That 'big project' I've been banging on about for a few years now....

[James Harrison]

A photo of the corner is probably most useful because the shadows help out a bit in showing what's there. 



The cream (and another coat of the blue) is slowly making its way around the room. 



And a decent chunk of the floor (RRP £2.99 a hectare, trade name "I Can't Believe It's Not Vinyl") bit the dust. 

[James Harrison]

I've finished staining my skirting board, so the last of the horrible vinyl stuff could be taken up (I was keeping it down just so that I didn't get any stain on the floorboards).

This revealed... the floorboards, and by the door they've been replaced with some small sheets of chipboard.  I unscrewed these and took them out.  A few years ago I managed to lose a tool down the gap between the hallway tiles and the sitting room floorboards, and I was hopeful of recovering it. 



So the chipboard came up, and I went on my hands and knees with my cameraphone and a torch.  Oddly the little file I'd lost was nowhere to be found.  There was a debris field under the floor, at some point I think at least one of the joists has been replaced as there was a lot of dry, lightweight, crumbly wood sitting on the ground. 



I wasn't expecting to find one anyway, but this bit of investigative work finally completely rules out the existance of a basement. 



With part of the floor opened up I took advantage of the opportunity to have a look, so this is rom the doorway alongside the sitting room/ dining room dividing wall and looking toward the end wall of the terrace.



And this is the same location turned 90 degrees counter-clockwise, so I'm looking toward the front wall and bay window.  There's a dwarf wall halfway along the length of the sitting room, I suspect this is probably to support the joists as a 12 or 13' (approximately 4 metres) span is getting on for the limit of what you can reasonably expect out of a piece of 2" x 6" timber. 

In the debris field, amongst the rotted wood and old screws, I found this scrap of anaglypta.



So at some point the sitting room was decorated in the same fashion (though with a different pattern) to the hallway- which you'll remember was likewise covered in embossed wallpaper when I moved in.  How depressingly boring. 

On the back of the anaglypta though....



Traces of blue paint. 

[Synistor 303]

That's a lovely shade of blue! I wouldn't mind a blouse in that colour - with matching shoes. 

[James Harrison]

One goal for the year achieved;





I had a bit of an issue here, these are new window openings and as such the proportions are completely at odds with those elsewhere in the house. 
So I had to make a choice whether I wanted the window styles to match throughout, or do something different. 

Well, I got what I asked for- "Can you do me the same style window as previous but for these dimensions?"- but I can't say that it's a happy result. The larger windows suit smaller lights and a fussier design.  These smaller windows, less so.  Particularly that thick horizontal bar right across the middle is... not ideal.  The fact that the lights are wider than they are tall is also not exactly to my liking.  On reflection, 8 lights per window would have been a better solution than 16, but really with these - it's trying to make the best of the situation. 

In an ideal world I'd have been completely rebuilding the two openings to improve the proportions, but in reality there are small vulgar matters such as the cost and the realms of possibility to consider which precluded that.

[James Harrison]

That's a lovely shade of blue! I wouldn't mind a blouse in that colour - with matching shoes. 

Do you mean the blue on the walls, or the blue on the back of the wallpaper?

The former I agree with you is lovely, the latter though is sickly and insipid.  It reminds me of the pale blue bedroom I grew up with which was perpetually freezing cold.  I associate that particular colour with thermal discomfort now.   

[Sir Henry]

One goal for the year achieved;


I had a bit of an issue here, these are new window openings and as such the proportions are completely at odds with those elsewhere in the house. 
So I had to make a choice whether I wanted the window styles to match throughout, or do something different. 

Well, I got what I asked for- "Can you do me the same style window as previous but for these dimensions?"- but I can't say that it's a happy result. The larger windows suit smaller lights and a fussier design.  These smaller windows, less so.  Particularly that thick horizontal bar right across the middle is... not ideal.  The fact that the lights are wider than they are tall is also not exactly to my liking.  On reflection, 8 lights per window would have been a better solution than 16, but really with these - it's trying to make the best of the situation. 

In an ideal world I'd have been completely rebuilding the two openings to improve the proportions, but in reality there are small vulgar matters such as the cost and the realms of possibility to consider which precluded that.

