Dunno how relevant this is here, I thought some of you might be intersted....If not, feel free to ignore/delete!
I am now nearing completion of my latest project - "modifying" a house for my boss. Its a slightly unusual situation - he lives several hunderd miles away, and is directing the work by telephone really. He looks out for stuff he wants and tells me where to buy it, he sends me wee sketches of how he wants things laid out etc etc. I have been working on this for slightly over a year now, and he has visited maybe 3 times. He is happy with the results so far though.
Its been good experience, spending someone elses money - and money has been no object for him! - and I'm reasonably happy with the results. I don't like it though - its a real mis-match of styles, and its not at all to my taste, but its not for me, so I don't really care.
There are some pretty silly design flaws, that I have poined out to him along the way, but he has been adamant that thats how he wants it, so thats how I have done it!
Dunno why, but I never took any before or during pics.... Its not really "mine" so I wasnt that interested in the development, but I now wish I had documented the progress better.
When I started, it was a bare shell, that used to be a barn. The previous owner had put in the windows and doors, fitted the floor for upstairs and done some of the partition walls...some of it to much better standards than others, and I have had to deal with a few nasty bodges along the way.
Lets start upstairs... The bedrooms are both the same size. I suggesting doing the partition wall further over, making one room bigger than the other (the house is for the boss and his wife only) so they would have a better sized master room, and a smaller guest bedroom, but no, he wanted them equal...
Thats a single bed there....the whole room is just wide enough for a double.
quite long though...
Sanded and varnished solid floorboards took bloody ages to do.
The roof slopes down towards the end making it impossible to stand up straight.
The other bedroom is much the same...
Outside, there is the upstairs landing, which is quite big....This will serve as his office. Where I was standing for that photo is actually a very large area so plenty room for a esk etc.
Then there is the bathroom upstairs also...
Very modern design...slate floor tiles, orange wall tiles wth mosaic bands.
The sink is on a solid slab of slate 4cm thick. It was a 2-man job to lift it!
The framework is formed from steel bar, welded up and left to age slightly giving a wrought iron look - same for the mirror surround.
3 major fails here....The sink is pish. Its a very sleek modern effort that looks pretty, but is useless. You cant "fill" it as it has almost no depth, plus the shape means turning the tap on more than a trickle shoots water up the curve and soaks your crotch. Secondly, he gave no thought to hiding the waste pipe, which is a bit of an eyesore underneath. I will look into making this less visible somehow. Thirdly, the whole heavy jolly pain in the backside of a thing is fitted to a partition wall! I have reinforced it as best I can and its holding fine for now, but I have my doubts about its long-term strength.
I have still to finish this corner...It will be a floor to ceiling cupboard hiding a washing machine, and another slate worktop next to it.
The ceiling in here is LOW! It slopes down so the beam you can see across the top of the above pic catches you on the eyebrows if you arent carefull!
Facing the sink is a large shower cabin. Fancy hydro-massage shower thingy in there...
Behind the sink is the chunty and water heater. I will make a partition to hide the waterheater and plumbing, but need to think about it a bit...it will have to be removeable for access.
Downstairs in the livingroom...
The staircase was scratch-built by a local joiner - fantastic workmanship, but a right child born out of wedlock to install!
Just behind the stairs is a wee cupboard where we have another serious design screw-up. Storage? nah....put another chunty in there...
Quite why such a wee house needs a downstairs bog, I don't know. It certainly provided a serious plumbing nightmare to fit. Also, why have a bog opening onto the livingroom? Laying a dead otter in there, then opening the door and letting the stench waft across the room as the wife watches telly wont go down too well!
The place is heated by this badboy...
Its a wood burning fireplace. Made my Godin, who are the daddies...this thing cost nearly 3k!
The other end of the livingroom leads through a stone and wood "square arch" to the kitchen...
Very heavy, traditional design, very at odds with the modern, clean upstairs.
I'm quite proud of that, although I hate the design of it. The same joiner who did the stairs did all the doors to measure from solid wood.
More design flaws here, although it exactly as he specified it...
The corner sink is too far into the corner and hard to reach. I'm a normal 5`8" and its not comfortable to use it - His wife is a real short-
, I doubt she will even be able to reach the tap!
The fancy hood over the cooker is too low - I would be constantly banging my head on it whilst cooking, but thats how he wanted it!
Hidden inside it are 2 modern extractor units.
The cooker itself is made by Godin again...
He got a few cents change from 9 grand for it! its a chunky mofo and took 4 people to lift it!
Outside, the South-facing front looked like this....
Note the patio doors 3 feet above the ground!
But it has since turned into this....
Its a base for what will be a big glass conservatory, which will be fitted next month. Fortunately, I have nothing to do there, its being done by a local glazing company.
Thats it really. Its supposed to be completed for the end of February, but I only have a few wee details to finish off and need to find suitable light fixtures for all he rooms, and thats my part done. The conservatory is being assembled off-site, so will just be delivered in a few sections and assembled in place.
