Renovating 200 year old property in Gloucestershire

[nobody]

We're first timers in our sixties, renovating a 200 year old Gloucestershire property as our last home.

It's very basic (no central heating, damp) with a stone centre, brick semi-added pre 1860 and s 20th C. extension at each end.

Removing the plaster and some ceiling my wife has revealed questionable [cough] building techniques which explain some of the cracks and a patched up Inglenook which we plan to restore.

Early days but we have a builder and architect for a garden room style extension. We have lots of ideas and plenty of time, but of course not enough money :-)

 

If you've done anything like this by all means tell us we're barmy, it just say hi.

 

Met a couple this morning and got chatting about this, and they recommended this forum highly. I'm learning so much useful stuff from others offline and online. For others I can recommend Mastodon (a non commercial social network - no ads or algorithm getting in the way). Posting questions there has been a great help.

[Nickfromwales]

Hi, and welcome

 

Are you in a conservation area, or area of outstanding natural beauty?

 

Listed?

 

We thrive on info here, so get the fingers tapping on the keyboard and then ideas and info can be forthcoming! 
 

🙂

[nobody]

Thanks Nick (big fan of Wales here).

 

Neither AONB or listed but we are in the Severn Estuary SAC. I think that's mainly concerned with new build but IANAL.

 

Please keep asking, I'm not sure what's helpful. My usual tendency is to provide too much info but feeling my way here so that's helpful.

 

I've returned to looking at MVAC with Solar + battery, so interested to hear good and bad experiences with those in old buildings. We have some 40cm walls (mostly internal), 12cm ceiling spaces, and only one loft space that could house the central unit, but I'm wondering if a small diameter high velocity air duct system is feasible, maybe supplemented with Solo internal units (eg Panasonic Solo RAC). I don't like split AC because it is so out of keeping with the character we want to keep (beams, old floors, doors, dodgy staircases and stone walls).

 

Current plan is:

- garden room extension to living room

- replaster throughout (Diathonite)

- replace ceilings

- rewiring + home automation

- damp course

- dig out and insulate concrete floors 

- restore Inglenook, solid fuel stove 

- double glazing

- hot water taps + electric showers (no tank or hot water plumbing) 

- heating tbd. No mains gas so it's heat pump or oil and we hope former is feasible.

 

There are other things of course but that's the core. Any suggestions to look at that help us keep things old and quirky appreciated. We have old wooden internal doors covered with lead paint we wish to keep for example. 

 

I'm technical (physics and computer) but have no experience of builds although my dad was in the trade (stories there!). My wife is the aestheticist, and doing the heavy lifting while I do research and spreadsheets, which is weird [laughing]. We need more emojis here btw.

 

Edited 21 minutes ago by nobody
Typo