We have a similar problem: the kitchen (upvc double-glazed) window is about 5 foot square with a central vertical bar that is 6 inches wide and a horizontal one to match. Which means we're losing about 5 square foot of glass that could be letting much-needed light in. I've never seen window bars so wide; I can only assume that there are structural reasons and that when they were installed (1980's) they didn't have the steel reinforcement bars that they do today.

So they're being replaced when we do up the kitchen.

[James Harrison]

After the kitchen window interlude, work has proceeded in the sitting room.

Last weekend I had an exploratory poke at the plaster cornice moulding, which was looking a bit drab and sorry for itself.  So I scraped some of the paint off and then started to smooth back to the plaster beneath. 





The problems around this were several;

1. It's in the air so you've got to get up on ladders or suitably robust furniture to actually do the job;
2. Removing white paint from white plaster whilst relying on natural daylight is a fraught process;
3. The dust.  Oh, the dust;
4. Some of the finer moulding is so gummed up with paint that the only way to remove it is to use monstrous force on the plaster, which then crumbles.

Once I'd got a short length of it cleared out it was fairly obvious that there was unacceptable risk of damage to the cornice, and in any case the removal of the paint didn't sharpen the moulding up all that much.  Taken in the round, it seemed like it would be an awful lot of work and worry and mess and potental damage to the plaster for a very small return.  So I stopped that and instead I just repainted the moulding.  Wouldn't you know it but one length has taken a violent dislike to brilliant white eggshell paint... it keeps splitting and flaking as it dries, and then it falls away as a misture of dust and little shreds.  A primer coat of plain emulsion seems to help matters but it's not 100% effective. 

And then this weekend...





My parents paid a visit and my Father helped me put the new picture rail up around the sitting room.  Well actually he did it and I helped him.  This is the same moulding as I used previously in the dining room and it's been fitted at about the same height, the difference is it doesn't go all around the room.  Instead I have a run from the door to the window, then from the window to the alcove bookshelves, then from the other side of the bookshelves just up to the chimneybreast.  Then after a gap across the chimnerybreast there's another very short run to the start of the main bookshelves, and then from the end of those shelves back to the door.  So it was the work of maybe an hour and a half to fit it- a nice short quick job that ran to plan for once. 

Next stages now are (in no particular order)
1. New coat of white eggshell paint around the window reveal;
2. Touching in cut and sanded moulding edges and corners with stain;
3. Clean up of the blue paint either side of the window;
4. New coat of blue paint on the chimneybreast;
5. Pattern on the chimneybreast
6. Clean up the curtain rail and curtain rail fixings;
7. Refit the curtains (replace with new?);
8. New wood flooring (later this year - this will almost be a little project in its own right....)

Now that we're headed into March and the promise of Spring just around the corner, the front garden and the bay window external works beckon too. 

[Synistor 303]

Well, it is starting to look really crisp and complete. It was always my job to do the edges and corners paint-wise - Mr Synistor said I didn't do a proper job on painting the walls, and I said he didn't do a proper job of corners and edges, so we are well matched paint-wise...

The picture rail makes an incredible difference aesthetically - never understood the removal of it in houses of elegant proportions.

[James Harrison]

I'm surprised how much of a difference fitting a rail and painting the top of the walls cream has made.  The whole space just seems t have a bit more about it now. 

Tonight's job, I think, will be repainting blue around the bay window after the cornice calamity and then (if I have time) repainting the front of the chimneybreast.  Oh, and the remnants of paint stripper still need to be gotten off the fire insert. 

[James Harrison]

You remember the anaglypta I discovered under the floor...



It was too busy and intricate to copy exactly, and I don't think I'd got the whole width of the pattern in the narrow strips that were recovered.  But I had got enough to draw up something inspired by it. 



And I had to simplify my sketch a little more but I was able to make a fair cardboard copy. 



And that started to make its way onto the wall. 



When I reached this stage I took a step back and reassessed. I think I'm going to call it there. 

There are a couple of factors why I've stopped here.  Firstly the template is proving more fragile than I thought it would and I don't think it would survive much longer.  Secondly it's a very busy pattern and I don't think the chimney breast could carry it off well (comments about dazzle camouflage, WWI troopships and discouraging submarine attack could be made).

[Banfili]

James, it looks lovely! Any  more and it would look very busy indeed, unless you planned to do the whole wall in that pattern!

