Victorian Semi - refurb blog
Discussion
Following on from my previous small house I thought I follow others & use this post to document my new home refurbishment project. Will likely be a little slow with updates due to funds & skills (lack of both!)
It was previously bedsits (hence fire alarms & extinguishers) for 20yrs+ & empty for 8months prior to us moving in. It ticked a lot of boxes, 3 large beds, offstreet parking, cellar, character
Here it is the day we moved in (last month):
Living room
Hallway/stairs
Kitchen
Family room (off Kitchen)
Master bed
Notice the wife is pregnant - watching some of the house shows on TV I understand its the rule they must be before taking on a project
Mid bed
Rear bed
Rear bed view
It was previously bedsits (hence fire alarms & extinguishers) for 20yrs+ & empty for 8months prior to us moving in. It ticked a lot of boxes, 3 large beds, offstreet parking, cellar, character
Here it is the day we moved in (last month):
Living room
Hallway/stairs
Kitchen
Family room (off Kitchen)
Master bed
Notice the wife is pregnant - watching some of the house shows on TV I understand its the rule they must be before taking on a project
Mid bed
Rear bed
Rear bed view
Here is the layout:
Plan for next year is to knock the kitchen through into the family room - this room will then become the kitchen & the old kitchen will be come the dinning room. Access will be from the hallway under the stairs
Will be hopefully knocking the sitting room into the dinning room to extend (& then blocking up the old entrance to the kitchen)
Upstairs layout will remain - cellar will have toilet & utility
Plan for next year is to knock the kitchen through into the family room - this room will then become the kitchen & the old kitchen will be come the dinning room. Access will be from the hallway under the stairs
Will be hopefully knocking the sitting room into the dinning room to extend (& then blocking up the old entrance to the kitchen)
Upstairs layout will remain - cellar will have toilet & utility
First jobs were to take out the sinks from every room, the 80's fireplace and the mini kitchenette in the bedroom. And remove some of the carpets (the smell was unbearable) but did a job of keeping the floor boards in a pretty good state.
Then stripping the woodchip wallpaper which is on every wall in the house! I'm lucky the wife is happy to live through this & help. Also, can you believe they still sell woodchip in shops?
Then stripping the woodchip wallpaper which is on every wall in the house! I'm lucky the wife is happy to live through this & help. Also, can you believe they still sell woodchip in shops?
Limited works completed so far due to the birth of my son, however plasterers managed to get 2 of the bedrooms completed so I put on a couple of coats of mist & had the floors sanded in the front master bed - makes a big difference.
Had some fun in the middle bed, a large corner was missing the boards & had some odd layouts on the joists - I'm guessing some type of mini lift as I understand the owners 25yrs back were very old. I managed to pick up some reclaimed pine boards but getting them up the stairs and into the room was not fun!
Also had the damp proofing around the front bay window, mainly due to a dodgy downpipe and blocked air brick - all sorted now
Had some fun in the middle bed, a large corner was missing the boards & had some odd layouts on the joists - I'm guessing some type of mini lift as I understand the owners 25yrs back were very old. I managed to pick up some reclaimed pine boards but getting them up the stairs and into the room was not fun!
Also had the damp proofing around the front bay window, mainly due to a dodgy downpipe and blocked air brick - all sorted now
I didn't bother filling the gaps on the floors as they are only bedrooms so don't really have food or drinks up there - also they were pretty tight fitting in most places.
Small progress so far, stain/vanished the floors in 2 of the bedrooms and the plumber installed the rads. He had to call me up to show how out everything was and that the rads really were level!
Lots happening this week - UPVC sash windows are being installed, first couple look great, should be completed next week and I'l grab some photos
Scaffolding has gone up to sort out the chimneys, some pointing, slipped tiles and replace the gutters. Front chimney needs a bit more worked than I hoped but we want to keep it so will throw some money at it
Small progress so far, stain/vanished the floors in 2 of the bedrooms and the plumber installed the rads. He had to call me up to show how out everything was and that the rads really were level!
Lots happening this week - UPVC sash windows are being installed, first couple look great, should be completed next week and I'l grab some photos
Scaffolding has gone up to sort out the chimneys, some pointing, slipped tiles and replace the gutters. Front chimney needs a bit more worked than I hoped but we want to keep it so will throw some money at it
Ha, not sure why it's not showing the door to the middle bed, its next the top of the stairs.
