by Chris Newson on May 9, 2010
There are many bits of doing up this house that make me feel too lucky…guilty lucky…our new wine cellar is definitely top of the list.
Under our dining room, for reasons best known to the victorian builders, we had a half dug out room, and couldn’t resist the temptation of turning into a wine cellar.
So having knocked through into it, it transpires that it’s perhaps only a quarter dug already – not a half. Oops. Well we’ve started, so we’ll finish.
So a bit of underpinning later, we now have a reinforced concrete floor and breeze block walls, forming a room about 2.5m square.
We’ve been recommended Wineware – a wine racking company in Rustington, West Sussex, so I dropped them a line to see what they could help us come up with.
Chris, at Wineware, has been incredibly helpful (and patient!) as we worked up what i’m hoping will be a really useful space in which we can develop a new hobby. Yes – we know very little about wine at the moment – other than we like it a lot – so this is very much the beginning of a new journey. I can’t wait!
So we’ve gone with a mix of Magnum bottle racks, double depth criss cross racks (to maximise the amount of bottles we can get in), and case racks (which i’m told are a very handy way to keep the Bordeaux). We’ve also got some worksurface with space underneath and above so we can stack up cases of beer, mixers etc… and have somewhere to lean and pontificate.
We’ve also gone for a Wine Corner C18 IN air conditioning unit, and 10cm of Celotex insulation in the roof to keep the room at the right temperature and humidity.
With a last minute steer from David H – we’ve also kept a good chunk of space free for stacking up cases of stuff that’s going to be in store for the fairly long term. His words of wisdom are echoing round my ears still – maybe if I write them down, I’ll remember to take heed… “50% of all wine put in cellars ends up being thrown away as people buy too much that just doesn’t keep – so be patient, and take it slowly”. We’re going to do our damnedest not to make that mistake.
All that’s left now is for the racks and air conditioning to be installed and for the drinking to commence. I’m really excited about it all…Bring on that first weekend in the Loire valley – yes David I’m going to take you up on the offer – it sounds like an awesome way to spend a couple of days and begin this exciting new journey. Happy days 
by Chris Newson on May 9, 2010
So at some point about 30 years ago, someone decided that putting concrete tiles on a roof that was built for slates was a good plan. I guess the theory was that they would last longer. Unfortunately they didn’t consider the massive weight difference, and therefore Victorian rooves all over the country are gradually spreading under the strain.
We lived in fear of what we might find once the tiles came off… but actually it would seem we got away with it. That is officially a first for us!
So, the rafters are all in pretty good shape but we want to get slate back on there anyway, to help bring our baby back to its former glory.
Welsh, Spanish or Chinese slate seem to be the options, and Hatfield & Co have had some bad experience of Chinese and Spanish slate (lots of breakage as they were put on), so we were gently steared towards Welsh slates, and as luck would have it they were the ones that looked the nicest of the samples we had to choose from – so Welsh it is.
It feels good to go Welsh in any case… as apparently that’s where it all would have come from in the Victorian times, as the great new railways shipped it all East.
We also get a small dose of eco & patriotic warmth that wouldn’t have been quite the same had it been shipped in from China.
I can’t wait to see how it looks in situ
by Chris Newson on May 9, 2010
So as our heating bills are somewhere between outrageous and astronomic, and due to the sieve-like quality of our roof we are whipping the tiles off, we thought it might be a good moment to insulate the life out of our roof.
So here’s the formula:
1) 30cm of fibreglass insulation on the floor of the loft
2) Solid Celotex cut between the rafters
3) Triso Super 10 (19 layers of silver foil, reflective film, wadding and other such clever stuff all in 30mm) over the rafters
Then a breathable membrane, battens and slate go over the top.
We’re figuring that it’s best to do even more than modern building regs require, on the basis that we’ll get the money back in heating bills over the next few years. Fingers crossed!
by Chris Newson on May 9, 2010
Well, this wasn’t something we’d planned to do… but having got the scaffolding up, it seems we would be foolish not to clean the bricks on the front of the house.
Restore from Wimbledon is the company of choice, and a soft scrubbing brush, hydrofluoric acid and a jet wash (with a bit of help from a grinder on some of the tricky bits) are the instruments they have selected.
It transpires that our bricks are actually a lovely creamy lemon colour beneath 125 years of grime, and that it takes about 5 coats of acid and a whole bunch of elbow grease to reveal their true splendour.
by Chris Newson on April 9, 2010
1 large tarpaulin over the dormer window and removing this crazy roof-light might help keep that water out.
Who actually thought that gaffer taping a roof-light together on a 4 storey building was a good idea??
Cowboys Ted!
by Chris Newson on April 9, 2010
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No messing about. We got leaks & we’ve got to fix them.
If we’re going to stop this place leaking like a sieve, then it’s time for a new roof & new dormers…. and hey we got the scaffolding up, so we have to sort out the render, chimney stacks, windows, guttering et al. whilst we’re at it. The money pit strikes again.
