Georgian House Renovation Up North - 5 Years and Counting
Discussion
dazwalsh said:
dxg said:
Erm, that's not plastic is it?
tut tut naughty sparkie! one bodge it barry tried putting one into a btl of mine a few months back, thinking i wouldnt notice or know. it got swiftly changed for a metal one.He wasn't the best at what I asked for but I can't really pin not having a crystal ball and failing to predict the regulation changes on him too
CoolCurly said:
Gagging for an update!!!!!! This week has dragged! :-)
Apologies - I've been busy chopping down trees, hoovering up leaves, trying not to burn down the garage with an enormous bonfire and other assorted mayhem...As I'm waiting for the F1 to start and the sound of Eddie Jordan is boiling my piss, I'll add a few bits on here...
Up to this point we were going at it like mad for the wedding ((the house renovation you filthy minded people 
).
So I may as well get the wedding out of the way.
As we'd met because of the house and had spent so much time and effort on it, we decided to have the reception at home in the garden. CGC did our marquee and managed to just about squeeze everything in.
I had two of the bridesmaids staying and the girls were pottering around doing bits and pieces while i was given a quintillion jobs to finish off. This was not a problem as the marquee team were busy putting that up and it was only late on the night before the wedding I actually came in the house for something and head the sound of water running...
I knew the flush on the toilet was on the blink so I nipped up to see if that was running or if the bath or something was on but everything was off - very strange, the washer wasn't on, nor was the dishwasher...
Puzzled, I asked the girls and got the response "Yeah, we've heard that all day and have been meaning to mention it".
It was only when I was on my knees in the kitchen with the stopcock turned off and still hearing the telltale sound of running water I had the oh s
t moment of realising they must have managed to pierce the water pipe coming into the house with one of the marquee pegs 
Sure enough...
To be fair to them, they were in the garden a fair way from the house so I didn't expect any pipes out there and he managed to hit a once inch pipe with a one inch peg in a 50 square meter garden so it was just one of those things.
We think it must have been a buried feed to an old animal pen still in the ground. The leak was after the meter but before the house supply and luckily he'd just clipped the pipe so although we were pissing water underground (and yet again flooding the cellar!) we would have enough water pressure to run the catering on the day.
However, as I didn't want to flood the house or waterlog the garden, I left for the hotel the night before the wedding and my last act was to kiss my fiance and then turn the water supply off with a guarantee my dad would pop round and turn it on first thing next day.
To be fair to CGC, they threw in some extra sofas and tables and chairs for the courtyard and marquee as a way of saying sorry - even though it wasn't really their fault, very happy with how it looked.
).So I may as well get the wedding out of the way.
As we'd met because of the house and had spent so much time and effort on it, we decided to have the reception at home in the garden. CGC did our marquee and managed to just about squeeze everything in.
I had two of the bridesmaids staying and the girls were pottering around doing bits and pieces while i was given a quintillion jobs to finish off. This was not a problem as the marquee team were busy putting that up and it was only late on the night before the wedding I actually came in the house for something and head the sound of water running...
I knew the flush on the toilet was on the blink so I nipped up to see if that was running or if the bath or something was on but everything was off - very strange, the washer wasn't on, nor was the dishwasher...
Puzzled, I asked the girls and got the response "Yeah, we've heard that all day and have been meaning to mention it".
It was only when I was on my knees in the kitchen with the stopcock turned off and still hearing the telltale sound of running water I had the oh s
t moment of realising they must have managed to pierce the water pipe coming into the house with one of the marquee pegs Sure enough...
To be fair to them, they were in the garden a fair way from the house so I didn't expect any pipes out there and he managed to hit a once inch pipe with a one inch peg in a 50 square meter garden so it was just one of those things.
We think it must have been a buried feed to an old animal pen still in the ground. The leak was after the meter but before the house supply and luckily he'd just clipped the pipe so although we were pissing water underground (and yet again flooding the cellar!) we would have enough water pressure to run the catering on the day.
