By way of an update on our renovations.
The render situation is about the same...see render woes post. A builder is coming tomorrow to see if he can do the work with lime render but we're at a bit of a standstill with that until we have better weather anyway.
Inside, we've managed to replace the rotted joists which for amatuer DIYers we're really proud of...moreso of the plastering of the ceilings than the replacement wood!
We've covered many of the huge holes in the walls with plasterboard for now as a quick fix. This all needs to come off again anyway for the replumbing and rewiring work at which point we'll have to make a decision as to what material to use on a more permanent basis.
We installed half thickness of loft insulation (sheeps wool) which has kept the heat in the rooms upstairs and, in fact we now have a room upstairs that is far too hot! It's very expensive though so we're waiting to see what our budget is like before investing in the rest to make it up to thickness.
We also laid carpets throughout last month and you wouldn't believe the difference a cheap carpet can make...we were really shocked at how much warmer the place is.
Our next step aside from rerendering is to start work on the layout inside. We're currently squashed into one very small living space with us sleeping in the dining room so the kids can each have their own bedroom. We need to do something very clever with the stairs to enable us to make an extra bedroom upstairs. Originally the house had L shaped rooms and at some point these have been changed to put a bigger staircase in. We can see where the original walls and staircase was by the bad plastering job that was done to cover it but reinstating these will still leave us a problem of where to put a door into a third bedroom. We really need an architect I think so if anybody knows how I can go about finding an architect I'd be grateful.
Once we've created an extra room we can start the very exciting work of installing our rayburn. Hopefully this can be completed before next winter...yeah right!
Judging by the way extra problems keep presenting themselves the roof will probably blow off next week and we'll need to rethink our plans :roll:
The render situation is about the same...see render woes post. A builder is coming tomorrow to see if he can do the work with lime render but we're at a bit of a standstill with that until we have better weather anyway.
Inside, we've managed to replace the rotted joists which for amatuer DIYers we're really proud of...moreso of the plastering of the ceilings than the replacement wood!
We've covered many of the huge holes in the walls with plasterboard for now as a quick fix. This all needs to come off again anyway for the replumbing and rewiring work at which point we'll have to make a decision as to what material to use on a more permanent basis.
We installed half thickness of loft insulation (sheeps wool) which has kept the heat in the rooms upstairs and, in fact we now have a room upstairs that is far too hot! It's very expensive though so we're waiting to see what our budget is like before investing in the rest to make it up to thickness.
We also laid carpets throughout last month and you wouldn't believe the difference a cheap carpet can make...we were really shocked at how much warmer the place is.
Our next step aside from rerendering is to start work on the layout inside. We're currently squashed into one very small living space with us sleeping in the dining room so the kids can each have their own bedroom. We need to do something very clever with the stairs to enable us to make an extra bedroom upstairs. Originally the house had L shaped rooms and at some point these have been changed to put a bigger staircase in. We can see where the original walls and staircase was by the bad plastering job that was done to cover it but reinstating these will still leave us a problem of where to put a door into a third bedroom. We really need an architect I think so if anybody knows how I can go about finding an architect I'd be grateful.
Once we've created an extra room we can start the very exciting work of installing our rayburn. Hopefully this can be completed before next winter...yeah right!
Judging by the way extra problems keep presenting themselves the roof will probably blow off next week and we'll need to rethink our plans :roll:
