Victorian Renovation in London - Part 2
Hi all, someone suggested starting this again, as we got to 200 comments and scrolling down was getting a little tiresome. See link below for the original thread.
[https://www.houzz.co.uk/discussions/victorian-house-inspiration-please-dsvw-vd~4802325[(https://www.houzz.co.uk/discussions/victorian-house-inspiration-please-dsvw-vd~4802325)
We're five weeks into the work. So far we’ve:
- had a big party in it the weekend we got it (derelict house – best time to make
a mess)
- stripped the house
- done lots of wiring
- plumbed and tiled 4 full bathrooms 2 WCs and 2 WCs
- floor tiled
kitchen, utility, new study, lower hallway and lower WC
- built two new rooms in what was an old lift shaft (yes, really!)
- knocked through
between kitchen and living room, where the old garden patio doors will go
- built a new master suite by dividing a big old room, adding WC and bathroom
- half fitted a kitchen
- decorated some rooms
- been burgled twice
- boarded the house
up, fitted alarms and CCTV, and are sleeping on site, which is far from
pleasant.
We are about to
- Fit loos
- Refurbish and double glaze sash windows
- Make new secure, double glazed rear patio doors in a Victorian style
- Sand and oil a lot of floorboards
- Fit glass doors to the new study by the garden
- Try to lift a 2.5mH x 2mW double glazed piece of glass up to the first floor so that the new bathroom has panoramic views of the (thankfully for our neighbours) secluded rear garden
- Try to fix a leak in the roof that we found :-(
- Try to learn not to keep screaming when the MASSIVE SPIDERS that infest the house run around looking for mates (it’s that time of year, apparently) *shudder*
- Work out how to humanely evict the family of foxes living in the garden
I'm tired and want it to be finished now. Whilst I love this process, I'm a bit over it. But this is actually when stuff goes wrong - when the fitting out happens and you take your eye off the ball...
Comments (201)
Resh
6 years ago
Carolina
6 years agoRelated Discussions
Extension, renovation and reconfiguration ideas? (Cuffley, London)
Comments (23)I've included my take on it (2nd pic) but the upstairs could probably be tweaked to work a little better as a larger family bathroom would be good. You could also easily change the pantry/downstairs bathroom proportions to put in a small study too if thats more important to you than a large mud room space (first pic). Both of these have the advantage of not changing too much of the existing structure so should cost less and/or mean you can tackle redecorating those spaces at a late time when budget allows....See MoreVictorian Renovation in London Part 4 - snagging and garden
Comments (213)Belated thanks, Nisha. So I have compiled some albums of photos so you don't have to trawl through all the threads. Hopefully this works: someone let me know by posting, please? Completed house: https://www.flickr.com/photos/organize/?start_tab=one_set72157700454483311 The whole, messy, process: https://www.flickr.com/photos/reshington/albums/72157684375457971...See MoreVictorian flat kitchen renovation on a budget- advice in London
Comments (31)Good news that a builder is coming over. I suspect all the green walls I have drawn are originals and can’t be changed without permission- you can probably tell by their thickness relative to thinner partition walls but it would be good to check. As Bobby said you need to know where the buildings soil pipes are because this will dictate where you can put a wc. There may however be more than one- I suspect your wc pipes go under the kitchen and exit near the kitchen window. 1- get the builder to tell you if there is any extra bit to the left of your kitchen window that has been hidden behind boxing- extra square footage is nearly always useful. Are there original doorways (2 & 3) that could be reinstated- look for telltale signs in the skirting board, flooring, hollow walls where an opening has just been boarded over, door shaped cracks in the decorating etc....See MoreRenovating grade 2 listed property in W2, London
Comments (3)The his is too big a question. What are you looking for? Do you need to find an architect or builder? In which case try the Professionals part of this app. If you want advice about how to use the space or decorate then consider a number of different posts for each area you want help with. Photos and plans will be invaluable....See MoreResh
6 years agoResh
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoStair and hallways are starting to get done. Have gone very neutral here as the rest of the house has quite a bit of colour. The ceilings are white, walls almost white, and dado and below (including stairs) a mid grey. Plan is for interesting mirrors and black-framed prints/photos here to keep a monochrome look. The wood floors on the landings are rich and should lend depth...
