Doing up a house, anyone done this and can offer advice?

[JC180]

Hi Gents,

I've just bought my dream home, built in 1983 as a bespoke commission and is done like a true Georgian manor including Georgian sliding sash windows and external French doors, timber moulding in the soffits etc.

It's not been lived in for around 8 years and needs updating but it is in great shape and mostly requires modern services and cosmetic work.

I'm a Chartered Surveyor so know what needs doing and how to do it but the point of this post is to establish of you can shed any light on the things I may overlook like hard wired smoke detectors, cat 6 cabling, security and other items that would be worth doing/installing at this juncture.

I'm set on the hot water and central heating systems, Windows, kitchen, bathrooms, flooring etc but would be keen to hear from people who have been through this process and may have any insights or advice. I'm particularly ignorant when it comes to electrical services, audio visual, security and networking...

Any advice would be welcome.

Cheers

JC

[Mr Stoat]

Just coming to the end of my ground floor re-furb in my house. I'm thrilled with the overall job but sometimes it's the stupid little things that please the most ... standard double wall sockets but with built in USB charge points so no more adaptors to plug in to charge the various phones and tablets / zoned and dimmable lighting in each room / under floor wet heating.

When it comes to alarm systems I was recommended away from wi-fi sensors with a SIM card dial out and to a more traditional hardwired with landline drop and dial set up .... harder to install due to the wiring but considerably more reliable (especially if you live in an area with poor mobile signal).

[simoscribbler]

Just a general point, really. I'd try to avoid costly 'mission creep', especially in the area of 'boys toys.' For me the tech moves too fast to hard wire all that much, and if you ever sell the kit may be obsolete/not attractive to a buyer. There are bound to be loads of posts here about lovely, lovely tech.

If it was me I'd spend hard on energy efficiency, quality finishes (especially flooring - we've just bought some Junckers solid stuff that's nice and not daftly expensive) and be careful in terms of overall design. Mock Georgian is tricky to get right at the best of times - and if it were me I'd tone that aspect right down if I possibly could. But obviously that's just a matter of personal preference.

[Andyg]

Hi Gents,

I've just bought my dream home, built in 1983 as a bespoke commission and is done like a true Georgian manor including Georgian sliding sash windows and external French doors, timber moulding in the soffits etc.

It's not been lived in for around 8 years and needs updating but it is in great shape and mostly requires modern services and cosmetic work.

I'm a Chartered Surveyor so know what needs doing and how to do it but the point of this post is to establish of you can shed any light on the things I may overlook like hard wired smoke detectors, cat 6 cabling, security and other items that would be worth doing/installing at this juncture.

I'm set on the hot water and central heating systems, Windows, kitchen, bathrooms, flooring etc but would be keen to hear from people who have been through this process and may have any insights or advice. I'm particularly ignorant when it comes to electrical services, audio visual, security and networking...

Any advice would be welcome.


Cheers

JC

Why Cat6 cabling - why not just use Wifi??

[TheFlyingBanana]

We've recently completed a fairly major restoration on a large house built in the ealry 1840's -- it was definitely a learning experience.

One thing we didn't do (or haven't done yet) is put in full air conditioning. I understand this is now cheaper to use for home heating than gas or oil, and has the added benefit of cooling in the summer of course.

I woud consider putting it in your new home.

[alex]

Work out how many sockets you need and then add more... Can never have enough!

Re smoke alarms, id recommend the Nest Protect alarms. Also happy with our Nest thermostat if your planning on going for a smart thermostat.

[Paddy]

If you insulate, also add a moisture barrier, or you'll get lots of lovely damp on the cold side. Always add the vapour/moisture barrier on the 'hot' side. The govt. telling people to add wodges of loft insulation but omitting to tell them about a vapour barrier is storing up problems of rotten roofs in future years. Consider adding vent tiles too, to keep the roof space ventilated and minimise condensation.

[funkstar]

When I'm specc'ing this sort of thing and it's my absolute dream I go through the various design / high end living magazines for ideas that we may not normally come across. Attention to detail is also very important, so go for very good coving / architrave / skirting.

