Marky's refurb thread. 1940 run down semi.
Discussion
Apologies for the thread title, it just makes it easily distinguishable from all the other "Our refurb" threads. As usual this is mainly somewhere for me to keep a track on what we have done to the house and to pick all the experienced P'headers brains on any issues we come across. (There are already a few).
Ok, I'd just like to say I'll welcome all input along the way with this project so what I'll do is put any questions or cries for help at the end of my posts, so if anyone reading gets bored, please just skip to the end to see if you can add anything helpful or just take the piss to cheer me up when things get tough
. No questions today though, just an introduction. I've done several "Gut and refurb" projects over the years but mainly on 1970's stuff so nothing as old as this.
Anyway, we picked up the keys for this 1940 semi 4 weeks ago. It's in a beautiful village in Northumberland and it's been my ambition to live here ever since riding through it, about ten years ago. We've realised a few ambitions by buying it, such as getting more rural, I finally have my double garage, location, etc, etc.
The house belonged to a 90 year old woman who was in care for the last 3 years until she sadly passed away. We bought the house from her son who lives two doors along the road. He was born in the house in 1945.
We could tell the house had been loved at some point but it had fallen into a bad state of repair. Cast iron guttering falling off, roof tiles slipping, damp, burst hot water tank and just generally really run down. It's in a conservation area so we are limited to what we can do, but we'll see.
Pics from when we viewed it, or very soon after. It looked half liveable then. -
Paths covered in moss, the ivy has to go, the porch will be pulled down and a new gable roof jobbie built with door on front. I want the cables on the front of house (electric and phone line) re-routed into the house as we are hoping to get it rendered. New windows, roof, fascias, guttering etc, to go on.
[/URL]
Double garage with a ceiling and loft space. Good size too. The bit in-between house and garage is an old store. We aim to turn to have this made habitable and move the kitchen into there. It's currently a narrow room along the back of house.
[/URL]
Back of the house. She's no looker but there's a bit to sort out. The left lower window is the rear of living room which runs front to back of house. The right window is kitchen which once we move it, we hope to fit 3.2m bi-folds along the back to take in the view.
[/URL]
This view (This pic is from fence but you get the idea.) -
[/URL]
Back of garage and store. Store doors will become french doors. New windows for garage.
[/URL]
View from other side of house. (Roofer scaffold in the way) -
[/URL]
Ok so the basis is there e.g., location, views, space but the interior is rough. These are from when viewed it. -
Kitchen -
[/URL]
[/URL]
Living room. I was meant to ask for the old ariel view picture of the house but forgot. -
[/URL]
[/URL]
Bedroom 1
Wallpapered over fireplaces in 2 of the bedrooms.
[/URL]
Bedroom 2
[/URL]
[/URL]
Bedroom 3. The 2nd pic is of the roof about to crumble in due to the failed roof covering around the chimney breast above.
[/URL]
[/URL]
Bathroom - Lovely eh. We aim to keep this. The loo is in a separate little room.
[/URL]
Store - the door ahead is into garage. There is a door to the left which goes into the front facing part of the store (2nd pic). Creepy.
[/URL]
[/URL]
Drive -
[/URL]
Anyway, that's all for tonight. I'll update over the next few days to get upto the present day. I'll add some layout pics of present and proposed. I'll also sort out any pics that aren't showing up. Photobucket issues.
Cheers.
Ok, I'd just like to say I'll welcome all input along the way with this project so what I'll do is put any questions or cries for help at the end of my posts, so if anyone reading gets bored, please just skip to the end to see if you can add anything helpful or just take the piss to cheer me up when things get tough
. No questions today though, just an introduction. I've done several "Gut and refurb" projects over the years but mainly on 1970's stuff so nothing as old as this.Anyway, we picked up the keys for this 1940 semi 4 weeks ago. It's in a beautiful village in Northumberland and it's been my ambition to live here ever since riding through it, about ten years ago. We've realised a few ambitions by buying it, such as getting more rural, I finally have my double garage, location, etc, etc.
The house belonged to a 90 year old woman who was in care for the last 3 years until she sadly passed away. We bought the house from her son who lives two doors along the road. He was born in the house in 1945.
We could tell the house had been loved at some point but it had fallen into a bad state of repair. Cast iron guttering falling off, roof tiles slipping, damp, burst hot water tank and just generally really run down. It's in a conservation area so we are limited to what we can do, but we'll see.
Pics from when we viewed it, or very soon after. It looked half liveable then. -
Paths covered in moss, the ivy has to go, the porch will be pulled down and a new gable roof jobbie built with door on front. I want the cables on the front of house (electric and phone line) re-routed into the house as we are hoping to get it rendered. New windows, roof, fascias, guttering etc, to go on.
[/URL]Double garage with a ceiling and loft space. Good size too. The bit in-between house and garage is an old store. We aim to turn to have this made habitable and move the kitchen into there. It's currently a narrow room along the back of house.
[/URL]Back of the house. She's no looker but there's a bit to sort out. The left lower window is the rear of living room which runs front to back of house. The right window is kitchen which once we move it, we hope to fit 3.2m bi-folds along the back to take in the view.
[/URL]This view (This pic is from fence but you get the idea.) -
[/URL]Back of garage and store. Store doors will become french doors. New windows for garage.
[/URL]View from other side of house. (Roofer scaffold in the way) -
[/URL]Ok so the basis is there e.g., location, views, space but the interior is rough. These are from when viewed it. -
Kitchen -
[/URL][/URL]Living room. I was meant to ask for the old ariel view picture of the house but forgot. -
[/URL][/URL]Bedroom 1
Wallpapered over fireplaces in 2 of the bedrooms.
[/URL]Bedroom 2
[/URL][/URL]Bedroom 3. The 2nd pic is of the roof about to crumble in due to the failed roof covering around the chimney breast above.
[/URL][/URL]Bathroom - Lovely eh. We aim to keep this.
The loo is in a separate little room.[/URL]Store - the door ahead is into garage. There is a door to the left which goes into the front facing part of the store (2nd pic). Creepy.
[/URL][/URL]Drive -
[/URL]Anyway, that's all for tonight. I'll update over the next few days to get upto the present day. I'll add some layout pics of present and proposed. I'll also sort out any pics that aren't showing up. Photobucket issues.