Time to change the plans again. The kitchen extension can wait. Let’s get cracking with the roof and the basement
Scaffolding up. Let’s hope it doesn’t rain for the next month *ahem*
I’m going to get blogging more now building is underway again…
Back soon…
by Chris Newson on February 28, 2010
OK – so having just found our third new leak this morning I feel compelled to moan. These old houses are gorgeous but crikey once they have gone to seed just trying to keep the weather out is a nightmare.
Our soon to be en suite bathroom had a small lake on the floor this morning where the bay window roof decided to give up the ghost under the duress of yet another night of constant rain. And of course it’s pouring through the floor and ceiling below – messing up our newly perfected dining room. Damn it.
We also have (lots of ) water running down the wall to the right of our front door (under the porchy bit, so it’s meant to be dry). That’s going to be a scaffolding job just to work out what’s going on.
The third leak is I suppose technically still the second, but hey it’s pouring through the floor and soaking all those boxes we never quite got round to unpacking in the cellar. Nice.
So 8 towels 2 buckets, a saucepan and a box of paper later we have done everything we can until Monday when I’ll be calling our surveyor’s and Project Manager – JJ Hatfield – to try and get the builders round quick smart.
We were warned by everyone that these houses are a constant project and eat money. Everyone was right.
Time for a drink now.
by Chris Newson on November 7, 2009
It’s been too long since I blogged but I couldn’t miss this one….our planning permission for the next 2 phases of work….officially Phase 1 and 2 (you may remember Phase Zero was never meant to happen)…has been approved. Happy days.
If you want to know the details, here’s the planning documents and decision.
In short, we’re knocking down the garage, widening the drive, replacing the roof tiles with slate, redoing the dormers, and enlarging the kitchen and opening it up onto the garden…in 2 phases.
8 weeks of waiting, no objections from anyone and 1 small request for a change from the Conservation Officer, and now we’re full steam ahead for Phase 1 building works to start on the 1st February 2009. That’s the theory anyway.
The only change the Conservation Officer wanted related to the wall at the front of the house. We thought the swirly plasterwork circles in between the pillars had been added after the original railings had been removed, but the Conservation Officer reckons they are original.
We’ve had another look up and down the road and there is 1 other house with the same plasterwork, so he could well be right. Anyway it’s a minor change that we’re happy to go along with.
Now for the small matter of getting all the detailed drawings done, building control approval, and a full schedule of works drawn up…not to mention going back out to tender to find a new builder….don’t ask….let’s just say we have still not found builder paradise yet…maybe I’ll explain more one day. For now though suffice is to say that:
1) we won’t be using GT Developments again
2) If I ever ran a building firm I would have my own retained, reliable and competent plumber
3) if you ever think about using Hodges & Marten as plumbing subcontractors then contact me for a reference first
That’s a story for another day though.
I would add though that JJ Hatfield’s project management has been excellent throughout and are as highly recommended now as they were at the start of the job. I am beginning to get the feeling that in the building world this is praise indeed.
by Chris Newson on July 25, 2009
Oh Radiator of Beauty, I love you so.
We all remember leaning against chunky old school radiators on a cold day…perching on top of them until you could take the heat no more.
They really are things of great beauty. Why oh why did 150 years of progress end up with horrible white tinny things screwed to the wall?… and radiator covers…no thanks.
There are a lot of beautiful Victorian cast iron original radiators out there in reclamation yards. You need to make sure they have been well reconditioned.
However after a bit of digging we decided to go with newly made Carron cast iron radiators. Carron have been making the same radiators since Victorian times and are still going strong now. They had some great designs, we could choose any finish we liked, and best of all, my Dad could get them at trade prices. Happy days! ☺
Victorian Cast Iron Radiator - Carron, The Victorian
I’d be lying if I said putting old Victorian cast iron radiators in was a cheap exercise, but they are beautiful and really do make the whole Victorian feel of the house come alive. If you’re working to a budget, then maybe try and squeeze one or two in where you’ll love them most. You won’t regret it!
P.S. For your info, we went for the Antiqued Finish (which is basically a distressed French Grey). It looks lovely on both The Daisy and The Victorian models which we went with. I think it would fit with pretty much any colour scheme.
by Chris Newson on July 25, 2009
A lightswitch of joy!
If you didn’t know that light switches could make you happy, then you have led a deprived life and need to get out more. Actually that’s me isn’t it. Hrmm, well, if you’re reading this, then there’s a fair chance that light switches can make you happy too, so I’ll go on…
Working out what light switches to put in a Victorian House is not the easiest of things to do, as the light switch only really came into existence in late Victorian times, so most of our houses would have been built without them, and pretty basic first generation light switches would have been dodgily retro-fitted by inexperienced electricians soon thereafter. Building control would have a fit.
This was one of the parts of the job where we tried to make a nod to Victorian ways without returning to exactly what they would have done.
After a bit of research, it soon became clear that the dolly switch (a stick with a little knobble on the end) would have been what would have been used for the switch itself. This would probably have been mounted on a dome sticking out from the wall. They would most likely have been made from UNLAQUERED brass (don’t get me started). Some of the domes would have been plain, some more ornate. They’d probably have been mounted on a block of wood.
Although I’m sure some people would be happy to go with something along these lines, it was a bit much for us, but after a bit of hunting around we managed to find some flat brass plates with a dolly switch on from Broughtons…and we love them!
