Knockdown or Renovate?

[mattice]

This hot weather is great for "assessing". We had a friendly architect visit to give a view, it turned into a whole house discussion, which was really very interesting, more on that later!

On the (enclosed porch) discussion table was:

:arrow: A Veranda type construction - I nearly fell off my chair, "did he read PPUK?", I nearly asked!
:arrow: An enclosed wooden framed porch, sufficiently different but sympathetic
:arrow: A renovation; weatherboard, new windows and door, re roof with some of the clay tiles in the garden

off the table was:
:arrow: a paint job :lol:
:arrow: an attempt to build something better but the same (I think I know what I mean)


What helped most was knowing more about the house. He's a local chap, so approximate age, likely original detailing, where to get 'matching' bricks etc. which probably helped more than the above. A scathing view of the mismatched extension (it hurt a little), he suggested an attempt to disguise, such as a thin render and/or paint. A decision not to be taken quickly

I'm nearly decided on a course of action so this topic may lay dormant for some time as I teach myself some new skills. The interim solution is likely be a stepping stone in the history of the porch but I will have learnt a bit along the journey, and there's always a sledge hammer in the shed

 

[mattice]

OK, I've been lurking for a while, partly due to busy work life.... I remembered that I've not updated you all on the porch situation. We did knock it down... completely.... and we didn't try to conform to the period as we judge the house to be a bag of bits anyway, so we went for workmanship rather than botching. I've been waiting a few years for it to weather before posting as I went against a bit of advice that I would normally respect on here Nevertheless, it's done, and now probably propping up the rest of the house. I wish I could have made it with my own hands, but I was pleased to find a local joiner who made a much better job than I would have.

I'll post some pics over the next week or so, I need to do some weeding before I post... and I've got some windows to repaint!

Mattice

 

[a twig]

look out for my post in 5-10 years time.

Very prescient!

 

[CliffordPope]

This is a near-replica of the original, scaled up so that someone of normal height doesn't keep cracking his head on the lintel.
The old one was rotten, so we took the opportunity of enlarging it slightly.

 

[CliffordPope]

Why is the permitted picture size so small on this forum? I've had to try progressively reducing this 4 times from the original camera picture, and now it's blury and you can't see the detail

 

[mattice]

Here we go...

Front of house, new porch, renovated windows, and whilst it can't be seen in the previous photos drive and stone wall done.

Side view of porch...

and the other..

and for good measure the G&T patio, formerly a concrete slab and mud bath...

...and somewhere under all that lot we connected to the main sewer, the proudest achievements often out of sight

 

[Lime]

Is it just me?
I can't see any images at all, just placeholders.
I've tried the page in IE, Firefox and Opera.

 

[Penners]

Likewise.

 

[mattice]

Does it work now?

 

[Lime]

Yes except for the first picture of the front.
From what I can see the new porch is a lot more in keeping with the house.

 

[mattice]

Thanks hopefully that fixes it.

 

[Lime]

Oh, yes, very good.

 

[TheRoost]

Looks great, massive improvement.

 

[Feltwell]

Looking very nice indeed Mattice, huge improvement on what was there before. Damn site more finished than my place!

 

[mattice]

Thanks all, pics of the inside to follow although it may be a couple of years :shock: I'm up on the rear roof next week to hopefully carry out some repairs before winter - many tiles slipping. I've doe a fair bit of mountaineering so how hard can it be?

 

[Zebra]

Wow Mattice. That is looking so good. The driveway too, and the pretty gate. Reading back the thread I take back what I said a long way upthread about oak maybe not looking right, it looks great.
Not so many coat hooks with all that glass, so you've chosen appearance over practicality - or are the coat hooks on the ceiling or the floor?
Haven't been frequenting these parts so much lately, not requiring any help now, well not with old houses anyway, bit it's nice to see a long-term project come to fruition!

 

[mattice]

Thanks Zebra, practicality was an important part of the design The porch is offset from the interior door so we have a good metre and a half of hanging space, and when we get round to it, a shoe bench with a couple of racks underneath. We're deliberating on the shoe rack, we don't really want boxes as they will need cleaning, the top will be oak, we're thinking with some sort of iron racking and some nice period geometry tiles on the floor....

At the moment, we're enjoying the unfinished dumping ground