However, as I didn't want to flood the house or waterlog the garden, I left for the hotel the night before the wedding and my last act was to kiss my fiance and then turn the water supply off with a guarantee my dad would pop round and turn it on first thing next day.
To be fair to CGC, they threw in some extra sofas and tables and chairs for the courtyard and marquee as a way of saying sorry - even though it wasn't really their fault, very happy with how it looked.
the old man used to build a lot of the cases and internals for jukeboxes fomr a company called Sound Leisure, as a gesture we were very lucky to get a white wedding jukbox on loan for the weekend for free so didn't need to cough up for a DJ, etc.
The wedding sign I'd made was stuck up over the archway...
I'd made the table numbers by slicing one of the Holly trees and I'd downed and hand engraved the numbers with a Dremel
Being the thrifty biftys that we are, most of the table centres were various vases and bits fomr around the house w'ed been collecting over the renovation. These are the stone drinks bottles from the toilet
The wedding sign I'd made was stuck up over the archway...
I'd made the table numbers by slicing one of the Holly trees and I'd downed and hand engraved the numbers with a Dremel
Being the thrifty biftys that we are, most of the table centres were various vases and bits fomr around the house w'ed been collecting over the renovation. These are the stone drinks bottles from the toilet
Inside the marquee
She had a complicated wedding ring and I had a very simple one.
Hers included bits of her mother's wedding ring, the gold ivy leaves are from melted/reformed clippings of her mothers wedding ring(Sarah's mother passed away from cancer many years before, so it was a lovely way for her to feel her mum was part of the proceedings).
Mine was entirely functional brushed silver - This was deliberate on the basis I'd be taking it off all the time to do oddjobs and I lose everything so to quote the jeweller "I could replace it in a day" - perfect.
She had a complicated wedding ring and I had a very simple one.
Hers included bits of her mother's wedding ring, the gold ivy leaves are from melted/reformed clippings of her mothers wedding ring(Sarah's mother passed away from cancer many years before, so it was a lovely way for her to feel her mum was part of the proceedings).
Mine was entirely functional brushed silver - This was deliberate on the basis I'd be taking it off all the time to do oddjobs and I lose everything so to quote the jeweller "I could replace it in a day" - perfect.
We got married, job jobbed.
Obligatory reception-esque photos
Wave!
We wanted a photo outside the front of the house as we'd found this one from 1931 and wanted a similar record of ours so someone else can find it in a hundred years or so.
Most of the people stayed in the marquee all day ,near the free bar so after we'd done all the meet and greets, the missus and I found time to sneak away and have a quiet moment on the bench just admiring the house and what we'd achieved.
What we didn't know was that one of our guests was outside the gate behind us and he caught this snap of us taking a time out, it's a bit dark and grainy, the floodlight overpowers it but we love it.
That will have to do for now as I'm going to see if anyone has managed to overtake anyone in Mexico.
Obligatory reception-esque photos
Wave!
We wanted a photo outside the front of the house as we'd found this one from 1931 and wanted a similar record of ours so someone else can find it in a hundred years or so.
Most of the people stayed in the marquee all day ,near the free bar so after we'd done all the meet and greets, the missus and I found time to sneak away and have a quiet moment on the bench just admiring the house and what we'd achieved.
What we didn't know was that one of our guests was outside the gate behind us and he caught this snap of us taking a time out, it's a bit dark and grainy, the floodlight overpowers it but we love it.
That will have to do for now as I'm going to see if anyone has managed to overtake anyone in Mexico.
If you were thinking that's all folks, well don't worry, lets talk about the top room...
When I bought the house, this room looked like this...
I think they'd quickly bodged in the plumbing to sub let it and get some money from a lodger - Generally people would tend to put a stud wall in for an en suite.
Pretty sure it would take the romance out of a lazy Sunday mornings with the missus if she's sat there with a mug of coffee watching me gurning and squeezing out a towel biter in the corner of the room - each to their own.
