I need to sabotage a bid.
Discussion
Harry Flashman said:
Really? That is a great idea! Mind PM'ing me with some contacts for that sort of stuff.
I'll ask the Mrs which agencies she used. Although it looks like you might already have some interest. Make sure you've got tennis balls cut in half for the tripod feet.
We had quite a few, mainly furniture, bedding, homeware that kind of thing.
People were generally pretty careful but you obviously need to factor in a bit of wear and tear.
But like I say worth thinking about.
FBP1 said:
Harry,
Long term lurker and follower of your projects here - mainly because we've done much the same over near Blackheath.
Our house is an Edwardian/Late Victorian of similar size as your new one (cica 5000sqft) and it was far more of a wreck than your new purchase (congrats by the way) e.g.15/16 ceilings had collapsed due to a boogered roof, it was previously multiple council flats with multiple broken water/ heating/ electrical systems, etc. It hadn't been lived in for two years, by anything other than pigeons and so on.
Anyway, we recently (as in they finished yesterday) had the front of the house double glazed where they retained the original wooden boxes, but remade the wooden sashes with thin double glazing and fitted the furry strip things everywhere.
Obviously the thin double glazing isn't quite as good as the much thicker retrofit double glazing in terms of sound deadening (we are in a conservation area so we are limited in terms of what we can do), but it's still very good - we were lying in bed this morning marvelling at the difference. Aesthetically, you can't tell that the originals have been replaced.
We originally had a quote to redo all the boxes and sashes in wood from one of the leading top quality wood replacement crowd just for the roadside front of the house (9 x 2m+ high sashes) and it came to £34k... The guys who did our windows did a fabulous and spotlessly tidy job for just under £8k... Hoovered everything up every night and you honestly couldn't tell that they had been in the building 5 mins after they left. We have no commercial connection with them, but met them when they did a new near neighbour of ours who told us that they had done his previous two houses and that he couldn't speak highly enough of them.
If you're interested in getting them round for a quote then drop me a mail.
Good luck with the project
I may need your knowledge? “Ours” (not yet) is hopefully in better shape than your was, but who knows what we will find. It had a lot of work done to it in 2015, including double height rear extension and a load of roof dormers, so the roof, gutters etc are new, which should help. Plumbing is all new (Worcester 40Kw boiler, twin unvented tanks and all associated plumbing), as are electrics (including a heavy duty feed for a lift system). Long term lurker and follower of your projects here - mainly because we've done much the same over near Blackheath.
Our house is an Edwardian/Late Victorian of similar size as your new one (cica 5000sqft) and it was far more of a wreck than your new purchase (congrats by the way) e.g.15/16 ceilings had collapsed due to a boogered roof, it was previously multiple council flats with multiple broken water/ heating/ electrical systems, etc. It hadn't been lived in for two years, by anything other than pigeons and so on.
Anyway, we recently (as in they finished yesterday) had the front of the house double glazed where they retained the original wooden boxes, but remade the wooden sashes with thin double glazing and fitted the furry strip things everywhere.
Obviously the thin double glazing isn't quite as good as the much thicker retrofit double glazing in terms of sound deadening (we are in a conservation area so we are limited in terms of what we can do), but it's still very good - we were lying in bed this morning marvelling at the difference. Aesthetically, you can't tell that the originals have been replaced.
We originally had a quote to redo all the boxes and sashes in wood from one of the leading top quality wood replacement crowd just for the roadside front of the house (9 x 2m+ high sashes) and it came to £34k... The guys who did our windows did a fabulous and spotlessly tidy job for just under £8k... Hoovered everything up every night and you honestly couldn't tell that they had been in the building 5 mins after they left. We have no commercial connection with them, but met them when they did a new near neighbour of ours who told us that they had done his previous two houses and that he couldn't speak highly enough of them.
If you're interested in getting them round for a quote then drop me a mail.
