Tenement Flat Scotland - major refurb (near original state)

[sixeighth]

Hi there,

sounds like you know what you're talking about as a few sparkies had to scratch their heads for a bit when they came to look at the set up.

The board for off-peak has been removed and a new board will be fitted. Although rewiring was not required in terms of the age/condition of the cables a rewire is what will happen as sockets have to be raised and there isn't enough length in the cables. New sockets are required anyway, complete new circuit required for the kitchen, heat detector, fire alarm, co2, thermostat for bathroom heat mat, whirlpool bath...

The emersion has been taken out as a combi boiler will be fitted.

Progress has been slow as we've had limited time to work at the flat. Things are starting to move now we've got the pros in (plumbing and electrics).

Plenty of time gone into stripping wood and moving stuff from room to room before moving it all around again. I've been enjoying working with lime putty to patch walls although having to compromise somewhat using joint cement to make good in places.

Coming into a nice time of the year to be spending more time on the project.

 

[StelleElectrical]

It looks like the heating system couldve been done for the over 60s with the scottish executive,those two switches one wouldve been for the 24hr side of the heater and off peak for the storage side.Hope you took the heaters to the scrappies get some money for them haha.
good to see your enjoying it and im sure its going to look really good once finished.
Keep us upto date

Scott

 

[sixeighth]

It looks like the heating system couldve been done for the over 60s with the scottish executive

That fits as the flat was previously occupied by an elderly gentleman.

Yes, I've been waiting until one room is finished before posting an update - don't want to be keeping everyone on tenterhooks.

Meant to say - we did advertise the storage heaters and were surprised with the interest but I wouldn't like to be lugging them around very often.

 

[samikhanie]

It will be a great project .......

 

[sixeighth]

First room almost done!

Before

BedroomBefore

• sixeighth
• 9 Jul 2011
• 1

Bedroom Before Start

Fairly straightforward to begin with - strip walls/woodwork, prep all surfaces, decorate. New electrics to be installed by electrician.

Stripped fireplace back to original marble but not keen on the result (not all pieces were the same shade). Decided to remove to give better use of space.

MarbleFireSurround

• sixeighth
• 10 Jul 2011
• 1

Marble Fire Surround

FireOpeningAfterRemoval

• sixeighth
• 9 Jul 2011
• 1

Fire Opening After Removal

Inset was held in well...

FireInset

• sixeighth
• 9 Jul 2011
• 1

Fire Inset

...by these...

HookBars

• sixeighth
• 9 Jul 2011
• 1

Hook Bars

...but first disaster not far away. Wanted to use lime putty for patching, in keeping with lime plaster on walls, but I'd not worked with the stuff before nor patched anything this size.

FireplacePutty_1stAttempt

• sixeighth
• 9 Jul 2011
• 1

Fireplace Lime Putty_1st Attempt

Serves me right for not asking for help over on the plasterers forum. Removed it all to redo - improved result but not perfect (still some cracking). Tried to finish off with Finishing Stuff but run into a similar problem.

FinishingStuffCracked

• sixeighth
• 9 Jul 2011
• 1

Finishing Stuff_1st Attempt

I think the problem with the putty was it wasn't 'knocked up' enough (it was ready mixed) or rubbed up enough with the float and maybe the wall wasn't damp enough (I'd built up the opening with bricks removed from the kitchen fireplace). Don't know what went wrong with the finishing stuff but took the cowboy route and finished off with joint cement.

FireplaceJointCement

• sixeighth
• 9 Jul 2011
• 1

Fireplace Joint Cement

Won't take much to knock some of it off but finish looks fine and that section will be behind a bed.

FireplaceFinished

• sixeighth
• 9 Jul 2011
• 1

Fireplace Finished

 

[sixeighth]

The walls were easy to strip - only a couple of layers of old paper, paste had lost it's strength. Washed with sugarsoap/scrubbing brush.

Decided to try Strip Away to strip the woodwork. I'd not used it before so there was an expensive learning curve.

First attempt - unevenly applied.

EarlyPaintRemoval

• sixeighth
• 9 Jul 2011
• 1

Early Paint Removal

Result once washed and dry - neutralised ready for oil.

CompletedPaintRemoval

• sixeighth
• 9 Jul 2011
• 1

Completed Paint Removal

Very time consuming as had to go over it often.


Ceiling surface wasn't sound...

CeilingSection

• sixeighth
• 9 Jul 2011
• 1

Ceiling Section

...but nothing too serious. Scraped, washed, filled, painted.

CeilingBeforeandAfter

• sixeighth
• 9 Jul 2011
• 1

Bedroom Ceiling Before and After

There was a bit of work in sanding the floor to get it to one colour. Had to use the lowest grade to start with but lost a lot of sheets due to ripping on nails etc. Have since seen silicone carbide sheets online and may give them a try next time.

SandedFloor

• sixeighth
• 10 Jul 2011
• 1

Sanded Floor

Still to renew hardware on window and draughtproof. Sockets to be fitted by sparky.

BedroomB4After

• sixeighth
• 10 Jul 2011
• 1

Bedroom Before After

 

[thecommiser]

umm hate to **** on your fire, but wheres the airbrick in the fireplace?

 

[sixeighth]

...wheres the airbrick in the fireplace?

One chimney sweep advised not to use a vent in case of leaking fumes from neighbouring gas appliances whilst a hetas registered sweep said to just block it up and that no vent was required - maybe I should check with building regs though. Won't take long to create a vent if needed.