They'd also made the common error of forgetting expanding foam exapnds and in trying to fill a hole in the wall had got foam all over the carpet and let it set.
Aside from that, the shower and sink in the corner of the room had no extraction and had therefore caused moisture damage to the ceiling above, it had also leaked to the floor below and generally made a balls of things.
I also have no idea what a garden gate was considered an acceptable door either, nevertheless the wooden panel wall was nice feature and the room was pretty sound other than that.
The plumbing did have hot and cold but the hot was being fed form the old boiler which was three floors down and at the very far end of the house, as a result, you had to use about six litres of cold water out of the pipes before you got a sniff of hot and even then it arrived with the sort of feeble water pressure usually only seen from an old mans todger.
The only other thing was that the floor creaked like a bugger as you moved around - it is a very old house, so I added it to the list and since the idiots had ruined the carpet, I thought I'd lift strip the room and lift the floor to see if I could sort things out.
When I bought the house, this room looked like this...
I think they'd quickly bodged in the plumbing to sub let it and get some money from a lodger - Generally people would tend to put a stud wall in for an en suite.
Pretty sure it would take the romance out of a lazy Sunday mornings with the missus if she's sat there with a mug of coffee watching me gurning and squeezing out a towel biter in the corner of the room - each to their own.
They'd also made the common error of forgetting expanding foam exapnds and in trying to fill a hole in the wall had got foam all over the carpet and let it set.
Aside from that, the shower and sink in the corner of the room had no extraction and had therefore caused moisture damage to the ceiling above, it had also leaked to the floor below and generally made a balls of things.
I also have no idea what a garden gate was considered an acceptable door either, nevertheless the wooden panel wall was nice feature and the room was pretty sound other than that.
The plumbing did have hot and cold but the hot was being fed form the old boiler which was three floors down and at the very far end of the house, as a result, you had to use about six litres of cold water out of the pipes before you got a sniff of hot and even then it arrived with the sort of feeble water pressure usually only seen from an old mans todger.
The only other thing was that the floor creaked like a bugger as you moved around - it is a very old house, so I added it to the list and since the idiots had ruined the carpet, I thought I'd lift strip the room and lift the floor to see if I could sort things out.
Of course, in now almost ludicrously predictable style, lifting the floor meant I found something else I might need to have a bit a go at...
You're probably wondering if that's woodworm or sawdust from a badly cleared up pipe installation. well if it was woodworm, there'd be visible little round pellets of frass in the dust...
...nnngh...
"Probably just isolated to the shower bit though..."
"Maybe its just superficial, I doubt it's really eaten much of the timber...]
Cock. Basically, they'd allowed the moisture content to build in the room to the point it had created a kind of woodworm heaven around the pipes.
After a lot of panicking and reading, it seemed the best remedy was to dry out the room and therefore the timber (woodworm needs moist wood or it can't digest it). As the same time, I gave the wood a coating of nasty chemicals to kill anything in there at the next life cycle (i.e. when the larvae crawl out of the wood as beetles to fly away).
One £30 Argos hoover later and a few tins of woodworm treatment and it didn't seem so bad but I can't vouch for how much of that was down to the solvents in the wood treatment or any real progress.
You're probably wondering if that's woodworm or sawdust from a badly cleared up pipe installation. well if it was woodworm, there'd be visible little round pellets of frass in the dust...
...nnngh...
"Probably just isolated to the shower bit though...""Maybe its just superficial, I doubt it's really eaten much of the timber...]
Cock. Basically, they'd allowed the moisture content to build in the room to the point it had created a kind of woodworm heaven around the pipes.
After a lot of panicking and reading, it seemed the best remedy was to dry out the room and therefore the timber (woodworm needs moist wood or it can't digest it). As the same time, I gave the wood a coating of nasty chemicals to kill anything in there at the next life cycle (i.e. when the larvae crawl out of the wood as beetles to fly away).
One £30 Argos hoover later and a few tins of woodworm treatment and it didn't seem so bad but I can't vouch for how much of that was down to the solvents in the wood treatment or any real progress.
