It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. In the weeks since my last post, the world has turned on its head and we’re all in lockdown.
We keep counting our lucky stars that we completed before that began. It did mean our plans drastically changed, and we moved in weeks sooner than we expected to. Original intention was to get some of the bigger, filthier jobs done first. But, with the need for self isolation and no opportunity to hire tradies for anything other than essential work, we had to bite the bullet and move in.
Some of the jobs we were supposed to do before we lived here included:
- Replacing the boiler, fixing the radiators and installing radiators to the utility, annexe and downstairs bathroom.
- Stripping out the 137m2 asbestos based artex and replastering the walls and ceilings.
- Repairing the shrunken roof timbers.
- Repairing the sagging ceiling in the master bedroom.
- Sorting out the damp issues along the living room and kitchen outer wall.
There’s still plenty we can get on with, although we are finding we have to leave some jobs we thought we could get done during lockdown. For example, it became all too clear that the wallpaper in the office is what’s holding the plaster in place. So, we’ll leave it where it is until we know we can get a plasterer in. But, every beam in the house was painted black gloss. Stripping all that away to let the oak breathe will keep me entertained for some time… Don’t need a tradie to do that, just a lot of patience!
The heating issues turned out to be our biggest immediate challenge. The central heating system is so knackered that only two radiators work. We know that flushing it will get the radiators back online, but we suspect that the ageing pipes and prehistoric boiler won’t cope with that sort of pressure and we’ll end up causing more problems. Either leakage or a completely buggered boiler meaning we lose hot water too, is not an ideal outcome. Thankfully the weather’s improved, and we assume/hope lockdown won’t carry on until next winter because working from home in a bitterly cold house isn’t much fun. I’ve lost count of the times I draped myself over the Aga between meetings…
We’ve taken the opportunity to clear the overgrown garden. With no tips open, we’ve had to pause that now, until we can dispose of the green waste mountain. But we’ve started on the veggie patch and worked out that the rotten shed we were going to demolish will actually be brilliant, repurposed and refurbished into a chook run.
We’ve painted the lounge. We needed a space in good enough condition to retreat to. The lounge is one of the worst asbestos offenders with all walls and the ceiling containing the stuff. Before we moved in, we decided we’d get the whole lot stripped out, but knew a lick of paint would be enough to freshen it up and tide us over.
Painting it made us realise we actually love the plaster texture of the walls. The ceiling still has to be dealt with, but we now know we’ll do whatever it takes to keep those walls. Asbestos in the artex plaster or not, they really suit the room, and according to the Asbestos Management Register we had carried out before we bought the house, they are safe enough to keep. So there’s the first silver lining of moving in before work began!
The damp challenge is an interesting one. Since moving in we’ve begun stripping the woodchip out of the annexe and discovered damp along the back wall there, too. I’m not a fan of chemical damp treatments. Something about drilling holes in the walls and filling them full of silicone doesn’t sit right with me. Damp issues are generally caused by lack of air circulation thanks to stuff piled up against the outer wall, or slabs or tarmac laid up to it. Or, it’s faulty guttering or pipes causing water to pool.
Both of the walls affected by damp have huge conifer trees butting into them, or very large shrubs in very raised garden beds. Both walls, unfortunately, are boundary walls with neighbouring properties. So, once lockdown is over, another interesting challenge is for us to go and talk to those neighbours about clearing some of what’s in their gardens which is affecting the inside of our home.
Lockdown is providing us with a super opportunity to understand the house better before we take any drastic action. Whilst frustrating to begin with, we’re realising how beneficial that actually is.
We didn’t take this house on with the intention of renovating it quickly. To begin with, we don’t have instantly available finances to do that and we don’t believe in taking out massive loans or doing things on credit. For us, this is the last house we’ll buy. It’s our forever home. It’s our lifelong project. For me, it marked the twentieth time I’ve moved house in my life, and that includes a move from the UK to Western Australia, from WA to Victoria, then from VIC back to the UK. Enough’s enough. I’m never moving again.
We (hopefully!) have years to restore this house, a few weeks or months on pause isn’t too great an issue.
Station Farm Cottage 