Personally I'd love a wine cellar or if there's no space at least a very smart wine cabinet.

http://hhomedesign.com/wp-content/up...onnoisseur.jpg


I'd think about what people are doing with lighting systems too - this game is moving so fast but you're in a great position to get a modern zoned system.

I would definitely get USB ports installed next to the standard 3 pig sockets.

Wet rooms are very popular too, and in smaller homes I seen great use made out of otherwise unusable recesses in this regard.

We like a very tidy home so get lots of built in storage, again this is where design magazines will show some wonderful ideas that carpenters can build and that look 100 times better than the stuff you see advertised on the tv.

Dont forget underfloor heating either.

[draftsmann]

Having done a few major renovations my contribution to this thread is to say "service ducts and access panels- lots of them." That is all.

[MB2]

I have been looking/undertaking similar - definitely run cables to all rooms for Cat 6, smart lighting systems, alarm & CCTV now. You don't need to go with a full system now but run the cables - you can stash behind the face plates for now - that is what I am doing. Also double the power points now & lots where you will site the TVs.

I would also consider some extra sockets in the downstairs cupboard for alarm, CCTV etc.

AC for the master bedroom is also worth considering depending upon the house structure.

[Nogbad The Bad]

Why Cat6 cabling - why not just use Wifi??

If your doing the heating, electrics, etc ... It makes sense to install Ethernet cables.

You can hang access-points from the end on the Ethernet cables to provide full WiFi coverage if needed.

i'd also pop some cables into the ceiling space, even if you don't use them straight away there might be a need for WiFi at a later date, Ethernet cable is cheap, better its run when your doing the work.

[TimeOut]

If your doing the heating, electrics, etc ... It makes sense to install Ethernet cables.

You can hang access-points from the end on the Ethernet cables to provide full WiFi coverage if needed.

i'd also pop some cables into the ceiling space, even if you don't use them straight away there might be a need for WiFi at a later date, Ethernet cable is cheap, better its run when your doing the work.

Dead right. Just put 2km's of the stuff into a boat, that was a small system too!

[ArcofZen]

I recently had a ground source heat pump fitted, fantastic bit of kit and will return £18k over the next seven years. Mind you it does make a mess of the garden.

Agree regarding sockets, you can't have too many! I'm typing this whilst sat in my office, which has eight double sockets, four cat 6 cables and two TV points.

Lighting is very important too. I could not find a way when designing one side of the house to get light into a long, dark corridor. So we bought two 'Light Tubes', what a difference! They work so well that even bright moonlight illuminates the hall now. Brilliant things.

[JC180]

Thank you Chaps, all information very gratefully received. A few observations: -

Re Mock Georgian, see the pic below, we would rather not render it all and put dark grey or black aluminium windows in as so many people have locally. We love the traditional look and Georgian bar. We specifically did not want a modern looking house.

My biggest wrangle at the moment is whether to overhaul the timber sash windows and french doors, replace all the doors with double glazed timber (but keep the frames and fit DG in the fanlight) and replace all window sashes with new double glazed sashes with brush seals throughout or go PVC replacement sliding sash but go very high end where they're virtually indistinguishable from timber (mechanical butt joints, putty line bars, deeper bottom rail, wood grain finish etc) but for a good £15k more.

All windows will then be DG (albeit 8mm at best argon cavity's) but would not have the same U values nonetheless as PVC and there is the periodic redecoration of timber to consider, the cost and hassle.

[Scepticalist]

Why Cat6 cabling - why not just use Wifi??

Hard cabling is faster, more reliable and avoids "not spots" in the house. At the very least you want a full speed connection in the living room for streaming TV services such as Amazon/Sky NowTV/Netflix. On top of that I'd always need a full speed connection in the office to work from home.

