Renovations - the Early Years

[LizG]

It's a great story Wendy. Keep it coming, I'm thoroughly enjoying it and the photos.

[Wendyf]

Thanks Liz, it's nice to know you are enjoying the story! Stanley I think Col & I were taking the pictures now...the little square photos were from my Brownie 126 camera.
Funny how things suddenly come back to you, I woke up this morning remembering that the word for the traditional finish on Scottish houses is "harling".

[Tizer]

I agree with the others, Wendy, it's a fascinating story and you've put a lot of effort into telling it. Thanks!

[Stanley]

That's right, very popular for waterproofing porous outside walls! I second the comments, keep it coming!

[Wendyf]

It is hard to remember how long the work took, or what order we did things in. This wasn't a "Grand Designs", we had very little money and Colin has always been in favour of Function rather than Form. In other words the results weren't going to win any prizes for architecture!
We moved the bathroom to the north corner of the living room first of all, and the rest of the space became a large dining kitchen...once we had the cooker and sink installed the old extension was demolished and a new one, containing a living room and study/spare bedroom, was built.

The old porch came down first...



...and foundations put in for a new one.



The internal wood paneling was removed.



The floor taken up and damp proof membrane laid down.



The old window taken out...



...and replaced with a new one.



The internal walls go up and the outer walls are insulated with Rockwool, a damp proof membrane then plasterboard. A bit of plumbing and the bathroom is nearly in place.



Bear with us...there is a long way to go!

[Stanley]

Can't get too much of this! Impressive work.

[LizG]

Loving it.

[Stanley]

More!!!!

[Wendyf]

I'm struggling to get to the scanner at the moment...too many floorboards up!!

[LizG]

[Stanley]

You mean.... Col has pinched the floor!?

[Wendyf]

The floor on the landing is up, there is stuff piled everywhere....

[Stanley]

All worth it eventually Wendy but make sure Col doesn't overdo things!

[Wendyf]

We opened up the fireplace to take a Rayburn. We invested in the first solid fuel Rayburn that ran central heating as well as cooking & hot water. It turned out to be a bit of a mistake as condensation gathered on the boiler when it wasn't being run at high temperature and we went through 3 replacement boilers before finally giving up on it and installing an oil tank. Any cooking in summer was accompanied by an uncomfortably hot house. Apart from that, I loved it! My need to know we could get by if the world as we knew it came to an end was very strong in those days! I borrowed an ancient hand operated washing machine from a friend, kept my flat irons beside the stove and used them regularly...
Anyway, I'm jumping ahead...we moved our living & sleeping areas from one corner of the house to the next as progress was made bit by bit.



You can see where the bathroom had been in this picture, the kitchen sink is waiting to be installed and a new window to catch the lovely view across the burn.



This must be Xmas 1980 and Colin has just been given his first Workmate by Mum & Dad. They must have brought the caravan to sleep in...they thought we were completely mad.



This one shows the treatment the walls were given...Rockwool, dpm and plasterboard.



The next step once the sink and cooker were installed (no fancy fitted kitchens for us!) was to demolish the rear extension and build the new one.

[Stanley]

My dad and a man called Dr Greig were responsible for bringing the Rayburn to the market just after the war at Allied Ironfounders' Audenshaw works, General Gas Appliances and The Planet Foundry.
Vera and I had one of those cottage three piece suites as well. Cheaper than full blown upholstery!
Lovely story, keep it coming!

[Wendyf]

The three piece was a hand me down from Colin's parents and the sideboard was part of an early nineteen fifties utility dining suite that had belonged to my parents. It was Ercol and beautiful but had been in my Dad's shed for a few years before we got it. I painted it bright blue and red to start with then stripped it again after a few years. In the late nineties we got the table & chairs to match when my brother upgraded to something smarter....they had been painted black then stripped again. I still have the table & chairs but the sideboard succumbed to woodworm attack a couple of years ago. This early light wood Ercol is going for a small fortune in places like London.....I hope my niece might eventually take back the table and chairs!
Looking at that last photo reminded me that Colin put the diagonal bracing into the walls for extra strength. He also reinforced the roof trusses to take the extra weight of the new roof tiles which we planned to put on. When I saw Ian's photos of Clarion house with the new roof I wondered if the trusses had been strengthened.

