The ridiculous Edwardian...

[Ace-T]

judas said:

Just when you think you're getting somewhere life comes along and gives you a swift, hard kick in the nuts.

As a kick in the nuts go, it is painful but quite a lucky escape I think.
1. We were off work when it went, 8 hours of mains pressure into the house does not bear thinking about.
2. We decided to take breakfast upstairs instead of enjoying a leisurely breakfast in the sunny dining room
3. We have not started decorating the ceilings or walls in the hall where it came through yet
4. A couple of drips got into the living room but instead of going down the wall onto a painting we have, it dripped past it!
5. We arranged for the plumber to come today anyway.

I really think we got off lightly

[Ace-T]

The culprit.


The angel known as Steve the plumber says the flexi pipe was probably bent when it was being put in causing a weakness that eventually popped. Knowing the sheer bodgery in this house it probably was not a new one either.

[Ace-T]

A quick update to the hall situation. We were utterly lucky as the water was mostly held in the en suite and it only overflowed a little bit into the bedroom and discoloured a little bit of the living room ceiling (which needs decorating anyway. A tiny bit got through to the all ceiling but that is now dried and covered so all good.

The hall took much longer than I had anticipated so we halved the expectations and decided to do the downstairs only plus the wall up to the first floor during that time. I am now doing bits and pieces of the first floor at the weekends mostly. Apologies for all the sideways photos.
















We still need carpet on the stairs and are waiting for a cover to hide the hideous radiator but it is so much nicer a space now. brighter, more relaxing and just 'ahhhhh...' rather than 'ewwwww...' It's deliberately neutral yet warm as we want the floor to be the star of the show. We chose a Farrow and Ball colour called Old White with a complimentary white called Slipper Satin. The Old White changes colour as you go through different parts of the hall and through different light: a mushroomy stone downstairs through to a pale sage upstairs. Odd but good.

Although if anyone has a trick for making quite thick curtains hang properly, I would be grateful for the advice. They currently stick out and look a bit odd.

The front door is at the joiners getting fixed now. We have chosen and ordered the new stained glass for the door and fanlight and it is in progress too.

Edited by Ace-T on Saturday 19th October 15:48

[Ace-T]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

That radiator is pretty awful, but could you not simply replace it with something more in keeping and characterful?

We will eventually. At the moment though that radiator is directly connected to the one on the other side of the wall in the living room (another bodge ) that we will be moving to under the window. That's a fairly big job so, in the meantime, we're going to hide it

[Ace-T]

dhutch said:

Looking good, much brighter than the pine, good call in my book. The floor is bloody lovely, very jealous of that!

How come the paint changes colour, not sure I get why that would be short of not mixing it well enough?
Can't help on the curtains other than I expect they will calm down with use. Good news in the door.

I've also got super lucky with a burst flexi in th last house. Got home lateish one Sunday to the sound of spraying water and the lights not coming on. Knowing the house has been empty all weekend I feared the worst, but it must have just gone, got about a bucket of water off the middle of the apparently slightly convex kitchen floor, now damage at all. I had spotted they looked crap, bought new, but not got around to it! Always the way.


Daniel

Thanks Daniel, the floor was one of the things that sold the house to us, though it does need repair and cleaning but we will do that when everything else is sorted.

The paint colour changes depending on the light: the time of day and aspect gives the paint subtly different hues, it's really noticable when you move from downstairs up, the colour gets greener, which I really like.

Your burst sounds so similar! Horrible to encounter but you thank your lucky stars after! We had another small central heating one last weekend. Another bodge where they had joined 2 bits if central heating pipe with a broken and superglued back together T piece. Caught and repaired but it did mean draining down the whole system, which was fun as they haven't put the drain point at the lowest point of course.

Thanks for the top curtain tips Trixical, will try those.

Appreciate the kind words re the glass folks, we were a bit nervous about doing this. They are turning up today so we will see!

BTW Harry, we still need to sort that stuff if you still want it. Apologies for the delay, getting boxes big enough has been slightly tricky.

[Ace-T]

Today we have had the new but old door fitted. After finding the original 1906 door in the shed and our brilliant joiner saying it was good, we designed and ordered the glass (thanks for the recommendation Harry ) and let James do his thing.
Upvc with 90s bathroom glass



Big hole after old door removed!


New frame going in



Door fits


Now for the glass








All done



The grey is primer. Need to decide on a colour.

From inside

Edited by Ace-T on Thursday 21st November 21:27

Edited by Ace-T on Friday 22 November 08:49

[Ace-T]

Thank you all for the kind comments guys. We are incredibly chuffed with it, validation from strangers on the internet is the cherry on the cake.

We are going for a gloss black/blue colour called Railings by Farrow and Ball. Though the primer colour does look good, we think a stronger darker colour will make the glass jewel like. Sort of like diamonds on black velvet iyswim.