Cheers.
Thanks JJ. We have a pot there which will hopefully get the bulk of the work done, but we know we will run out of funds before everything is done.
What stage we run out at is anyones guess.
Work we're hoping to get done is -
Full re-roof (in original materials due to conservation order) inc. gutters fascias and velux windows in store. (Currently being done - £8k)
Re-jig layout including 3 or 4 RSJs.
Rewire.
Heating system, LPG, gas or wood pellet boiler, with a stove in living room/snug. (Stove currently being organised. Installation inc. slate hearth comes to £1580, no vat plus the stove a 5 kw Burley £1100).
Bi-folds on rear.
New porch.
Replace some windows completely, some will just get new units with georgian bars. (we use a great local company and the quote for this is amazing, less than half what I estimated).
Kitchen.
Bathroom.
Render, if allowed.
The rest, such as driveway, landscaping, fences etc, will be done over the years. The main thing is we're here. As long as we get the place liveable that'll do for now.
Of course there is planning to deal with and building regs, etc.
Aiming for it to look something like this. (Excuse the iPad sketch!) -
What stage we run out at is anyones guess.
Work we're hoping to get done is -
Full re-roof (in original materials due to conservation order) inc. gutters fascias and velux windows in store. (Currently being done - £8k)
Re-jig layout including 3 or 4 RSJs.
Rewire.
Heating system, LPG, gas or wood pellet boiler, with a stove in living room/snug. (Stove currently being organised. Installation inc. slate hearth comes to £1580, no vat plus the stove a 5 kw Burley £1100).
Bi-folds on rear.
New porch.
Replace some windows completely, some will just get new units with georgian bars. (we use a great local company and the quote for this is amazing, less than half what I estimated).
Kitchen.
Bathroom.
Render, if allowed.
The rest, such as driveway, landscaping, fences etc, will be done over the years. The main thing is we're here. As long as we get the place liveable that'll do for now.
Of course there is planning to deal with and building regs, etc.
Aiming for it to look something like this. (Excuse the iPad sketch!) -
Thanks for the comments chaps, yep those fire cover ups are great aren't they. 
Hi Morris, I have had a couple of people say avoid render actually, as it forever needs painting etc. I take the view that I like to keep my things tip top, whether it's a car or a house, even if it takes a bit of maintenance, but I am still debating it. The houses just lack a bit of kerb appeal and the buyer of next door is also up for rendering theirs, which may give us a bit more wellie with the planning department.
I'm enjoying the easy part of smashing things out etc at the minute. It's the calm before the storm currently, as the roofer is here and we have our pre-planning visit on Monday, by the local council, so not really much I can do for now, until we get the go ahead on things and get the architect in.
I've just got back from the local. There's only one pub in the village and that's it. There used to be a shop/post office but it closed. I'm not really a drinker but I've always wanted a local where you walk in and people know your name, so that's cool. Plus the average clientele are decent folk you can have a good chat with so it's not like some rough bar where the bar flies want to stab you.
Anyway, some more pics.
First week we were in the wife jet washed all the paths. They were caked in moss so whenever it rained we trailed blacky green slime into the house.
Before -
After -
Still rough and ugly but at least they're clean and usable.
Of course, she managed to keep our dog in the house all day but while she was clearing up he got into the garage and ate half a tray of mouse poison cereal. I pulled up just as it happened so took him down to the animal hospital where he spent a night. He's fine now.
All pretty standard boring stuff, but I'm just getting myself upto date on here before I start losing all the pics I've taken.
Hi Morris, I have had a couple of people say avoid render actually, as it forever needs painting etc. I take the view that I like to keep my things tip top, whether it's a car or a house, even if it takes a bit of maintenance, but I am still debating it. The houses just lack a bit of kerb appeal and the buyer of next door is also up for rendering theirs, which may give us a bit more wellie with the planning department.
I'm enjoying the easy part of smashing things out etc at the minute. It's the calm before the storm currently, as the roofer is here and we have our pre-planning visit on Monday, by the local council, so not really much I can do for now, until we get the go ahead on things and get the architect in.
I've just got back from the local. There's only one pub in the village and that's it. There used to be a shop/post office but it closed. I'm not really a drinker but I've always wanted a local where you walk in and people know your name, so that's cool.
Plus the average clientele are decent folk you can have a good chat with so it's not like some rough bar where the bar flies want to stab you. Anyway, some more pics.
First week we were in the wife jet washed all the paths. They were caked in moss so whenever it rained we trailed blacky green slime into the house.
Before -
After -
Still rough and ugly but at least they're clean and usable.
Of course, she managed to keep our dog in the house all day but while she was clearing up he got into the garage and ate half a tray of mouse poison cereal. I pulled up just as it happened so took him down to the animal hospital where he spent a night. He's fine now.
All pretty standard boring stuff, but I'm just getting myself upto date on here before I start losing all the pics I've taken.
So as I've mentioned the day of completion was quite stressful as we didn't get the go ahead to collect the keys until 5pm.
When we got to the house we found the back door wouldn't lock, or the garage doors and there was no water at all.
These were obviously my first jobs.
After a bit of help from Multi-point locks in Wakefield (good bunch of lads there), I ordered a new lock for the rear pvc door. Will be getting replaced with french doors eventually but at least it's secure now. Garage doors secured by various methods.
Then me and my dad tackled the lack of water. The top hot water tank in this cupboard had burst so we capped the feed off, so we could turn the main stop-cock back on to give us cold running water.
Cupboard before (Blurry pic sorry) -
Cupboard now. All tanks removed and scrapped. It was an electric water heater system and we'll be fitting central heating, so no point wasting money to reinstate it. -
Now this cupboard is accessed through the main bedroom and runs along behind the bathroom. It is exactly the length of the bath and a touch wider, so we are going to block door up in bedroom, knock through into it from the bathroom, move the bath a baths width further back and that will enable us to move the loo into the same room. The small room that currently has the loo in will then be reduced in size and become a shower cubicle accessed from the bathroom.
Loo on left, bathroom door on the right further back. The wall straight ahead through the bathroom door is the one to come down.
Only problem to come is that the rejig of all the walls we want moving will be done along with a full rewire and re-plumb of the whole house. Going to be tricky living here during that time, especially since the kitchen will be getting ripped out at the same time.
