Love_London

Hi I'm going to refit carpet on 1st and 2nd floor of my property soon and was wondering what is the best way to fix squeaky floors? There are some steps that make squeaky noise and some parts of the bedrooms also. Not sure if this is something that carpet fitter can fix easily or do I need to get someone else to do it properly? Thanks!

Indeed...HOP is in zone three! So it seems like best option is to buy HOP - London terminals monthly card for ?87.20 Or 7 day paper season ticket for ?22.70 I'll look into them. Thanks a lot

Could someone please let me know what the cheapest way is to commute to London Bridge from Honor Oak Park? I will use it for communte on daily basis from Monday-Friday and may do some random trips to Zone 1 during weekends and sometimes in the evenings. Is monthly travel card for zone 1-2 the best deal?

I use EDF energy for Gas/Electricity and BT for broadband at the moment and trying to find cheaper deals, which I've been meaning to do for months and months and i'm finally doing my research by checking out comparison sites =) Sainsbury energy and Plusnet come out as the cheapest suppliers for Gas/Elec and Broadband respectively. Does anyone use them and would you recommend? Also, if you have any recommendations for any other suppliers, would greatly appreciate. Thanks

Hi, I'm a huge fan of Which? magazine and they recently ranked kitchen providers and Ikea ranked No.1 Does anyone have Ikea kitchen and do you feel that it's worth No.1 ranking? I'm after white gloss kitchen and it's quite standard so can find similar products everywhere...so not really sure if I should go for high end or mid range (like Magnet) or value for money Ikea. Any advice would be appreciated!

I'm in process of choosing new laminate flooring for my house. Exciting but as usual it's a bit daunting as there are so many to choose from and i don't know what i am doing! I found one that I really like (width, colour and pattern) and it's cheap! but the problem is it's TOO cheap. It usually ranges between ?5 - ?25 per square meter but this one is at ?4.50 Has anyone bought very cheap laminate and have regrets? Too thin? Gets dirty easily? I'm quite concerned about the second point as I am leaning towards having white/grey flooring. Probably a bad idea but it looks so lovely.

Do you have wooden floors throughout your house including upstairs bedrooms? I was wondering if anyone would recommend having wooden floor throughout or have it only for downstairs and have carpets for upstairs. I know there are pros and cons. I like the warmth of carpets but looking at long term (over 10 years) would it be cost effective to have wooden floor throughout? Also, the ease of cleaning is very attractive! Also at the moment I am very much interested in the grey colour wooden floor but worried that it's trendy at the moment but will go off the trend soon and will look very old fashioned in 5-6 years time.

Hi I'm moving to Honor Oak Park in summer and I was wondering if there are any good gyms, Zumba or Yoga classes in the area. My house will be near Fairlawn school and ideally would like to go to a gym in less than 5 mins walking distance (if there is one!) Thanks!!

I know there is another thread on Foxtons but I would like to ask some specific questions. Basically I'm planning to let my current flat and Foxtons' estimate for weekly rental was 425 and another local agent's estimate was 350! I heard that Foxtons' estimate is on the higher end but the difference is pretty significant and not sure which one I should go for... If only Foxtons can achieve what they promise, obviously I'll be happy to pay slightly higher fees but if they don't achieve it and I end up with 350 with higher fee, I'll join the club and dislike Foxtons like everyone else. Has anyone had experience with Foxtons where they don't achieve the rental estimate they promised in the beginning? and if they don't achieve it, can I pull out in the later stage and go for another agent without paying some sort of penalty?

Thanks - I was referring to the fee I need to pay the structural engineer.

I would like to knock down 2 internal walls in my property and would like to find a structural engineer as one of them is definitely a load bearing wall. I was looking online for some quotes and some of them quote 2000 and some of them 200... Has anyone done similar job before and can tell me which is more reasonable? Also, would be great if you could reply or PM me recommendations with reasonably priced structural engineers. Thanks

How about Jordan? I am pretty well travelled and have been to many exotic places and absolutely loved Jordan. It's fun, adventurous and beautiful! Petra, Deadsea, Wadirum, etc there are just so many things to do. Or as someone suggested, Dubrovnik is a wonderful place. Not sure if it'll be warm enough for swim in May but it's gorgeous and you can swim in blue sea and do dive jumping! Or you could try Mediterranean cruise? Or how about Dubai or Abu Dhabi. Not personal favourite but a lot of people seem to like it.

I'm looking to buy a house and would ideally buy one without any work required... However, it's proving difficult and I think I need to start thinking about how much it would cost to do some bits done (would like to avoid doing any huge project!) Recently viewed a house which is about 1800 sq ft over 2 storey. I think it needs; - Downstairs new wooden floor - Upstairs carpet - Stairs carpet - There is a WC on the ground floor next to an utility room but would like to convert this to a shower and a smaller utility room - New paint all over - New windows and doors If I go for a modest range, very very roughly, how much do you think this will cost in total? I'm so clueless... Will it be roughly 5000-7000 pounds, 7000-10000, or over 10k? Thanks for your help!

Thanks so much everyone! Good to hear all lovely things about HOP. Does anyone have any negative experience? Also, one last question - what is the bus connection like? Any bus to Central London or Peckham Rye, etc? THANK YOU

We are thinking of moving to Honor Oak Park area (near the station or in between Forest Hill and HOP station). I have read positive things about living in HOP in previous threads but have some specific questions and would be grateful if you could share your wisdom! - Are there any good places for grocery shopping? Large supermarkets or farmers market? - How are the kids facilities in the area? Many nurseries? Kids swimming, gym, library, activities? - How is the community compared to ED? Am I going to get the village communitiy feel in HOP as well? - How often do London overground trains run? Every 10-12 minutes in peak times? - Do you think primary schools in the area will keep their outstanding rating in next couple of years too?(well, i know we will need a crystal ball for this!) Property prices are slightly cheaper than ED but not that much cheaper so we are slightly hesitant in making a decision at the moment... Thanks so much in advance everyone!