Well the first week of ownership passed in a flash. In the spirit of keeping things up to date quickly, this is a quick overview of what happened.
Things I found out
The wiring is mostly ok, only a couple of dodgy lead cables and dubious earthing. My fear was that a complete rewire would be needed.
The floorboards upstairs are not great so no nice painted or stained boards. Downstairs has a chipboard subfloor so some kind of new floor covering will be required there.
The whole house is a wallpaper horror – it’s applied with enough glue to survive an explosion. Removing it will be arduous,.
The loft has an intriguingly Tudor feel.
The mad wet room not as bad as I first thought.
I have two original cast-iron fireplaces in the bedrooms. Unfortunately they are redundant due to chimneys having been removed and they take up a massive amount of wall space.
Things I learned
Stripping wallpaper has a technique – mostly involving repeated soaking. Resolved to acquire a steamer.
100 yr old houses do not have hidden, immaculate floorboards or plaster walls. Both require fixing, patching, repairing and finally covering with something.
Things I did
Removed a lot of clutter.
Stripped one and a half walls of the living room. Made a start on the two bedrooms.
Had joiner and electrician on site for quotes
Assisted in chasing cables under floorboards all over the place. Had wiring and fuse box upgraded, new switches and sockets, smoke detectors installed.
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