The Transformation - Week 2

 Under the stairs revealed.  This will be a Utilities Cupboard and 'Mission Control' for TV, Satellite, Phones etc.

 The floorboards lifted in what will be the kitchen.  The Old Shop part fo the room is already a concrete floor.

 The stud wall is now completely down and the original wall revealed.  It was probably wood panelling on the bottom half of the wall as it is on the other sie of the room which is why it's only papered half way down.

 Remainder of the bitumen lining on this wall - probably means it was very damp at some point which is also why the joists in the floor were patched at that side of the room and are largely rotten.

 We have a loft hatch - or at least an opening big enough for one and a VERY long ladder eventually.

 The wooden floor is no more - is smelt a bit damp when it was first revealed but  afew days with the windows opena nd it's dried out an there isn't that awful musty smell any more.

 The wooden floor in the hall has gone too so it's a bit of a step up onto the stairs.

 View from the front door along the hall into the kitchen/dining room.

 The piece of wood leaning against the fireplace in the Old shop is the lintel from over the door between this room and what will be the kitchen - probably an old Ship Timber.

 The drop from the dining room into the kitchen before the solid floor goes in.
 

 The archway without the make-shift doors and the outside loo.

 The contents of the loft.  Mike was suitably pleased that the timbers in the loft are Ok apart from one small area above the bathroom.  However, it looks like the jackdaws have been nesting in the loft at some point so there were about three bags of nesting amterial to be removed along with this pile of old wood which had been repaired at some tim but never removed.  The loft is huge and if we ever decided we needed even more pace we could put rooms up these as well without any problem as loads of headroom.

Mike emerging from the loft absolutely filthy.  He was covered in cobwebs and black dust but quite satisfied with his day's work.

 Clear walls in the large front bedroom.  Whilst Mike was in the loft Susan stretched to the limit perched on the top step of the ladder and just managed to reach the top of the wall - it's not helpful being that small when the walls are that tall!

 A small pile of plasterboard awaits installation on the bedroom walls and ceilings.

Although the builders might not agree there is an amusing story behind the digging of this trench and indeed a mystery not yet solved.  The plumber turned off all the water in the house leaving a stand pipe under the archway so that the builders would not have to bother about burst pipes etc.  However, when the outside loo was being demolished they discovered that actually the water was still on - somewhere - and one strike of the sledgehammer on the old pipes resulted in a soaking for them both.  The plumber was duly summoned and eventually the water was ilsolagted out in the High Street and the trench unearthed the water pipe to try and find a 'join' so it could be capped - nedless to say there isn't a join to be found - yet - so the mystery remains unsolved.  mike is of the opinion that as the address is 7 - 9 High Street so there may well be two water mains ...................... more to follow as the mystery unravels.

The old kitchen is no more and the three downstairs rooms are now ready for preparation for the concrete - a ton of sand is imminent!

 

 The stud partition wall between the bathroom and the fourth bedroom is no more!

 Not plasterboard as we know it - albeit probably an early vesion, more like hardboard.

 

 The beginnings of the framework for the insulation board in the back bedroom.

 The bath is out of position but not yet out of the building - probably a 4-man lift given the weight of it!

 It's getting warmer by the day - the insulation board going in to the back bedroom.

 

 The new stud partition wall reducing the size of the bathroom to allow construction of a shower room and dressing room.

 Ground floor is ready for the concrete - hopefully tomorrow - Friday 14th June 2013.

The plasterboard going into the back bedroom to create the new walls and improve the ceilings.

 Concrete has arrived and we have the first layer of the new ground floors.

 The snug floor taken from the stairs as the floors were not quite dry enough to walk on.

 The new kitchen floor - taken when it had dried out.

 You can hopefully see the difference in level between the existing floor in the old shop which will b ~10 - 15m higher and the kitchen floor will then come up to that.

 The ceiling in the back bedroom is renewed with plasterboard ready for plaster skim.

 External walls being lined with insulation board ready for plasterboard and skim.  We were not sure if this would make the room small but it hasn't -  perhaps the 3m height is a bonus after all!

 And another ceiling in the guest bedroom - work rate is quite impressive and progress is certainly evident on a daily basis.

 The Bresummer beam in the main bedroom revealed - apparently it looks Ok from this angle and has been treated with preservative.  Let's hope that remains the view when they expose it from the ground floor in order to install the new 'shop' window.

 Ceiling 'in progress' in the large front bedroom.

 Beginnings of the external walls being insulated in the large front bedroom.

 How else would you spend a Saturday morning other than removing the old door - which resulted in a bent hammer as no wrecking bar and it was rather well nailed into the wall!

The doorway into the 'Bank' is no more - this one was rather precarious and had to be propped up until the brickie could get it blocked up.  We are now tasked with finding 'matching brick' to put the front skin on this and large stones to match the back door!

The end of week 2 and we are pleased with the builders progress - the vision we have for the Old Shop is starting to be realised and it is all quite exciting if a little bit nerve wracking as we don't yet know what else the builders will discover as the dismantling continues.