Georgian House Renovation Up North - 5 Years and Counting
Discussion
Cheers, I’ve repaired some of the other windows where the rot wasn’t as extensive before with 2 pack car body filler - the smell brought back memories of repairing the knackered wings on my first car!
As the hole was so large and I had timber spare, I went for that as you can see the grain slightly through the paint and that’s hard to emulate with filler.
As the hole was so large and I had timber spare, I went for that as you can see the grain slightly through the paint and that’s hard to emulate with filler.
Vanity Projects said:
Cheers, I’ve repaired some of the other windows where the rot wasn’t as extensive before with 2 pack car body filler - the smell brought back memories of repairing the knackered wings on my first car!
As the hole was so large and I had timber spare, I went for that as you can see the grain slightly through the paint and that’s hard to emulate with filler.
That'll work! I couldn't possibly actually specify that method though! Good thinking Batman!As the hole was so large and I had timber spare, I went for that as you can see the grain slightly through the paint and that’s hard to emulate with filler.
Aside from the previous message about moving kitchen, I arrived home today to find all our interior doors have been removed and sent for dipping, all except the kitchen door as it would probably disintegrate like a Lancia by the the sea if dipped.
It does give me the chance to point out one odd quirk of the house, that despite it being built in three separate sections, it’s possible to stand at the front and see all the way through the house to the back. Also, our hinges are very old!
It does give me the chance to point out one odd quirk of the house, that despite it being built in three separate sections, it’s possible to stand at the front and see all the way through the house to the back. Also, our hinges are very old!
Vanity Projects said:
Aside from the previous message about moving kitchen, I arrived home today to find all our interior doors have been removed and sent for dipping, all except the kitchen door as it would probably disintegrate like a Lancia by the the sea if dipped.
It's totally upto yourself how you strip the doors, but all I can say is the one door of 14 that was dipped is by far the worst looking door of the lot now. Wish I'd never done it.
So to the floor, a quick sweep out ready to assess levels.
Levels were 30mm out across the floor, good to have a pro back on the job.
Unlike the pattern outside, we went with just 900 x 600 slabs in a stretcher bond as that’s how it would traditionally have been laid and the builder set them out so the mortar lines would be central to the doors and the centre of the chimney breast.
Mortar and grout were all lime as it was the final stage to let the floor breathe and avoid any issues with moisture up the walls.
More going in.
Levels were 30mm out across the floor, good to have a pro back on the job.
Unlike the pattern outside, we went with just 900 x 600 slabs in a stretcher bond as that’s how it would traditionally have been laid and the builder set them out so the mortar lines would be central to the doors and the centre of the chimney breast.
Mortar and grout were all lime as it was the final stage to let the floor breathe and avoid any issues with moisture up the walls.
More going in.
We had just enough large slabs left to lay the floor inside with 600x600 squares used for the cuts to keep the large slabs for the main area.
We lost a lot of time trying to sort he step out to the living room, the kitchen is lower than the living room and there was a big step down that should have been leveled out but with the floor cock up, there was still a gap.
We put a layer of cork insulation down and then a pool of mortar to let it set.
We pondered over the neatest way to finish the doorway slab and get it level with the living room floor then had a brainwave to rebate the doorframe and slide the slab in so there would be no visible joints.
In theory it was a brilliant idea but in practice, slotting it in was like smoothing wallpaper with a hedgehog, it kept dragging and buggering the mortar. Two hours of expletives were expended to finally get a slab in on this.
Once in, the whole floor was all pointed up and then Inset to clearing the mortar off to see the finished result.
We were slightly underwhelmed with the result, the slabs had been outside for months now and right where the cutting for outside had been happening so they were ingrained with fine dust we couldn’t shift and no amount of lung disintegrating brick acid or cleaning products could get it out.
Add to this, we didn’t have loads of slabs spare and with natural riven stone, some slabs look better than others, we didn’t have loads to spare so some of the slabs weren’t that nice.
Sadly, this meant by the time they were getting to the door and the most visible/noticeable/high traffic part of the floor, only the poorer slabs remained.