As it turned out the floor wasn't as bad as I'd expected, what was cool, although I don't have any decent photos of them was the fact the beams were all notched by hand and numbered I, II, III, Iv, etc in roman numerals - nice to know there was some science applied back in the mid 1700's when they threw this thing up.
Here's a snap of some of the notchwork. Those scraps of paper turned out to be pieces of old block printed wallpaper so we put the bigger bits to one side for use later.
I'd had some excellent successes in other rooms by revealing beams so I whipped out the crowbar and peeled back the wood and boxing to see if I could find anything worth leaving exposed here.
When the panels covering the beam came off, there was an original beam but it had seen better days. You can also see some of the plans for the en suite taking shape in the background.
What was a nice surprise though, was on taking the boxing off above the window, we found a load more old wallpaper.
There were a few layers and we managed to get some of it off intact but it was very fragile and I didn't want to wreck it.
It is block printed and I wanted at least some sections of it intact so I could photograph it to recreate the pattern later (eventually).
For those who don't know, block printing was an early form of wallpaper colouring where they'd have different patterns cut into blocks and then dip them in paint and print on to the roll before moving the roll on a bit and repeating.
Once they'd done the whole roll, they'd switch to another block with a different colour and then print over the roll again. If you've ever made a potato stamp as or with your kids, you get the idea.
Naturally, it is so manual, getting a perfect finish is almost impossible and that's what adds to the charm of it, if you see on this close up, the outline of the flowers, the centre fill and then the red will have been done over three passes and you can see how much of a pain it will have been. It was quite an expensive thing so clearly the owners of the house were at one point minted.
Here's a snap of some of the notchwork. Those scraps of paper turned out to be pieces of old block printed wallpaper so we put the bigger bits to one side for use later.
I'd had some excellent successes in other rooms by revealing beams so I whipped out the crowbar and peeled back the wood and boxing to see if I could find anything worth leaving exposed here.
When the panels covering the beam came off, there was an original beam but it had seen better days. You can also see some of the plans for the en suite taking shape in the background.
What was a nice surprise though, was on taking the boxing off above the window, we found a load more old wallpaper.
There were a few layers and we managed to get some of it off intact but it was very fragile and I didn't want to wreck it.
It is block printed and I wanted at least some sections of it intact so I could photograph it to recreate the pattern later (eventually).
For those who don't know, block printing was an early form of wallpaper colouring where they'd have different patterns cut into blocks and then dip them in paint and print on to the roll before moving the roll on a bit and repeating.
Once they'd done the whole roll, they'd switch to another block with a different colour and then print over the roll again. If you've ever made a potato stamp as or with your kids, you get the idea.
Naturally, it is so manual, getting a perfect finish is almost impossible and that's what adds to the charm of it, if you see on this close up, the outline of the flowers, the centre fill and then the red will have been done over three passes and you can see how much of a pain it will have been. It was quite an expensive thing so clearly the owners of the house were at one point minted.
The ceiling is lower on this side of the house than the other floor so I was curious as to why and I did a bit of exploratory screwdrivery/chisely poking around the beam that ran perpendicular to the main beam to see if there was anything of note there.
I found lathe and plaster straight away and as it seemed in fairly good nick, I decided against an opportunity to yet again fill my nostrils with 300 year old dust and left it alone once I'd snapped the few lathes that were covering the bottom of the beam.
Time jumps around a bit now but I also relaid the floor and set-to putting up a decent stud wall so the en-suite was actually enclosed. Here is a half finished stud wall that i knocked up in an afternoon.
Here it is boarded and filled at the edges (badly but it didn't matter as it ws tapered edge board) by me before sanding it back flat.
You might notice the gap at the centre of the floor. Basically, the house is sol old the beams themselves have moved and bowed so no matter how much wedging you do, you can't really sort it out satisfactorily and as it is used very infrequently, a few cm central dip under where the bed was going didn't concern us.