When we got to the house we found the back door wouldn't lock, or the garage doors and there was no water at all.
These were obviously my first jobs.
After a bit of help from Multi-point locks in Wakefield (good bunch of lads there), I ordered a new lock for the rear pvc door. Will be getting replaced with french doors eventually but at least it's secure now. Garage doors secured by various methods.
Then me and my dad tackled the lack of water. The top hot water tank in this cupboard had burst so we capped the feed off, so we could turn the main stop-cock back on to give us cold running water.
Cupboard before (Blurry pic sorry) -
Cupboard now. All tanks removed and scrapped. It was an electric water heater system and we'll be fitting central heating, so no point wasting money to reinstate it. -
Now this cupboard is accessed through the main bedroom and runs along behind the bathroom. It is exactly the length of the bath and a touch wider, so we are going to block door up in bedroom, knock through into it from the bathroom, move the bath a baths width further back and that will enable us to move the loo into the same room. The small room that currently has the loo in will then be reduced in size and become a shower cubicle accessed from the bathroom.
Loo on left, bathroom door on the right further back. The wall straight ahead through the bathroom door is the one to come down.
Only problem to come is that the rejig of all the walls we want moving will be done along with a full rewire and re-plumb of the whole house. Going to be tricky living here during that time, especially since the kitchen will be getting ripped out at the same time.
Edited by marky911 on Saturday 23 November 00:51
Next problem on completion day was the state we found the floors to be in. I'd noticed the lumps and bumps when viewing but they were carpeted then. On completion day I was outside sorting things when the wife came out a bit miffed, saying that the floors were wrecked so we couldn't furnish the rooms.
Here is what we found in the living room. -
The whole floor is covered in craters where furniture legs have punched holes in the floor. It's a concrete floor with lino still on in the pic.
The first builder who came out wanted to charge us £8k+ to re-do all the ground floors, digging them out to 15 inches deep. We were about to give the go ahead on the work and figured the silver lining of that grey cloud would be proper insulation and underfloor heating.
However a great guy we know (the dad of a friend of ours) runs a property building/renovation company specialising in period properties.Within two minutes of visiting he said "These are asphalt floors which have basically melted from the heat off the fire, due to moisture trapped under the lino. Lino should never be fitted onto asphalt floors. You do not need new floors. Get the lino up, let them breath and get the fire opened up to dry the house out." When that is done we are to screed the floors.
So there is £8k back in the pot. Phew!
So I chiselled the lino up and also removed the skirting along with most of the plaster from the external walls. The survey mentioned damp, which they are, but this is mainly due to the failed guttering outside letting the rain water pour down the external walls.
Anyway question - The whole house has cement skirtings, yes cement! Hours and hours to get them off and I've only done the living room so far. Does anyone know if these are asbestos cement or just cement, from the pic?
All the asbestos cement I've seen has visible fibres in it, but these just look like cement?
Walls, floor,skirting -
ETA - With all the work required to the floors we decided to make the large bedroom a bedroom and the second bedroom a small living room. Not ideal but it means we have some sanctuary and we only really have to heat upstairs, currently with oil filled rads.
Anyway, I know it's boring but more to follow.
Here is what we found in the living room. -
The whole floor is covered in craters where furniture legs have punched holes in the floor. It's a concrete floor with lino still on in the pic.
The first builder who came out wanted to charge us £8k+ to re-do all the ground floors, digging them out to 15 inches deep. We were about to give the go ahead on the work and figured the silver lining of that grey cloud would be proper insulation and underfloor heating.
However a great guy we know (the dad of a friend of ours) runs a property building/renovation company specialising in period properties.Within two minutes of visiting he said "These are asphalt floors which have basically melted from the heat off the fire, due to moisture trapped under the lino. Lino should never be fitted onto asphalt floors. You do not need new floors. Get the lino up, let them breath and get the fire opened up to dry the house out." When that is done we are to screed the floors.
So there is £8k back in the pot. Phew!
So I chiselled the lino up and also removed the skirting along with most of the plaster from the external walls. The survey mentioned damp, which they are, but this is mainly due to the failed guttering outside letting the rain water pour down the external walls.
Anyway question - The whole house has cement skirtings, yes cement! Hours and hours to get them off and I've only done the living room so far. Does anyone know if these are asbestos cement or just cement, from the pic?
All the asbestos cement I've seen has visible fibres in it, but these just look like cement?
Walls, floor,skirting -
ETA - With all the work required to the floors we decided to make the large bedroom a bedroom and the second bedroom a small living room. Not ideal but it means we have some sanctuary and we only really have to heat upstairs, currently with oil filled rads.
Anyway, I know it's boring but more to follow.
Edited by marky911 on Saturday 23 November 00:07
Taking our advisors advice next job was to open up the fire place in the living room. We had always planned to fit a stove in here anyway but not until a bit later.
We booked a chimney sweep and I began to open up the fire place. No problems there -
Noticed this box section though -
Removed it to find the pipework to an old back boiler.
Even if I removed the back boiler it would leave a great big hole in the chimney breast so it would still be useless. With the chimney sweep booked for the next day we decided to quickly open up the dining room fireplace instead. My wife actually done this herself. -
Two buckets of dirt including dead birds and all sorts.
Chimney sweep came and swept both chimneys anyway and we finally had heat downstairs, albeit not much. -
So with heat in the house sorted for now, I could again tackle the living room fireplace in preparation for the stove.
Prised the old Newcastle fireplace off the wall . -
Back boiler and pipework out -
So most of the plaster off too and ready for stove installation. -
The stove installer we are going with is fully booked until the new year but he has said he will try and get out before then, whenever possible, to progress the job. He is going to knock the breast opening out wider and taller, fit a lintel into the brickwork, supply and fit the flue, the slate hearth, and finish inside the opening ready to be painted, although the room and breast will still need to be plastered first. Total cost is £1585, no vat but plus our stove. My wife wants a Burley 5kw, so that's about another £1100 I think.
The same guy is going to supply and fit all new chimney pots to replace the odd ones on the roof. He is also going to cap one to stop the wind noise in the bedroom from the fire in there and then I can rip that out and block it up.
More to follow….
We booked a chimney sweep and I began to open up the fire place. No problems there -
Noticed this box section though -
Removed it to find the pipework to an old back boiler.