Resh
6 years ago
V R I
6 years agoResh
6 years agoPainting interior woodwork. Farrow & Ball Ammonite but mixed in Leyland Oil. And it looks great - and really, really brings out the stained glass! Very please to finally unveil those gorgeous windows.
wendy Anderson
6 years agoAMB
6 years agoResh
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoHi Ami! Two frosted glass panes are going behind these windows. So some daylight will still reach the hallway . On the bathroom side you will see two frosted panels at floor level. I am putting Phillips Hue controlled RGB LED strip between those panes and the old windows,so that we can have mood lighting of whatever colour we want in the bathroom, and spilling into the hallway (I expect it to be set to white much of the time, but we can have some fun with the colour for parties or when having a long soak etc).
Resh
6 years ago
Karen
6 years agoResh
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoResh
6 years agoProgress is slowing as painting happens. Still have loads to do - moving in in 10 days is just not realistic. Here's the lower hallway: pleased with the floor colour and wall panelling: looks nice and airy. The door to the study needs painting, and stained glass to go above it.
Resh
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoRestored windows being reglazed with toughened, low energy double glazing. All locks being replaced with high security hardened items: not just between sashes as is traditional, but also locking the sides of the stiles to the frames with mortice locks: no unsightly and breakable bolts, and all locks are key lockable, and also serve to pul the windows together to stop draughts and make it harder to get a jemmy bar in to break them Ultimately if someone wants in, they can smash their way through, but this will be very noisy (and set of the alarm and house lights). This has been an appalling expensive job - payback in terms of energy efficiency has to be decades. But better comfort and security will be the benefits.
Resh
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoMore happening this week. Lights going in - I wanted the pendants to be modern and simple, as a counterpoint to the ornate period features. Went with polished brass accents to give a bit of a luxurious feel if I could - seems to work nicely with the greys used in halls and stairwells. The smoked glass pendants are used from porch to the upstairs landings, so there is continuity - the only variation is the entrance hall light in the first photos. Individual rooms will have different lights though. as they have different paint colours and looks.
Resh
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoCeiling roses being installed. Irritatingly they are not quite square, and taking them down will mean destroying them and replastering ceilings. Tip - get ones that do not matter if they are off by a few degrees. Or be there when the decorators are putting them in. They are lovely, though.
Carolina
6 years agowendy Anderson
6 years agoAMB
6 years agoAMB
6 years agoResh
6 years agoResh
6 years agowendy Anderson
6 years agowendy Anderson
6 years agoResh
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoDefinitely! Would have been great for the TV room but I can't stomach
the price, and I have already bought a sofa for there for far less...I found this G Plan leather electric recliner sofa on eBay, and it was an absolute bargain. Electric recliners can be a bit ugly, but these G Plan ones look better than most, and are absolutely perfect for watching films. (I'd have preferred a dark brown, but getting the sofa for under £500 instead of the £2700 RRP means I can live with this mid tan and decorate around it).This is for my dark green TV room and the colour matches the sort of
masculine, cigar club type decor in here - all dark green, tan leather,
brass and mahogany, with old film and art posters on the walls. The carpet will be a dark grey - allows me to change wall colour in the future without changing the carpet too. These individual seats bolt together to form the sofa. It is the most comfortable thing I have ever sat in.
nmlondon
6 years agoResh
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agonmlondon
6 years agowendy Anderson
6 years agoResh
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoAMB
6 years agoResh
6 years agoResh
6 years agoThe last wood floor, in the front guest bedroom, has been oiled and it looks great! The chaps tell me that interior will be done by Friday, which seems...ambitious.
olivia38
6 years ago
PROOpus Bathrooms
6 years agonmlondon
6 years agoResh
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agocoral77uk
6 years agoResh
6 years agoPat Auld
6 years ago
PRO
Charlsey Kaufman
6 years agoResh
6 years agopdando
6 years agonmlondon
6 years agoHi pidando, it is still there, you just need to scroll down quite a bit in Latest in discussion as the last update was left on 28th December. I have added Resh’s threads to notifications so I can always find them.
nmlondon