Demolition begins!

So, it's been a couple of weeks since we last visited our shipwreck and I have to say it wasn't looking great when we arrived!  I think the saying 'It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better!' has never been more true.

This was what confronted us when we opened the door.

 

 As you can see the fireplace has completely vanished (thank Goodness) but so has my lovely old stove which is now in the garden in pieces.  My intention is to see if I can get it refurbished but at the moment it's not at the top of my priority list as you can imagine.

 

Now all the cladding has been taken off, and the stone wall has been exposed I'm quite sad that we are going to have to take it down.  It's so lovely to look at, but unfortunately it's not doing what it should which is keep the building upright and the roof in place (a minor detail I know).

We then ventured up 'those' stairs to see what was going on at first floor level.

 

 This is the back of the house which is approx. 20 years old and as you can see is a very different construction to the original but thankfully is in good condition.

The front bedroom and landing have been knocked into one and when we put up the new dividing walls and turn the staircase around this will become a good sized room, especially with the additional space we'll create by replacing the old stone wall with the new one. 

Just to show you how bad the wall and roof are, here are some photos of the cracks, holes and collapsed timbers that we've uncovered.

 

I'm not sure this photo really shows how bowed the wall is but the snapped timber is an indicator of the extent to which it has moved, and the light coming in is one of many holes in the roof.

 

This is a close up of the actual cracks in the gable end wall and shows how this meter thick wall has moved. 

 

And here is the old roof which when we visited the next day when it was raining was letting in a good stream of water.  Surprising the roof timbers are in good condition in the main and once we re-tile it using the original tiles that are already there it should be fit for purpose once more.

 

To finish on a positive we have now received the planning consent we needed and can therefore start to take down the offending wall and begin the process of making the cottage safer, secure and water tight. 

 

I'd just like to make a call out to our lovely new neighbours to say thank you for your patience and please bear with us!

Planning, Bats and Wonky Walls!

I thought this time I would tell you about some of the structural challenges we are facing and also why being in a conservation area is costing us time and money!  Ah, the joys of renovation! 

When we bought the cottage we knew that it had some serious structural challenges, the main one being that the gable end wall has rotated out from the first floor upward and is almost touching the building next door.  To make it more problematical the gap between the two building is only 18 inches wide.

You can see here how the top back corner of the wall has moved outwards and the gutter is now touching the neighbouring building.  The upshot of this is the wall will need to be demolished and re-built.  The challenge is how and what with? 

Whilst the current construction dates from the early 1800's and is made of two parallel stone walls infilled with rubble, we decided after much discussion with our builder, to go for a slate hung stud wall, which matches the rear extension and is in-keeping with the local area and surrounding buildings.  This was deemed to be the only way we could re-build the wall with space available to us at a cost effective price.

In all honesty very little of the wall is visible from the road and this picture was cheekily taken over the gate of the people who live behind us, but hopefully demonstrates how the new wall will blend in with the rear of the cottage when completed.

 So what other challenges were there? 

Firstly, we have had to apply for planning consent purely because of the location and the fact the cottage is situated in a conservation area.   Whilst this has delayed us by a few weeks we are hopeful it will be granted by the end of February.

Secondly, because we have applied for planning we've also had to call out our very own 'Batman' to do a Bat and Barn Owl survey.  Thankfully we have received the all clear, if Bats had been in residence we could have been stopped from doing anything until September when the mating season finishes.

On the bright side:

When the wall comes down we will gain potentially 50cm in the lounge as the current wall is approx. 1 meter thick and the new one will be substantially smaller, this will make a considerable difference to the overall space downstairs.

Our next visit to Padstow is planned for a couple of weeks so I'll be able to take more photos and update you after then.

Until next time, have fun!

Hello

Hi and welcome to The Padstow Cottage!

My name is Deb and this is my first post so it's great to have you join me on my renovation journey.  I have no doubt there will be plenty of up's and down's along the way so it's good to know I won't be alone.

Before I tell you about our recent acquisition let me give you some personal background about me and my family.

I live in Edgbaston, Birmingham with my husband John and grown up son Jake and we are lucky enough to own a Victorian house located about 1 mile from the city centre.  Last year we did some major work to the kitchen which really whetted my appetite for renovating and I'm so excited to be embarking on a bigger project this year.

Neither John or I were born in Birmingham, I originate from Yorkshire and John lived all his early years in Cornwall (hence the Padstow connection), Jake strangely enough was born in Norwich but has lived in Birmingham since he was 6 years old, he's now 22.

As for hobbies John loves his sport (all sport) and live music.  Whereas I have an addiction to all things property related, and have an unhealthy obsession with programmes such as Homes Under the Hammer, Grand Designs and the 'amazing' George Clarke and his Amazing Spaces, plus anything to do with renovating, refurbishment or interior / exterior design. I'm in : )

So this project is a dream come true for two reasons, 1) we have been looking for bolt hole in Padstow for over a decade where we can escape to on weekends and holidays, 2) I have longed to do a renovation project for as long as I can remember.

John really isn't that interested in the mechanics of how a house goes from being a dump to the finished article although he enjoys the end result, whereas I want total immersion and I'm quite happy to get my sleeves rolled up and muck in!

So here we are eventually with our very own piece of Padstow, albeit small and (at the moment) uninhabitable.

I think now is as good a time as any to introduce you to Chidley Cottage!  We actually went to auction to buy this little gem and whilst the experience was extremely nerve wracking it was worth it in the end and the project I desired has now presented itself. 

I thought you might like to have a peek inside so here are a few photos to give you a flavour of what needs doing and what it looks like pre-renovation.

 

This is our wonderful living room, with faux pine boarding, a huge oversized fireplace with an original cooking stove and a rickety, dark stair case.

 

 

Welcome to the kitchen! The door on the left houses a WC (I didn't think you needed to see that).

 

Bedroom 1 - I think the previous owner liked Pine?

 

Bedroom 2 - Somewhere under that boxing in is a lovely window seat

 

Hmm...maybe a new bathroom suite is required : )

 

And here is the outside space!  Not big and not much to look at but scarce in the smaller cottages of Padstow so we are really pleased to have it.

It's perhaps worth pointing out that John is not a massive visionary and prefers a quiet life, and so I would like to applaud him for his courage and the faith he is placing in me to bring this rather sad little cottage back to it's former glory!

As you can see this isn't for the faint hearted and I may be wishing I had never started it, but I doubt it.  I will, however, be heavily reliant on the team I have around me to make it work (especially as I don't live in Padstow) and I'll be introducing everybody as we go along but for now I'll leave it there. 

Thanks for joining me and I'll hopefully see you on the next post when I'll outline the structural challenges we face - oh yes, it's not just cosmetic with this baby!