New restoration project - what have I done!
Discussion
srj2411 said:
Really impressive house and thoroughly enjoyable read - hat off to you! Much more interesting than some of the nonsense they have on Grand Designs. Do you plan to curate a full list of before/after photos on completion (at least those you took at the start anyway)?
Wow, your first post! Cheers for the good comments, although it's nowhere near a Grande Design worthy project, not to mention Kevin Mcloud would have retired before I get this place finished! I have been taking pictures from day 1, think I'm up to around 2000 so far, but I will keep them and put them into some order...
Managed to get some more work done today, in fact was a pretty busy day on site! Plumber got the radiators on the top floor and connected up ready for filling, decorators got the wall painting done on the top floor as well, which is great, but it stopped me getting on with the bar build, as I couldn't use my saws because of the dust and woodwork painting.....
I did manage to get a quick start after they left though.....
In the mean time I've been carrying on with the work on the ground floor, we had one more wall to come down before we had a complete clean slate. The good news is that initial visual checks showed that it might be a structural wall. It was under the lounge but didn't have any walls above it, so best guess was it is an anti bounce wall for the floor above, so plans for a 7.5m steel were put in place, just in case.... Fortunately I know a steel fabricator really well, so he was on stand by in case it was needed! Good news was, after some investigating smashing work was that the original lath and plaster carried on between the brick wall and the floor above, clearly showing a gap between then and evidence that no weight was on the wall. Also a section of the ceiling we took down showed a massive 10" x 4" beam had already been fitted previously during construction of the floor, so bonus, a saved cost of a 7.5m beam and a building warrant application! We propped it anyway just to make sure, but there was absolutely no movement, which was a bonus!
Before pictures
Exploratory openings..
And then after a lot of smashing and bashing!
I did manage to get a quick start after they left though.....
In the mean time I've been carrying on with the work on the ground floor, we had one more wall to come down before we had a complete clean slate. The good news is that initial visual checks showed that it might be a structural wall. It was under the lounge but didn't have any walls above it, so best guess was it is an anti bounce wall for the floor above, so plans for a 7.5m steel were put in place, just in case.... Fortunately I know a steel fabricator really well, so he was on stand by in case it was needed! Good news was, after some investigating smashing work was that the original lath and plaster carried on between the brick wall and the floor above, clearly showing a gap between then and evidence that no weight was on the wall. Also a section of the ceiling we took down showed a massive 10" x 4" beam had already been fitted previously during construction of the floor, so bonus, a saved cost of a 7.5m beam and a building warrant application! We propped it anyway just to make sure, but there was absolutely no movement, which was a bonus!
Before pictures
Exploratory openings..
And then after a lot of smashing and bashing!
I think you've missed stage 5 off mate, all those little jobs you forgot to do at the time. I'm stuck at that point now, it's so tedious. Make sure you don't leave too many 'finishing off' jobs to do or you'll end up hating the place!!
Garage seems a bit small all things considered, it's smaller than mine (though I only have one floor).
Garage seems a bit small all things considered, it's smaller than mine (though I only have one floor).
S10GTA said:
Hands down, this is the best thread on Pistonheads. The property is immense, but the level of care and attention to detail does it justice. Looking forward to seeing further updates.
Thanks very much GTA, I seriously doubt this is the "best thread", but the comments are much appreciated! Update next!
paulrockliffe said:
I think you've missed stage 5 off mate, all those little jobs you forgot to do at the time. I'm stuck at that point now, it's so tedious. Make sure you don't leave too many 'finishing off' jobs to do or you'll end up hating the place!!
Garage seems a bit small all things considered, it's smaller than mine (though I only have one floor).
Lol, it's the classic 80/20 rule of renovating! It takes 80% of the time to do the last 20% of the jobs! Garage seems a bit small all things considered, it's smaller than mine (though I only have one floor).
Garage is planned to be 7m x 6m so big enough for two cars, which is all I plan on putting in it! Bear in mind that there will be none of the usual lawn mower, tents, golf clubs etc etc of a normal garage as they will all live in one of the outbuildings. Never the less, yes, yours is bigger! And mine will also only have one floor.... :-(
Mancave / Bar Update!
Managed to get some time on the mancave / bar over the weekend, and with my nephew (and his seriously younger legs helping me!) got a lot done.
First job was to get rid of the PITA festoon lighting, it has served its purpose but I'm fed up with wires strewn around the place, so it had to go. Which meant rigging up the new led lighting. 24 of them... But with a temp power connection they are all in and working, and wow what a difference to the room, seems bigger!
Had a major clean down as well, loads of the tools removed, the chop saw knocked down as the majority of the joinery work is now complete! Floor fitted in the bar, went for a solid oak floor to compliment the wood Worktops, as I didn't fancy carpet in the bar area. Plinths fitted, wall units in place and led profiles fitted inside them. Mirror backs ordered, and rady for Tuesday, which will change the look of the units... Sink and dishwasher fitted and connected, so all plumbing done in the bar now, radiators connected and tested, so heating working too (apart from no thermostat control fitted yet) decoration also all complete.
Pictures of the room now.
Also, test fitted the new projector to double check my man maths for the size of the screen needed. Works out to a 120" screen, which is what I was hoping for. I can't go any bigger as the ceiling height won't allow the wider screen, as it is the 120" finishes about 700mm off the floor, which is fine as there will be a unit underneath it.
Managed to get some time on the mancave / bar over the weekend, and with my nephew (and his seriously younger legs helping me!) got a lot done.
First job was to get rid of the PITA festoon lighting, it has served its purpose but I'm fed up with wires strewn around the place, so it had to go. Which meant rigging up the new led lighting. 24 of them... But with a temp power connection they are all in and working, and wow what a difference to the room, seems bigger!
Had a major clean down as well, loads of the tools removed, the chop saw knocked down as the majority of the joinery work is now complete! Floor fitted in the bar, went for a solid oak floor to compliment the wood Worktops, as I didn't fancy carpet in the bar area. Plinths fitted, wall units in place and led profiles fitted inside them. Mirror backs ordered, and rady for Tuesday, which will change the look of the units... Sink and dishwasher fitted and connected, so all plumbing done in the bar now, radiators connected and tested, so heating working too (apart from no thermostat control fitted yet) decoration also all complete.
Pictures of the room now.
Also, test fitted the new projector to double check my man maths for the size of the screen needed. Works out to a 120" screen, which is what I was hoping for. I can't go any bigger as the ceiling height won't allow the wider screen, as it is the 120" finishes about 700mm off the floor, which is fine as there will be a unit underneath it.
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