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Lilian Sykes: Posted on Tuesday, February 14, 2012 5:11 PM
Well its four months since we started work on this project and whilst we are still enjoying it both Tom and I are very tired and our budget is very depleted!!   Tom and Brian spent last week getting the chimneys ready, we have had to rebuild two and the other two which had been capped had about 100years of Jackdaw nests. It took all of Tom and Brians strength to get the nests out and there must have been around 6ft in each chimney, which is astounding when you think each nest was brought in by small birds. |
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Posted on Saturday, January 28, 2012 7:56 AM
Well finally the wind died down long enough to make a start on the back section of roof. That makes it sound like a small job, but of course the back section is a very large area! We have stripped off the whole area and once again all the woodwork had woodworm and had to be replaced along with further brickwork being rebuilt, with the lads coming off the roof during high winds and hail storms. It has taken since the 9th of January but at last the tiles are on, and the main building is at last water tight. |
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Lilian Sykes: Posted on Wednesday, January 04, 2012 1:51 PM
The last few days have been very wet with high winds whivch unfortunatley took off part of the roof which was like God turning the tap on inside. Spent yesterday morning scooping water up off the kitchen floor whilst Tom battled to get the roof felt pinned back down. The site is so exposed that apart from trying to keep it water tight we cannot progress with replacing the roof as it is to windy and dangerous to have guys up there! These things are sent to try us!! |
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Lilian Sykes: Posted on Thursday, December 29, 2011 8:44 AM
Christmas has come and gone and it has been great to take some time away and spend it with family and friends! However the 27th saw Tom and I back on site assessing where we were and what our priorities for the next few weeks would be. Because we will be doing Bed & Breakfast its important to think hard about bathrooms. They are all being squeezed into existing bedrooms which are all in excess of four square meters, but will not have any natural light. Having already replaced 14 windows with at least the same again to do, we do not want the additional expense of creating new windows, plus the facade would not take it. |
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Lilian Sykes: Posted on Saturday, December 17, 2011 12:15 PM
This week we had planned to take of the roof and re-roof the back of the building, but when we came to it the brickwork supporting it was shot, and had sagged. After discussing it with Brian our fantastic brickie, Tom and I decided the only course of action was to take down the offending brickwork, and chimney stack and rebuild it. Every time things like this happen it has an effect both on the timescale and also on the budget. We always knew that on that part of the house the roof would need replacing, but had not anticipated rebuilding half of the supporting walls! |
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Posted on Sunday, December 11, 2011 2:52 PM
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Lilian Sykes: Posted on Friday, December 02, 2011 5:53 PM
Tom and I decided it would be exciting to put a window back into the cellar, whilst not an urgent job it was something that felt like we were putting back rather than the constant ripping out. We had two small windows in the side of the house which to be frank were hideous and completely out of place, we have installed new larger windows and by pure chance them came out complete and fitted where the window would once have been. So many years after there was last daylight in the cellar a window was installed. |
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Posted on Wednesday, November 23, 2011 6:57 AM
When we viewed the Farm it was by torch light on the ground floor, as it had been completely boarded up, so it was a bit of a leap of faith to purchase knowing that the building could throw up as sorts of problems. Well we found the problems, woodworm in the staircases and door frames some of the roof joists, and floor joists, damp, dry rot and movement in the building. We have now checked and dealt with all the foundations, ripped out the woodworm staircases and door frames, we have installed concrete lintels over the door frames which were held up by the old oak frames and ordered new staircases. |
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Lilian Sykes: Posted on Thursday, November 03, 2011 9:59 AM
 After such a lengthy delay in completing, we are now working at full speed on the house. To quote Sarah Beeny woodwork, damp, crumbling brickwork we have got the lot. However its also a time of discoveries, behind three plastered walls we have found some fire places, which totally calls into question the idea that it is a late Georgian Farm House. Many of the characters of the house just don t fit with that period and we suspect that a facade was put around an older property.  In one of the rooms where the plaster was falling off we discovered a beam and started to unearth an old inglenook. |
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Lilian Sykes: Posted on Sunday, October 23, 2011 8:48 AM
 Finally after much toing and froing between solicitors and land registry we have exchanged on our Farm. The house is in a very perilous condition and or fist job is to stabilise the building.  Once that is done we will be able to get on with its restoration. The reality suddenly hits you that you have a mamouth job and a minisule budget which is quiet daunting. We shall just have to be very creative to make our budget stretch as far as we can, it won't be easy but we can only spend what we have!! |
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