Almost all the windows are in but already need a clean from removing the old guttering
Here we've used the old bricks from the rear chimney that we removed - this is to reduce the width of the window in the smaller bathroom to give us a room to put the shower against the outside wall. Window will be installed tomorrow
Most of the walls have been re-pointed & broken old bricks replaced (again using those from the removed chimney). Gutters & fascias are going up this week and hopefully scafolding will be down before Xmas. Its some view from the top!!!
I've picked up some old pine doors from ebay and will finish stripping the door frames at some point in the next few weeks in preparation for hanging in Jan. Bedroom is almost finished
Almost all the windows are in but already need a clean from removing the old guttering
Here we've used the old bricks from the rear chimney that we removed - this is to reduce the width of the window in the smaller bathroom to give us a room to put the shower against the outside wall. Window will be installed tomorrow
Most of the walls have been re-pointed & broken old bricks replaced (again using those from the removed chimney). Gutters & fascias are going up this week and hopefully scafolding will be down before Xmas. Its some view from the top!!!
I've picked up some old pine doors from ebay and will finish stripping the door frames at some point in the next few weeks in preparation for hanging in Jan. Bedroom is almost finished
Been a little slow with the Christmas break.
The builders have cracked on outside and installed all the new gutters/facias etc
The rear bedroom has the windows in and the plaster finished this week - just left for me to paint now
We fitted a door & windows in the rear bay which will eventually become the kitchen - as the back of the house is on a hill this becomes the first floor so the idea is to put a raised deck eventually. For now its just good to have double glazing!
The builders have cracked on outside and installed all the new gutters/facias etc
The rear bedroom has the windows in and the plaster finished this week - just left for me to paint now
We fitted a door & windows in the rear bay which will eventually become the kitchen - as the back of the house is on a hill this becomes the first floor so the idea is to put a raised deck eventually. For now its just good to have double glazing!
Small updates:
Rear & side of the house is looking better though not yet finished
Before
After - still awaiting plumber to replace waste pipes with new (in black)
Back - idea is to put a deck in against the new back door (as this will become the kitchen in the future)
New window in the soon to be nursery cracked the plaster, almost ready for me little boy to move in
Before
After
Rear & side of the house is looking better though not yet finished
Before
After - still awaiting plumber to replace waste pipes with new (in black)
Back - idea is to put a deck in against the new back door (as this will become the kitchen in the future)
New window in the soon to be nursery cracked the plaster, almost ready for me little boy to move in
Before
After
Also had the trees removed, made such a difference to the light coming into the house and we can now see the massive challenge for the garden (will take us a while to tackle)
This is the view from the rear top bedroom before (must have been 50ft high) - all the pictures are from the same room
During
And after, views are great, must be 15miles on a clear day
This is the view from the rear top bedroom before (must have been 50ft high) - all the pictures are from the same room
During
And after, views are great, must be 15miles on a clear day
From columnrads.co.uk - think a few other people here have the raw finish ones also. They look great in the flesh
http://www.columnrads.co.uk/raw-metal-horizontal-c...
http://www.columnrads.co.uk/raw-metal-horizontal-c...
Saved up a bit of cash so its onto the next bit - builders have started sorting the living room
Rewiring and additional sockets
Insulating under the floor and new plywood down in prep for new (still not sure what yet, hopefully some type of engineered parquet)
Blocked the door to kitchen (this will eventually become a cupboard for coats etc)
Reclaimed fireplace in position and almost looks its always been there
Plasterers should be in later this week....
Rewiring and additional sockets
Insulating under the floor and new plywood down in prep for new (still not sure what yet, hopefully some type of engineered parquet)
Blocked the door to kitchen (this will eventually become a cupboard for coats etc)
Reclaimed fireplace in position and almost looks its always been there
Plasterers should be in later this week....
I've been a bit rubbish with updates - old laptop died and took some photos with it. And another baby, 3 under 5 now - perfect mixture for house refurb!
Progress has been a little slow but planning a big push this summer with garden, moving/new kitchen and possible loft conversion,
Did put some wardrobes in our bedroom (brother is a bit handy).
He knocked up the frame using old shoe holder and some shelving
Created some doors in a shaker style using MDF
Then I had someone spray them white
Pretty happy how they turned out and gave much needed storage.
Progress has been a little slow but planning a big push this summer with garden, moving/new kitchen and possible loft conversion,
Did put some wardrobes in our bedroom (brother is a bit handy).
He knocked up the frame using old shoe holder and some shelving
Created some doors in a shaker style using MDF
Then I had someone spray them white
Pretty happy how they turned out and gave much needed storage.
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