View attachment 1View attachment 2and a couple more... as you can see it is habitable... for now anyway !
- Thread starter ilona73
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What a fantastic house! Following on from all the other comments,the advice already given is spot on. Nothing can move on until the structural work is Ok. We have been living in the property that we have been repairing and it has been like a building site where I (still) feel that we will never be free from dust /dirt... what with chronic damp, sagging ceilings, crumbling plaster and death watch beetle. It is so important to stick to a plan and finish one area before starting another so that you have an area of calm to retreat to, otherwise in time, the dirt and chaos will get you down (especially with such a large family). I hope you will keep us updated on your progress .... it will be really interesting.
Nina
Nina
Lime
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Living with the house will tell you about how you want it but that also brings familiarity to the not-done-bits so often get put off if you're not careful.
The biggest problem is always dust, for me, and any work seems to produce dust that travels all over the house.
I do one room at a time where possible and practical.
In that room I construct a wooden board on and through which is placed a large extractor fan.
The wood is cut to fit exactly into one of the window openings, sealed and left on all the time work is being done.
As a result dust is kept out of the other areas of the house.
I use the same method when redecorating too.
The biggest problem is always dust, for me, and any work seems to produce dust that travels all over the house.
I do one room at a time where possible and practical.
In that room I construct a wooden board on and through which is placed a large extractor fan.
The wood is cut to fit exactly into one of the window openings, sealed and left on all the time work is being done.
As a result dust is kept out of the other areas of the house.
I use the same method when redecorating too.
JoceAndChris
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Lime is so right about dust; what a good idea about the fan. I must use that method next time major work or paint stripping takes place.
Gosh. Simonswood Hall needs a lot of TLC and another big fire to get rid of plywood (but outside this time!) from the looks of things. But yes, perfectly habitable and serviceable.
Thank God the fireplaces look intact, and the doors and windows. Are there other features that have been preserved? It's a terrible pity about that fire, but in some ways it gives you freedom, especially if you don't feel the need to recreate what was there before.
Regarding your front door, I'm no expert, but I'd be wanting to know if a heat gun or chemical could soften that awful stuff and then gently go in with scraper and pointy tools and scrape it away. There will be others to give more proficient advice I'm sure.
A year to do it all? I hope you have a wonderful army of skilled craftsmen on site! A year flies by so quickly, with 80% of it stolen by cleaning, cooking, and other domestic duties. But then I have no budget to pay people to do the things that need doing, until we sell our flat- I hope you do!
You have got a happy and exciting time ahead, there's nothing quite like moving into your dream home.
Gosh. Simonswood Hall needs a lot of TLC and another big fire to get rid of plywood (but outside this time!) from the looks of things. But yes, perfectly habitable and serviceable.
Thank God the fireplaces look intact, and the doors and windows. Are there other features that have been preserved? It's a terrible pity about that fire, but in some ways it gives you freedom, especially if you don't feel the need to recreate what was there before.
Regarding your front door, I'm no expert, but I'd be wanting to know if a heat gun or chemical could soften that awful stuff and then gently go in with scraper and pointy tools and scrape it away. There will be others to give more proficient advice I'm sure.
A year to do it all? I hope you have a wonderful army of skilled craftsmen on site! A year flies by so quickly, with 80% of it stolen by cleaning, cooking, and other domestic duties. But then I have no budget to pay people to do the things that need doing, until we sell our flat- I hope you do!
You have got a happy and exciting time ahead, there's nothing quite like moving into your dream home.
Cloudscape
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No no no... forget all the priorities... you have an emergency. Top priority is the knobbly stone edging on the arch around the range. :shock: I nearly spat my coffee onto the keyboard when I saw that. Incidentally... yes, you are crazy. We all are. I've given up on the dust. I tell myself that one day there will be less dust - mind you, we have a Rayburn that covers the kitchen in dust, and a cat that must be going bald, but I'm planning a kitchen with as few nooks and crannies as possible. Generally, the procedure for a house is top > down, outside > in, but when I need a break from the serious stuff, I take it upon myself to remove the odd internal eyesore... things that make me cringe every day. Mind you, this is how we ended up with no kitchen and no 2nd bathroom. :?
Penners
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I know. No matter how hard I try, someone else always manages to pinch a slice or two.JoceAndChris said:
Penners
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Well, having struck Mr Hughes blind, you've done me a power of no good, too. :shock:
The interior of the house looks to me like a perfectly valid excuse for the restoration of capital punishment. You've shown us quite a few photos - do make sure that you carefully photograph every detail of it before you start changing anything.
Just think of the satisfaction you'll be able to derive from the "before" and "after" photos in years to come!
The interior of the house looks to me like a perfectly valid excuse for the restoration of capital punishment. You've shown us quite a few photos - do make sure that you carefully photograph every detail of it before you start changing anything.
Just think of the satisfaction you'll be able to derive from the "before" and "after" photos in years to come!
Matt Green
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Cloudscape said:
AIIEEE! someone did that, stood back and presumably thought "Yes. That was the look I was aiming for. Perfection."
Make sure you bring that important historical feature to the attention of the CO. I don't think II* does it justice. I want that range scheduled as an area of outstanding natural beauty.
Matt
-currently buying a Victorian place the Georgians have messed with. Collapsing dining room floor, so I'm happy. All estate agents should be hunted to extinction though. With dogs.
Oh Tell me about it!!Penners said:
It is a bit of an "eyesore" at the moment .. and those bricks in the kitchen will be one of the first things to go... yuk yuk yuk...