Sensing the missus wasn’t quite happy, butnwas trying to put a brave face on, I gave her some chalk and brave juice (cider) and left her to mark which slabs she didn’t like.
Anyone for Tetris
Slab retrieval and Volvo transportation after rooting through about four crates of raj green to find a set we were happy with.
Ready to lay
Cracking on.
We lost a lot of time trying to sort he step out to the living room, the kitchen is lower than the living room and there was a big step down that should have been leveled out but with the floor cock up, there was still a gap.
We put a layer of cork insulation down and then a pool of mortar to let it set.
We pondered over the neatest way to finish the doorway slab and get it level with the living room floor then had a brainwave to rebate the doorframe and slide the slab in so there would be no visible joints.
In theory it was a brilliant idea but in practice, slotting it in was like smoothing wallpaper with a hedgehog, it kept dragging and buggering the mortar. Two hours of expletives were expended to finally get a slab in on this.
Once in, the whole floor was all pointed up and then Inset to clearing the mortar off to see the finished result.
We were slightly underwhelmed with the result, the slabs had been outside for months now and right where the cutting for outside had been happening so they were ingrained with fine dust we couldn’t shift and no amount of lung disintegrating brick acid or cleaning products could get it out.
Add to this, we didn’t have loads of slabs spare and with natural riven stone, some slabs look better than others, we didn’t have loads to spare so some of the slabs weren’t that nice.
Sadly, this meant by the time they were getting to the door and the most visible/noticeable/high traffic part of the floor, only the poorer slabs remained.
Sensing the missus wasn’t quite happy, butnwas trying to put a brave face on, I gave her some chalk and brave juice (cider) and left her to mark which slabs she didn’t like.
Anyone for Tetris
Slab retrieval and Volvo transportation after rooting through about four crates of raj green to find a set we were happy with.
Ready to lay
Cracking on.
Edited by Vanity Projects on Wednesday 5th February 22:53
Edited by Vanity Projects on Wednesday 5th February 23:23
What isn’t in here because I was too knackered and demoralised at the time to photo it was the floor cleaning version of the old woman that swallowed a fly, who swallowed a spider, etc.
I got held up coming home after they’d done the pointing so it stained the brick when I could have got away with brushing off and water...
...so we used brick acid to take off the mortar...but the stones wouldn’t come up clean so we mopped the floor with a dilute acid mix...but this dissolved the mop so we had fibres all over the floor...so we hired a wet/dry vac to clean all that up and wash the stones...but that didn’t shift it.
So we hired a floor polisher and after much swearing about how b
d hard to drive and steer they are until you get the knack of them, after being dragged about and swearing a lot, it demolished the abrasive pad and so I had to get another wet vac to Hoover up the plastic fibres from the pad...
In between all the sanding, the acid had brought through some rust into the mortar that didn’t look good either and for some reason, the mortar had discoloured and didn’t look like the exterior mortar, despite the same mix and sand being used?
so after the replacement slabs were laid and needed repointing...I borrowed this and took a deep breath.
Yep, I raked out all the mortar in the kitchen and did it again, well, all except a very small square of the first batch of mortar in the corner that will be behind kitchen units so never be seen.
I figured I’ve solved enough historical mysteries in this place and it would be rude not to create a few anomalies of my own. Maybe in 100 years (assuming PH is dead by then thanks to Boris and Greta) somebody will be scratching their head over the different mortar in this bit
All out
Repointed properly!
Naturally by this point, the coffers were a bit thin and we were certainly mentally overdrawn so the old kitchen was ‘installed’ so normal life could resume for a bit.
I got held up coming home after they’d done the pointing so it stained the brick when I could have got away with brushing off and water...
...so we used brick acid to take off the mortar...but the stones wouldn’t come up clean so we mopped the floor with a dilute acid mix...but this dissolved the mop so we had fibres all over the floor...so we hired a wet/dry vac to clean all that up and wash the stones...but that didn’t shift it.
