Grand Designs (episode 1)

This post's a bit of an epic!


We both knew the house needed a lot of remedial work which we wanted done before moving in. We also wanted some cosmetic work carried out too.


This is what she looked like when we moved in. I've copied the first two pictures from the estate agent's sale brochure so the quality has somewhat deteriorated.

Living room.

Dining room.

Dining room (back to the window) looking towards living room wall.
If you look closely you can see rising damp on the walls.

To see what might be causing the damp we needed to get under the floor.
Here you can see black mould on the chipboard -
flooring and green/yellow mould on the laminate underlay.

We wanted to knock the living and dining room through.

Deb, in the company of rising damp.

Living room - on the right, 1 meter of plaster removed in
prep for the DPC (damp-proof course)

Knock through (take 1) .

We wanted the living room fireplace returned to its former glory too.

To our frustration the knock through was too narrow. So we had it extended by another foot or so which has made all the difference.

Knock through (take 2).

We also wanted to open up the dining room further, so decided to replace the rear window with French doors.

Before doors...

...and after

It was now time for the DPC to go in. If you're not familiar with the process, lots of holes drilled at mainly floor level, internally and externally, then injected with 'something' to form a water resistant barrier which should, prevent moister rising up from the foundations. 

The most recent update is that the knock through and fireplace have been 'boxed off' and the cement has gone down before the plaster skim coat.

Oh yeah, there's a cement mixer in our living room! We thought it would make a lovely feature and a great toy for the baby to play with.

I'll keep you posted with further updates in due course, that's more than enough for now. Thanks for your patience.