Poorly Edwardian home

[wbjosh]

Hi,

We are shortly to become custodians of a lovely Edwardian property in need of a bit love and care. We have alway wanted some kind of period house and found this in a perfect location for us. However, I have a few questions and concerns and would love to get your opinions on them.

Firstly: The cellar on this property has been dug out and, I assume, tanked to give the property four full floors. My concern is when you enter the cellar there is a slight smell of damp - this concerns me as it is not near any outside wall where damp could possible enter. The rest of the cellar shows little signs of damp and there is no odour emanating from it. I wonder where this damp could come from?

Secondly: The chimneys have had their lower sections removed and the tops removed and capped. In all our previous properties we've installed a multi fuel burner and would love to in this one. I would be interested to hear your views on rebuilding the top sections of chimney ie cost and feasibility and the implications of the bottom sections being removed - could we use a extended flue on the inside and join the chimney close to the ceiling? Can the bottom sections also be replaced so we could even install an original open fire?

Thirdly: The exterior has mock Tudor beams some of which are in need of replacement. We've toyed with the idea of removing them completely and just re rendering the top half of the house (like next door), however I think we would like to keep it as original as possible. Is this a massive job to replace these timbers and does anyone have an idea of cost?

It's not all bad though. The house has an amazing Minton tiled hallway, all original doors, some original fire places and shed loads of space

I've attached a pic of the house for reference so hopefully this can all make sense.

Many thanks,

Josh

 

[MatthewC]

Hi Josh, welcome onboard.

As regards damp in the cellar, how well ventilated is it? If it's only a slight smell and it's poorly ventilated, I would say that's relatively good! It probably comes through the floor and walls which even if tanked aren't necessarily perfect (as some people here find out). What sort of walls and floor do you have?

Not sure I understand your second question - you're not suggesting the lower chimney breast has been removed, are you? How does the upper bit stay up?

No idea on the third.

Matthew

 

[mims&pip]

Are the OP's chimney breasts (ooer, missus!) not on the outside?

Ours are like this in the Arts & Crafts extension and we once had a detached Victorian house that was built that way too :wink:

Mims x

 

[plasticpigeon]

It does look like the bottom of the chimney breasts have been removed on the outside with some kind of corbel in concrete at around head height. Perhaps this was done to allow better access for vehicles. I can'ty see a problem to rebuild the bottom or the stacks (or the tops for that matter)

 

[mims&pip]

It does look like the bottom of the chimney breasts have been removed on the outside with some kind of corbel in concrete at around head height. Perhaps this was done to allow better access for vehicles. I can'ty see a problem to rebuild the bottom or the stacks (or the tops for that matter)

Gosh, so it does, PP :shock:

Think my eyesight must be failing!

 

[Feltwell]

It is perfectly possible to remove the lower part of a chimney stack and leave the upper part properly supported, just as it's possible to knock big holes safely through load bearing walls. "Gallows brackets" can be used but they're not great in my opinion, they rely too much on the fixing back into the brickwork beneath. RSJ's onto suitable supports are more work but better. Bit more info here.

http://www.epsom-ewell.gov.uk/NR/rd...uirementsforchimneystackremovalandsupport.pdf

However best of all is leave it all alone and preserve the originality!

To answer the OP, yes it's perfectly possible to reinstate the stack, you may even be able to leave the support in place, depending on how it was done.

At a friends much abused Victorian terrace, previous owners had demolished the wall between the front and back rooms - letting the rubble fall into the sub-floor void where it was concreted over to make a floor - letting the concrete go out onto the surrounding floorboards to feather out the difference in levels, important to do a proper job. The chimney breast was left in place in the room above and up through the roof, safely supported on 1 piece of manky 4" x 2" softwood and a few bits of old pallet. Interior design was clearly important to the owners, they opened the flue up in the bedroom and turned it into a wardrobe, complete with cardboard "floor" and "ceiling" to stop things falling through into the room below and stop bits of old soot / dead birds / Lord knows what else falling onto their clothes from above. :shock:

Cellars are nearly always damp - it comes from the ground, no need to be near an outside wall. If it's only a slight smell as you enter I'd ventilate it and not worry too much. Extending a flue on the inside to ceiling level - I don't see why not but you'd need the opinion of a proper HETAS certified installer I'd say. If they OK'd it presumably you'd have to install a liner in the remains of the flue above and rebuild the section on the roof - all possible. Bear in mind though that however the stack has been supported may be blocking the bottom of the flue.