If you have a blank slate like the OP it simply makes sense to put it in. Leave the wireless for the occasional devices like phones/tablets and for multiroom audio like Sonos if you want it. Also run a cable end to the loft


To answer the OP question and add to Plug's comprehensive reply, I'd put a socket in at least both ends of the living room/office and one in the most sensible place in every other room. If money no object two in each room to avoid possible long cable runs which look untidy.

[Chabsy]

As it was built in the 80s the timber used for the windows wont be up to much. Its not worth trying to save them replace with PVC sashes

[Tomw2000]

Little to add other than support the comments of others.

My main point: Spend the time to think carefully about where you'll want power sockets and lighting. Best to over-egg it now than be frustrated later.

Our old place is a Georgian Old Rectory (currently for sale ;) ) - and the new build/extensive renovation we recently did on our other property (moved in, in Oct last year) is a completely different proposition. And the most frustrating issues that remain really are around lighting and sockets - we've only ourselves to blame. Should have thought about it more and specified more clearly to the builders (who did a brilliant job to be fair)
Apart from that, we're very very pleased with it.

Windows - I'd always prefer wooden. We refurbished all the original sash windows in our old Georgian place. But given that yours isn't 'period' I am sure UPVC windows have moved on since I last looked and you'd be able to find something that looked fine.

[maxf]

I've just about finished my place, which is Victorian, but had all of the features ripped out when it became a buy to let.

My advice:

Sockets everywhere!

Ethernet is so much better than w-fi and you can really take the load off the wi-fi router by having desktops and tvs wired up physically.

Don't bother with ceiling speakers - I obsessed about these and now hardly use them (aside from the one in the shower with a sonos amp, which gets used for an hour each morning). The exception would be rear surround speakers, which can be hidden away really nicely in the ceiling.

Get your lighting layout designed properly, rather than just putting lights where you think! I saved a lot of money and ended up with better lighting by having someone design the layout - they put lights where I wouldn't have thought and left spaces where I would have put a light - but the end result is a well lit space. However, I spent a fortune on fancy digital switches - normal would have been much cheaper and more reliable.

Engineered wood floors are great - I obsessed about solid oak, but was persuaded to get engineered instead and am glad I did.

Nest thermostats are ok but only control a single zone. Nest protect smoke alarms are useless - I wouldn't have them again; they go off and alert your phone and you can see there isn't a fire, but you have to physically turn them off rather than remotely!

PIR sensors and low level (ie skirting board level) lights in the WCs are great - really useful. We have them in the hall too, so when you come in with shopping bags, the low level lights come on when you enter the house.

Don't skimp on internal doors - I went for mid level pine (painted) doors, which were solid, but I wish I'd gone for custom made ones, rather than off the shelf as the finish would have been much better.

Skirting, plaster mouldings and architrave are really expensive, but well worth the cost if you are trying to create a look (we had to put Victorian style back in which cost a lot, but we're glad we did).

Think about where a lot of people would put the TV... then put a log burner there and the TV somewhere else. Get a good hi-fi and spend the evenings watching the fire and listening to music rather than watching East Enders!

Good luck - its a fun journey, although it can be frustrating too!

[jcm3]

Why Cat6 cabling - why not just use Wifi??

Because WiFi speed, bandwidth, and distance have an inverse relationship with one another, making it difficult to get top performance in many areas of a home.

Because CAT6 is not just used for networking. For example, its really popular as a platform for HDMI video transmission.

Because even fast WiFi has substantial latency, which can be a problem for some users (especially for gaming).

Because WiFi is not as easily secured as a physical Ethernet connection.

Because POE devices need a wire.

Because of the wonderful things it does.

[JC180]

Perhaps some, ahem, superior sound-proofing was required by a previous owner.

I realise that you've probably gone past the point of no return but I'd have put the IT hardware in the utility room. There will come a time when the broadband modem or some such other piece of kit will need re-booting (I know they're fairly resilient black boxes but even so) and sod's law says that this will be in the middle of a good film during a cloudburst or some such other freak weather phenomena; do you really want to traipse out to the garage to sort it out? As a minimum you might consider putting a WiFi plug on the router so that you might be able to sort it out from the couch.

