Rod72 Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 Hi, I'm new to the forum, so I thought it would be a good time to introduce myself. I'm working on a renovation project with my wife which is great fun and frustrating at the same time :). A little background on the project. The house started out as a bungalow built on a hill with great views. In the early 80's it was renovated and extended. The front of the property has the earth dug away to make space for a separate building (The same width as the bungalow upstairs) with a sundeck built on top of it overlooking an amazing rolling country side. At the time to gain planning they put this down as a garden storage room (They must have had a lot of garden equipment!) and therefore didn't join the 2 buildings together. In terms of finish, think of white Spanish villa with concrete balustrades. Stage 1: Last 4 years... Make it habitable as we have a young family (you know things like toilets / taps working and hot water / heating) The garden was overgrown and hadn't been maintained for about 10 years. Roll out the petrol powered tools! Decide what to do with the renovation while living here. Step 2: Start initial renovation So that's things like new roof as we had snow in the loft last year A glass box built above where the joining staircase will go down eventually including groundworks ready to house the stairs. Windows / doors across the front as the old wooden ones were about to fall out So now we're at the next stage, which is get the stairs in, stud walling up, first fix electrical, make a final decision on heating (air source / underfloor), VIP insultation as we're restricted on room height and all that lovely finishing stuff (flooring and Tech :)) After that's done we can move downstairs and start sorting out the top. I look forward to being involved in forum and meeting you all. No doubt I'll have a few posts about some of the items / decisions along the way as I'm sure you all have valuable advice :). Regards, Rod 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone West Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 Hi Rod, welcome to the forum. Sounds like you're getting well stuck in. Good luck with the rest of the project. Plenty of blogs on here to give you some ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod72 Posted February 6, 2020 Author Share Posted February 6, 2020 Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tennentslager Posted February 6, 2020 Share Posted February 6, 2020 Welcome Rod, Have you got pictures it’s hard to visualise your set up but sounds intriguing...glass box? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod72 Posted February 7, 2020 Author Share Posted February 7, 2020 Hi Tennentslager! Here are some pictures I took a moment ago. pic1: View of the house from the drive way. The house is side on when you come up the drive. pic2: Taken from the garden showing the building extension done in front of the property. The roof is made into the sundeck shown in pic4. pic3: This is the area we're converting into bedrooms, plus a TV / playroom in the middle as you come down the stairs pic4: Taken from the sundeck. You can see the glass box on top of the sundeck. This is where the stairs will go down to connect the two buildings. The groundworks have already been done building up the retaining walls that the stairs will drop into. Just in the process of getting quotes for the next phase as detailed in my intro. Plus need to make a decision on the UFH. The architect specified Nu Heat Low Pro10. I think initially we're going to link with the boiler upstairs, but eventually we'll go ground source. Cheers, Rod 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pocster Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 20 hours ago, Rod72 said: Hi Tennentslager! Here are some pictures I took a moment ago. pic1: View of the house from the drive way. The house is side on when you come up the drive. pic2: Taken from the garden showing the building extension done in front of the property. The roof is made into the sundeck shown in pic4. pic3: This is the area we're converting into bedrooms, plus a TV / playroom in the middle as you come down the stairs pic4: Taken from the sundeck. You can see the glass box on top of the sundeck. This is where the stairs will go down to connect the two buildings. The groundworks have already been done building up the retaining walls that the stairs will drop into. Just in the process of getting quotes for the next phase as detailed in my intro. Plus need to make a decision on the UFH. The architect specified Nu Heat Low Pro10. I think initially we're going to link with the boiler upstairs, but eventually we'll go ground source. Cheers, Rod Like that glass box ! Just needs some walk on glazing ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 Well Rod you certainly have a house that is unique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 So are you saying someone built the downstairs extension without joining it to the rest of the house and you are putting in a staircase in the glass box to join the two together? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tennentslager Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 A Dr Who fan would get some detailing added to that glass and a nice flashing light for the top? nice big space underneath though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 13 minutes ago, Tennentslager said: A Dr Who fan would get some detailing added to that glass and a nice flashing light for the top? nice big space underneath though It's a lot bigger on the inside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 It's crying out for a fireman's pole. There was a Grand designs where they built a tardis in the corner of the boys bedroom and inside it was a fireman's pole down to his play room below. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 3 minutes ago, ProDave said: It's crying out for a fireman's pole. There was a Grand designs where they built a tardis in the corner of the boys bedroom and inside it was a fireman's pole down to his play room below. My lads bedroom has a door into the eaves. It was once a plan to do the doorway as the TARDIS and create a sci-fi themed den. Could have, would have should have... ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 15 minutes ago, Onoff said: My lads bedroom has a door into the eaves. It was once a plan to do the doorway as the TARDIS and create a sci-fi themed den. Could have, would have should have... ? But before you finished it he was grown up and married and left home? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 1 minute ago, ProDave said: But before you finished it he was grown up and married and left home? You know me so well! ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tennentslager Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 37 minutes ago, Onoff said: It's a lot bigger on the inside. Set up nicely wasn’t it? Very wet and windy at Murryfield as both teams struggle with tactics...come on Scotland! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod72 Posted February 10, 2020 Author Share Posted February 10, 2020 (edited) Hi... Hahahaha… Like the Tardis and pole comments. @ProDave Yes that's correct. They went too all the trouble and expense of building a villa and didn't include linking up the buildings. I think it all came down to the initial planning, hence it was down as a "Garden storage room", not living. Anyway, it made it a great find for us. We've spent the last 4 years just making it livable after 20 years of neglect before starting on downstairs. Upstairs is actually quite simple. It's timber frame, stud wall construction. So the small changes we're planning will be quite simple. I'll post another picture I think you'll all like later. The lady who lived here had quite an interesting life ;). We think she made (what we call the bulge!) a lap dancing pole area just outside the kitchen ? Edited February 10, 2020 by Rod72 missing text Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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