Timbers on the outside - I presume they have no structural purpose so easy enough to do. No idea on cost, it would vary hugely depending on if you do it or get someone in, and what timber you use. Are they really bad enough to need replacement though? They look OK from afar in your picture, I'd be inclined to worry about other things first!

 

[wbjosh]

Thanks for all your replies - really interesting.

As for the cellar - apparently it got flooded in a major storm in 2006 and the current owners (i think I have deciphered the legal documents correctly but will check with my solicitor on Monday) can't see to get insurance for the cellar?! Does this sound feasible? If that's the case it's right pain as I wanted to let the basement out for a short time to help with costs of renovation...

Josh

 

[88v8]

Welcome.

Good that your house has some original features, and an owner who appreciates them.

The mock half-timbering is a key part of the aesthetic. Was it removed next door? The result - a bland façade that might as well be new. And with ugly windows to boot.
It's a DIY job. Lever off the rotted timbers, if they are original they are probably held on by cut nails into the joints. New timber should be treated with preservative before it is put up. Be careful that new timber has the same texture - don't use planed if the existing are sawn.
Some of ours needed doing in our previous house, and we put up new timber on the extension. All blacked to match.

Chimneys.. what a pity.
But next door there is a pattern, hooray. You can take a look at their fireplace, hopefully still there. And you have their upper stack to copy.
The trick will be finding bricks of the correct colour, and especially the moulded bricks. If you trawl around local salvage yards, probably there are one or two that specialise in bricks. And then there's the pots.

Reinstating the stacks and chimney breasts, once you have the correct bricks, shouldn't be too expensive A four-figure job.
Then there's the fireplaces - again, salvage yards, or of course eBay. Good that you have some originals. Depending on your choice, you might get out of the whole job for four figures.

Yes, you could fit an insulated internal flue. One sees them in the 'style' pages of glossy mags. A modern gubbins, quite out of place in a Period house.

Look forward to seeing your progress.

Ivor

 

[wbjosh]

Welcome.

Good that your house has some original features, and an owner who appreciates them.

The mock half-timbering is a key part of the aesthetic. Was it removed next door? The result - a bland façade that might as well be new. And with ugly windows to boot.
It's a DIY job. Lever off the rotted timbers, if they are original they are probably held on by cut nails into the joints. New timber should be treated with preservative before it is put up. Be careful that new timber has the same texture - don't use planed if the existing are sawn.
Some of ours needed doing in our previous house, and we put up new timber on the extension. All blacked to match.

Chimneys.. what a pity.
But next door there is a pattern, hooray. You can take a look at their fireplace, hopefully still there. And you have their upper stack to copy.
The trick will be finding bricks of the correct colour, and especially the moulded bricks. If you trawl around local salvage yards, probably there are one or two that specialise in bricks. And then there's the pots.

Reinstating the stacks and chimney breasts, once you have the correct bricks, shouldn't be too expensive A four-figure job.
Then there's the fireplaces - again, salvage yards, or of course eBay. Good that you have some originals. Depending on your choice, you might get out of the whole job for four figures.

Yes, you could fit an insulated internal flue. One sees them in the 'style' pages of glossy mags. A modern gubbins, quite out of place in a Period house.

Look forward to seeing your progress.

Ivor

Thanks for you interest and advice Ivor.

Funnily enough a property just up the road from this is having it's timbers replaced so I went and had a good nose at the progress and it does look simple enough. Yes, the house next door has had the timbers removed, the original windows removed and replaced with uPvc (aaarrrggg) and a very poor render job on the outside. Such a shame.

Will have to get some quotes in regarding the chimney, sounds expensive but we love open fires so it's a must for us really.

I'm putting a blog together - very early stages at the moment as we've not even moved in yet!

http://edwardianrestoration.blogspot.co.uk/

Thanks again,


Josh

 

[JanJonWestWales]

Regarding the cellar, are those small windows/vents below your living room(?) window.??

If they are windows/vents to the cellar, I would fit an extractor fan...we did that and it keeps our cellar dry ...and we had stream running through it !!