[Ace-T]

21st Century Man said:

......Dahling!

But what you don't see is that I am pouring cheap Lambrini into a Champagne bottle

(Getting colour matched with Johnstones paints cos it's better and cheaper!)

[Ace-T]

We took advantage of the milder dry weather this weekend to paint the front door.

2 coats of dark undercoat on the door and white on the frame.


Then nervously we start to paint the gloss. To say we agonized over the colour is an understatement. We originally thought black or a very dark green or blue but Harry's advice on the dark colour not letting you see the detail of the door led us to reconsider. I am a complete Farrow and Ball bore now, simply because I like their colour palette. So we chose a colour called Inchyra Blue. It's a dark greeny blue and looks lovely with the red brick.

First coat started.


First coat done.

[Ace-T]

Thanks Woz. You and Lady 21st Century need to come round for mince pies and port.

[Ace-T]

We have not done much at all since the hall (I think it broke me slightly and this year has been a bit st to say the least. So I was not terribly enthusiastic when the en-suite ceiling mounted extractor stopped working the other day. OK we think, let's measure it, go to Screwfix and get a like for like. Should be relatively simple yes? Surely the level of bodgery seen in other parts of the house can't extend to this more modern installation?

Let's start with the ceiling of the en-suite. It is dropped and paneled in some weird plastic. We thought it was so they could fit the ceiling extractor ductwork in so they didn't have to hack the original ceiling. Being good girls and boys we turn off the electric and get to work.

Turns out they did not have to put a false ceiling in. Why would you when you have not fitted any fking ducting to vent outside at all? All that lovely fking condensation has been venting into the fking floor space between this ceiling and the floor above. For years. fking incompetent s.

To add insult to injury, the window hinges are broken and we cannot open the window without then having to borrow the neighbour's 25ft rickety ladder and hammer the fking window shut from the outside.

I can't deal with this today. Where is the fking gin?

[Ace-T]

Thank you for the tea and sympathy guys. The bodgery lengths people go to always astonishes me. Especially when doing it correctly isn't that much more effort.

wkers, the lot of 'em.

[Ace-T]

These are some ridiculous bodge stories guys hope you got them resolved.

For better or worse I can't afford to rip out the ensuite yet so will replace the fan as is. I figure if we keep the air moving, there will be less of a problem than if I just leave it to stagnate.

In other news, I never did post a finished front door pic. Though taking a good look at it now it needs de knotting, filling and repainting again.

[Ace-T]

BlackWidow13 said:

We have a similar front door. Imagine my surprise to find this hidden in it. Took me over 12 years to notice it, but once seen it can’t be unseen!

Oh my!

When we designed the glass, we were really careful to make sure there was nothing that could be interpreted as something else.

Judas has just proudly declared 'At least if we sell the house, we can say it has no hidden cocks or swastikas!'

[Ace-T]

Jimboka said:

Good work
That house is the image of the one I grew up in! Mum lived there from 1960-2005
I wish I had it, great project

Do you mean your mum lived in our house or just one very similar?

Our house is unusual in its shape and design, so I would be really interested in seeing others like it.

According to a chap who came to look at the drains (he had been doing that job for 40+ years) these houses often had the drain covers embossed with the builders name. So according to him, here is who built the house.



This is a map image from 1901 where you can see a big field where our house will be plonked in the middle.



This is 1914 where the builders bought the narrowest bit of land to plonk said house.



1949 where it has filled in.


Because of the shape of the land, we got a long thin and tall house unlike any others in the area.

CharlesdeGaulle said:

The door looks great. Could you fit more period correct ironwork? The gold coloured lock or whatever it is looks a little incongruous. Beautiful job done other than that small detail though.

Thank you. Yeah, we are not sure about it either but it is a fairly solid and secure lock. We are looking at changing that at some point though as we want a big brass doorknob too.

Edited by Ace-T on Friday 25th September 17:17

[Ace-T]

On to the next phase of the ridiculous house project now. We are well on the way to getting all the windows replaced in the house organised. Sashes for the front and side that can be seen from the road and sash looking casements for the other windows. As the brickwork is the posh stuff on the bit that can be seen and the rough commons on the bit that cannot, we feel we are being quite faithful to the house

Once we get the sashes in the front room we are going for maximalist insanity. it has taken us a while but we are going with this wallpaper - all over!

https://divinesavages.com/collections/wallpaper/pr...



Yeah, I know, right...

This will be up to the picture rail, with F&B Hague Blue above, a white ceiling with new ceiling rose. We are keeping the carpet and fireplace too.

This is a pic from the estate agents listing. The wall colours are the same still. However we ripped out the office blinds and have different furniture. I will see if I can find a pic and post.