Good luck with the project
Went over to the house again this weekend to take measurements. It is still awesome, and I now fully admit to being emotionally invested – I will be gutted if this all falls apart. The place is absolutely enormous, and very pretty. Looks properly derelict on the outside as they have made no effort on cosmetics, so the pebbledash on the uypper stories is an ugly, patchy magnolia, and the bricks are
The only thing that really worries me is finding rot under the floorboards – but there is no sign of anything untoward, and unlike many of these old houses it has not had a load of modern, impermeable, damp-causing insulation chucked into it, so on balance, it should be fine.
Windows definitely need work, but the boxes look fine so I am hoping that we can rebuild the sashes with thin double glazing, or restore them. Some have been replaced with new double glazed sashes (in the extension/new dormers). On the remaining windows, it actually looks like the sashes have been partially restored, as most of them have new cords and weights – I have no idea why they didn’t double glaze them at the same time!!
Japanese Knotweed in the garden seems under control (no sign of it within the fenced off treatment area), and has another year’s treatment (it is in year 2) and insurance backed 10 year guarantee for the work. The back garden is completely overgrown with brambles though, which will not be fun removing. My old leather WW2 motorcycle boots and some welders gloves will be called into service this winter.
PM sent, and thanks.
I recommend these for spiky stuff. I did my hawthorn hedge and about 20 metres of a neighbours massively overgrown one (he is a sparky and he did my bathroom electrics for free). Very effective unless you actually grab something tightly and this is on a mature hedge that throws out some huge spikes.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pruning-Goatskin-Leather-...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pruning-Goatskin-Leather-...
Hi Harry, got the email as you know.
It's not dissimilar to ours in that after the council let the roof go all the interior horsehair plaster was wrecked, but their last act before washing their hands of the big shed was to put a new roof and gutters on so, like you, we could at least begin work in the dry.
That's where the good news ended though as we ended up replacing all bar one ceiling, re plastering all the walls, rewiring and re plumbing everything. That was before windows, loft and rear extension.
The woodwork inside the house was surprisingly good, despite all the roof issues, as these old places were built with amazing quality pitch pine that you just cannot get anymore as well as serious joists and so on. Rock solid. None of this modern flimsy tat. The myriad draughts probably helped as well mind... We did have all the underfloor treated for woodworm just in case while we had everything up for the plumbing and wiring.
Our plumbing system is also similar to yours although we have only a Worcester 35kw unvented system and that runs all 3.5 bathrooms perfectly well simultaneously. We have a single 300litre "coffin" type cylinder lying down in one of the eaves to save space.
The outside being tatty is probably nothing more than cosmetics - our brick walls were covered in greenslime & pigeon s
t ( there were about 50 pigeons in the roof before the council finally managed to rehouse them after no doubt a "pigeons have feelings too" inquiry...) but we had all the brick cleaned and repointed and it looks great.
Re windows - we also have a few original sashes at the back that are single glazed and that was just because we were doing such a big building job that every time I met the builder it seems to be a 5 or 10k handshake so we just saved a bit where we could back then and it was fine up until now. I guess it was the same for your previous owners.Having said that we are so pleased with the new front ones that the remaining single glazed are probably on borrowed time.
Just to complete your encouragement, our back garden had 24 40ft+ leylandii down the middle of it as apparently the previous upstairs tenants fell out with those downstairs and planted the bd leylandii out of spite. As our house is terraced, I couldn't get any big equipment around the back and so had to chainsaw and dig each one of the bloody things out of the ground by hand - that took me many weekends, followed by an entire bank holiday weekend grinding up all the branches and needles, and several tons of topsoil to fill in the 90 foot trench down the middle of my garden. So I ended up with deafened furious new neighbours and what looked like a 90 foot mass grave in the back garden...Yours will be a piece of the proverbial in comparison!
It's not dissimilar to ours in that after the council let the roof go all the interior horsehair plaster was wrecked, but their last act before washing their hands of the big shed was to put a new roof and gutters on so, like you, we could at least begin work in the dry.