I'd also make a diary note to take those floor plans down from the thread at some stage given they have CCTV info etc on them.

Good advice, I'll go with the remote plug as I really want everything in a single cabinet in the garage. The CCTV info is for internal areas and door entry, I have not put up the myriad other cameras and sensors being installed.

Great looking house!

Probably too late now but I'd echo the comment earlier for anyone doing something like this, get conduit+drawstrings installed or cable runs build in while you've got the place being worked on. Not possible everywhere or worthwhile (chasing + plastering is not that hard after all), but a few runs between floors, to the outbuildings or end-to-end within floors are likely to come in very handy in future.

I will actually be putting a conduit and drawsting from the garage straight to the loft (which has access above every room to the 1st floor) and one from the garage straight under the floor (which has access below every ground floor room)

Because WiFi speed, bandwidth, and distance have an inverse relationship with one another, making it difficult to get top performance in many areas of a home.

Because CAT6 is not just used for networking. For example, its really popular as a platform for HDMI video transmission.

Because even fast WiFi has substantial latency, which can be a problem for some users (especially for gaming).

Because WiFi is not as easily secured as a physical Ethernet connection.

Because POE devices need a wire.

Because of the wonderful things it does.

I would echo this. Nothing like copper for speed and reliability.

[JC180]

Some progress to update with: -

Master suite and bathrooms knocked through to create the new layout.





Glad I've got that trussed girder x4 to support the hip so the blockwork wall could come straight out



Some new doorways being created







The plumber has fitted the 1275 litre storage tank in the potting shed behind the garage and is wrapping it in its new blanket.



Connected to the JP5 pump by 54mm copper pipe!





Thats the cold feed



And drain off





Newly formed opening at the very top of the roof with upstand ready to received its new 3m x 1m triple glazed rooflight on Thursday







And looking down in to the lightwell that is directly above the reclaimed skylight over the landing



Had a play on designing the garden on the train last week, this is what I came up with

[Wolfie]

Looking good Jacob... Why are you in?

[plw]

[/QUOTE]

Had a play on designing the garden on the train last week, this is what I came up with

[/QUOTE]

Bit late to the party but, having recently had a similar project on the go, albeit an old listed property, I would have liked to have planned the hard landscaping a bit better. Power and water supplies dropped in now to the right areas will save a lot of grief later. I ended up trenching the lawn several times for power cables and have no outside tap to the front of the house, annoyingly. I've added lighting to the building and some trees, all on one circuit with a timer, and it works very well. Dropping a fused armoured cable outside to be picked up at a later date saved a lot of aggravation.

Very impressed with your careful research on all your work so far. Congrats.

[TimeOut]

Number one priority: Underfloor heated en-suits for all bedrooms.

Large sonos and Apple TV systems need their own designated WIFI network and access points or CAT6 to really work well. Better off getting a pro in to install Crestron IMHO. https://www.crestron.com

Circulating hot water is also a must for me..

[Schofie]

Not much I can add apart from maybe put a positive input ventilation unit in the loft. Great for air quality and keeping humidity down

[Fords]

Nice Gaff, Very R Chase.

Think about outbuildings as well Garden rooms, summer houses, log cabins.

Power, drainage etc. if you want one.

[Snowdon]

I have no experience of this. But wanted to ask that if it is not too much trouble, it would be interesting to see what you do by way of a build photo diary.

Also, there is useful information available on the pistonheads homes sub forum

[JC180]

I have no experience of this. But wanted to ask that if it is not too much trouble, it would be interesting to see what you do by way of a build photo diary.

Also, there is useful information available on the pistonheads homes sub forum

I'll be happy to update this as an ongoing thread, it all kicks off in April with land drains and other drainage repairs and the heating and hot water systems.

The systems going it will be two 30KW Vaillant or Worcester standard boilers, with all new Stelrad Vita Deco radiators, Honeywell Evo Home intelligent and infinitely zone-able thermostats etc.

