wanted them too.
So, if you ever think that you're junk is worthless, think again. Ebay can help!In fact i am holding on to this ladies tel. no as i think mum has 'stuff' she'd be interested in....The great thing is, this lady only lives 4 miles away from me.

Do i really need a builder?

So, after deciding that i don't need an architect i got a builder to come round to confirm my thoughts.
After walking around the cottage for 1/2 hour with my joiner & his friend the builder, it was decided that there really wasn't much for a builder to do! I really need somebody who can do some plastering as well as something else. That's when my joiner said he 'dabbles' in plastering! In fact, after an hour with the joiner & chatting through all the possibilities, he said he could also build my kitchen for the same price as the kitchen designer in town! Unbelievable really but he is now working on a more exciting design for the kitchen so it doesn't look like a 'rented house' kitchen.
So, the joiner is going to be very busy afterall. He is pricing up the cost of replacing all the windows , kitchen & any extra shelving that may need doing & skirting boards that will need replacing.
I'm finally getting somewhere after weeks of talking to people.
My next big issue is a plumber as the cottage will need heating in & new bathrooms.
My joiner is now helping me find a plumber who is registered for installing oil appliances! Watch this space for further developments on the problems in finding a good plumber & one who has the time!