That's where the good news ended though as we ended up replacing all bar one ceiling, re plastering all the walls, rewiring and re plumbing everything. That was before windows, loft and rear extension.
The woodwork inside the house was surprisingly good, despite all the roof issues, as these old places were built with amazing quality pitch pine that you just cannot get anymore as well as serious joists and so on. Rock solid. None of this modern flimsy tat. The myriad draughts probably helped as well mind... We did have all the underfloor treated for woodworm just in case while we had everything up for the plumbing and wiring.
Our plumbing system is also similar to yours although we have only a Worcester 35kw unvented system and that runs all 3.5 bathrooms perfectly well simultaneously. We have a single 300litre "coffin" type cylinder lying down in one of the eaves to save space.
The outside being tatty is probably nothing more than cosmetics - our brick walls were covered in greenslime & pigeon s
t ( there were about 50 pigeons in the roof before the council finally managed to rehouse them after no doubt a "pigeons have feelings too" inquiry...) but we had all the brick cleaned and repointed and it looks great.Re windows - we also have a few original sashes at the back that are single glazed and that was just because we were doing such a big building job that every time I met the builder it seems to be a 5 or 10k handshake so we just saved a bit where we could back then and it was fine up until now. I guess it was the same for your previous owners.Having said that we are so pleased with the new front ones that the remaining single glazed are probably on borrowed time.
Just to complete your encouragement, our back garden had 24 40ft+ leylandii down the middle of it as apparently the previous upstairs tenants fell out with those downstairs and planted the b
d leylandii out of spite. As our house is terraced, I couldn't get any big equipment around the back and so had to chainsaw and dig each one of the bloody things out of the ground by hand - that took me many weekends, followed by an entire bank holiday weekend grinding up all the branches and needles, and several tons of topsoil to fill in the 90 foot trench down the middle of my garden. So I ended up with deafened furious new neighbours and what looked like a 90 foot mass grave in the back garden...Yours will be a piece of the proverbial in comparison!
So initial quotes from 3 builders are in.
To do a proper job, which includes
- taking up the floors and insulating them with breathable rockwool for sound and heat, filling the gaps, sanding and oiling,
- building a new bathroom with stud walls
- tanking and tiling bathrooms
- fitting kitchens and all 5 bathrooms, including electrics
- moving some rads
- taking down ceilings and insulating on top floor, and removing some plaster to expose some internal brick walls
- mist coating
- painting all wood trim in oil paint
The seller wants to exchange next Friday. Our buyer isn't really keeping pace with the speed required, so am crossing everything and praying this happens...we got in touch with them directly today and they were really upset their solicitor has not been faster with stuff, so are busily chivvying things along now...hope it works.
To do a proper job, which includes
- taking up the floors and insulating them with breathable rockwool for sound and heat, filling the gaps, sanding and oiling,
- building a new bathroom with stud walls
- tanking and tiling bathrooms
- fitting kitchens and all 5 bathrooms, including electrics
- moving some rads
- taking down ceilings and insulating on top floor, and removing some plaster to expose some internal brick walls
- mist coating
- painting all wood trim in oil paint
The seller wants to exchange next Friday. Our buyer isn't really keeping pace with the speed required, so am crossing everything and praying this happens...we got in touch with them directly today and they were really upset their solicitor has not been faster with stuff, so are busily chivvying things along now...hope it works.
Edited by Harry Flashman on Tuesday 25th July 19:34
Have some photos of this mess of a house. Daunting.
Lovely old wood panelling, entrance hall with stained glass, and three floor staircase to be brought back to life..
IMG_2523 by baconrashers, on Flickr
Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr
Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr
New electrics (in cellar) and serious plumbing. Both done 2 years ago.
Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr
Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr
A load of encaustic tiles left in the house from the unfinished project. Expensive: we're hoping the seller leaves them!
Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr
View from the top floor at the back: very un-Zone 3 London, and part of why the house appeals to us.
Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr
It's not good to get excited, as this could all still fall through...but I'm excited, and nervous.
Lovely old wood panelling, entrance hall with stained glass, and three floor staircase to be brought back to life..