So we hired a floor polisher and after much swearing about how b
d hard to drive and steer they are until you get the knack of them, after being dragged about and swearing a lot, it demolished the abrasive pad and so I had to get another wet vac to Hoover up the plastic fibres from the pad...In between all the sanding, the acid had brought through some rust into the mortar that didn’t look good either and for some reason, the mortar had discoloured and didn’t look like the exterior mortar, despite the same mix and sand being used?
so after the replacement slabs were laid and needed repointing...I borrowed this and took a deep breath.
Yep, I raked out all the mortar in the kitchen and did it again, well, all except a very small square of the first batch of mortar in the corner that will be behind kitchen units so never be seen.
I figured I’ve solved enough historical mysteries in this place and it would be rude not to create a few anomalies of my own. Maybe in 100 years (assuming PH is dead by then thanks to Boris and Greta) somebody will be scratching their head over the different mortar in this bit
All out
Repointed properly!
Naturally by this point, the coffers were a bit thin and we were certainly mentally overdrawn so the old kitchen was ‘installed’ so normal life could resume for a bit.
Edited by Vanity Projects on Thursday 6th February 00:30
The chimney breast was meant to house the range but we haven’t bothered to move it back in and the old cabinet we got for £100 that has been a drinks cabinet fits perfectly as a larder cupboard so a rethink is needed as it looks just right there.
To be fair, we don’t even notice the range sitting in the living room anymore...I just wired a 3 pin on it and barred the wife from using more than one oven at once and did without a hob.
To be fair, we don’t even notice the range sitting in the living room anymore...I just wired a 3 pin on it and barred the wife from using more than one oven at once and did without a hob.
Vanity Projects said:
Add to this, we didn’t have loads of slabs spare and with natural riven stone, some slabs look better than others, we didn’t have loads to spare so some of the slabs weren’t that nice.
Sadly, this meant by the time they were getting to the door and the most visible/noticeable/high traffic part of the floor, only the poorer slabs remained.
Always the bloody way! Fair play for biting your lip and taknig it back up.Sadly, this meant by the time they were getting to the door and the most visible/noticeable/high traffic part of the floor, only the poorer slabs remained.
Doors took some stripping and a were gone for two weeks as a couple of them refused to release whatever god awful stuff was on them.
I arrived hone to this.
A mate of mine had suggested we should have labeled every door so we knew where it went...I did point out it wasn’t necessary since no two doors are alike
They need to dry a little more and a little bit of hand sanding/waxing to bring them up to a final finish but they look a lot better now and go better in the room than the dark finish they all had.
A couple still have varnish on the backs so I’ll take them outside and power sand the varnish off at a later date, luckily the two faces that didn’t strip are the back sides of two bedroom doors that are usually facing a wall.
I arrived hone to this.
A mate of mine had suggested we should have labeled every door so we knew where it went...I did point out it wasn’t necessary since no two doors are alike
They need to dry a little more and a little bit of hand sanding/waxing to bring them up to a final finish but they look a lot better now and go better in the room than the dark finish they all had.
A couple still have varnish on the backs so I’ll take them outside and power sand the varnish off at a later date, luckily the two faces that didn’t strip are the back sides of two bedroom doors that are usually facing a wall.
I have just spent about a week reading this thread and I am certainly inspired. I do love how the house is still giving you surprises and has become a part of your life. It must be good to look at it and know how much of your work has gone in to making something look that good.
A friend of mine's parents own a massive old house in Bristol. It's a lovely 4 storey Georgian townhouse they bought for buttons when the area was full of squatters and drug addicts. Now the drug addicts have moved down the hill a bit and there are no empty houses to squat in and they are sat on a fortune.
Unfortunately they don't really have the time to do much maintenance. Their approach is not to start a job because you don't know where it is going it end! That is probably true and you could probably spend 100k on it without making any major improvements.
I'm currently looking for a house and I fear you may have persuaded me to seek out some massive dilapidated pile that will become my life's work to turn into something like this.
Not that you would ever sell, but have you had it valued?
