Retrospective: The transformation of the living room

Given that our house renovation was such a long term, if not "life" project, this blog has been necessarily well spread out over the past few years, so I thought it would be worth doing a few recap posts to show how we progressed through each room. For new visitors, I hope it gives a flavour of what had to be done, and the effort we put into transforming this old house into our home.

We signed for the house in late 2010, but our own works didn't commence till April 2011, and planning permission didn't come through till May that year, as we wanted to make some changes to the structure, as well as change of use of some of the spaces.

The room that we started on was the living room, made up of a living room and a tiny dining room at the back. Here's how it was when we first viewed the house in Summer 2010.

The living room prior to purchase, Summer 2010.

After we signed, the previous owners cleared the place out, which included having to chainsaw the sofa to get it down the stairs, as it's pretty tight! So we were left with the four walls.

The first job was to start ripping stuff out. This was quite a bit more work than one might think, taking out the partition wall, ripping off the insulated plasterboard that covered some of the walls, knocking off the layers of old paint and original plaster on the others.

Some of the original stenciled patterns on the old plaster

The ceiling was completely plastered and the big oak beam crossing the room was sheathed in layers of white paint. Our first unhappy surprise was that one of the cross beam hidden by the partition wall was broken, held up by a post that formed part of the wall.

We had some nice surprises, though, discovering that two walls were made of limestone blocks, which we thought we could leave exposed as a feature wall. It needed a little imagination, though, as they were pretty grubby-looking when they were uncovered.

The whole house needed new windows, lots of them, and they had to be wooden framed, as the house is a protected structure. There were looooong delays with the window company, but finally, just before Christmas 2011, our lovely new windows were installed.

We swapped out the broken beam and took down the old plaster ceiling, exposing the 9 metre long oak beams that were hidden for probably a couple of centuries.

The old clay plaster ceiling, held together with paint

And then we sandblasted the limestone wall that would remain exposed, as well as the ceiling beams and repointed the limestone wall, a task I would be doomed to repeat in other locations over the next few years.

All the other external walls of the living were to be insulated from the inside, as the original architectural features like the half timbered wall to the south and the sandstone window frames of the gable wall, had to remain visible on the outside. The inside faces of these walls were, however, pretty uneven, not to mention far from vertical, so some evening out had to happen to give a good surface for insulating, with no air gaps. This was to be my first time plastering. I cheated somewhat by using a beading system, securing plastering beading to the wall, then flinging mud at the walls to build up layers as a keyed surface.

Then using a long float, it was easy to get a good, even final surface. Of course, this was just a base coat that would be later covered by insulation, so I wasn't worrying too much about a perfect finish, which was just as well.

On the brickwork, gable wall, we used 10cm styrofoam stuck to the wall as insulation, while on the half-timbered wall we used wood fibre insulation board, to the same insulation rating. More expensive, but breathable, so better for the timber.

October 2012. Getting the insulation up.

The it was time to start on the floor. we lifted the old, warped floorboards, discovering plenty of mice skeletons in the process, but no gold. Once the heating pipes were laid by Firma Bakan, I made a start on the floor under-construction. As the original beams were so uneven, it was quite a lot of work to set this up, with wedges, shims and anything to hand to build up an even, level framework.

In the meantime, the wall heating was also getting installed. Led by Sace Bakan, I was taught how to install the heating, from sticking the sheets to the insulation, to installing the loops of pipes that would carry the warm water through the walls, and finally anchoring the everything to the underlying solid wall with dowels, so the whole lot would stay there.

We had one last surprise in the living room, when we realised the solid oak base plate beams under the wall separating it from the stairwell was completely rotten. Again with the help of Sace and family (this time as a friend and not a contractor), within a week we had the wall out, a new poured concrete lintel on top of the cellar wall underneath, a new baseplate, and the beams re-supported by new posts.

Wall removed, and the big beam supported.

A short cut to the cellar.

New base plate and post in place.

The rotten beam.

After that, it just remained to build up the wall framework, with the door moved slightly to the left, so we could make it higher, and closer to the kitchen.

Attention had to be turned to the ceilings at this stage. We wanted to reinstate a clay plaster ceiling, but leave the beams - over which I had spent many, many hours cleaning - exposed. To provide a good foundation, we used a galvanised metal mesh nailed and screwed to the beams and underlying batons. The beams were wrapped in plastic, and the clay plaster applied. The plaster used was actually course-grained, normally used for base coats, but we liked the slightly more textured finis it gave once rubbed down with a sponge float. At the same time, the walls with the eating elements got plastered over using a standard lime-cement plaster.

With that done, and OSB sheets down as an underfloor, this really made the room feel like a proper room, and not just a building site!

Underfloor down and clay plaster ceiling finished

With the self-made windowsills fitted and the walls treated to a coat of fine plaster (later sanded), it was definitely looking homely.

A coat of paint on the walls, special old-white silicate paint on the clay ceiling, and a dose of oil to refresh the beams, all that was left was the flooring. We got a great price on solid oak boards, tongued and grooved, which we secured to the underfloor with thousands of screws (did not improve my tennis elbow), and we had a finished room!

December 2014. Not long now!

And so we finally moved in mid-February 2015. More or less 4 years after first taking a crowbar to the living room walls. It has finally become a home, though we're still growing into the space and "personalising" with decoration, pictures on the wall and furniture (so we can unpack the remaining boxes!). Not to mention the fact we still don't have internal doors yet, but all in its own good time.

Of course, all of the tasks described above were not done one after another. There was plenty of the same thing going on in all the other rooms, hence how long the project took over all. But more of that in the next retrospective post.