[James Harrison]

Yes, I think you're quite right.  It looks suitably subtle and understated for having done just to the underside of the mantle.  If I'd gone any further it would probably induce migranes...

[Cora Courcelle]

That's gorgeous.

[James Harrison]

That's gorgeous.

Thank you! I'm hoping I can keep it that way whilst cleaning coats of paint and gunk off the fireplace insert. Which is proving more of a challenge than I first thought...

[Hurricane Annie]

Its all coming together fabulously. Thank you for sharing your your moments with us . The progress  is uplifting to watch

[James Harrison]

It's interesting to share (plus it encourages me being able to read back and see how far I've come). 

[James Harrison]

So this is what I'm up to at the moment.... lots of methylated spirit, paper tissues and elbow grease. 













And whan it's finished I'm then going to have a look into having it taken away and restored. But maybe not this year.

[Hurricane Annie]

It's great all  that vintage detail wasn't taken out. That it's been left in place in all it's glory

[Synistor 303]

I wonder what the original occupants would think of all the restoration work. Would they think it was foolish, because newer "better" stuff is now available, or would they be proud that their original decor was so admired that it was restored.

[SeVeNeVeS]

You have more patience than I. I would have got out a cordless drill and wire brush set, not too harsh for cast iron.

Spoiler: ShowHide

[James Harrison]

You have more patience than I. I would have got out a cordless drill and wire brush set, not too harsh for cast iron.

Spoiler: ShowHide

I think you're right.  It would have been quicker using one of those.

So far I've tried
- sandpaper
- methylated spirit
- wire brushes
- wire wool
- palm sander
- paint stripper

Well, the thing's probably closer to the finish to the start (the paint is noticeably thinner, where it still clings on) but the effort involved in getting it off is numbing.  So I might well try one of those before we're through. 

[Sir Henry]

[snip]  So I might well try one of those before we're through.

I would if I were you. On a fireplace that was remarkably similar, if not exactly the same design.
One aspect that I particularly liked was that, using an electric drill/driver, you can reverse the direction of the spinning brush and reach parts without having to attack it from awkward angles. Some of the metal from the brush wore off onto the cast iron, but was much easier to remove than the decades of gloss paint it had easily removed.

If you can limit how far the stripped paint dust goes (by hanging a paint sheet from the mantelpiece or similar) it also makes life easier as some of it is extremely fine and really irritating.

[James Harrison]

You have more patience than I. I would have got out a cordless drill and wire brush set, not too harsh for cast iron.

Spoiler: ShowHide

Good call on this.  I bought some, and got more paint off in three minutes than I had in the previous four days. 

I'm going to leave off on taking more paint off for the moment because the thickest, gungiest stuff has been taken off and I think if I were to take it down to bare metal it would rust between now and when I do eventually manage to get it taken away for full restoration.  So now onto the next few jobs.

Well obviously the biggest thing left to do in the sitting room is a new floor, I'll end up ordering that next month with a view to laying it in July or August (with timber floors the advice is that you leave the boards to acclimitise in the room for a month or so before actually laying the floor). 

Other than that there is
- Repairing the bay window sills;
- Breaking out the concrete path in the front garden (I've actually started discussing that with the local council because the garden path carries on past my gate and into the public footpath beyond, so I want to be sure exactly where my property boundary actually is there);
- New floorboards for the upstairs hallway (which would I think be a fairly quick and easy win if I can get one up to confirm the board thickness I need);
- New brass light switches and plug sockets (I have some of these ready and waiting to be fitted, I need to get a couple more to make it worthwhile having the electrican in to swap them over)

[SeVeNeVeS]

If the fireplace is coming out to be restored why not think about getting it sand/ bead blasted?

would save a lot of time and faffing about.

The only concern would be the tiles, they would have to come out or ask the blaster if they can be masked off.

Just a thought.

I had a column radiator blasted a while ago and it cost £20, so not too outrageous on price.

[James Harrison]

That's a thought I had too, once I'd spent a couple of nights moving softened paint around. 

At the time I started cleaning it up, what I had in mind was to accept that it was partly broken (with the fireguard in place you can't see the damage) and just clean the paint off of it.  As I've done that, thoughts have gone more toward getting it fully restored. 

So now with the majority of the paint having been removed, I'm going to leave it there and move on to something else whilst researching whether there's anywhere local to me that could do that work.