Even if I removed the back boiler it would leave a great big hole in the chimney breast so it would still be useless. With the chimney sweep booked for the next day we decided to quickly open up the dining room fireplace instead. My wife actually done this herself. -
Two buckets of dirt including dead birds and all sorts.
Chimney sweep came and swept both chimneys anyway and we finally had heat downstairs, albeit not much. -
So with heat in the house sorted for now, I could again tackle the living room fireplace in preparation for the stove.
Prised the old Newcastle fireplace off the wall . -
Back boiler and pipework out -
So most of the plaster off too and ready for stove installation. -
The stove installer we are going with is fully booked until the new year but he has said he will try and get out before then, whenever possible, to progress the job. He is going to knock the breast opening out wider and taller, fit a lintel into the brickwork, supply and fit the flue, the slate hearth, and finish inside the opening ready to be painted, although the room and breast will still need to be plastered first. Total cost is £1585, no vat but plus our stove. My wife wants a Burley 5kw, so that's about another £1100 I think.
The same guy is going to supply and fit all new chimney pots to replace the odd ones on the roof. He is also going to cap one to stop the wind noise in the bedroom from the fire in there and then I can rip that out and block it up.
More to follow….
Hi Pvapour, I've just realised which thread is yours! I've been following that for ages. I knew I recognised your username. Absolutely top work you're doing over there and an inspiring story of just upping sticks and heading off. Nice Chim too! 
That sort of brings us nicely onto my reply. No unfortunately I'm not a wizard like yourself when it comes to the heavy work. We do have to watch every penny (whilst still doing things to a good standard) and I'd like to do all of the work, but I also know my limits so the roof is being done professionally, as will the building work, wiring, plumbing etc. I would have had a go at more things such as plumbing, but we are living here through the refurbishment and my wife and I both work long hours so going without a bathroom for weeks while I plumb it in would be impossible.
The dog had a lucky escape yes. We got him straight down to the animal hospital and they gave him an injection to make him throw up. That got the bulk of the poison out, then he had vitamin K injections to help coagulation as the mouse poison thins the blood massively. He's right as rain now and is starting to understand that this is his new home. He gets up as we enter the village now if he's in the back of the car.
Gratuitous pic. Ladies and gentlemen I give you Bailey the s
tzu! (In his teddy-bear onesie. Blame the wife!) 
ETA - The brickwork would have been nice at some point, with the arched rows over the fireplace but it has cracked over the years so will probably be getting skimmed over.. We would have left the arched bit exposed if it was in better condition. We have ages to decide before the room gets skimmed though.
That sort of brings us nicely onto my reply. No unfortunately I'm not a wizard like yourself when it comes to the heavy work. We do have to watch every penny (whilst still doing things to a good standard) and I'd like to do all of the work, but I also know my limits so the roof is being done professionally, as will the building work, wiring, plumbing etc. I would have had a go at more things such as plumbing, but we are living here through the refurbishment and my wife and I both work long hours so going without a bathroom for weeks while I plumb it in would be impossible.
The dog had a lucky escape yes. We got him straight down to the animal hospital and they gave him an injection to make him throw up. That got the bulk of the poison out, then he had vitamin K injections to help coagulation as the mouse poison thins the blood massively. He's right as rain now and is starting to understand that this is his new home. He gets up as we enter the village now if he's in the back of the car.
Gratuitous pic. Ladies and gentlemen I give you Bailey the s
tzu! (In his teddy-bear onesie. Blame the wife!) 
ETA - The brickwork would have been nice at some point, with the arched rows over the fireplace but it has cracked over the years so will probably be getting skimmed over.. We would have left the arched bit exposed if it was in better condition. We have ages to decide before the room gets skimmed though.
Edited by marky911 on Saturday 23 November 18:01
Evenin' lads! Two names from the Porsche forum there. 
RC you used to be Ravi didn't you? Good to see you're still about on here. Yep you're right it's every part of the journey that makes the difference. The wife is a grafter and always muddles in. She's had a crappy year with her health but is hopefully on the mend, so this is an exciting new chapter.
A mate of mine who renovates properties once said to me "Focus on what you have done, not what you still need to do. Otherwise it's all a bit daunting." That's the main reason for this thread, so that when times are stressful I can see that we have in fact made some headway.
Anyway, I hope you're well. I see you have no Pork in your stable but are still keeping it German. Good man!
Hey Wozy, good to hear from you and I hope all is good where you are. Totally agree about the car. If it's the difference between finishing the project or living in a building site for another year, when the time comes it could go. I hope not and the wife is a good'un and knows how much it means to me but we'll see how things pan out. One thing's for sure, if I sell that car I'll never be able to get back into another one. Sobering thought as it offers all I'll ever need from a 911.
Good luck hanging onto yours matey and good luck with your house. No refurb thread?
Anyway, all the best.
RC you used to be Ravi didn't you? Good to see you're still about on here. Yep you're right it's every part of the journey that makes the difference. The wife is a grafter and always muddles in. She's had a crappy year with her health but is hopefully on the mend, so this is an exciting new chapter.
A mate of mine who renovates properties once said to me "Focus on what you have done, not what you still need to do. Otherwise it's all a bit daunting." That's the main reason for this thread, so that when times are stressful I can see that we have in fact made some headway.
Anyway, I hope you're well. I see you have no Pork in your stable but are still keeping it German. Good man!
Hey Wozy, good to hear from you and I hope all is good where you are. Totally agree about the car. If it's the difference between finishing the project or living in a building site for another year, when the time comes it could go. I hope not and the wife is a good'un and knows how much it means to me but we'll see how things pan out. One thing's for sure, if I sell that car I'll never be able to get back into another one. Sobering thought as it offers all I'll ever need from a 911.
Good luck hanging onto yours matey and good luck with your house. No refurb thread?
Anyway, all the best.
Edited by marky911 on Saturday 23 November 23:37
Hey John, long time no speak!
Yep I'm still up here mate, it's home. We can't go anywhere else can we? No fecker can understand us.
You'll know where I am, loads of bikers come through and that's how I found the place. West of the 'peth, begins with a W. Haven't mentioned it as you never know who is reading, although have you seen Bailey our guard dog!?
How are you anyway, back to good health or not? What do you make of Rossi now? Can't believe he's ditched JB! He simply has to perform next year now. I wait with baited breath!