Hot water will be a 1250l storage tank in the garage pumped through an unvented OSO powercyl 380l cylinder by new 22mm pipes to bathrooms with a hot water return pump as above. The pressure on this can be set between 1-6 bar I think and should make for ample, instant and very powerful hot water with a high flow rate of 20l/min. I've been without a shower at home for 11 years and I'm missing it badly (my wife prefers a bath, so the shower wasn't a "priority").

Next will be scaffold going up to overhaul the roof and fit a new skylight over the stairwell, see below, re-bed all ridge and hip tiles, clean it down, wash the roof, remove all gutters and repair/redecorate fascias and gutters and install new aluminium seamless gutters and downpipes. They actually extrude this on site and can install 30m seamless runs.

Then, the external brickwork will be acid cleaned and jet washed with any defects to pointing remedied, then to the windows and doors, still very much torn between overhauling the timber or installing new high end UPVC sliding sash windowns. Cost difference is substantial but UPVC will perform better and be low maintenance.

After this, building works to the rear, just a couple of small alterations/extensions with roof lights. Some internal alterations to the master bedroom suite and some extra doorways. All internal doors removing, stripped and refitted with new ironmongery and new glazing... It will be a project and a half but I'm looking forward to it.

The reclaimed victorian rooflight internally: -



The roof externally where a new glazed rooflight is going



And the type of rooflight

[Captain Morgan]

Did this on a more modest scale a few years ago, so here's my views.

1) Draw up some plans, I just used power point to get the rough room sizes / layouts and use these to play with lighting, power, switches, ethernet and furniture lay outs, its surprising how quickly you can get a sense of what works or not from this and its easy to keep playing with it.

2) Where will all of the ethernet / home networking go back to? again what will be here just network switch / router / BT Master socket or will you have sky multi room etc and pass hdmi over ethernet???

3) As others have said add more ethernet than you think you need. I have 4 x cat5 to my av point and have eaten them all and had to add a second local 4 port switch to allow for growth, (TV, PVR, BluRay, Sonos, AV Amp, Philips Hue, Media PC)

4) Philips Hue is a reasonable way to get connected and controlled lighting in place if you want to try, I use it to back light the tv for movies and also for random patens when we are out to add to the we are in feel of the house.

5) Heating, I've mentioned this in other threads but used Heatmiser as the Honeywell system was to new when we did ours, I don't know if the Honeywell can also do UFEH now but if not Heatmiser can so could be another option. Either way remote heating is very handy.

6) Hot water loop, also fitted this, you need to make sure that the loop is well insulated, most of ours is but some areas were hard to insulate and in winter it impacts the water temperature needing an extra heating period to maintain piping hot water.

7) Showers - mira platinum. a remote controlled mixer shower gives you flexibility on where pipes run and where the controls are we have a mixer box in the loft with a rainfall shower head coming though the ceiling and the control "puck" on the entrance to the walk in shower. It saved having to plumb a thermostatic mixer valve in behind the tiles and kept the plumbing simple.

If anything else comes to mind I'll add it. The most important thing is to have fun....

[mk1974]

There's plenty of resident 9 copies that are cheaper,thats a job to die for


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mitch Buchannon]

Wow, that's a fantastic job so far.
Love all the pictures. We gutted and redone a bungalow a few years ago. It's still a work in progress with us.

[steviefleming]

Wow !!!!!......loving everything you are doing so far .

Looks amazing.

[Yeti]

that is a fantastic job, a man after my own heart! Well done, I take my hat off to you for your attention to detail..

[stooo]

Fabulous house.


Sent from the helm of NCC1701-D using LCARS.

[~dadam02~]

Great thread abd great house, keep the updates coming. Doing a large build soon myself so keen to get some tips from this.

[Devonian]

Wow big job you are undertaking there for what is a fabulous looking home. I'm sure it will new stunning when finished - please keep us posted :-)

[eagletower]

Looks incredible. Following this thread!

[soundood]

great job, I love a 'no holds barred' doing up thread, suscribed

[JC180]

@JC180 , just noticed this thread and it looks like a great project.