I then did the job I hate the most - wallpapering and covered the new stud wall with paper - as instructed by the now Missus, here's a blurry photo to hide my deficiencies.
The beam was too screwed to leave on show so I boxed the main beam back in on one side but the backside was a lot more interesting. It had loads of cracks and old notches showing where it was either used before or where the ceiling had been moved (which might explain the different ceiling height level to the other side of the house - guess I'll never know the true answer). I just pained that side white to blend in to the ceiling but left the holes unpainted so you could puzzle over the history as a guest lying there.
The little feathering-in job in the green room the plasterer had done gave me an idea for the smaller beam as I still wanted you to be able to get a glimpse of the old wood holding the roof over your head.
I should post a completed - after pic but one way and another this room hasn't ever been fully finished yet. It's on the 3rd floor and apart from suitcases and me being banished up there to sleep when pissed (to block out the snoring) it doesn't get much use except for guests.
The panelled wall was repainted, a bed was thrown up there - a new carpet went in, the door was painted, some furniture got chucked up there...the only thing that isn't done is the en suite as the plumbing isn't connected but that is on the list for this year and then I might actually finish it...
For now it looks like this.
I think it's an improvement...
I found lathe and plaster straight away and as it seemed in fairly good nick, I decided against an opportunity to yet again fill my nostrils with 300 year old dust and left it alone once I'd snapped the few lathes that were covering the bottom of the beam.
Time jumps around a bit now but I also relaid the floor and set-to putting up a decent stud wall so the en-suite was actually enclosed. Here is a half finished stud wall that i knocked up in an afternoon.
Here it is boarded and filled at the edges (badly but it didn't matter as it ws tapered edge board) by me before sanding it back flat.
You might notice the gap at the centre of the floor. Basically, the house is sol old the beams themselves have moved and bowed so no matter how much wedging you do, you can't really sort it out satisfactorily and as it is used very infrequently, a few cm central dip under where the bed was going didn't concern us.
I then did the job I hate the most - wallpapering and covered the new stud wall with paper - as instructed by the now Missus, here's a blurry photo to hide my deficiencies.
The beam was too screwed to leave on show so I boxed the main beam back in on one side but the backside was a lot more interesting. It had loads of cracks and old notches showing where it was either used before or where the ceiling had been moved (which might explain the different ceiling height level to the other side of the house - guess I'll never know the true answer). I just pained that side white to blend in to the ceiling but left the holes unpainted so you could puzzle over the history as a guest lying there.
The little feathering-in job in the green room the plasterer had done gave me an idea for the smaller beam as I still wanted you to be able to get a glimpse of the old wood holding the roof over your head.
I should post a completed - after pic but one way and another this room hasn't ever been fully finished yet. It's on the 3rd floor and apart from suitcases and me being banished up there to sleep when pissed (to block out the snoring) it doesn't get much use except for guests.
The panelled wall was repainted, a bed was thrown up there - a new carpet went in, the door was painted, some furniture got chucked up there...the only thing that isn't done is the en suite as the plumbing isn't connected but that is on the list for this year and then I might actually finish it...
For now it looks like this.
I think it's an improvement...
Apologies to those following this waiting for updates, I've been a little busy downloading and sorting all the photos from google drive as they're all over the shop...
In the meantime, here are a few bits highlighting the benefits ofa company car versus trying stupid stuff with your own...
Possible evidence of me testing the turning circle when there was snow...
Taking rubble to the tip...
Trying the old E30 handling trick...
Taking the cut up remains of an E36 Touring I was using as a tip/scrappers car (until the gearbox died) to the scrappers itself...
and pulling out Ivy roots...
In the meantime, here are a few bits highlighting the benefits ofa company car versus trying stupid stuff with your own...
Possible evidence of me testing the turning circle when there was snow...
Taking rubble to the tip...
Trying the old E30 handling trick...
Taking the cut up remains of an E36 Touring I was using as a tip/scrappers car (until the gearbox died) to the scrappers itself...
and pulling out Ivy roots...
