Tingles Restoration Timeline

Chronological overview of work completed.

March 2025

House Completion: 7 March 2025

Strip-Out (Early March)

• Wallpaper stripped: all downstairs + landing
• Fixtures removed: 2 toilets, 1 basin, 1 bidet, 1 bath
• Cooker, hob, hood removed for recycling
• Plastic sheeting laid on floors
• Skirting and gripper removed
• Four upstairs rooms still need wallpaper stripping

April 2025

Downstairs Floor Marathon (Early April - 3 days)

• 80m² completed over 3 days
• Build-up: 25mm PIR (Celotex TB4000) + 22mm Kronospan Fast Protect chipboard
• Rooms completed: living room, dining room, kitchen
• Hallway, downstairs toilet, study - final push needed
• Decision: glued + screwed (proper job)
• Block walls discovered between rooms (good for sound)
• Exhausted after marathon, decision to pause upstairs acoustic insulation

En-Suite Wet Room (All Month)

• Early: Damp remediation (base plate, expanding foam gaps)
• Tanking: full room with Mapei Mapelastic AquaDefense
• Aquapanel over backer board on walls
• Noggin frame between joists for tray support
• 1500x900mm wet room tray installed
• BIN primer under basin/toilet area (odour blocking)
• 21 April (worked till 10pm): Temporary LVT flooring laid in dry area, sanitary silicone seal, basin pipework cutouts
• 8mm backer board threshold installed
• Note: LVT later replaced with proper floor tiles + underfloor heating

Kitchen Planning

• 12 April: Original build debris found under kitchen units (core drill dust left for decades)
• 24 April: Kitchen redesign discussions - removing utility door, Wren kitchen ordered
• Decision: self-fit (not paying £6k for fitting)

Plumbing

• 26 April: Downstairs toilet pipework replacement planned (old pipework still in place)
• Expanding foam in wet room voids (priority - cold!)
• Radiators needed (wet room + downstairs toilet)

Electrical

• 17 April: Microwave sensor light sourced for downstairs toilet (blanking plate, live looped discussion - not yet installed)

May 2025

Early May

• 2 May: Garage shutter motor capacitor fixed (working with emergency-stop pendant)

Mid-Late May

• Wet room shower tray tile planning
• 1500x900mm tray = ~14.5 sq ft, ordered 16 sheets mosaic

June 2025

Wet Room Tiles

• Mineral Gris R11 mosaic ordered (4.8x4.8cm sheets)
• Padova Grey 600x600 for dry zone
• 11 June: Wall tile decisions, mosaic vs large format
• 21 June: Mosaic tiles laid (panicked - tiles twisted vs bathroom tiles, but placed shower screen there to hide)

Garage Planning

• 5 June: Serious garage conversion discussions
• 90% of way to habitable room (same build standard as house)
• 15 June: Mock Tudor facade inspection - light passing through timber, no insulation over garage

Kitchen Progress

• Wren kitchen spec finalized
• Shaker doors, oak worktops, undermount sink
• Self-fit decision firm (£8k units, avoiding £6k fitting quote)

Stress Management

• 11 June: “WiFi sorted, Green Star next, stressing about day job vs house work”

July 2025

Kitchen Continued

• 4 July: Surprisingly fit from house work (clearing drive, running stairs, lifting)
• 8 July: “Frankenhouse” revelation - three separate concrete slabs
• 14 July: Kitchen units going in, floor adjustments

External

• Patio cleaning

August 2025

Kitchen Work

• 18 August: Corner trim fitted (perfectly cut, piloted, screwed, glued)
• Sink sealed (fell on head during pipework work!)
• 21 August: Handle placement on Shaker doors discussed

Wall Prep

• 25 August: Wall filler shopping (Toupret, bonding, etc.)
• Old tile adhesive removal

Planning/Legal

• 25 August: Property boundary work, wall considerations

September 2025

Kitchen

• 13 September: Plastiflex skinning over old tiled wall portion (50% over worktop)

Ongoing

• 4 September: Mortgage overpayment vs renovation ROI discussions

October 2025

Garage Focus

• 13 October: Garage conversion becoming priority
• Fire separation discussion: easier to convert fully than keep as garage
• Pre-job overwhelm setting in

Plumbing

• 16 October: Manifold planning, radiator pipework
• 18-19 October: Radiator installation (back-to-back, dedicated pairs, proper manifold)

Kitchen

• Ongoing fitting work

November 2025

Critical Issues

• 13 November: Water leaks, garage roof
• Want to knock through hall to garage before winter
• 15 November: Mock Tudor facade investigation - needs complete redo
• Decision: wait till summer, strip back, rebuild properly
• Lead work on gable, timber replacement
• 25 November: Ordering floorboard, fireboard, plasterboard for repairs

December 2025

Legal Work

• Tingles legal dispute intensifies
• OCR of conveyance documents
• Case preparation

Kitchen Ongoing

• Still fitting

January 2026 (Current)

Status Today (19 Jan)

• Kitchen 70% fitted
• En-suite wet room: floor and walls done, tiles pending
• Garage: roof leaking, conversion pending
• Downstairs floor: complete
• Upstairs: stripped, plastic sheets down, flooring pending
• Priority: get house warmer (radiators, insulation)

Key Decisions Made

Decision	When	Rationale
Downstairs floor priority	March	Can’t live without it
Pause upstairs acoustic	March	Can retrofit later, need livable space now
Self-fit Wren kitchen	April	Save £6k, more control
Full garage conversion	October	Easier than fire-safe garage
Mock Tudor redo summer 2026	November	Needs complete rebuild, wait for dry weather