I am now nearing completion of my latest project - "modifying" a house for my boss. Its a slightly unusual situation - he lives several hunderd miles away, and is directing the work by telephone really. He looks out for stuff he wants and tells me where to buy it, he sends me wee sketches of how he wants things laid out etc etc. I have been working on this for slightly over a year now, and he has visited maybe 3 times. He is happy with the results so far though.
Its been good experience, spending someone elses money - and money has been no object for him! - and I'm reasonably happy with the results. I don't like it though - its a real mis-match of styles, and its not at all to my taste, but its not for me, so I don't really care.
There are some pretty silly design flaws, that I have poined out to him along the way, but he has been adamant that thats how he wants it, so thats how I have done it!
Dunno why, but I never took any before or during pics.... Its not really "mine" so I wasnt that interested in the development, but I now wish I had documented the progress better.
When I started, it was a bare shell, that used to be a barn. The previous owner had put in the windows and doors, fitted the floor for upstairs and done some of the partition walls...some of it to much better standards than others, and I have had to deal with a few nasty bodges along the way.
Lets start upstairs... The bedrooms are both the same size. I suggesting doing the partition wall further over, making one room bigger than the other (the house is for the boss and his wife only) so they would have a better sized master room, and a smaller guest bedroom, but no, he wanted them equal...
Thats a single bed there....the whole room is just wide enough for a double.
quite long though...
Sanded and varnished solid floorboards took bloody ages to do.
The roof slopes down towards the end making it impossible to stand up straight.
The other bedroom is much the same...
Outside, there is the upstairs landing, which is quite big....This will serve as his office. Where I was standing for that photo is actually a very large area so plenty room for a esk etc.
Then there is the bathroom upstairs also...
Very modern design...slate floor tiles, orange wall tiles wth mosaic bands.
The sink is on a solid slab of slate 4cm thick. It was a 2-man job to lift it!
The framework is formed from steel bar, welded up and left to age slightly giving a wrought iron look - same for the mirror surround.
3 major fails here....The sink is pish. Its a very sleek modern effort that looks pretty, but is useless. You cant "fill" it as it has almost no depth, plus the shape means turning the tap on more than a trickle shoots water up the curve and soaks your crotch. Secondly, he gave no thought to hiding the waste pipe, which is a bit of an eyesore underneath. I will look into making this less visible somehow. Thirdly, the whole heavy jolly pain in the backside of a thing is fitted to a partition wall! I have reinforced it as best I can and its holding fine for now, but I have my doubts about its long-term strength.
I have still to finish this corner...It will be a floor to ceiling cupboard hiding a washing machine, and another slate worktop next to it.
The ceiling in here is LOW! It slopes down so the beam you can see across the top of the above pic catches you on the eyebrows if you arent carefull!
Facing the sink is a large shower cabin. Fancy hydro-massage shower thingy in there...
Behind the sink is the chunty and water heater. I will make a partition to hide the waterheater and plumbing, but need to think about it a bit...it will have to be removeable for access.
Downstairs in the livingroom...
The staircase was scratch-built by a local joiner - fantastic workmanship, but a right child born out of wedlock to install!
Just behind the stairs is a wee cupboard where we have another serious design screw-up. Storage? nah....put another chunty in there...
Quite why such a wee house needs a downstairs bog, I don't know. It certainly provided a serious plumbing nightmare to fit. Also, why have a bog opening onto the livingroom? Laying a dead otter in there, then opening the door and letting the stench waft across the room as the wife watches telly wont go down too well!
The place is heated by this badboy...
Its a wood burning fireplace. Made my Godin, who are the daddies...this thing cost nearly 3k!
The other end of the livingroom leads through a stone and wood "square arch" to the kitchen...
Very heavy, traditional design, very at odds with the modern, clean upstairs.
I'm quite proud of that, although I hate the design of it. The same joiner who did the stairs did all the doors to measure from solid wood.
More design flaws here, although it exactly as he specified it...
The corner sink is too far into the corner and hard to reach. I'm a normal 5`8" and its not comfortable to use it - His wife is a real short-
, I doubt she will even be able to reach the tap!The fancy hood over the cooker is too low - I would be constantly banging my head on it whilst cooking, but thats how he wanted it!
Hidden inside it are 2 modern extractor units.
The cooker itself is made by Godin again...
He got a few cents change from 9 grand for it! its a chunky mofo and took 4 people to lift it!
Outside, the South-facing front looked like this....
Note the patio doors 3 feet above the ground!
But it has since turned into this....
Its a base for what will be a big glass conservatory, which will be fitted next month. Fortunately, I have nothing to do there, its being done by a local glazing company.
Thats it really. Its supposed to be completed for the end of February, but I only have a few wee details to finish off and need to find suitable light fixtures for all he rooms, and thats my part done. The conservatory is being assembled off-site, so will just be delivered in a few sections and assembled in place.
i know it is lots of work and lots of tidying!
