London 1930s semi renovation

[Harry Flashman]

Before, during and after conservatory (now garden/reading room, after we replaced a wall that was leaning on the neighbours fence (!!) and full of asbestos, and a glass roof that was falling down and unsafe. Looks fine in the original estate agent's photo below, doesn't it...well it wasn't!

conservatory pre work by baconrashers, on Flickr


Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr


Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr

[Harry Flashman]

And the reception area. Front formal room is dark blue and has wood burner. Middle room is TV room/informal - foldable room dividers will go on. The whole lot opens out onto the garden room/garden, and is 12m long in total - really nice space.

TV needs to come down from temporary position on chimney breat and hidden in a cabinet in one of the alcoves. My old orange sofa from my flat is too big for the space (shame, as it is lovely and comfortable) so likely to get split in half, with one bit remaining, one bit (the chaise) going upstairs into a bedroom.

Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr

Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr



View from reading chair in garden room to the kitchen

Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr

[Harry Flashman]

dmsims said:

From the photo the orange sofa looks fine

but those TV cables ..........

Temporary! That room isn't anywhere near done. TV and all electronics will go in a bespoke cabinet in one of the alcoves next to the chimney breast, hidden away nicely. That's why there is a row of sockets including 6 ethernet connections in the alcove to the left of the fireplace: A/V kit will go there.

TVs on chimney breasts aren't a great look at the best of times, but our temporary set-up makes my teeth itch...

[Harry Flashman]

dmsims said:

I was pulling your chain, I expect you still have a very long list, I know I do

So, so long! And I seem to be making very little dent in it. Builders finish the driveway on Thursday and we are finally done with them. Now a tonne of decorating to do.

We recently had the house surveyed - nice surprise that it now measures 2933 square feet internally, from the 2317 it was when we bought it: soi we have added a decent amount of space!

[Harry Flashman]

I also have the Bosch laser measure! Wouldn't be without it.

[Harry Flashman]

Thanks guys.

We used our builder - it was not really a hard job, after doing the planning bit. Dug foundations, insulated floor, screed and underfloor heating pipes shared with kitchen, built a new wall and roof, insulated and services run, and made it all look nice. Wall knocked through to kitchen at the same time.

I originally wanted to do a glass box but energy efficiency (not great no matter what the companies tell you) meant it would not be a good plan with the open plan layout. These things work well if linking two buildings, not so well if you tack them to the end of an open plan space as even with the latest thermal technology they get hot in summer and cold in winter. They also cost an absolute fortune!

Some pics. Back of the house is quite ugly, but planting climbers etc will deal with that. The grey paint was chosen as it hides the house from the park - when it was painted white it stood out too much for my liking. The grey also looks modernist, which I like!

Balustrade by baconrashers, on Flickr


At night

Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr

[Harry Flashman]

No - because it was all done years ago, before we bought the house. We only did the loft dormer at the top and the conservatory infill. The big ugly box on the right of the picture was done at some point in the late 1990s, and is a full two storey extension.

All we did with the old extension was replace the windows, insulate, damp-proof and render to bring it up to modern energy specs.

[Harry Flashman]

kambites said:

Christ, how did they get planning permission for that monstrosity!

Edited by kambites on Tuesday 13th June 15:14

It's Lambeth - they probably bribed someone. ALso it's not a pretty Victorian, so planners seem to have cared a lot less what people did to these '30's houses.

The front is quite different to the back - in early stages of being prettified: need to add some kerb appeal.

Rotten garage doors being completely replaced with new wood ones that will be bleached, limewashed and sealed. They aren't actually the security doors - behind them is an electronic roller shutter connected to the monitored alarm.

Front door is similarly ugly/functional - rim-locking steel security door, with CCTV. There's another (original 1930s) door behind it after the porch, with its own set of locks.

Basically, the idea was to make robbing the neighbours more appealing than robbing us, especially as a number of them are much wealthier than we are. What lovely people we are.

One of the reasons I like this house is it looks pretty unassuming from the front - behind the plain 1930's facade is a lovely near-3000 square foot home (we just had it surveyed 2993 square feet) done up to my demanding standards. To the front, hiding behind a couple of over-large bushes, is a plain 1930's semi. To the rear, the grey paint and black windows blend it in from the park so when you look at the house bordering to the park, eyes are drawn to the white-painted houses and Edwardians, not ours.

The 2002 Focus tip snotter that will live on the drive will complete the look!

Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr

Edited by Harry Flashman on Tuesday 13th June 15:51

[Harry Flashman]

Q-House. Like a Q-car, but less manoeuvrable.

[Harry Flashman]

There is a specific house we want - so ours in on at a very keen price (means we don't lose, but don't make any profit) to attract a chain free seller so we can offer on the other house.