Anyhoo, the main point of the post is that I want radiators under the windows (currently on the back wall) but we have never bought a radiator before. I have worked out the BTUs using an online calculator so we know that, but can you split that over say two or three radiators?

Also the style. I want something in keeping with the style we are going for but I think something like this below may be too 'try hard'.



I thought this may be less is more...



Any thoughts or advice on radiator purchases are very much appreciated!

[Ace-T]

A311, these houses are a labour of (mostly) love aren't they. Ours is facing brick on two sides with commons (or less expensive and well finished brick) on the back and side hidden from the road. The only render is right at the top on a bit of Tudoresque detailing at the apex.

We are now getting prepared to get into the front room renovation. However we can't quite figure out the order to do stuff so any advice from experiences and lessons learnt would be very welcomed. The list of stuff is:

Replacing windows
Removing radiator, taking pipes through cellar and up under window
Installing new radiators
Sanding and treating floorboards
Painting ceiling
Painting woodwork (skirting, doors, picture rail)
Wallpapering

The window guy wants to do windows before the radiators, the wall needs to be decorated after radiator removal but before new radiators, the floor needs to be radiator pipe drilled before it's sanded and finished, the painting needs doing before the floor and the flooring guy has quoted November.

My brain has just leaked out my ears.

How hard a job is sanding floors?

[Ace-T]

Finally, the windows are done. Due to personal circumstances our window fitter had to delay the job for a couple of months. However he appears to have done a reasonable job. The house seems more quiet and the temperature is more stable.

This is probably due to the fact that the old windows were fitted so badly there was actually no point having double glazing!

Big holes in the house are quite nerve wracking!


You can see from the stone cill here how far forward the old windows were installed. They hid the shape of the opening and were infilled with plastic.


Another big hole


Sashes in, architrave starting to go on.


Bay sashes done. Looking better compared to the window above.



The house is built with posh facing bricks on 2 sides and commons on the bits you can't see, so we put sashes in the posh brick and casements in the commons. Here are 3 more sashes in the posh brick.


More in a bit

[Ace-T]

The team removing the upstairs window. This was particularly entertaining. Above each window apart from the bay, there is a brick arch. On each of the windows they removed there was nothing between the flimsy bit of plastic and the internal plaster. So absolutely no point to the double glazing really. I am keen to see if our heating bills are somewhat less eyewatering this winter.

New sash and architrave going in in the hall.


Front all done. Next year we need to get scaffolding up to remove and replace all the guttering and paint the soffits and facias


Starting on the living room woodwork


As per another thread, papering the chamfered walls into the bay.






Making sure no white lines peek through our amateur wallpapering


Decorating finished. Old sofas back in for now.

[Ace-T]

ChocolateFrog said:

Just caught up with this thread this morning on the train. All the work looks great, amazing transformation on the front door.
I agree the orange pine had to go, when was that ever a good idea? I just can't imagine we'll be scraping paint off in 30 years time to reveal that monstrosity.

Thank you

Jimmy No Hands said:

What a stunning house. Having just picked up our keys for a very drab flat I'm certainly pulling inspiration from this thread moving forward. We're so timid with just being "bold" but I think sometimes, you have to be to get the look you want!

We certainly did not expect to be 'bold' enough to choose cat wallpaper To be honest, it has gone up better than I expected. It is actually quite subtle, then you realise there are hundreds of dark blue cats, wearing bow ties, drinking martinis.

seiben said:

Ooh I like that. Good hack on the wallpapering. I'll remember that!

Thank you When you paint though, just be careful when you wallpaper as the paste can make the paint come off.

RC1807 said:

Ah, yes, the cocktail drinking cats.... its looks really good, and a great idea to paint where the paper would join, too.

As you can see above, you have inspired how I describe the wallpaper to absolutely everybody now, thankyou.

21st Century Man said:

The before and after on the front bed is particularly pleasing. The single opener top left was an abomination.

Thank you. Of all the folks on here to comment that it is now ok, I am glad you have! It was horrible wasn't it. The fake leading just added to the charm.

Putting up a bay curtain pole was not fun. Neither of us are very good at trigonometry.


New light to replace the chandelier. Same as the ones in the hall to give a bit of flow to the spaces. (Plus my sister gave it to me for free. )


The curtains are actually a deep teal, they make the room a bit jewel box like in terms of the colour scheme. I think the one and a half seat sofa we are getting is going to look fab against it.


Sorry about the weird light effects on the photos. I managed to crack my camera lens cover


The next two pics are of the hallway window. Next doors built right up to the boundary and all we saw through the window was the horrible dark brick wall. So we got the glass etched. Now it diffuses the like really well and it bizarrely lighter in that hall as a result. (yes I know I need to finish making good too.


Pic of horrible brick wall

Edited by Ace-T on Wednesday 8th September 20:58