IMG_2523 by baconrashers, on FlickrUntitled by baconrashers, on FlickrUntitled by baconrashers, on FlickrNew electrics (in cellar) and serious plumbing. Both done 2 years ago.
Untitled by baconrashers, on FlickrUntitled by baconrashers, on FlickrA load of encaustic tiles left in the house from the unfinished project. Expensive: we're hoping the seller leaves them!
Untitled by baconrashers, on FlickrView from the top floor at the back: very un-Zone 3 London, and part of why the house appeals to us.
Untitled by baconrashers, on FlickrIt's not good to get excited, as this could all still fall through...but I'm excited, and nervous.
Edited by Harry Flashman on Tuesday 25th July 19:28
Harry Flashman said:
View from the top floor at the back: very un-Zone 3 London, and part of why the house appeals to us.
That is such a brilliant feature and looks a lovely size, no wonder you wanted it so much! and will get used a lot no doubt. Is it already usable from a safety point of view- is the floor able to hold decent weight or does it need more work.Also if you are oiling the floors and insulating, are you not worried about it getting damaged when it gets pulled up? Does it have a lot of cuts in the boards already?
Harry Flashman said:
View from the top floor at the back: very un-Zone 3 London, and part of why the house appeals to us.
Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr
It's not good to get excited, as this could all still fall through...but I'm excited, and nervous.
WOW. That's a bit special. Fingers and toes crossed for the 2 of you!Untitled by baconrashers, on FlickrIt's not good to get excited, as this could all still fall through...but I'm excited, and nervous.
Harry Flashman said:
So initial quotes from 3 builders are in.
To do a proper job, which includes
- taking up the floors and insulating them with breathable rockwool for sound and heat, filling the gaps, sanding and oiling,
- building a new bathroom with stud walls
- tanking and tiling bathrooms
- fitting kitchens and all 5 bathrooms, including electrics
- moving some rads
- taking down ceilings and insulating on top floor, and removing some plaster to expose some internal brick walls
- mist coating
- painting all wood trim in oil paint
The seller wants to exchange next Friday. Our buyer isn't really keeping pace with the speed required, so am crossing everything and praying this happens...we got in touch with them directly today and they were really upset their solicitor has not been faster with stuff, so are busily chivvying things along now...hope it works.
Is there any chance you'll do a build thread? Would be really interesting to see the progress. To do a proper job, which includes
- taking up the floors and insulating them with breathable rockwool for sound and heat, filling the gaps, sanding and oiling,
- building a new bathroom with stud walls
- tanking and tiling bathrooms
- fitting kitchens and all 5 bathrooms, including electrics
- moving some rads
- taking down ceilings and insulating on top floor, and removing some plaster to expose some internal brick walls
- mist coating
- painting all wood trim in oil paint
The seller wants to exchange next Friday. Our buyer isn't really keeping pace with the speed required, so am crossing everything and praying this happens...we got in touch with them directly today and they were really upset their solicitor has not been faster with stuff, so are busily chivvying things along now...hope it works.
Edited by Harry Flashman on Tuesday 25th July 19:34
Brother D said:
Is there any chance you'll do a build thread? Would be really interesting to see the progress.
Of course! Build thread will definitely be coming if we actually get this house. Am definitely emotionally invested now, annoyingly. Thanks all - and Ali: you've been good luck so far - please keep it up!
Big thanks also to FBP1 who is being unbelievably kind and having me over to see their place this week, and help with window quotes and general Victorian refurb tips. PH really can be quite something...
Also had a nice result on our house - buyer's surveyor basically said it is perfect, telling Lady F that it is one of the best finished refurbs he has ever seen. My solicitor was a bit shocked at the sheer volume of certificates and receipts I gave in with the property info form - every bit of this refurb was done by the book.
I basically built an obsessively detailed home - I really hope our buyers come to see quite how much care I put into it if they complete and move in...!
Edited by Harry Flashman on Tuesday 25th July 21:57
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