[Stanley]

I bought G-Plan solid teak sideboards and bookcases for one of them and they are as good now as the day I got them..... Lovely quality and solid wood.

[Tizer]

We still use G Plan and Ercol furniture that we bought in the late 70s and early 80s and we also have some Ercol chairs that Mrs Tiz's parents had before that. We lived near High Wycombe at that time and that's where Lucian Ercolani and Ted Gomme (G Plan) set up their businesses. This Ercol timeline has some lovely photos and interesting information: LINK

[Wendyf]

Judging from the photographs the next part of the task seems to have taken place over a year, I suppose inside work was continuing at the same time.
There are daffodils open but no leaves on the ash tree in the front garden as we make a start on demolishing the rear extension, so I'm guessing it was April 1981. We have opened up a new back door which will lead directly into the kitchen, every other opening blocked off!



It didn't take much effort to get it down. (Any usable timber from Rosevale went up to the village hall to assist with renovations and the building of a toilet block!) Spot the curling stone in the next photo, there were 2 or three in the garden.



The old tiles were more than ready to come off.



Its late spring or early summer now (geraniums and rhododendron in flower) and we have put foundations under the main house wall and laid foundations for the new extension. It looks like we are preparing to lay the floor here.



I can still feel my exhaustion! Cement all mixed in a cement mixer and barrowed in....we must have done it over 2 days.



Extension going up!



Later that summer, the flat roof is finished and Col is extending the roof line slightly. You can see some of the work he has done to strengthen the trusses ready to take the weight of the new tiles.



Getting ready for the new roof tiles. Bringing the roof line down over the doorway to form a porch was my idea...which no doubt caused a lot of extra work and suffering but it looked good!



A good friend & neighbour came to help with the outer blockwork. We used lightweight thermal blocks.



Col fixing the battening for the new tiles...it looks cold, must be late winter by now.



The outer blockwork is nearly complete, just windowsills to put in by the looks of it, but perhaps those didn't go in until the harling was applied. Col is setting out the roof tiles...I passed them all up onto the roof!
We have gained an old Morris Minor van...it never moved, must have been for spares & repairs,

[Wendyf]

Looking back at those photos I can see that where the blockwork is going up Colin is wearing a jumper I had knitted a few years earlier. It was from one of those old fashioned patterns, probably Sirdar, and called "He'll Venture Forth". He loved that jumper and still moans that I haven't knitted another He'll Venture Forth for him....I must have lost the pattern.

[Stanley]

Have a look here Wendy LINK
Wonderful! What a good job there was a competent documentary snapper on site......

[Wendyf]

My urge to knit has long gone Stanley
Summer of 1982 and a lot of the work has been finished. The roof is tiled except for the small hanging tiles we planned to put around the porch & extension. The harling was done with a Tyrolean machine, a hand held bucket with a handle that spattered cement across the wall. You can get special coloured mixes, but Colin chose to mix his own, which accounts for the varying colours...we planned to paint it white eventually!



We had the work passed by the Planning and Building Warrant people and were finally able to get a small mortgage from a building society and repay my parents. They must have changed their vehicle and offered us their Triumph Dolomite, either as a gift or at a reduced price. It's terrible that I can't remember, they helped us in so many ways and I'm sure we didn't thank them enough.
Colin changed jobs about this time, and began work with a bright new electronics company in Livingston (which was only a couple of miles away) as a production engineer making electronic security systems. I wasn't working at this time but kept myself happy & busy homemaking and also creating an environment where Colin could do a full time job and work on the house! His six years of regular check-ups at the hospital came to an end at around this time and he was given the all clear.
We had made some wonderful friendships with our neighbours, all living similar lifestyles. I was very involved with the local community, the WI, the Drama Group, the Resident's Association....life was good!
Late summer 1982 a couple of our neighbours took their young sons on a camping trip around the West Coast and returned with news of a campsite that was closing to tourers and tents on the western tip of Ardnamurchan. It was, apparently, the most amazing place and there were some permanent sites available for static caravans......we had to get a caravan and rent a site!! Another restoration project looms....

[Tizer]

You must have been eating three Weetabix for breakfast to have all that stamina!

[Stanley]

A mobile home at Ardnamurchan in 1991.... You'll recognise these buildings Wendy, I look forward to this bit.

[Stanley]

More please Wendy!