Kitchen units due in April so then hopefully the kitchen can be "finished".....
The front garden needs a little work.......
Hattie's bathroom needs a bit of updating.....
Thursday, 19 March 2015
So what next.........
What do we hope to achieve in 2015......
Kitchen units due in April so then hopefully the kitchen can be "finished".....
The front garden needs a little work.......
Hattie's bathroom needs a bit of updating.....
Kitchen units due in April so then hopefully the kitchen can be "finished".....
The front garden needs a little work.......
Hattie's bathroom needs a bit of updating.....
The Kitchen (part 1)
The electric cooker was replaced with a rayburn to help keep the house warm and its done a sterling job in this department. However its not ideal for teenagers trying to cook their dinner while mum is out at work as it relies on thinking ahead to get the oven hot for cooking. So I decided that part of making the house work for the kids had to be fitting an alternative means of cooking so they could just chuck a meal in the oven and press a button in order to eat!
Now that the boiler and its entourage of pipework have gone I've been able to order some extra units for the other side of the kitchen to incorporate a cooker and hob (due April 13th). In the meantime I focused my energies on sorting out the walls!
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| The picture of the kitchen from the brochure, walls pale blue with occassional purple areas and purple ceiling. |
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| Kitchen when we moved in with its various floorings |
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| The front door with its tiles! |
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| First we fitted the rayburn as a background heat source |
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| Time to strip those walls! |
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| A bit of investigation under the lino and bitumen screed revealed the original flag-stones |
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| . Bit ropey but eventually I will cleam them up! |
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| First lot of kitchen units arrive. Walls still very dodgy with lots of holes! |
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| Managed to get some end of range tiles from fired earth for the splash backs |
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| Finally got to replace the light fittings |
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| The kids insisted on keeping one of the holes so we now have a random head behind a picture frame. Makes interesting conversation! |
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| Finally a white wall, Makes all the difference. Just 3 more walls to go! |
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| Wall number 2 |
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| Starting to look like a home |
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| And wall number 3. Just waiting for April 13th now.......... |
The Boiler
January 2015
The house relied on calor gas bottles for heat and hot water with an ancient combi boiler that coped admirably but was expensive to run and incapable of generating water hot enough for a bath. The boiler sat on the wall in the kitchen requiring a spiders web of pipes that completely covered the wall and prevented any work from being done in the kitchen.
I worked out that if I utilized the governments domestic heat incentive then I could have a new wood pellet biomass boiler and the payments would cover the cost of the boiler and allow for further finance to finish the kitchen and install another bathroom for the kids. It was a complicated process but eventually I managed to pull it off and the boiler was fitted in early January (just before the snow arrived!).
It has totally transformed the house. I've moved the old radiator from my bedroom into Noah's room and connected up the girls radiators too so all the bedrooms are now cosy (mine uses the heat leak from the rayburn so is always snug). I've also had a new cast iron radiator fitted in the lounge so it is no longer essential to light the fire in the evenings to keep warm. The boiler creates loads of hot water so we can enjoy as many baths and showers as we like and is eco-friendly at the same time.
The house relied on calor gas bottles for heat and hot water with an ancient combi boiler that coped admirably but was expensive to run and incapable of generating water hot enough for a bath. The boiler sat on the wall in the kitchen requiring a spiders web of pipes that completely covered the wall and prevented any work from being done in the kitchen.
I worked out that if I utilized the governments domestic heat incentive then I could have a new wood pellet biomass boiler and the payments would cover the cost of the boiler and allow for further finance to finish the kitchen and install another bathroom for the kids. It was a complicated process but eventually I managed to pull it off and the boiler was fitted in early January (just before the snow arrived!).
It has totally transformed the house. I've moved the old radiator from my bedroom into Noah's room and connected up the girls radiators too so all the bedrooms are now cosy (mine uses the heat leak from the rayburn so is always snug). I've also had a new cast iron radiator fitted in the lounge so it is no longer essential to light the fire in the evenings to keep warm. The boiler creates loads of hot water so we can enjoy as many baths and showers as we like and is eco-friendly at the same time.
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| The old combi calor gas boiler |
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| New space-age biomass boiler! |
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| The electrics now hidden away in a cupboard (hand-built by MYSELF!) using the old oak tongue and groove I've been lugging round for 15 years. |
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| Boiler room also has a new downstairs loo (means I can go to the loo after a nightshift and lean sleepily against the warm boiler) with a slate floor for easy cleaning. This little room is also going to work as our cloak room housing all those damp coats and soggy boots |
The en-suite
September 2014
When we moved to the house the only "bathroom" was a shower room off the kitchen where you could reach out from the shower cubicle and turn the mains electric on and off. Somehow we managed with this for 2 years! However once on our own we had a bit of a crisis when we developed an electric fault (turned out to be the outside light) which caused the electrics to keep tripping off. Of course no electrician would touch our electrics in the bathroom so we had to go without lights for 4 days until our builder was able to sort the problem out. I decided that we needed a bathroom as an emergency so decided to fit a bathroom in the empty storeroom off my bedroom. This would mean the old "shower room" could be removed so any further problems could be tackled by an electrician and meant that the "shower room" could be lined up as a boiler room to improve the heating and hot water supply for the house.
When we moved to the house the only "bathroom" was a shower room off the kitchen where you could reach out from the shower cubicle and turn the mains electric on and off. Somehow we managed with this for 2 years! However once on our own we had a bit of a crisis when we developed an electric fault (turned out to be the outside light) which caused the electrics to keep tripping off. Of course no electrician would touch our electrics in the bathroom so we had to go without lights for 4 days until our builder was able to sort the problem out. I decided that we needed a bathroom as an emergency so decided to fit a bathroom in the empty storeroom off my bedroom. This would mean the old "shower room" could be removed so any further problems could be tackled by an electrician and meant that the "shower room" could be lined up as a boiler room to improve the heating and hot water supply for the house.
