New house and plenty of questions

[thornlea]

Hi,

I have just bought a new house and have started trying to get it back to some sembalance of the house it used to be. I have been 'lurking' on here for over a year and now have the reason to join and start asking questions!
There are loads of things I will be doing but there is one question I would really like some help with. I have used my hammer to dispense some tlc on the cover that was over the opening to the dining room fireplace (a rather nice white marble surround) and found a partially concreted cast iron insert. It looks like someone has made the opening of the insert smaller in the past (perhaps when it became a diming room?) Could you have a look at the attached photos and give any thughts you might have on whteher this is salvagable?

I hop ehte url is correct for he album, if not please let me know!

I am looking forward to getting the house back to its orginal state and giving it some tlc!


http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/hosted/223082142
Jon

 

[robgil]

is it this one?

i am wondering if just above the opening , should there not be a cast iron 'hood' type thing instead of the cement?

 

[thornlea]

Yes, there should be a hood that goes over the top of the insert. a bit like this one:




Jon

 

[JoceAndChris]

Welcome to the forum Jon! Looks like you have a very exciting project ahead. What age is the house? That fireplace looks more early nineteenth century than late to me.

As far as I know there aren't any professional fireplace restorers on this forum (please correct me anyone if I'm casting a slur!) and if I were you I'd send your pics to these people as I think they'd be able to advise you specifically about what's missing. http://www.britainsheritage.co.uk/

Your fireplace to me looks very salvageable, that insert will be lovely once you have stripped the paint off and made it black.

The main fireplaces here similarly have those inner bits missing, I wonder if they just got so burnt out and blackened they were removed in an attempt to smarten it up, but it does leave rather a gaping hole.

I wonder what's underlying the cement on yours.

 

[Penners]

Your fireplace to me looks very salvageable

Me too. Although it looks as though the top cowl is missing. But a tramp around your local architectural salvage yards should yield a replacement. Most of them have loads of old fireplace bits and pieces.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Jon,

Welcome to the forum. Looks like you'll have a nice fireplace there when it is restored. The rest of the house looks very interesting too. Lovely setting. Do you know much about its history?

Robin

 

[thornlea]

Thanks for the welcome, it is nice to have some feedback on things.

The house was built by a James Watt, a retired Jute baron from Dundee, when he died it was bought by the Emeritus professor of theology of Edinburgh University, and thn it gets bit fuzzy. The prof died about 1932, 50 year sor so after the house was built.

The fireplace has received some loving attention with a hammer and the results are encouraging - so much so that I am going to buy a bigger chisel to really give it some welly! I have updated the folder with some photos of the progress of the work.

We are lucky that the house is on a beautiful road surrounded by other large Victorian houses, all set in 3/4 to 1 acre gardens. We have just over an acre and it feels large enough when weeding! Right opposite our driveway is the entrance to the Reid park, a 16 acre Victorian park and is a great place to have a little wander to get away from the paint fumes.

All in all we are happy with the purchase and are now trying to make to house feel less dark and depressing than it feels at the moment. Most of the rooms are white and they need some colour and warmth. We are using Craig and Rose 1829 paints which we can get from our local B&Q and which are made relatively locally (Dunfermline).

Jon

 

[Gareth Hughes]

It's interesting that you find white "dark and depressing", and are going to go for colour to lighten it up. Excellent stuff!

 

[JoceAndChris]

Had a proper look at your lovely house on the slideshow, so oops about my earlier mistaken date of the fireplace.

What a gorgeous setting it's in, and a walled garden! :mrgreen:

I completely agree with you about all the white by the way, it doesn't suit the property. Fantastic project and do keep us posted!

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Thornlea, what a deliciously decadent house you have! Absolutely love it. There is always something very reassuring about that style of Victorian house.
Enjoy!

 

[thornlea]

Wow, what a weekend. Three days of cutting, dismantling, painting, sawing, etc and a camp out on an old mattress in the laughably name master bedroom. Floorboards up, wiring everywhere and the remains of a 70's built-in wardrobe being thrown out of the window (avoiding any small children/wildlife etc).

My one big question from the weekend is about paint for woodwork. We wil need a paint for the interior woodwork in bedrooms etc and I was wondering what people would suggest. We want a nice subtle white with a nice subtle sheen. I have tried a non brilliant white satin wood but it just looks a little 'flat'. A bit more sheen and a richer colour would be great. Any suggestions?

Oh yes, the dining room fire has been attacked and I can now see the back of the original opening. I have no idea how they managed to make tat mortar holding in the added bricks so hard!

Thanks for all the lovely comments,

Jon

 

[JoceAndChris]

What a productive weekend you had - well done!

.

We wil need a paint for the interior woodwork in bedrooms etc and I was wondering what people would suggest. We want a nice subtle white with a nice subtle sheen.

When we moved here I also thought I'd fix on one shade of off-white or cream for the internal woodwork on things like windows and shutters and skirtings and use it in every room. But I've realised it's much better to think about the colour you want for the room, then choose the fabric for curtains and bedding, then wallpaper and paint to match, lastly the woodwork paint - you end up with a richer and more interesting scheme, with every room a bit different, and the colours all harmonising. For example I've used a sage green Farrow and Ball wallpaper in the music room, and the perfect white for that is James White by FnB, which picks up green. But alongside the blue I've used to paint the kitchen units that would have looked terrible, so in that instance I've used Joa's White which is more oatmealy and gives warmth.

Of course it's your taste and you might prefer more uniformity.

Personally I like completely matt paint, but the Laura Ashley water based eggshell paints have a very subtle sheen. "Biscuit" is nice.