Yep I'm still up here mate, it's home. We can't go anywhere else can we? No fecker can understand us.
You'll know where I am, loads of bikers come through and that's how I found the place. West of the 'peth, begins with a W. Haven't mentioned it as you never know who is reading, although have you seen Bailey our guard dog!?
How are you anyway, back to good health or not? What do you make of Rossi now? Can't believe he's ditched JB! He simply has to perform next year now. I wait with baited breath!
Edited by marky911 on Sunday 24th November 00:05
Right, I can almost get up to the present day here so I may as well.
The roof had a number of slipped tiles and almost all the guttering round the back had ripped off when we bought it. I said to the wife "We could be lucky and it could just need a few tiles, or it could need a full re-roof". As is usually the way, it needed the latter.
So the roofer started last Saturday the 16th. Full re-roof on the house and store, repairs to garage, all new fascias and guttering, repoint chimney stack and fit velux windows in store roof, to let light in for when we move the kitchen into there.
Scaffold up -
On the Saturday the roofers got all of the front face stripped, re-felted and the new lats fitted. -
On the Sunday they done the rear, then throughout the week they have re-slated the front using all of the best slates left from both sides, fitted the fascia and the new guttering. It was a choice of deep-fill or half round, so we went with the half round to keep things right with the surrounding area.
We have good used slates for the rear which will go on this week then the roofer will start the store roof.
The store roof has no soakers/flashings! They were originally just a line of cement up the joint which has disappeared over the years. -
Now, we wanted velux windows in both sides of the store roof but we have since dropped the idea of the ones in the front side (the side visible in pic) as apparently we won't get them due to the conservation order. We have our pre-planning meeting on Monday though, so I'll still ask about them.
In preparation for the rear veluxes I thought I'd better pull down the ceiling in the store. The front side of the store is just a filthy old store with no ceiling, but the rear side has the downstairs wc and corridor to the garage, hence it has the ceilings I need to remove to gain access to the underside of the roof.
At start, ceiling intact -
Pulled half down to leave the light etc. Low and behold the wall goes right upto the underside of the roof and is exactly half way along it, right where the velux is to go -
I don't know whether the wall is supporting or not? I doubt it because this is the exact same roof (below) but in the front side of the store and the main beam runs from the house end of the store to the garage end with no support. The beam in the rear part where I'm working passes through the centre wall to each end so I doubt the wall pictured above is supporting.
Front part of store with beam end to end -
So erring on the side of caution I removed a few bricks to enable the fitting of the velux. I soon realised that the size of velux we wanted is too much of a squeeze height-wise so we are now going with 3 smaller ones rather than the one large one.
More updates as and when…
Cheers.
The roof had a number of slipped tiles and almost all the guttering round the back had ripped off when we bought it. I said to the wife "We could be lucky and it could just need a few tiles, or it could need a full re-roof". As is usually the way, it needed the latter.
So the roofer started last Saturday the 16th. Full re-roof on the house and store, repairs to garage, all new fascias and guttering, repoint chimney stack and fit velux windows in store roof, to let light in for when we move the kitchen into there.
Scaffold up -
On the Saturday the roofers got all of the front face stripped, re-felted and the new lats fitted. -
On the Sunday they done the rear, then throughout the week they have re-slated the front using all of the best slates left from both sides, fitted the fascia and the new guttering. It was a choice of deep-fill or half round, so we went with the half round to keep things right with the surrounding area.
We have good used slates for the rear which will go on this week then the roofer will start the store roof.
The store roof has no soakers/flashings! They were originally just a line of cement up the joint which has disappeared over the years. -
Now, we wanted velux windows in both sides of the store roof but we have since dropped the idea of the ones in the front side (the side visible in pic) as apparently we won't get them due to the conservation order. We have our pre-planning meeting on Monday though, so I'll still ask about them.
In preparation for the rear veluxes I thought I'd better pull down the ceiling in the store. The front side of the store is just a filthy old store with no ceiling, but the rear side has the downstairs wc and corridor to the garage, hence it has the ceilings I need to remove to gain access to the underside of the roof.
At start, ceiling intact -
Pulled half down to leave the light etc. Low and behold the wall goes right upto the underside of the roof and is exactly half way along it, right where the velux is to go -
I don't know whether the wall is supporting or not? I doubt it because this is the exact same roof (below) but in the front side of the store and the main beam runs from the house end of the store to the garage end with no support. The beam in the rear part where I'm working passes through the centre wall to each end so I doubt the wall pictured above is supporting.
Front part of store with beam end to end -
So erring on the side of caution I removed a few bricks to enable the fitting of the velux. I soon realised that the size of velux we wanted is too much of a squeeze height-wise so we are now going with 3 smaller ones rather than the one large one.
More updates as and when…
Cheers.
Biker's Nemesis said:
I know exactly where you mean Mark. We have been mortgage free for a few years now, my son is all grown up and ready to flee the nest so myself and the Mrs are talking about moving a bit further North, maybe 20 miles or so.
Your guard dog is a bit bigger than our cat!
I didn't like the way Rossi went about dumping Burgress, like you say he has to perform next year, if he doesn't he will go down in everyone estimation. I am afraid he is looking rather desperate which pains me too say.
I just hope the racing is good next year.
Oh, don't get me started about the switch to BT sport.
Yep, I don't know if the end to Rossi's career will be a bit of a damp squib compared to his glory days. I think he went to Ducati thinking he'd develop it like he did the M1 all those years ago, but things have just gone downhill from there. Obviously the Simoncelli accident will have had an effect but yep he is looking desperate and that's coming from me another massive fan.Your guard dog is a bit bigger than our cat!
I didn't like the way Rossi went about dumping Burgress, like you say he has to perform next year, if he doesn't he will go down in everyone estimation. I am afraid he is looking rather desperate which pains me too say.
I just hope the racing is good next year.
Oh, don't get me started about the switch to BT sport.
I was bang into my bikes from 2000 until 2009-ish and they were Rossi's glory days. Gibernau in 2005 was a great battle. Even the Haydon battle in 2006 was good. Pity Rossi fell off in the deciding race, but I was pleased for Nicky that year, especially after Pedrosa had skittled him off earlier on.
