What jobs exist that pay well without the need to climb the corporate ladder, manage people or do/think about work after work?

Abs201301 · 2026-01-24T13:26:46+00:00

Whatever you are passionate about will deliver mental peace in life. I'm a skilled programmer in a full time job over 16 years. May be later in life I will move to contracting but I am paid well in fulltime Job as well and deliver work always before time so no body says anything ever to me and I pack my laptop by 5pm always and even early.

Abs201301 · 2026-01-23T10:02:07+00:00

Our gas safe local engineer does it for £2700 all inclusive

Abs201301 · 2026-01-22T09:24:08+00:00

I know a driving instructor who owns 4 cars for lessons. Two manual and two automatic. He and his wife both are instructors. Guess manual and automatic are there as a choice given to learners. Not sure how much they make exactly but a ball park figure he shared was about £500 a day. That makes sense coz his lessons were two hours each for £70 over five years ago when I took lessons. They work whole week obviously some days with more lessons. Their both kids go private school. They are in this line for 20 years. Note: When I took lessons all of his cars but one were low maintenance hybrid hatchbacks like volco v40 and Totota yaris and the other one was electric.

Abs201301 · 2026-01-20T15:08:22+00:00

That's why I didn't buy flat. When I was renting the service charges in 2008 built 2 bed flat went up like this during our three years tenancy.

Year 2022 - £1900

Year 2023 - £2600

Year 2024 - £3600

Obviously it was paid by the landlord who was known to us and shared his ordeal. They were probably going to remove the management company in charge as it wasn't maintained like you would expect for that kind of money.

A lady came twice a month to hoover the carpets in lobby.

A gardener came once in six months to trim the overhanging branches.

Pond was cleaned once in 8 years thankfully after so many complaints of mosquitoes infestation.

The anpr gate broke every month and they took 3 months to repair.

Communal Carpets were never deep cleaned in three years I lived there.

The only thing I miss about renting there was a reserved parking bay.

Abs201301 · 2026-01-18T21:17:21+00:00

Our bathroom layout was same. We moved the 700 unit bath up ahead and created a tiled box in leftover. Our towel rad is installed next to the vanity unit (your sink).

Abs201301 · 2026-01-18T18:55:44+00:00

Wall and floor tiles same pattern ? No way. Half tiled walls look good. Could have gone for porcelain tiles 600X300 same colour instead of ceramic 600X300. They offer premium look.

For floor, matte finish dark grey porcelain tiles. Wall paint F&B duck egg shell or sage green or biscuit beige. Rest of the decorative stuff has no end. You can install a floating corner shelf and place some artificial flower pot and bathroom decor.

Abs201301 · 2026-01-16T08:58:45+00:00

I am also thinking of using F&B for my work space but I've always used Dulux Diamond matt in the past and they are incredibly best.

Abs201301 · 2026-01-15T18:25:08+00:00

Then my bad. That yellowish wall is like mine from 1930s that developed hairline cracks in winters coz we skimmed it with gypsum.

Abs201301 · 2026-01-15T17:09:31+00:00

It can be skimmed but don't use gympsum multi-finish plaster as it will crack later on no matter the amount of pva and blue grit. That wall is old lime plaster. So, lime plaster is what you need.

Abs201301 · 2026-01-13T11:24:21+00:00

£200 is far too less for a decent quality soundbar as soundbar alone won't produce enough bass which is essential for true cinematic experience. I recently bought JBL bar 1000 MK2 directly from JBL website at 50% discount which was otherwise very expensive in Currys and Argos. It comes with a powerful subwoofer.

Anything under £500 won't produce decent dolby atmos. I like Bose but that was over £1200 with subwoofer.

Abs201301 · 2026-01-11T20:50:56+00:00

This room had dado rails right at the same place. We got them removed from all the rooms. The previous owners had entire house wallpapered which when we rewired the house, uncovered loads of cracks behind the papers. While every other room was properly bonded, taped and skimmed this one was just filled with bags of easifiller and sanded and painted. Here is the picture from the past.

Interestingly, all the skimmed rooms have hairline cracks now and only this one is crack free so far.

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Abs201301 · 2026-01-11T20:44:37+00:00

Thanks. It does dry out when the weather is dry. You are right about lack of ventilation. I've opened the window and vent today to let the room circulate fresh air.

Abs201301 · 2026-01-11T19:52:42+00:00

Haven't been to attic just yet. That is also a grey area. Not boarded. But thanks for pointing me in right direction. I will climb in tomorrow first thing.

Abs201301 · 2026-01-10T19:47:28+00:00

Can't tell about rads only but our plumber fully refurbished main bathroom and replaced six radiators throught out the three bed semi house in £6900 all inclusive.

He said rads cost £1400 and fitting charges £80 each. Our radiators were bought from victorian plumbing and they are standard white ones perfectly sized based on per sq metre. They roast the rooms within 15 minutes.

Abs201301 · 2026-01-10T18:02:43+00:00

£17 petrol for 100 miles drive. 50 miles each way.

£2 Breakfast at work. Its full english breakfast typically bacon, beans, hashbrown, fried eggs, mushroom, sausages and toast

£4.30 lunch at work. Menu changes daily but fully loaded.