More floors and more tiles

We're so focused on getting stuff done, not to mention my wife is also working a lot over the holidays, that we've missed the window for sending Christmas cards! So with that in mind, less text, and more video. Click here for the big version, and not that little postage stamp below.

First oak floors down - video update

Either I'm getting lazy, or I simply don't have time. I'm going for the latter. Another video-only update, where you can see some major progress with one of the bedrooms, and the first bits of oak flooring having been laid.

Click here for the big version.

Big leaps!

It's been a full-on couple of weeks since the last update. I had been continuing to install the plasterboard walls on the second floor, but when our friend Sace turned up with the panels for the kitchen floor heating, the focus switched completely to that.

Over most of a day, we put down a thin layer of expanded clay aggregate to level out the hollows left by my poor attempt at a liquid screed, followed by the panels you see below. Once these were down, five heating loops were laid.

We had intended to pour a liquid screed (pumped this time, not mixed by hand), but when we checked the levels, we has less than the 40-45mm clearance recommended by the manufacturer. I have to admit, the liquid screed was more or less a plan B, as we thought it'd be cheaper and we'd have enough height, but originally, we'd discussed a synthetic resin screed, which is what we fell back to. Sace made a few calls, and the next day someone came over to have a look and give us a quote. Three days later, they came a did it. The results were... spectacular.

The beauty of this system  is that it needs no drying out time. So the next day, it was ready to be tiled. Also, you can go fairly thin, down to 1cm or so (we had 3 to 4cm).

If feels so weird having a perfectly level surface to walk on in the kitchen, after about three years of something resembling the surface of the moon.

This of course took away the last large barrier to our kitchen plans. Long-term-readers may recall we ordered our kitchen over 2 years ago, so it was time to revisit that, check the equipment still existed, and make some minor changes. I'll come to that in another post (it's worth it).

But of course, everything else needs to be done before the kitchen install, not least the floor tiles. But before that, the walls and ceilings need to be complete. Right now, the beams are all oiled, and the clay plater has been treated with a silicate-based "primer". The plasterboard walls and ceilings have been jointed and filled, and I've tried my hand at skim-coating the rest of the walls, with fairly decent results.

The skim-coating and filling has also continued into the living room, and once all of this gets some slight sanding and some corners cleaned up, we're actually ready to start decorating!Well, that and the window sills need to go in first.

So, quite a lot of progress in the last three weeks, but the next couple of weeks will be mostly filling, skimming and sanding, I fear.

And for those who like a proper commentary, here's a short walk-through of the first floor as of today. Click here for a large version.

Wall heating, stage 1

It's been a busy couple of weeks. As well as continuing with repointing and plastering the walls of cellar 4, the "Techniksraum", we made some major steps with the heating installation.

Having already started with the black panels (see photo above), which simply stuck on the the styrofoam internal insulation of the living room gable wall, the south wall, insulated with wood fibre board, had to be tackled. First step, a skim coating of special plaster (actually, the same sticky, glue-like paste that I used to stick the insulation boards to the wall) so the panels would adhere, as the fibre board doesn't bond like styrofoam.

 Once this had hardened, after a couple of days, the same uninsulated black panels were stuck on, and we could begin installing the wall heating pipes. Under the expert guidance of Sace Bakan, who did the more tricky sections, I was let loose. It's definitely more challenging than it looks, being like a big labyrinth, but once the basic principles are learned, it's quite fun. Though my speed will never match his!

Living room done.

A little extra styrofoam to make a cabinet for the distributor.

The bedroom, on the other side of the house, had a slightly different configuration. The southern wall was insulated internally, using the same wood fibre boards on account of this being the half-timbered wall, while the eastern gable wall had been externally insulated. This meant that different wall heating panels had to be used, blue ones, this time, with a built-in, 1cm thick layer of styrofoam backing. This ensures that the wall heating doesn't heat the whole external wall, which would wick the heat away, and instead direct it solely into the plaster that will eventually envelope the whole system. After treating the walls with a plaster primer, to improve bonding, the panels were stuck on using foam

The small room to the north east of the bedroom got similar treatment, but this time only one wall, as it's small enough. The unheated wall will eventually have shelves or wardrobes in front of it, but this will probably be my home office for the first while.

The next steps will be to secure the panels more firmly to the walls using special wall plugs.

Last week, a man from the power company was in to install a new, dedicated meter for the heat pump, so it's all connected up and ready to run, once the spaghetti pipes are connected to the distribution manifolds. Looking forward to a bit of heat!

One step closer to heating

The Bakan boys (our local, friendly electricians and heating experts) were in for most of the short week last week, connecting up the air-source heat pump, the hot water cylinder, buffer storage and all the lovely manifolds, pumps and gauges. Even though we have yet to turn it all on (reasons below), I have to say, it looks fantastic. Lots of nice technology, really neatly done, all on a background of rustic walls. I think we've the prettiest technical room in the village, at least...

In the meantime, I've got a little further with the repointing and plastering, so this cellar room is nearly complete. Just needs power in for lights and sockets, a new window, a door, one more wall to re-point, then insulate the ceiling, oh, and paint the plaster, probably, and we're done! It'll be the first complete room in the house!

Just a little more left to do on this wall...

Heating-wise, my next job is to get the wall heating panels up. After getting some pointers from Sace Bakan, I made a start yesterday evening, sticking the panels on the already-insulated walls of the living room. Nice and easy, but just need to put a couple sockets more in, and a little base work, then can continue. Once that's done, we'll get the pipes in and turn on the heating for the first time.