You are probably well aware, but just in case you're not, you can save a lot of money from VAT for renovations of properties that have been empty for two or more years, in fact you only have to pay 5%. If you can prove 10 years empty then I believe it is 0%. This saved us a load of money on our renovation for sure! If you didn't know, feel free to send me a cheque for half the difference ;-)

https://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/me..._empty_vat.pdf

Thank you very much indeed, I am aware and my contractor and various others are charging a 5% VAT rate which is saving me a packet. The rest of the purchases are going through a company acting as contractor, recovering the 20% VAT and charging me back at 5%, happy days!

"I'm a Chartered Surveyor so know what needs doing and how to do it but the point of this post is to establish of you can shed any light on the things I may overlook like hard wired smoke detectors, cat 6 cabling, security and other items that would be worth doing/installing at this juncture".

You haven't overlooked them because you've mentioned them!.

Nice house.

I may "think" I know everything (those that know me will chuckle at this) but I'm fully aware that when it comes to something I have never done before, advice from those that have is invaluable.

[JC180]

Thanks for all your kind comments, and for the very kind PM I got with some very valuable advice!

I'm on site at least 3 times a day, and I delight when good progress is made. It's frustrating when people let you down and annoying when the workmanship isn't up to scratch but I have for the most part a very decent set of subcontractors and I will make them redo things that aren't 100% right and I'm fussy and don't miss much, a nightmare for a sloppy worker in other words!

So far he following has been carried out : -

1) Land drains installed front and rear, myriad drainage repairs, 11 patch lines, one excavation etc, all the top soil scraped from the sodden and mossy lawns and removed from site.
2) Plumbing in an advanced stage; 2x 30kw worcester regular boilers, external Grundfos Pump and Expansion vessel, bypass valve, magnetic filter etc. One huge OSO commercial spec 1" outlet unvented cylinder (rated to 16 bar!) with a secondary return. Water is supplied by a 1275l potable tank in a building to the rear of the garage which fills on a float valve, pumped by a Grundfoss JP5 through 32mm of copper to both hot and cold circuits in the house through the OSO cylinder. Loads of gate valves and gorgeous pipework makes the plant room a delight, shame much of it will be lagged. Radiators on, old pipework flushes, underfloor manifold installed, floors currently being lifted and insulated to run the plastic pipe over and back to the manifold, not long now hopefully until this is up and running. Boiler controls, radiators and under floor heating is controlled by a Honeywell Evo Home system with a touchscreen and iphone control with every radiator capable of being controlled as an individual zone.
3) Probably 8 or 9 trees cut down, these were too close to the house or crowding the gardens heavily (2 needed Planning Permission) a weeks worth of gardening to trim overgrowth and cut out overgrown shrubs and trees in the rockery and growing all over the house.
4) The entire side of the drive has been dug away and levelled, with MOT1 wacked down over it until it can be kerbed and given a basecoat of tarmac.
5) Where the overgrown laurel and rhododendron has been cut down from the side of the drive, I have planted 20 mature Yew trees.
6) Plastic pipes laid under the widened drive area to take virgin and power and communicate with the gates.
7) Ordered Residence 9 Windows the the rear non sliding in white woodgrain and Bygone Symphony for all the sliding sash windows
8) Ordered a 5.5m x 2.25 Hormann LPU 40 sectional door (with a 10 week lead time!!) as I will be removing the central column in the garage (and installing a bloody great big 6m lintel)
9) Signed a contract for all the roofworks, moss clearance, new valleys, new timber and lead capping for the dormers, new Res9 windows for the dormers etc. New aluminium seamless gutters all round. Top of the Apex currently has a 600mmx600mm perspex rooflight which brings through a surprising amount of light, notwithstanding, the top of the roof drains internally (which is crap) so I'm building it up to form an opening for a new triple glazed 3m x 1m roof light which will be flashed and drain straight over the ridge.
10) Planning gone in for a new games room and gym to the rear of the garage, 11m x 6m narrowing to 4.5m. This will be where laurel used to be and will not impact on the garden.
11) Kitchen design at an advanced stage, considering Siematic but looking at other options too.
12) Bathrooms, pretty much know what we're having and where we're getting it from. V&B sanitory wear and cabinets, Keuko Mirrors, Hans Grohe taps and showers (direct from Germany), one Mira Platinum shower, I'm not paying for fancy shower cubicles, I will buy a nice flush enamel tray (or walk in former) and use u trims and supports for glass I will get from a local merchant etc.
13) I will be having a big comms box in the garage on the wall houseing all the racks of POE switches, broadband routers, patch panels etc. I will be running Cat6 cabling everywhere for HDMI, CCTV, Intercom systems etc. as well as multiple coax feeds. I was going to pay £2k for a nice HD matrix and use infrared receivers to control the sky boxes but with Sky Q now, I'm not sure the expense and hassle is necessary.
14) Carpets, no bloody clue, I want good quality but it's mental (and I mean mental) money, need to find a good compromise.
15) Lighting, no fancy controls but I might get someone in to design a scheme. Variations of LED everywhere.
16) Decor, some polished plaster perhaps lots of wallpaper, I'll mostly leave this to the missus and her friends.
17) Bedroom furniture, the master suite has been designed largely, I have 3 firms quoting and have two, waiting on the third. One is a local firm, two are national firms. The local firm will be cheaper and more flexible, the national firms have far better workshops an spray boots and the level of finish will likely be better.
18) Landscaping, I have the fellow, he's already done a bit, but I have 7 different projects (front drive, front terrace, front garden paths and water feature, rear lawn, kids play area, rear terrace etc) and will be doing them as and when he has the time and I have the money! Yorkstone is down everywhere, 50-70mm uncalibrated but is rough and I might trade it all in for sawn or honed.
19) There's loads more, I will update as and when.