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| This was the old shower room off the kitchen. The mains electrics are just above the toilet along with the fuse boxes etc. |
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The was the empty store room off my bedroom. 2 walls were lime green and 2 were peach with an orange ceiling. I lime-washed the walls (4 coats) to keep the space breathable.
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| The bath arrives |
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| Finally get to use the old toilet cistern I've lugged around for years. |
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| Floor tiles go down |
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| Ta da! An en-suite to be proud of! |
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| I used my mums old hall mirror |
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| I wanted to use dark grout so it wouldn't go all gunky and grey! |
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| Perfection! |
The Lounge
July 2015
A few months after we moved in to our house I started stripping the wallpaper in the lounge. After a few weeks I gave up - there were just too many layers with too many holes in the plaster underneath. I did get one wall done, and we then used lime plaster to smarten it up and 5 coats of limewash before it started to look good. It was so much effort we just gave up and for the next few years lived with patchy walls. However once on my own I decided that enough was enough and we needed somewhere comfy to relax in the evenings. So I started stripping again (the walls I mean). I learned how to mixed lime plaster to patch the holes and used limewash to create a matt finish. I then scrubbed the floorboards and sealed them with danish oil. I also replaced the dodgy light fittings. The room is far from perfect but its a world away from what it was!
A few months after we moved in to our house I started stripping the wallpaper in the lounge. After a few weeks I gave up - there were just too many layers with too many holes in the plaster underneath. I did get one wall done, and we then used lime plaster to smarten it up and 5 coats of limewash before it started to look good. It was so much effort we just gave up and for the next few years lived with patchy walls. However once on my own I decided that enough was enough and we needed somewhere comfy to relax in the evenings. So I started stripping again (the walls I mean). I learned how to mixed lime plaster to patch the holes and used limewash to create a matt finish. I then scrubbed the floorboards and sealed them with danish oil. I also replaced the dodgy light fittings. The room is far from perfect but its a world away from what it was!
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| This is the picture from the brochure when we bought the house |
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| The lounge when we moved in |
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| Pink walls! |
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| First wall stripped |
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| Hmmmmmmm |
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| I always hated the pointing on the chimney breast wall |
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| Looks so much better limewashed and the room is much lighter |
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| The floor boards will never be perfect but they cleaned up OK |
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| Much better......... |
The Terrace
May 2014
We'd already made a start on the Terrace when we were 5. We had lifted the crazy paving, dug it all out, laid a membrane and relaid new slabs. This was to try to keep the rain from draining into the archway entrance to the Brewstop. However as with most things it never quite got finished.
So motivated by our success in the lower garden, Noah and I finished off the last bit of slab laying and fitted the drain in the corner. We then invested in some garden furniture so we could enjoy the morning sunshine on the terrace or have a BBQ in the evening. Noah split the old multi-fuel stove from the kitchen and managed to turn it into a very impressive BBQ.
We'd already made a start on the Terrace when we were 5. We had lifted the crazy paving, dug it all out, laid a membrane and relaid new slabs. This was to try to keep the rain from draining into the archway entrance to the Brewstop. However as with most things it never quite got finished.
So motivated by our success in the lower garden, Noah and I finished off the last bit of slab laying and fitted the drain in the corner. We then invested in some garden furniture so we could enjoy the morning sunshine on the terrace or have a BBQ in the evening. Noah split the old multi-fuel stove from the kitchen and managed to turn it into a very impressive BBQ.
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| This was the terrace when we moved in! |
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| A BBQ like no other! |
The Lower Garden
March 2014
We started work on the lower garden. This was a series of slippery stone and concrete steps. The only greenery was an overgrown patch of shrubs and saplings which turned out to be growing on top of a tarpaulin, affectionately referred to by the previous owners as "the pond"
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| The "Garden" was previously used as a seating area for the cafe |
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| We had a couple of parties and a couple of broken ankles with people falling off the terraces! |
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This part of the garden was all growing on a tarpaulin and one of the trees fell over when I leaned on it. The "green" christmas tree" is still there.
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It took several weeks (and a few tears) but by June 2015 we had a garden to enjoy for the rest of the summer.....
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| This is the area from the picture above cleared of shrubs and tarpaulin with the christmas tree now standing proud |
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These slabs had been leaning against the wall since we moved in, too heavy to be moved. Noah and I got them in position by "surfing" them on trampoline legs! They look like they've always been here
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Laying out the slabs to create a terrace. Not as easy as it sounds when they are all different sizes. Next job was getting them level as they were all different thicknesses too.
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| We used some of the slabs from the top garden to create an entrance fit for a castle! |
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| There was a lot of digging involved! |
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| We also created a BBQ terrace and created our BBQ using old wheels from the scrap yard! |
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| Noah built a pizza oven using old bricks from on site. |
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| We managed to reuse all the rubble and stone on site so there was no need for skips. The only things we brought in were soil, gravel and turf. |
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| Building the wall was quite challenging! We ended up rebuilding it several times before we were happy with it! |
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| Finally get to add some vegetation! |
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| Then ready for turf..... |
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| Finally a lawn for camping and playing games |
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| And a seating area for eating out |
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| And a garden for planting. Most of the plants were donated from friends and neighbours |
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| Getting the cherry tree home in the mini was interesting! |
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| Meet the Wall! Game of Thrones has nothing on us! |
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| Bea demonstrating how to play in the garden |
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| We created a little zen area for chilling out |
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| And cleared the rubbled filled area down the bottom to provide seating for the Brewstop |
Garden is coming along nicely......
And the cherry tree is in blossom....
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