Home & Garden
After the Navy

On the 9th November 1985 I got the keys to my house here in Stoughton, Guildford and I am still living in it now.

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All my stuff was in my flat in Scotland so I hired a lorry and moved it all down a week or two later. My new house is a three level town house, garage, second toilet and utility room downstairs, living room, dining room, kitchen on the middle level, three bedrooms and bathroom on the top level.

I don’t remember the order now but there was loads of DIY work to do after purchase. I used the utility room as a kitchen and completely rebuilt the real kitchen on the middle level. I completely re-built the bathroom with a new suite and shower. I wired in about four times as many power points round the house as were originally installed. I added lots of extra lighting in the cupboards, loft and wall lights in the lounge. I built and installed secondary glazing.

The small bedroom had a monstrous built in cupboard about one third the size of the room. That’s gone. I lifted the water tank in the roof to give me extra pressure for the shower. I floored the loft and turned it into useable storage space. Four central heating radiators were moved to better locations and a few other plumbing improvements to the central heating system. The small garden got re-landscaped.
I built a door from the garage into the house.

I divided the downstairs utility room into a smaller utility room and a separate bedroom. I installed a new double glazed front door. I turned an inaccessible cupboard by the kitchen into a nice pantry and space for a fridge and freezer.
I installed a shower, washing machine and hand basin in the downstairs utility room. I installed a washbasin in the master bedroom and the downstairs bedroom. There was also lots of other standard decorating jobs I did.

I only got contractors in to do two jobs. Firstly install a double glazed rear door and downstairs window. The other job was to build and plaster a wall to separate the downstairs bedroom from the utility room, that was quite a few years ago and now I would do it myself.

All the above work occupied the first few years after purchase. From the late 1980’s my DIY life came to an end and I had a large increase in my social life. This meant getting out to London and joining some gay clubs.

In the autumn of 1999 I bought another house with my partner at the time; this is about one mile from where I live. There is not much to say about this. It is a standard three bedroom semi in reasonably good condition and hasn’t needed much DIY work. All I have done is install a shower and some additional kitchen wall cupboards. Now it is rented out and gives me very little hassle.

In early 2000 I bought the house next door to me here in Stoughton. I don’t remember the order now but there was loads of DIY work to do after this purchase. The electric storage heating was removed and gas central heating installed.
The wiring for the storage heaters was rewired into ring mains and power points.
The downstairs toilet and utility room has been converted to a bedroom, small utility room and toilet/shower room. The loft has had lighting and flooring so it can be used for storage. The small bedroom had a monstrous built in cupboard about one third the size of the room. That’s gone.

The washing machine was moved from the bathroom to the utility room and the bathroom had a make over. The kitchen had a new sink, cooker, dishwasher, worktop and cupboards. I turned an inaccessible cupboard by the kitchen into a nice pantry and space for a fridge & freezer. The garden has been completely re-designed and re-landscaped. There is a new garden shed with a sun bed. The side of the house has had a sizeable lean-to built which makes a nice storage area and includes some games and work out equipment. The whole house has been redecorated.

I used contractors to get complete double glazing installed and build a conservatory.
I then put a nice spa pool in the conservatory. This house is now rented out, it requires a fair bit of maintenance but overall hasn’t had any serious problems.

Within the last couple of years I have had all the roof line (fascias, soffits, eaves, gutters etc.) replaced on both houses. A new substantial sized shed here in the garden of my house. A couple of years ago I bought some additional land adjacent to my back garden, half of this will become a nice garden later this year. Last year I got a double garage built on the other half of this land, this is a very welcome addition to my outside facilities here. I changed my integral garage door for a low level wall and double glazed window, I plan to convert this garage to a room later this year. Overall the changes I have made have given me a very happy and enjoyable time living here at home.

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