[sammyl1000]

Huge project seems like your enjoying it though!
I have used a liberal amount of skylights and Velux windows that I put in my house. They are worth their wait in gold in the winter.

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[W44NNE]

How did I miss this Jacob?! I thought you'd been quiet on the watch front, but this is fantastic to see such a great reason why!! Really happy for you guys, it looks genuinely amazing!!

[jaytip]

God I feel like a pauper looking at these photos. The shot up the stairs at the circular light is very impressive.

[eagletower]

Been waiting for an update on this for a while!! How's the Honeywell evo? I've just moved and am going to install mine next week.

[JC180]

Sorry about the delay chaps, it has been a busy 4 months and I’m still months away from the finish line. It has been steady progress but the sheer quantity of work needed, the decisions, specifying, ordering, lead times etc drag things out somewhat. It has come along really nicely though and I get quite excited every so often when we overcome a hurdle that was giving me concern or we receive a delivery of something that was long awaited. Anyway, enough waffling, here are some additional photographs with commentary:-
Decorations to the roof timbers coming along nicely







Fish tank filled, a little premature but my tank guy wanted paying…!



Decorations complete and scaffold down, hurray!



Here come the windows





And partially fitted



I’m happy with them, they are very expensive but although they are PVC (Bygone Collection Symphony) from 2 paces away all but indistinguishable from timber







And how they look all fitted



Time for guttering, seamless aluminium no less courtesy of JWD in Hyde. No joints to leak, no brackets visible, love these.



The longest section



And fitted









Lots of Cat6, Ducting and HDMI cables and we’re far from finished…





…As we have 400m or Speaker Cable to install



Comms Cabinets



Residence 9 windows partially fitted to the rear, expensive but absolutely love these, we’re going contemporary around the back







Out with the old circular bay, we simply counn’t make it work with the kitchen design



Footing for the new bay



Some internal studwork to bathrooms continuing



Finally finally finally moved this pillar, the drive was 3.2m wide and as we’re on a slight bend, it’s a little awkward getting in, I agonised and strove to find a solution to move this pillar without breaking it. It’s 150 years old and made from quite soft red sandstone. In the end, we excavated it to the base, cast a footing alongside its existing footing and simply rocked it back and forth using scaffoldboards to shimmy it along as it was being rocked. 8 men and 1hr later, we had moved it 800mm and squared and levelled it, result!