Edited by stewjohnst on Friday 11th November 23:12
The other side of the top floor was sort of ok when I moved in so we hadn't really touched it before the wedding.
It didn't need much doing so long as you overlooked the enormous wonkiness of the floor and the poo brown walls...
...and the horrible gas fireplace three floors up meaning there was an enormous 'steal me pie-key' run of copper up the outside wall...
...and the penetrating damp because the pointing on the chimney was shot...
...and the rotting sash windows...
...and the dodgy ceiling light wiring and plug sockets that were so old they didn't even have a switch on them, etc.
I did get the pointing sorted and went down to the charity shop to see what I could find to fill the room while we decided what to do with it.
I saw a walnut dresser and wardrobes that looked rock solid and although not my first choice of taste, would get the job done. The dresser had a sign on it saying £110 so assuming that was the price for the dresser, I asked about the two walnut wardrobes. His response was that he didn't want to split the set and £110 was actually for the dresser and 2 wardrobes all in. Picking myself up off the floor, I splashed out on the extra £5 for delivery and bought them there and then.
They might be a little old fashioned but given the colour of the room, they actually fitted quite well in a sort of 'granny chic' sort of way.
So that's how we left it until after the wedding, not perfect but not offensive - if you overlook the absurd off centre single pillow on the bed and the horrifically incongruous Ikea Malm drawers.
In our defence, this was the sixth bedroom and having come from a two bed flat and a two bed house, we were scraping the barrel for furniture between us by this point.
It didn't need much doing so long as you overlooked the enormous wonkiness of the floor and the poo brown walls...
...and the horrible gas fireplace three floors up meaning there was an enormous 'steal me pie-key' run of copper up the outside wall...
...and the penetrating damp because the pointing on the chimney was shot...
...and the rotting sash windows...
...and the dodgy ceiling light wiring and plug sockets that were so old they didn't even have a switch on them, etc.
I did get the pointing sorted and went down to the charity shop to see what I could find to fill the room while we decided what to do with it.
I saw a walnut dresser and wardrobes that looked rock solid and although not my first choice of taste, would get the job done. The dresser had a sign on it saying £110 so assuming that was the price for the dresser, I asked about the two walnut wardrobes. His response was that he didn't want to split the set and £110 was actually for the dresser and 2 wardrobes all in. Picking myself up off the floor, I splashed out on the extra £5 for delivery and bought them there and then.
They might be a little old fashioned but given the colour of the room, they actually fitted quite well in a sort of 'granny chic' sort of way.
So that's how we left it until after the wedding, not perfect but not offensive - if you overlook the absurd off centre single pillow on the bed and the horrifically incongruous Ikea Malm drawers.
In our defence, this was the sixth bedroom and having come from a two bed flat and a two bed house, we were scraping the barrel for furniture between us by this point.
I should have known it wouldn't last,
After we got married, we had our first kid within the year and somehow I managed to avoid having to update the 'granny chic' room in the ststorm of nesting jobs that came with baby number one.
Second time around (earlier this year) I wasn't so lucky due to what Sarah assures me was pure coincidence. Personally, I consider it to be the result of the kind of devious plan that would have Machiavelli calling her a crafty bd.
The series of allegedly unrelated events went like this...
I had fixed up the dining room to be 'acceptable' some time ago (I'll cover it in detail later) and considered that room 'done'.
Exhibit A - Dining Room Before
Exhibit B - Dining Room 'Done', or so I thought, with a slightly grander fire surround, different light, new (old) table, and a bit of skirting to fix.
The green chairs were her experiment
so you can imagine my unadulterated joy upon arriving home from work one evening to find this...
Apparently, she'd seen this victorian fire insert on ebay going cheap and wanted to swap out the boring square insert.
Having won the auction, she started preparing the room but she didn't realise the surround would rip the wallpaper off, nor did she expect the insert to be gripfilled to the wall and for that bond to be stronger than the bond between the old plaster and the brickwork.
The plaster stayed stuck to the surround and came off the wall as the path of least resistance.