I have the digital camera armed and i am going to be very dangerous with the amount of photographs i take.I have a feeling my laptops hard drive will be on meltdown with all of them by the time i have finished!...And my husband will have gone bald too !! The only thing my little boy cares about is who put the rope swing up on the apple tree? lol!
On a serious note though i am lucky in that i have the back up of a great brother in law who is very experienced at working on listed buildings both internally and externally along with his staff i am sure everything will be just fine.... The year i stated at the beginning is just the amount of time i am going to take off work initially... then i ill reassess though i know in all honesty it will be a labour of love and i could still be sat here in 5 years time and still not much further along the line...
come on who has cake??
I need a piece for with my coffee while i sit back and prepare for hard work ! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Matt Green said:
Hahahaha
Err i think not!!
I think those "lovely stones" will need to be painted out until i can get around to the kitchen replacement stage.. they just give me the heeby jeebies thinking about them..
good luck with your house... i still think i need sectioning under the mental health act?
Penners
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Either the house has suffered at the hands of some dodgy builders from Georgia, or you've got something of a chronological miracle on your hands, there, Matt. :wink:Matt Green said:
Schoolmarm
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Matt Green said:
Oooh Matt, whereabouts in the country is it?
Matt Green
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Penners said:
I stand by it- Georgians messed with it. If Georgian architectural design and brutal fronticing had never happened, such ridiculousness would never have influenced the construction of an otherwise lovely Victorian house. Or, put another way: there's no bloody downpipe on the front elevation and all the water runs in a valley gutter to the back, or, in actuality, into the roof void. and for what?! Because some wire-rimmed bespectacled arrogance engine didn't want to see the roof line ruin his lovely design cribbed from 50 years previous! Gah. Once i'm done with the estate agents I'm going after architects. It's good to have goals.
M.
-It's in West Sussex, 'marm
This stuff will reputedly remove expanded foam - I've never used it so I would experiment somewhere where it will do least harm to see how it works....preferably nowhere near the actual house 
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/32482/Sealants-Adhesives/Expanding-Foams/Guns-Cleaners/No-Nonsense-PU-Foam-Remover-100ml
Consider before you condemn bodging, while it doesn't sound like the previous owners showed much care there are accidents, emergencies and the unsupervised contractor. Bodging a door with foam may not have been their first choice but sometimes circumstances force your hand to make a temporary fix and then live with it because you can't afford the time/money to do anything else.
At least a partition wall held in place with foam should be easy to remove...Good luck ,I'm sure it'll be lovely in the end
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/32482/Sealants-Adhesives/Expanding-Foams/Guns-Cleaners/No-Nonsense-PU-Foam-Remover-100ml
Consider before you condemn bodging, while it doesn't sound like the previous owners showed much care there are accidents, emergencies and the unsupervised contractor. Bodging a door with foam may not have been their first choice but sometimes circumstances force your hand to make a temporary fix and then live with it because you can't afford the time/money to do anything else.
At least a partition wall held in place with foam should be easy to remove...Good luck ,I'm sure it'll be lovely in the end
chuckey
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For a lot of restoration, you will need a lot of materials and tools. I would spend some time and money on setting up a workshop with power and storage cos' you will be flying in and out of it for the next 5 years.
Frank
Frank
DaveBrigg
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We had plywood panelling in some of our downstairs rooms; it is a cheap and easy way of hiding damp problems, that is until the plaster behind finally rots off and the whole lot collapses in a soggy mess. When dry,it does burn well though.
Flyfisher
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Fair point, but bodging can cause significant damage. Consider the following two photos of some roof timbers around a chimney. There was no lead flashing and rain would run down between the chimney and tiles onto the horizonal timber in the photo. This had been happening for many years, probably decades.AMc said:
A few years before the photos, the leaking roof was 'fixed' from inside the attic using expanding foam, as can be seen around the right-hand side of the timber. I'm sure it fixed the leak into the attic but, of course, it did nothing to prevent water entering the roof. The second photo shows how the timber smothered with foam had completely rotted away within 2-3 years due to water being trapped by the foam whereas the timber remaining open to ventilation at least had a chance to dry out between showers and was still serviceable, albeit rather soft, after at least a decade.
Flyfisher said:
Gosh thats bad but i have to admit i am rather concerned about what the foam is doing to the sandstone where they have tried to use it to point the house in places....Its a real mess... but luckily not too much of it... but should never have been done in the first place just the same. Alot of the fireplaces remain in situ as well... though some have had the stonework painted over.... any suggestions of how to get the paint off without damaging the stone?.. also inside the windows have all been painted white.. which has then stained due to the stone not being able to breathe sufficently i would assume?......The more i think about it now the mor ei am wondering what the heck we are doing taking this on with 4 kids in tow lol...
JoceAndChris
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www.stripperspaintremovers.com is what the forum often recommends, they're pretty helpful on the phone in suggesting different products for stone, wood, etc.
I wonder how bad foam is for sandstone, whether it's any worse than cement pointing?
Anyway I reckon that what has been done can be undone, with time, money and patience.
How old are the kids? Don't worry, the feeling of incredulity at what you've done gets easier to live with!
I wonder how bad foam is for sandstone, whether it's any worse than cement pointing?
Anyway I reckon that what has been done can be undone, with time, money and patience.
How old are the kids? Don't worry, the feeling of incredulity at what you've done gets easier to live with!