Not going to be too upset if we don't sell and we stay though: after months of it being a wreck, ours is getting prettier and more finished every day.

[Harry Flashman]

fido said:

I did similar but unfortunately the neighbours did get robbed - we've not spoken much since. Great project - as said before shame to sell such a nice place. I might have nosey this weekend as I'm driving past your locale .. but not for criminal purposes I hasten to add!

Have a look! Wife's American friends are are staying this weekend whilst in London for a couple of weeks but we're actually in Italy for my 40th...

[Harry Flashman]

Thanks Ali!

[Harry Flashman]

boxster9 said:

That's a stunning floor. We were thinking of putting herringbone engineered flooring downstairs but the chevron pattern gives a modern twist.

Could you post a link for the supplier?

Thanks

Thanks! Here you go. Look for French or Chevron pattern parquet. I recommend these guys - great product, easy to fit and very good service.

https://www.floormonster.co.uk/engineered-wood/eng...

They also do a whitewashed version (link below) if you would like to be even more contemporary/Scandinavian in your design influences. I'd get samples of both and consider them.

https://www.floormonster.co.uk/engineered-wood/eng...

Edited by Harry Flashman on Saturday 17th June 09:18

[Harry Flashman]

RockyBalboa said:

Simply lovely!

What made you go for in-built versus a Range Cooker?

Functionality - I looked at ranges but they simply don't have the features of the best single ovens. The Siemens in the pictures is a steam/microwave/electric fan combination oven that can roast and brown a chicken to perfection in 20 minutes using all three cooking methods. Ranges all pack conventional fan assisted ovens only.

This approach also allowed me to fit two full sized hobs with one gas, one induction. I love the versatility. Range would have had to be gas or induction.

As you can probably tell, I love to cook. I designed the kitchen to be a joy to make food in!

[Harry Flashman]

HairyMaclary said:

Good luck with the sale. The property in your other thread will be amazing if you can secure it. Christ knows how much you'd have to spend to get it to the standard of your current one? £400k?

Thanks! Every EA we saw valued it at over £1.3m, most at 1.35+. We have put it on at £1.25m which a) hamstrings our competition (another of the houses in the street is on sale forthesameprice as she too wants our target - but her house is 900 square feet smaller, not as nice a location nor refurbished to our standard) and b) should garner a lot of interest.

On a per square foot basis, I think our house may be one of the cheapest in the postcode, and I hope buyers are smart enough to see this as the bargain it is, even in this depressed market.

It is ONLY for sale if we get an offer accepted on the house we want. If we don't, it comes off the market immediately even if we get offers over asking. We love our road, and our home!

I reckon £300k should renovate our target to the standard of ours. It's a wreck! But a very special building.

[Harry Flashman]

terrydacktal said:

So is it up for sale or not?

It is - seller of the house we want will only accept our offer if we have a chain free offer on ours. Hence using the same estate agent: they are incentivised by two sets of commission to find us a suitable buyer asap.

We have 5 viewings today, apparently, two of them second viewings. Glad I am out of the house - am too emotionally attached to it, which as others have said, you should not be.

PH question. Would parking a nice car on the drive make buyers more likely to want the house, or less? Vantage is in mothballs due to my leg injury, but could be polished up and plonked on the driveway to help make a sale...

[Harry Flashman]

dmsims said:

Leave the drive empty

Similarly if you have cat/dog get rid (temporarily!)

That's what I have been doing - my snorter oldFocus is parked anonymously on the street! I assume that this allows buyers to see the space properly, much like decluttering rooms?

[Harry Flashman]

Sorry for such a late reply - It's Farrow & Ball Hague Blue. Lovely colour, but the paint is hateful stuff to use. I now use Leyland Trade, mixed to pretty much any colour needed.

[Harry Flashman]

So it is time to show some results on this thread (I have a new one - as we moved, ridiculously, before finishing the painting and decorating in this place!).

It is rare that you get to take pics of your newly renovated house all emptied of stuff, as normally you live there. These really bring into focus how much there was left to do - it needs colour, desperately. Looked like a show home once the movers and cleaners had been.

First house Lady F and I owned together, so will always have good memories.

Views around the ground floor.

DSC_0956 by baconrashers, on Flickr

DSC_0957 by baconrashers, on Flickr

DSC_0952 by baconrashers, on Flickr

Edited by Harry Flashman on Sunday 24th September 19:37

[Harry Flashman]

Kitchen - some before and after shots, taken from similar viewpoints:

Kitchen removed 2 by baconrashers, on Flickr

DSC_0965 by baconrashers, on Flickr


Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr

DSC_0975 by baconrashers, on Flickr



Kitchen removed by baconrashers, on Flickr

DSC_0960 by baconrashers, on Flickr