Day 218: Open and shut

We brought in Falcon Windows to replace all the windows in the house. They already did the bathroom but this was the remainder now. They came highly recommended by Stuart and Michelle next door.

The first day, they dropped off the windows but couldn't start as they were having resource issues (injuries etc.) No worries though as it poured buckets all day long/ Payback for the nice sunny long weekend. Not a good day to be creating large openings in the house

But when they came back the next day, they worked at a frantic pace, installing all 4 upstairs windows in a day (some still needed to be finished). By Friday, they were all done. The windows looked great and really block out the noise from the outside ... making this house seem much more lonely.

The plaster around the windows however just crumbled away. More opportunity for Scott to become a master plasterer. 120 years does not do wonders for old plaster. I wonder if someone will be complaining about my plastering work in 2136? But I'm sure by then, robots will do all the work using lazers and carbon nano tubes and could re-plaster the house in 30 min anyway.

The only thing that I didn't realise is that the drapes were attached to the old frames and had to come down. That and the old windows didn't really have high visibility inside and out. That's no longer the case and I feel pretty exposed. Hello neighbours!

3rd bedroom from the outside and old kitchen window

3rd bedroom from the inside. Window feels bigger than the rest of the room

A hole in the wall

Hole filled

The final result .. just need curtains

Day 219: Starting to look better

Truthfully, this update is spanning a couple of days. It's been a busy week.

 

So, as much of the walls were completely shot. I took most of the plasterwork back to brick and dry-lined the masonry using a technique called dot and dab which basically involves splattering some drywall adhesive to the bricks and pushing the board into place. However, in other places the plaster was fighting back. A brick bolster and lots of smashing could not persuade it to leave the wall. In those places, I will need to make the plaster good again. Personally, would have preferred that it all just fell off,

 

Tom mounted the new vertical (designer?) rad in the kitchen. Even after moving everything around with the new kitchen, the only spot where the rad could realistically go was next to the boiler. And even then, it wasn't a very wide spot, so we went up. Overally, I think it looks pretty good and should keep the room warm. But with the new floors, new double glased windows and added insulation, maybe an overkill. It has a thermostatic valve so we can knock it down if need be.

 

I boarded up one of the windows as we're going to be putting a cabinet in that place. This will be plastered over and will not be noticeable from the inside. Not sure yet what we're going to be doing on the outside. Subject of another post I'm sure

 

 

 

Before



During (check out the nifty new stainless steel 3 way dimmer

Perfectly level .... of course

 

After .. no more brick

Around where the range is going

Check out that sexy rad on the newly plastered wall

Making the wall look better.





Window boarded up



New windows and new plaster around them to make good

Day 217: Bringing down da house

Been a busy couple of days at the house, so just starting to get caught up on my blog updates.

The only thing more damaging than a man with a saw and a hammer is 4 men with 4 saws and 4 hammers. Today the calvalry arrived, Falcon Windows and Tom to move things along. The house was a complete construction site.

The last thing to take out of the kitchen was the countertop. The boiler piping was nicely weaved in and out of the countertop and well beyond my tool and skill capacity. Tom helped out with his Dewalt oscillating multi-tool - an amazing piece of kit that made short work of the counter

And that was it. The kitchen was no longer a kitchen. Not really sure what it was really. Just a mess I think.

We also started taking up the floor and found some nice disco tiling. It wasn't going to be Staying Alive for very long however. Problem was that it was nailed and glued down and didn't want to give up without a fight. We got there in the end and finally found the floorboards.

The piping underneath was a rats nest. Tom fixed it up with some lay flat plastic pipe. Also really cool stuff. Getting lengths of copper under the floor would have been next to impossible. Which is why the original was so crooked.

We (Tom) also drilled a new hole for the kitchen waste pipe to make it easier to connect the sink in the new location.

This will the worst the kitchen will look hopefully .. now the rebuild begins. As a taste, I've shown the wall that I've re-plastered which is where the new rad will be going. Overall, happy with the result.

Stay tuned. Lots of more updates to come .....

  

Day 215: It's going down

A busy couple of days on the kitchen demo front. It took much longer than anticipated to remove all our stuff and furniture out of the kitchen. The kids room is serving as a make-shift version for the time being. When everything is out of the cabinets, you realise how much stuff you really have.

 

Anyway, my task for the last 2 days was to "de-wood" the kitchen. While it must have been fashionable in the 70's, the wood looks pretty darn awful these days. The major concern I had was, "What was hiding behind the wood?" It's often used to conceal some nastiness behind. One way to find out though .... HAMMER TIME!!!!

 

As it came down, I realised a few things:

1. It was on there pretty good. Lots of glue, nails and screws. Grrrr

2. The walls were pretty darn awful in a couple of places - plaster and dry lining here we come

3. The ceilings are in pretty good shape. A nice surprise as I had planned on tearing them down

 

On the mini-extension however they were not. Not a big surprise with the giant crack down the middle. I used my trusty X-tex to remove the last little bit of Artex paint and started tearing down the plaster. What a mess. But I got it down eventually and could access the ceiling void above. Good thing too as there is absolutely no insulation up there. Something to put on before I plasterboard it over. With the new rad, flooring and window, this is going to be the warmest room in the house.

 

Also to come out was the cupboard. Silly me, I thought this was going to be an easy task. I didn't realise that the cupboard has been in place for over 70 years. I know this from advanced carbon dating (and finding a flyer from 1941). It was practically build into the framework of the house! One shelf was solid wood 2" thick hammered into the brickwork. That alone could have supported about 3-4 of me. I guess they built things well back in the day.

 

Not that everything is basically down (de-wooded). Time to start cleaning up my mess. Stay tuned....

 

 

And it starts again

New skip arrived. Now on to the kitchen

 

Day 191: The door that opened the wrong way

Once upon a time there was a bathroom door. It was a decent door, only it was just too small .. and it opened the wrong way. All the other doors would make fun of the silly little door, with no handles that opened into the hallway.One day, a magical saw named Stanley floated into the door frame and cut the frame in half. It was much easier to get out when it was cut in half. Helped by a magical crow bar and some magical 4 letter words, the frame was soon off to the far away land of backyardia. Stanley the magical saw also cut into the studs above door frame to make the opening much bigger so that giants could also use the bathroom without bonking their heads. An evil, unused wire jumped out to try and stop the magical saw but this was no match for Stanley and was also banished to backyardia. Soon a new wooden header was nailed above the door opening to provide additional support.Stanley the saw found his way into backyardia and united with a mystical door jamb kit. This kit was a good kit, but it was a bit too big. Apparently the DIY stores sell 610mm doors but do not make frames for these 610mm doors. Not a problem though as Stanley came to the rescue and helped the door jamb fit just right. Powerful braces were used to make sure the door frame was square. It was likely one to be one of the first pieces of timber in the land of Suburbiton to be 100% true and 100% plumb.The new jamb was affixed into place with a small army of screws, helped by a spirit level and some more magical 4 letter words. Then ... suddenly .. a new door appeared. Then disappeared.Stanley's cousin, Stanley the screwdriver then got stuck into this door using a 5/8" bit to bore out some holes for the door lock. The kit used was a 2 latch bathroom latch. Lots of teamwork from the Stanley family: the hammer, the chisel and the drill; soon removed enough material to fit the lock. And the door magically re-appeared in the new door frame.All that was left now was to spray some fairy (expanding) foam to fill the void. This was done and voila, a new door was in place. And what a great door it is .. just as tall as the other doors, with a fine set of handles and best of all ... opening the right way. All the other doors welcomed the new door to his new home. All he requires now is some plaster, paint and architrave. But that is another story.THE END