As we found it! - Sept 2003
Chimney breast removed; dark brickwork in centre is back of old chimney, corner
brickwork is the old bread oven
After new windows fitted - Mar 2005. Electric oven in corner is standing on the
concrete floor which was to be removed.
Starting to replace missing slate flags - April 2005
Originally there was a very large chimney breast on one wall of the kitchen with
a Stanley oil-fired range. We decided that to free up more space this should be removed
and found a local builder who agreed to undertake the job in a couple of days. This
he duly did, but what we didn't bargain for was the remedial brickwork which had
to go all the way up to the roof - and which took a further couple of weeks. We also
decided to open up the wall and fit an additional window in the corner and increase
the size of the existing, very small window in the same wall. The other major job
was to repair the floor in the corner between the oven and the Stanley. When the
kitchen carpet was taken up we found the kitchen floor, and indeed the rest of the
ground floor, comprised slate flagstones of random sizes, (but a constant 3 inches
thick!). For some reason the slate flags by the oven had been replaced with a slab
of concrete and one of the flags was badly cracked. The concrete was pulled up, the
cracked flag cut into two smaller ones and used with other flags found around the
place to repair the floor. The ceiling joists were stripped to bare wood, stained
and sealed, as were the kitchen doors. Finally after much agonising over the cost
we opted for an AGA (refurbished, not new!) to replace the Stanley. It was then just
a case of checking out all the kitchen unit suppliers half a dozen times each before
opting for our final preference - IKEA!
Stripping paint from joists - April 2005
Finally finished - June 2005