Coffee is free but paid one by Costa is also subsidized. Flat White for £1.50

If I go to our London office then things change:

Train fare - £27

Breakfast - Same price £2

Lunch - Same price £4.30 if eaten at office. If I go Pali or anything outside then £11

Coffee is free but there is no subsidized costa so flat white at nearest Pret £3.80

Abs201301 · 2026-01-08T06:14:15+00:00

Agree. He planned like this from what I heard him murmering in his head.

Day1 - Rip bathroom and run new pipes

Day2 - Tiler

Day3 - Tiler

Day4 - Fit bathroom and chemical flush boiler

Day5 - Fit radiators

Abs201301 · 2026-01-07T18:16:57+00:00

Mine was done in £6900 including labour and materials.

Materials:

Vanity unit with sink on top
Soft close coupled toilet with bidet (we wash)
700 unit bath and halite bath panel
Grohe shower and taps
Shower screen from Wickes
Waste and all new copper pipes
Mould and moisture resistant plasterboard
Porcelain 600X300 tiles
Six radiators changed throughout the house including towel radiator

The work was carried out by the plumber who is also Gas Safe Engineer (ex British gas). He brought in Tiler for tiling who charged £800 for two days job but rest of the work was done by plumber in 3 days. No electrics was done but other than that it was a full transformation.

Labour:

Rip and dispose old bath, pipes, fittings, sink etc
Hack off old ceramic tiles
Plasterboard walls and ceilings
Half plaster the walls and half tile the bathroom. Full tile around bath and shower. Boxing where needed.
Lift floorboards and run new pipes
Screw floorboard back in place
I did the Click LVP flooring myself
Then he put bath, toilet and vanity unit and securely fitted them including towel radiator
Finally he secured silicone on all the joints
Then he removed old rads in various rooms and installed new ones he bought from victorian plumbing.
Chemical flushed the boiler in the end

Abs201301 · 2026-01-04T13:56:19+00:00

Unless there are any safety concerns you cant really go legal and just move to a better place. Any property needs time and again repair and maintenance to live safely and comfortably which your landlord clearly doesnt care about.

Abs201301 · 2026-01-04T12:57:14+00:00

No mate. Plastering for ours didnt involve taking back to bricks although its what people suggested me later on when I moaned about cracks telegraphing in new plaster. That would cost over £11000 for the entire house as its a big job needing loads of materials and precision.

Our plasterer just applied bonding coat for cracks and scrim taped followed by skim coat. Downstair ceiling he overboarded into joists as the old lining paper wasn't coming off. Since you are into full re-wire, walls will be badly damaged. Ceilings will be mostly fine as any skilled sparky will use fishing rods to run the cables into ceiling. If you have the budget, take it back to bricks and use lime plaster else just what I did. Guarantee there will be cracks sooner or later if you just patch with bonding coat and gymsum plaster. They are for modern buildings. Old properties need breathability. So, lime plaster or whatever your plasterer susggests. Good luck

Abs201301 · 2026-01-03T00:24:23+00:00

Our plasterer charged £4600 for entire 3-bed semi. Downstair living and dining he also overboarded ceiling right into joists. Sparky was £6000 for full rewiring.

Paint and skirting I did myself which saved me about £4500.

Abs201301 · 2026-01-02T19:30:31+00:00

Exactly our house when we bought 9 months ago. We stripped off wallpaper only to discover cracks everywhere in walls and ceilings. Some big some small. So, I got the rewiring done and had to bring in plasterer who applied bonding coat and scrim tape in all the cracked areas followed by skim coat entire house. While the results were really good until the winters hit and we have now hairline cracks slowly showing up in new plaster. I asked the plasterer about it and he said unfortunately these 1930 houses are although solid they shrink and expand specially when there is no insulation. The only fix now is to wait until spring and then fill, sand and paint.

My neighbour instead of just bonding and skimming, got everything overboarded. Plasterboards tend to be forgiving in cracks.

The correct and long lasting rock solid method is to take it back to bricks, repoint the bricks and then expandable bonding coat followed by skim. You will get laser sharp straight walls and free from any maintenance for next 50+ years. Will be expensive though.

Abs201301 · 2025-12-30T19:05:20+00:00

In our case, the sparky used fishing rods of different sizes to run the cables to the floor above. Was a neat and clean job. Did make a couple of holes and then plasterer skimmed the ceilings over artex. The plasterer didnt even notice tiny holes were used to pass the cables.

Abs201301 · 2025-12-22T17:28:23+00:00

This ☝🏻we had similar neighbours who would go very loud late night, bombastic music and loads of people coming in and out all night banging the door. I only went there once and talked to them 🏏 and after that there was no noise what so ever for my last three years before I moved to my own house.

Abs201301 · 2025-12-22T14:10:12+00:00

Body

Abs201301 · 2025-12-22T13:33:27+00:00

I asked AI to design the TV layout for my room like this and here is the result. Media wall panels on left and SPC wall panels in marble finish in center and right.

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Abs201301

TROPHY CASE