After I'd gone and picked up the fire insert from Leeds (I'll give the missus her dues, it was a bargain at £25) it turned out she didn't like it with the existing surround and after a few more days of fruitless ebay and auction hunting, she disappeared upstairs with a tape measure.
I had barely finished letting out a defeated sigh when the call to help her remove the surround from 'granny chic' came down the stairs so she could paint it up and put it in the dining room.
When me and brother were kids, if we didn't stop playing on the computer when we were told to my mother would come upstairs and cut the plug off the telly with a pair of scissors - It was slightly unhinged perhaps but I wish I'd done that to Sarah when I went to work. Only a week later, she announced she'd found this fireplace for upstairs, measured it and it was a perfect fit so she'd bid and won it.
It was, of course cast iron and collection only from Richmond. Thankfully she had done her homework and it was Richmond North Yorkshire not London.
After we got married, we had our first kid within the year and somehow I managed to avoid having to update the 'granny chic' room in the s
tstorm of nesting jobs that came with baby number one.Second time around (earlier this year) I wasn't so lucky due to what Sarah assures me was pure coincidence. Personally, I consider it to be the result of the kind of devious plan that would have Machiavelli calling her a crafty b
d.The series of allegedly unrelated events went like this...
I had fixed up the dining room to be 'acceptable' some time ago (I'll cover it in detail later) and considered that room 'done'.
Exhibit A - Dining Room Before
Exhibit B - Dining Room 'Done', or so I thought, with a slightly grander fire surround, different light, new (old) table, and a bit of skirting to fix.
The green chairs were her experiment
so you can imagine my unadulterated joy upon arriving home from work one evening to find this...
Apparently, she'd seen this victorian fire insert on ebay going cheap and wanted to swap out the boring square insert.
Having won the auction, she started preparing the room but she didn't realise the surround would rip the wallpaper off, nor did she expect the insert to be gripfilled to the wall and for that bond to be stronger than the bond between the old plaster and the brickwork.
The plaster stayed stuck to the surround and came off the wall as the path of least resistance.
After I'd gone and picked up the fire insert from Leeds (I'll give the missus her dues, it was a bargain at £25) it turned out she didn't like it with the existing surround and after a few more days of fruitless ebay and auction hunting, she disappeared upstairs with a tape measure.
I had barely finished letting out a defeated sigh when the call to help her remove the surround from 'granny chic' came down the stairs so she could paint it up and put it in the dining room.
When me and brother were kids, if we didn't stop playing on the computer when we were told to my mother would come upstairs and cut the plug off the telly with a pair of scissors - It was slightly unhinged perhaps but I wish I'd done that to Sarah when I went to work. Only a week later, she announced she'd found this fireplace for upstairs, measured it and it was a perfect fit so she'd bid and won it.
It was, of course cast iron and collection only from Richmond. Thankfully she had done her homework and it was Richmond North Yorkshire not London.
Yet again the other half excelled herself, we got this one for £86, the benefit of collection only hunting.
The fire itself is totally original and still has the original tiles it would have left the factory with in early 1900 with so is nicely in keeping with both the period and actually shares the style with the original fireplace that is in the office.
Richmond isn't a million miles away for us, although parking is stupid in Richmond with 2 hour maximum stays everywhere so we managed to pickup the fire, then park up and snaffle down a decent pub lunch as reward for manhandling such a bloody massive thing into the boot.
Back home, getting the fire upstairs was complicated by the fact we'd had the hallway repainted, the carpets recently cleaned and the fire had been in use with coal so it was blacker than a very black thing and dropping soot everywhere.
I brushed them down with a wire brush and took as much of it apart as I could because it weighed a ton. I tapped up Simon the builder for a lift (he was here repointing the house, another job to post about) and we improvised by using rubble sacks and duct tape to sheath various bits of the fireplace in a sort of overly complex polythene Johnny.
I'd already had the old gas fire capped and I'd ripped it out.