A friend of mine's parents own a massive old house in Bristol. It's a lovely 4 storey Georgian townhouse they bought for buttons when the area was full of squatters and drug addicts. Now the drug addicts have moved down the hill a bit and there are no empty houses to squat in and they are sat on a fortune.
Unfortunately they don't really have the time to do much maintenance. Their approach is not to start a job because you don't know where it is going it end! That is probably true and you could probably spend 100k on it without making any major improvements.
I'm currently looking for a house and I fear you may have persuaded me to seek out some massive dilapidated pile that will become my life's work to turn into something like this.
Not that you would ever sell, but have you had it valued?
I've just finished 
I honestly feel like part of the family. Now as an adopted son can I come help tinker with stuff as my house is finished,...
Seriously though you've got yourself a wonderfully characterful property and (belated) congrats on the relationship/marriage/child1/child2/Sharan/Volvo.
I honestly feel like part of the family. Now as an adopted son can I come help tinker with stuff as my house is finished,...
Seriously though you've got yourself a wonderfully characterful property and (belated) congrats on the relationship/marriage/child1/child2/Sharan/Volvo.
Where was I with this thing?
Can’t quite remember but as I’d been on holiday from work for a few weeks in early Jan/Feb and therefore watching the Corona drama unfold in China perhaps more than most, I’d been stockpiling goods I’d a different sort way before the lockdown arrived.
Plasterboard, cement, timber, paint, etc. It proved prophetic earlier than expected too as our eldest came home from school with a temp up in the high 38-low 39 range so we have been in isolation a couple of weeks longer than most.
I seemed to be unaffected, wife got some shortness of breath and a dry cough that’s lasted two weeks but no guarantees it’s cv19 without testing but regardless, we’ve been isolating as per the powers that be.
First job, wife is dig for victory mode so the two trees occupying two of the veg beds temporarily needed a new home. A load of decking ordered from our local sawmill (better to support local business and the quality/price is better than B&Q et al) and out with the power tools.
Wife insisted on mitred corners to add complexity to the task but the table saw I bought last year came in to its own for the corners.
Painted and ready to lob into place, I haven’t summoned the strength to move the trees yet.
Can’t quite remember but as I’d been on holiday from work for a few weeks in early Jan/Feb and therefore watching the Corona drama unfold in China perhaps more than most, I’d been stockpiling goods I’d a different sort way before the lockdown arrived.
Plasterboard, cement, timber, paint, etc. It proved prophetic earlier than expected too as our eldest came home from school with a temp up in the high 38-low 39 range so we have been in isolation a couple of weeks longer than most.
I seemed to be unaffected, wife got some shortness of breath and a dry cough that’s lasted two weeks but no guarantees it’s cv19 without testing but regardless, we’ve been isolating as per the powers that be.
First job, wife is dig for victory mode so the two trees occupying two of the veg beds temporarily needed a new home. A load of decking ordered from our local sawmill (better to support local business and the quality/price is better than B&Q et al) and out with the power tools.
Wife insisted on mitred corners to add complexity to the task but the table saw I bought last year came in to its own for the corners.
Painted and ready to lob into place, I haven’t summoned the strength to move the trees yet.
A few pages (and months) back, I’d started work on a potting shed for the wife, I decided to lift the floor and lay the stone properly, a task my back and legs had not thanked me for - some of the stones are about three inch think and weigh as much as a small car.
I got as much done as I could with the materials I had lying around, this included using shovels of peas shingle from around the veg beds as aggregate whenever the other half wasn’t looking.
There are a few slabs to fit and depending on whether my neighbor will let me pinch a bag of cement (in an acceptably socially distanced way) I will finish it this week.
The incentive being the sooner I do this, the sooner her stuff moves out of the garage and into the potting shed!
Little bit of help on the job.
I also added the door to the shed, but apparently all I had to hand to record it was a potato phone
I got as much done as I could with the materials I had lying around, this included using shovels of peas shingle from around the veg beds as aggregate whenever the other half wasn’t looking
.There are a few slabs to fit and depending on whether my neighbor will let me pinch a bag of cement (in an acceptably socially distanced way) I will finish it this week.