Ditto on the racing, I want to see a pack at the front fighting it out, but I don't know if we'll ever see that in this class again. Moto 3 is the best for that.
As for your move, get it done! I love being out of town with no chavs or traffic. Open our door and at night there is silence with maybe an owl hooting. In the morning it's the same but replace the owl noise with a cockerel.
A mate of mine moved up to Acklington. Good value up there and not too far out. Loads of other options though.
Anyway, take it easy John. Here goes another long winter eh.
PS. My dog maybe bigger than your cat marginally, but he can't catch mice!
Edited by marky911 on Sunday 24th November 01:15
Mornin'
Nothing will ever beat Batdog though, even though it's old news now.
Not sure either would look so cute with half a rabbit hanging out of their mouths mind. There's more chance of our dog being dragged off by a rabbit than the other way round and yes he does look like an Ewok.
So we now have a metre of height from the base of the roof to that beam. We decided to go for more of a letterbox style velux 134cm wide x 98cm high but there still isn't enough room to get the timbers in to make the frame for it, so now it's going to be 3 equally spaced 55cm wide x 78cm high windows.
Agree with your thoughts that it will give a bit more control etc. If the planner tomorrow says we can go for some on the front, then I think we will, but I'm doubtful. You can't change much that faces the road through village. Even Upvc doors and things aren't allowed, although we've already got one so hopefully that will give us grandfather rights, as it was fitted before the conservation order came along.
Yeah you know that winter is here once all the racing ends.
I'm still yet to go to a Moto GP race live. I know I should but you see more on the tv, then there's the queues. We used to do Lemans every year for the 24Hr and that was great fun, but it was as much about the road trip as the race.
Pvapour said:
thanks for that, cheered me up no end what a cutey, return of the Jedi happened to be on last night when I saw the pic (ewoks 
) think I may get one for Tia, maybe with some reindeer antlers 
You mean one of these then… what a cutey, return of the Jedi happened to be on last night when I saw the pic (ewoks ) think I may get one for Tia, maybe with some reindeer antlers 
Nothing will ever beat Batdog though, even though it's old news now.
Not sure either would look so cute with half a rabbit hanging out of their mouths mind. There's more chance of our dog being dragged off by a rabbit than the other way round and yes he does look like an Ewok.
Pvapour said:
glad the thread's inspirational, could do with some myself right now, its a harsh place in winter on your own, long time since the place has seen Gill
when it gets a bit tough (especially I'm now on my own) I often read back through ours just to remind myself how much we've achieved, that is where the tread started out really, like yourself, we wanted to keep a record of the journey as it will /is be soooo long it'd be very easy to loose track of where you came from, its a good idea, didn't realise how good at the time
Yeah it must be hard going out there on your own. I hope she gets things sorted as quickly as possible and can head back out. People often underestimate the "team" aspect of things, but it's very important, especially if one person isn't feeling the love for the project one day, the other can chivvy them up a bit. You'll get there though I'm sure. I mean the job you've done on the 2 person Chalet is fantastic. In fact, as I've said, the whole project is fantastic.when it gets a bit tough (especially I'm now on my own) I often read back through ours just to remind myself how much we've achieved, that is where the tread started out really, like yourself, we wanted to keep a record of the journey as it will /is be soooo long it'd be very easy to loose track of where you came from, its a good idea, didn't realise how good at the time
Pvapour said:
good to see you're getting stuck in as much as you are / can, smaller veluxes are much easier to flip and clean than the bigger to, bit more breeze / temp control to & a damn site easier to handle when fitting, not sure how BIG the big was going to be though..
The original plan for the velux involved a single on both faces of the roof, only about 1m wide x 1.5m high, but that beam I've mentioned half way up the underside of the roof has changed things a bit as when we get the room made habitable, the roof will be insulated/boarded inside, upto the beam then taken across horizontally, to the front beam, if you know what I mean. Basically the internal ceiling won't go to a point, it will go slope up, level, slope back down. So we now have a metre of height from the base of the roof to that beam. We decided to go for more of a letterbox style velux 134cm wide x 98cm high but there still isn't enough room to get the timbers in to make the frame for it, so now it's going to be 3 equally spaced 55cm wide x 78cm high windows.
Agree with your thoughts that it will give a bit more control etc. If the planner tomorrow says we can go for some on the front, then I think we will, but I'm doubtful. You can't change much that faces the road through village. Even Upvc doors and things aren't allowed, although we've already got one so hopefully that will give us grandfather rights, as it was fitted before the conservation order came along.
Pvapour said:
wont hijack your thread with it but another MGP fan here already missing the w/e fix of WSBK, BSB etc
Talk about anything you like on my thread matey, I've never been one for staying on topic. already missing the w/e fix of WSBK, BSB etcYeah you know that winter is here once all the racing ends.
I'm still yet to go to a Moto GP race live. I know I should but you see more on the tv, then there's the queues. We used to do Lemans every year for the 24Hr and that was great fun, but it was as much about the road trip as the race.Pvapour said:
ps - how much water ingress were you getting with the missing soakers / flashings? if any. I find these things interesting 
Quite a bit of water surprisingly. The wall above the foot door into the garage gets covered in water when it rains. It drips of the top of the door frame like a waterfall, albeit a slow one. Loads of wood-lice in the store area which won't bugger off until we get it dry either. Podie said:
Good thread - bookmarked
Cheers Podie, That flow chart on your profile pic sums up my DIY ability pretty well. Edited by marky911 on Saturday 25th January 00:40
Hi Lofty, it is an Article 4 conservation area now. Does that mean the planners say no to everything?
I'll find out this time tomorrow I guess. We've been told by other villagers that veluxes won't be allowed on that front of the property which is why we have basically scrapped that idea, but we're hoping we do not have to ditch a Upvc door for a wooden one. Madness!
There are properties in the village with veluxes on the front, but I'm guessing these were done before the Article 4 thing came in. Ho-hum.
I'll find out this time tomorrow I guess. We've been told by other villagers that veluxes won't be allowed on that front of the property which is why we have basically scrapped that idea, but we're hoping we do not have to ditch a Upvc door for a wooden one. Madness!
There are properties in the village with veluxes on the front, but I'm guessing these were done before the Article 4 thing came in. Ho-hum.