I laid the new fire out and offered up the frame to the fireplace and it was immediately apparent Sarah's version of measuring up related to the outside dimensions only and she hadn't thought about the depth of the fireplace, or size of the opening, etc.
For some reason, I wasn't too worried as I had a theory that because I'd bought this house from a family of bodgers, there was a very strong chance that to fit the small gas fireplace I'd taken out, they'd just bricked in the fireplace and left the original lintel in place. If they had, I was hoping it would leave a big enough opening to slot the new fire back into without any major chimney breast surgery.
Would I be right though...
The fire itself is totally original and still has the original tiles it would have left the factory with in early 1900 with so is nicely in keeping with both the period and actually shares the style with the original fireplace that is in the office.
Richmond isn't a million miles away for us, although parking is stupid in Richmond with 2 hour maximum stays everywhere so we managed to pickup the fire, then park up and snaffle down a decent pub lunch as reward for manhandling such a bloody massive thing into the boot.
Back home, getting the fire upstairs was complicated by the fact we'd had the hallway repainted, the carpets recently cleaned and the fire had been in use with coal so it was blacker than a very black thing and dropping soot everywhere.
I brushed them down with a wire brush and took as much of it apart as I could because it weighed a ton. I tapped up Simon the builder for a lift (he was here repointing the house, another job to post about) and we improvised by using rubble sacks and duct tape to sheath various bits of the fireplace in a sort of overly complex polythene Johnny.
I'd already had the old gas fire capped and I'd ripped it out.
I laid the new fire out and offered up the frame to the fireplace and it was immediately apparent Sarah's version of measuring up related to the outside dimensions only and she hadn't thought about the depth of the fireplace, or size of the opening, etc.
For some reason, I wasn't too worried as I had a theory that because I'd bought this house from a family of bodgers, there was a very strong chance that to fit the small gas fireplace I'd taken out, they'd just bricked in the fireplace and left the original lintel in place. If they had, I was hoping it would leave a big enough opening to slot the new fire back into without any major chimney breast surgery.
Would I be right though...
Edited by stewjohnst on Saturday 12th November 02:32
Love this thread!
Looks like your place (& your DIY skills) were in a similar state to ours when we bought it, lots of trial and error later it's a nice place to live.
What I really liked were your early photos of the man cave complete with stereo & big speakers and the slow transformation throughout the thread into a family home, evidenced by the photos complete with plastic baby tat that every parent will recognise, this is really nice story to read.
Looks like your place (& your DIY skills) were in a similar state to ours when we bought it, lots of trial and error later it's a nice place to live.
What I really liked were your early photos of the man cave complete with stereo & big speakers and the slow transformation throughout the thread into a family home, evidenced by the photos complete with plastic baby tat that every parent will recognise, this is really nice story to read.
A poke of my head in the gap was inconclusive other than to establish that badly cut bodge job bricks are quite sharp.
As expected they had just filled in the hole but I couldn't see what the score with the lintel was so started chipping away.
They'd put a lintel of sorts in, it was actually a paving edger but the bigger news was they'd just infilled so the original lump of stone lintel was still in situ above, meaning I could start knocking out the bricks to make space.
I could tell you I got all Hong Kong Phooey and chopped this out with may bare hands but...I used a lump hammer instead
The net result was that I was left with an almost perfect fit for the fireplace to the original fireplace (and no, this doesn't mean Sarah was right all along)
The next task was laying the slate hearth I'd had delivered and dragged upstairs.
As expected they had just filled in the hole but I couldn't see what the score with the lintel was so started chipping away.
They'd put a lintel of sorts in, it was actually a paving edger but the bigger news was they'd just infilled so the original lump of stone lintel was still in situ above, meaning I could start knocking out the bricks to make space.
I could tell you I got all Hong Kong Phooey and chopped this out with may bare hands but...I used a lump hammer instead
The net result was that I was left with an almost perfect fit for the fireplace to the original fireplace (and no, this doesn't mean Sarah was right all along
)The next task was laying the slate hearth I'd had delivered and dragged upstairs.
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