Concreted in its new home



Much better…

]

Moving the lintel on the middle window down 2 courses to level all the headers up, I know OCD eh?



Camera with audio for the baby room



Ripped the ceiling down in the kitchen, it was far too low…



Ripping the roof off the outrigger to fit a new skylight



Raising the lintel 1 course and widening the opening significantly



Doorway blocked up



Middle window sorted




Bay build in progress




Looking at granite for the kitchen



A lot of plaster needed just for the upstairs, this is barely half…




More timber repairs





The outrigger wall finished



I went down to Hatfield to talk lighting with Guy from Ecoled, see recommendation above.

[JC180]

Plastering upstairs in earnest








TV dropping out of the ceiling in the master bedroom at the foot of the bed, wish I would NEVER have suggested this to the missus, an engineering nightmare!!






Bay finished as is all the other brickwork, all headers line up, all windows will be the same width across the back ground floor now, phew!



Cornice shopping…



Comms cabinet in and cables tidied



TV sorted, for now… door on sprung hinges still to be fitted



I admitted defeat and engaged the services of a professional garden designer… These are not the final designs but pretty close





Kitchen bay finished and roof light framed out



My daughter’s bedroom in an advanced stage of fitting



More cables, white speaker cable and insulated air con pipework…





Honeywell Evohome up and running, I love this, control of every room to the degree from anywhere!



Final pipwork and manifold layout in utility room



Fibreglassing the flat roofs



Done!





The “Linen Corridor” essentially a corridor with storage and a drawer stack to fold and store linen



We want to replace the mahogany spindles for wroght iron, retaining the mahogany stringers and hand rail, more contemporary and will match the wrought iron skylight, just need to find a firm to do it…




Footing for new retaining wall at the front



And for the terrace



Master bedroom cupboards, this is only furniture in the master bedroom as all robes are in the dressing room



Roof lanterns turn up





And fitted









Aircon installed



Part 1 of the retaining all built



Part 2





Ecoled Zep1 Darklights, beautifully made and great quality light



Dressing room



First lighting in to test, not plastered yet, I just couldn’t wait…



Dry fitting the LED strip diffuser to my custom design concealed lip ;)







Now that the bay has been sorted, the last UFH circuit was installed and screeded



Retaining walls for front terrace and parking head (were the skip is)





Cornice turned up for the bedrooms, looks crap unfitted…



…But amazing fitted!











Framing out the kitchen ceiling







Gratuitous shot of the fish tank



Programming a Raspberry Pi with an API bridge to connect Alexa with my Home Automation software (Fibaro) using a Youtube tutorial, I suck at programming but its working and it freaks people out. “Alexa, dim playroom lights to 50%, turn off playroom lights etc” Alexa says OK and boom!



The enclosures and Galaxy Tab’s to run my Automation, camera, heating etc apps.









The rear garden taking shape





Trying the TV lift for size…





How it looks from the front



Swimming pool, I wish! Just a humble old trampoline going here, it will be flush with the ground once 100 tonnes of hardcore is shovelled around it…!







I like the colour temperature of these Ecoled lights, 2700k













Retractive switch from Click Minigrid


I think we need a cornice in the dressing room too, damn!



Just today, the shower trays turned up after an 8 week wait…



And that’s all folks for now, lots to talk about in terms of the home automation etc but I’ll update with another post as its 1:40am…

[dandanthewatchman]

Just wow !!!

[Saint-Just]

Spectacular

[josep]

Very impressive.

What are your plans for the kitchen? And what flooring have you gone for?

Due to refit my kitchen in the new year. Even that is stressing me out - I think a project on this scale cause me a full on melt down!

[Carlton-Browne]

Another excellent contribution! Thanks for the update.