Little Lofty said:
Yeah not a lot of difference for the big price increase, the have a false glazing bar down the centre and sit lower in the roof, they are also black not grey.
Yep, I must admit I do prefer the looks of them (well glazing bar unimportant) in the more subtle colour and flusher fit, I just don't like the price. Thanks for that Brite Spark, I hadn't heard of that. I'll see what vibes I get tomorrow and then email a couple of companies with a picture of my house for a ball-park figure. I'll be honest rendering is high up on our list of wants, but low down the real list of priorities if that makes sense, but fingers crossed we can get it at some point.
Nice job! Lovely looking house.
Conservation Velux looks more subtle doesn't it, very nice. I like that black door too. Exactly what we are looking for for our new porch when it's built. Hopefully with black garage doors to match, although I'll have to find some I like. The roller ones can sometimes look like shop fronts.
It's a toss up between gloss black or that pale matt looking green colour. Both have been doing the rounds for a few years though, so I don't know if they'll become a bit 2008, y'know, like white Audi's.
The black wins at the moment though.
PS. I like white cars really.
Conservation Velux looks more subtle doesn't it, very nice. I like that black door too. Exactly what we are looking for for our new porch when it's built. Hopefully with black garage doors to match, although I'll have to find some I like. The roller ones can sometimes look like shop fronts.
It's a toss up between gloss black or that pale matt looking green colour. Both have been doing the rounds for a few years though, so I don't know if they'll become a bit 2008, y'know, like white Audi's.
The black wins at the moment though.
PS. I like white cars really.
CharlesdeGaulle said:
Good luck marky, looks like a fantastic opportunity.
Thanks very much! Yep, we're over the moon to be here, even though we're in the cheap seats. Beautiful little place.LaurasOtherHalf said:
Good looking gaff marky, best of luck with the work & if you get stuck with any plumbing info fire me a pm
Alright there Craig, hope your well. Thanks for the offer of info, I'll get in touch if I get stuck on anything. As I've said earlier, due to us living here the plumbing will be done as quickly as possible by professionals, during the building work, but there'll still be odds and ends I do myself later on. LaurasOtherHalf said:
I'm saying nowt about the state of that dog mind
Yeah, you'd be wise not to. If he hears you he'll have your arm off. He eats grown men and grizzly bears for breakfast. Buck68 said:
Good thread - I'll be coming back for updates good luck with all the planning hurdles - will be worth it when you look back I am sure.
Lofty - excellent renovation to your house -love what you have done 10/10
Thanks Buck and yep I hope we can get the go ahead for most of what we want, but time will tell. No rush to be honest, it's far from ideal how we are living at the minute, but it will make us appreciate the finished product even more. good luck with all the planning hurdles - will be worth it when you look back I am sure. Lofty - excellent renovation to your house -love what you have done 10/10
I'll second that regarding Lofty's house. Top job!
Thanks for asking lads. Slow and steady is the order of the day at the moment. Still very much enjoying the ride. I could be busy every minute of the day but I don't want to sicken myself.
Craikey, I've been reading your thread with interest. I'll have a read once I've typed this out, as I'm intrigued to see if you got your damp patches sorted?
Dano, good luck with the project. Kitchen and bathroom are always the pain in the butt projects, as far as trying to live in the house at the same time. Always worth it when it's done though. I hope you get to keep the car. I've come up with a good solution to keep mine. I have a job interview for a new job on the 5th Feb . More money but harder work which isn't ideal at the minute but the money will help with the house so if I get to keep the GT3, it's all good.
Right, a bit if a new year update then.
Main thing is the plans are done and our planning application is live. I'd love to post pics of the plans as we are opening the ground floor right up but still uncertain of how best to squeeze thing in.
Our emailed copies of the plans are in a PDF format so don't know if they'll upload and work on Photobucket? Any advice appreciated.
Ok, so the roofer finished the roof the week before Xmas. I had to go through a snagging list with him as he done a good job but a few details weren't quite spot on and the whole ethos to this refurb is ""Do it right, do it once". I'm putting my feet up once the house is done, so everything has to be blob on and last a few years.
Couple of pics -
Full re-roof in Welsh slate (keeping with original spec) on house and store. Garage ok. Fascias and black half-round guttering fitted all round.
Some lovely shades of slate up there, purples and greys. Looks great.
We didn't get the porch done as it's getting ripped down during the work.
You can see the old cement flashings here, which had failed badly. Used this pic earlier actually but anyway...
New roof on store now has proper lead flashings and 4 veluxes (below). 2 on rear face, 2 on front. The 2 on the front require planning due to the conservation order. The planning officer said it should be fine as we don't look onto anyone. He also said conservation veluxes are usually preferred. I said that 4 of those almost tripled the price of 4 normal ones and it would look odd from inside to have 2 conservation ones on the front and 2 standard ones on rear, as the cons. items have a strip down the centre. He agreed and said that as long as they were fitted well, standard should be fine all round.
Of course they could be rejected altogether yet, but we figured it would cost us to have them retrofitted after permission was granted, just as it would cost us to have them removed if they're rejected. We had to get the roof on asap due to water coming in so we've taken a punt and hope they get approval.
Store roof.
House roof.
So that was the first major thing to of the way in time for Xmas. The second was to get some heat into the ground floor. I stove fitter came up trumps and got finished by Xmas too.
Halfway there.
All done.
It's a Burley 5KW and has been a godsend over Xmas. We are just waiting for a multi-fuel grate so we can get some coals on there. Lovely job. The stove fitter is coming back in the spring to replace all our chimney pots as there are a couple of different types up there (6 pots on the stack) and it's playing havoc with my OCD. Hopefully go halfers with the new neighbours, as 3 are ours and 3 are theirs. We have another 3 on the other stack too.
New neighbours in, as mentioned above. Thank God! The woman next door who moved out was a solicitor and completely up her own backside. Too much to go into but we had a fall out when my roofers started and then one day I went around to apologise about the noise of the stove fitters and she slammed the door in my face. She could have made things very tricky for us had she wanted and it had got to the stage where I was dreading doing anything noisy.
Anyway, I'll leave it there for now. I'll add a bit more soon. I've been constantly busy but a lot of it is just mundane things, like stripping things and tip runs. I try and do as many tip runs as possible as skips are £120 a pop, so even if I spend a few hours and £10 in diesel doing 7 or 8 runs we save £110. So far we've only had one skip, so not bad. My car is getting a battering mind. It's an Alfa too so not built for that sort of thing , but I'll throw it away after the house is finished.