The incentive being the sooner I do this, the sooner her stuff moves out of the garage and into the potting shed!
Little bit of help on the job.
I also added the door to the shed, but apparently all I had to hand to record it was a potato phone
We got a visit from the previous owners a while back and they told us many a story about the house, they also let slip that these horror show alcoves that appear to have been carved out with dynamite were done by them in the mid 1980’s (as was every single artexed wall in the house ).
I’ve chiseled them back into something resembling tidy and then framed it out to board over. I didn’t fill the alcove in but the frame means there’s a solid mount for the wall lights.
I put the alcove to good use by inserting a souvenir copy of the Daily mail (in an Asda carrier bag) from the morning after Boris’s lockdown announcement - Along with a disclaimer that I don’t read it and it was my dad’s copy he brought down whilst delivering our isolation food parcel.
In the absence of a plasterer, I cracked on with ‘expertly‘ boarding the wall myself...
In furtherance of the home veg initiative, you’ll notice an extra table (£20 via a British Heart Foundation Furniture shop)
Still got to finish the other side, fill and skim the gaps. First attempt so not totally happy or unhappy with it, if that makes sense.
).I’ve chiseled them back into something resembling tidy and then framed it out to board over. I didn’t fill the alcove in but the frame means there’s a solid mount for the wall lights.
I put the alcove to good use by inserting a souvenir copy of the Daily mail (in an Asda carrier bag) from the morning after Boris’s lockdown announcement - Along with a disclaimer that I don’t read it and it was my dad’s copy he brought down whilst delivering our isolation food parcel.
In the absence of a plasterer, I cracked on with ‘expertly‘ boarding the wall myself...
In furtherance of the home veg initiative, you’ll notice an extra table (£20 via a British Heart Foundation Furniture shop)
Still got to finish the other side, fill and skim the gaps. First attempt so not totally happy or unhappy with it, if that makes sense.
The hallway has also being getting attention, we replaced to floor years ago (it’s Lino, not tile) but as the old door leaked, it’s discolored and in seven years has pretty much started to wear out.
I weighed up retiling the whole thing in a Victorian pattern but was vetoed by the missus on the basis of time rather than cost. We’ve therefore limited the work to filling the gaps from where the door was fitted and lights chased in, fixing dents and imperfections in the wall (mostly) and fitting a shoe rack/key shelf so in the unlikely event some scribe breaks in to nick the keys to either of the Mazda 323’s or the (appreciating classic) 3.0 Laguna they can get them and get out without bothering us.
Before
Patched
We’ve got one of those ikea Hemnes shoe racks to go on the wall so I wasn’t too fussed about making the bit hidden by that perfect but I did take the time to go along the wall and sand off any old paint bumps and lumps to get a smooth finish or the walls you can see.
I weighed up retiling the whole thing in a Victorian pattern but was vetoed by the missus on the basis of time rather than cost. We’ve therefore limited the work to filling the gaps from where the door was fitted and lights chased in, fixing dents and imperfections in the wall (mostly) and fitting a shoe rack/key shelf so in the unlikely event some scribe breaks in to nick the keys to either of the Mazda 323’s or the (appreciating classic) 3.0 Laguna they can get them and get out without bothering us.
Before
Patched
We’ve got one of those ikea Hemnes shoe racks to go on the wall so I wasn’t too fussed about making the bit hidden by that perfect but I did take the time to go along the wall and sand off any old paint bumps and lumps to get a smooth finish or the walls you can see.
Rostfritt said:
Not that you would ever sell, but have you had it valued?
Valuations I guess are arbitrary at the best of times (not least in these Covid times) but they’ve been flogging new 5 bed start homes on our street for £330,000 easily enough and you could fit one of them in the front and back garden of ours and the rooms are tiny compared to ours so prior to all this lockdown, we had a conservative number of about £360,000 in mind.As you say, it’s not relevant in that we’re not about to sell or take out equity, but it’s more than I paid and have spent and is less than the mortgage so that is all good!
The location is a factor, being up north. I imagine were this house where I used to live in Weybridge, it would probably be three to four times the price.
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