Craikey, I've been reading your thread with interest. I'll have a read once I've typed this out, as I'm intrigued to see if you got your damp patches sorted?
Dano, good luck with the project. Kitchen and bathroom are always the pain in the butt projects, as far as trying to live in the house at the same time. Always worth it when it's done though. I hope you get to keep the car. I've come up with a good solution to keep mine. I have a job interview for a new job on the 5th Feb
. More money but harder work which isn't ideal at the minute but the money will help with the house so if I get to keep the GT3, it's all good.Right, a bit if a new year update then.
Main thing is the plans are done and our planning application is live. I'd love to post pics of the plans as we are opening the ground floor right up but still uncertain of how best to squeeze thing in.
Our emailed copies of the plans are in a PDF format so don't know if they'll upload and work on Photobucket? Any advice appreciated.
Ok, so the roofer finished the roof the week before Xmas. I had to go through a snagging list with him as he done a good job but a few details weren't quite spot on and the whole ethos to this refurb is ""Do it right, do it once". I'm putting my feet up once the house is done, so everything has to be blob on and last a few years.
Couple of pics -
Full re-roof in Welsh slate (keeping with original spec) on house and store. Garage ok. Fascias and black half-round guttering fitted all round.
Some lovely shades of slate up there, purples and greys. Looks great.
We didn't get the porch done as it's getting ripped down during the work.
You can see the old cement flashings here, which had failed badly. Used this pic earlier actually but anyway...
New roof on store now has proper lead flashings and 4 veluxes (below). 2 on rear face, 2 on front. The 2 on the front require planning due to the conservation order. The planning officer said it should be fine as we don't look onto anyone. He also said conservation veluxes are usually preferred. I said that 4 of those almost tripled the price of 4 normal ones and it would look odd from inside to have 2 conservation ones on the front and 2 standard ones on rear, as the cons. items have a strip down the centre. He agreed and said that as long as they were fitted well, standard should be fine all round.
Of course they could be rejected altogether yet, but we figured it would cost us to have them retrofitted after permission was granted, just as it would cost us to have them removed if they're rejected. We had to get the roof on asap due to water coming in so we've taken a punt and hope they get approval.
Store roof.
House roof.
So that was the first major thing to of the way in time for Xmas. The second was to get some heat into the ground floor. I stove fitter came up trumps and got finished by Xmas too.
Halfway there.
All done.
It's a Burley 5KW and has been a godsend over Xmas. We are just waiting for a multi-fuel grate so we can get some coals on there. Lovely job. The stove fitter is coming back in the spring to replace all our chimney pots as there are a couple of different types up there (6 pots on the stack) and it's playing havoc with my OCD. Hopefully go halfers with the new neighbours, as 3 are ours and 3 are theirs. We have another 3 on the other stack too.
New neighbours in, as mentioned above. Thank God! The woman next door who moved out was a solicitor and completely up her own backside. Too much to go into but we had a fall out when my roofers started and then one day I went around to apologise about the noise of the stove fitters and she slammed the door in my face. She could have made things very tricky for us had she wanted and it had got to the stage where I was dreading doing anything noisy.
Anyway, I'll leave it there for now. I'll add a bit more soon. I've been constantly busy but a lot of it is just mundane things, like stripping things and tip runs. I try and do as many tip runs as possible as skips are £120 a pop, so even if I spend a few hours and £10 in diesel doing 7 or 8 runs we save £110. So far we've only had one skip, so not bad. My car is getting a battering mind. It's an Alfa too so not built for that sort of thing
, but I'll throw it away after the house is finished. Edited by marky911 on Friday 24th January 23:13
Just thought I'd add a couple more pics of what we are greeted with in the morning.
The moon out the front, just before sunrise. It's so bright! The picture doesn't do it justice.
Then out of the kitchen window (will become a seating area in the open plan kitchen/diner, with bi-folds) you get the sunrise.
I could never get sick of the views. Also the noises are great. In the morning you go out and hear the Cockerel cock-a-doodling and at night you have the owl hooting.
Best thing we've ever done is to get out of town. It's this element of it that makes the state we are living in much more bearable, as even though the house is a bit grim, the setting is a great place to come home to.
Also I had to mention that the other night I went to let the dog out at about 11pm. Just as I switched the outside light on, a fox came around the side of the porch, stopped for a second and stared at me, then ran off. Brilliant. I could have bent down and touched it if the window wasn't there, it was that close.
The moon out the front, just before sunrise. It's so bright! The picture doesn't do it justice.
Then out of the kitchen window (will become a seating area in the open plan kitchen/diner, with bi-folds) you get the sunrise.
I could never get sick of the views. Also the noises are great. In the morning you go out and hear the Cockerel cock-a-doodling and at night you have the owl hooting.
Best thing we've ever done is to get out of town. It's this element of it that makes the state we are living in much more bearable, as even though the house is a bit grim, the setting is a great place to come home to.
Also I had to mention that the other night I went to let the dog out at about 11pm. Just as I switched the outside light on, a fox came around the side of the porch, stopped for a second and stared at me, then ran off. Brilliant. I could have bent down and touched it if the window wasn't there, it was that close.
Edited by marky911 on Friday 24th January 23:30
Sorry chaps, missed your posts.
Yep Craikey I've learnt to leave much more time for tidying up now. I used to work until I dropped at night, but now I knock off a bit sooner to get cleared up. Much better for when you start again the next day.
HR - Get it done. A great way to get a house exactly to your spec. Location was everything for us. We could have had a lovely house with double garage etc on a housing estate for what we will spend on this, but the fact we are so happy to have gotten out of a town, keeps us enthusiastic and upbeat when things go wrong.
Yep Craikey I've learnt to leave much more time for tidying up now. I used to work until I dropped at night, but now I knock off a bit sooner to get cleared up. Much better for when you start again the next day.
HR - Get it done. A great way to get a house exactly to your spec. Location was everything for us. We could have had a lovely house with double garage etc on a housing estate for what we will spend on this, but the fact we are so happy to have gotten out of a town, keeps us enthusiastic and upbeat when things go wrong.
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff