Tenement Flat Scotland - major refurb (near original state)

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sixeighth

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Location
Edinburgh
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This flat looks like it's not had much done to it in the past 50 years (at least). There's no central heating (most rooms have an open fire) and it may need to be rewired. Lead piping will need to be replaced (new plumbing throughout I expect).

No structural survey has been carried out but one or two cracks could indicate a problem if not due to old settlement as stated in Home Report.


Can get a finger or two in here. The wall on the left is internal, the right is external tenement gable wall.
[GALLERY=media, 20121][/GALLERY]

Further up at the same corner.
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Ceiling cracks in same room.
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Rose with piece at edge missing. Not sure how I'll repair this.
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Door opening into room. A few of these in the flat but would like to change one or two so that they open out into the hall instead - to allow better use of space in rooms but not sure how big a job this is (want to avoid busting the frame out).
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Livingroom fireplace.
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Livingroom window ('Edinburgh Press' to left).
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Window Shutter - hope to strip these and other woodwork back to bare wood. Will try with hot air gun as solvent expensive and messy.
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Hall to bathroom. Access to water tank over bathroom - hope to go onto mains water direct and have tank removed to use space for storage.
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Suite will be renewed. May keep panelling and finish all surfaces in oil eggshell (may paper left wall).
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Piper under sink into bath might be overflow from water tank overhead.
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Main electrics at front door. Not sure how old this is or how much will need to be renewed. Surface-mounted cabling will be buried if not renewed. Will cover with cabinet.
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Switches at storage heater. These heaters will be removed.
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Emersion tanks in kitchen. Need to consult plumber about these.
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Current kitchen sink. May try to keep this as looks original and shutter built around it.
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Kitchen fireplace to come out. This may determine where cooker goes as extraction can go up the chimney (if regs allow).
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Hotpress at end on right.
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Might need a few more worktops.
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Coal store in kitchen - should make a decent sized cupboard. Would have preferred to remove altogether but I expect it's structural.
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Likely dining area in kitchen, to left of coal store.
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Some ceilings not in great shape but will avoid replacing if possible.
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This room to become main bedroom.
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Would like to move in as soon as electrics and plumbing are sorted although work will have to be carried out in stages (radiators won't be fitted for a year or so, kitchen will need to wait a while etc). Want to get the main bedroom done first so we can stay there asap. I work full time so this will be a part time project.
 
Looks stunning, my advice would be to keep all the original features you can, so that will mean patching up the ceilings etc.

On the woodwork, strip it right back even if you plan to paint it, you will regret trying to paint over it, even if its quicker!

Good luck, been going 2 years non-stop on my 4 bed victorian semi, just about finished and its looking amazing, love coming home every single day!!
 
sixeighth said:
Door opening into room. A few of these in the flat but would like to change one or two so that they open out into the hall instead - to allow better use of space in rooms but not sure how big a job this is (want to avoid busting the frame out).
[GALLERY=media, 20133][/GALLERY]
Click to expand...
That'll just look bizarre. Keep them opening inwards - you have very nice frames there. Dont risk damaging them by dismantling them.

sixeighth said:
Window Shutter - hope to strip these and other woodwork back to bare wood. Will try with hot air gun as solvent expensive and messy.
[GALLERY=media, 20145][/GALLERY]
Click to expand...
Not sure on the preferred method for old paint - remember it will contain lead if as old as it looks. Ask on the decorating forum.

sixeighth said:
Hall to bathroom. Access to water tank over bathroom - hope to go onto mains water direct and have tank removed to use space for storage.
[GALLERY=media, 20127][/GALLERY]
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Mains water is better, but you may need the tank (of some description) for the immersion heater.

sixeighth said:
Suite will be renewed. May keep panelling and finish all surfaces in oil eggshell (may paper left wall).
[GALLERY=media, 20128][/GALLERY]
Click to expand...
The panelling looks awful, and you'll need to remove it to get shut of that high flush pipework. Tiles would look better.

sixeighth said:
Piper under sink into bath might be overflow from water tank overhead.
[GALLERY=media, 20129][/GALLERY]
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Did they really do it this way originally? The water tank business doesnt look original to the house. I'd get it removed and remove the bulkhead too.

sixeighth said:
Main electrics at front door. Not sure how old this is or how much will need to be renewed. Surface-mounted cabling will be buried if not renewed. Will cover with cabinet.
[GALLERY=media, 20130][/GALLERY]
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Its all pretty new. Though you have no RCD protection, it shouldnt be a big job with that board. I am curious though, as to why there are 3 main switches in that bottom board. It looks almost as if it was intended to be a high integrity dual RCD board, but there are mainswitches instead of RCDs. All your electrics looks pretty new.

sixeighth said:
Switches at storage heater. These heaters will be removed.
[GALLERY=media, 20131][/GALLERY]
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Given I have seen no evidence of a gas supply, have you considered how you will heat the place? Again, switches look modern.

sixeighth said:
Kitchen fireplace to come out. This may determine where cooker goes as extraction can go up the chimney (if regs allow).
[GALLERY=media, 20136][/GALLERY]
Click to expand...
Not sure if that'll be allowed.

sixeighth said:
Would like to move in as soon as electrics and plumbing are sorted
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Why do you think the electrics need doing? And that cylinder/immersion looks modern. An old cylinder would have no lagging. That has it built on. Less than 10 years old that.
 
Many thanks for the replies and questions. Old floorboards throughout, which I hope will come up decent once sanded, so stripping all doors and frames etc back to wood should make it easier when it comes to wall colour.

Steve;

Door Opening
The room that will be used as a second bedroom is only 2m wide. With the 82cm door opening taking a fair percentage of floor space. We may just have to live with that but we're also trying to think of alternatives.

Electrics
Although there is some new stuff - the board, switches and storage heaters - I'm not sure everything was renewed as what's been done is surface mounted. Should have a better idea once we get a sparky to take a look.
We're hoping there is a gas supply in the building that we can take into the flat to install central heating and run a cooker.

Bathroom
Bulkhead - assuming you mean the bit that holds the tank. We'd like to use this for storage.
Thanks for the reminder re lead paint. We probably will consider going with tiles instead of panelling.
 
Glad to help :)

Looks like a good project.

I have been looking at houses myself, after some sort of project, but I have to say you seem to have your hands quite full with that one! :lol: :wink:

Most I want is a full redecorate and new kitchen. :wink:
 
There's a lot of work there and it'll be harder to make progress once you're living there but plenty of potential. I would hold back on stripping the wood myself and prioritise the kitchen, bathroom, plumbing, electrics, outside window painting & pointing etc. Seen a few tenements 'in need of modernisation' but yours is probably the the most neglected i've come across.

Consumer unit and supply point look modern but if the 2nd and 3rd 100A switches on the fuseboard were meant to be RCD's (but wouldn't sit without tripping) then there could be some serious problems with any ancient wiring.

As mentioned - if you've no gas then don't be too hasty stripping out the storage heater circuits - can get costly using panel heaters etc.

Ceiling rose damage - lots of messing around with bits of plaster, sandpaper, glue etc. or an expensive repair for a pro to do.

Cracking - if you've shown in the pictures the extent of it and it's a 100yr old property then doesn't look too bad. Patch it now you will know if it's still moving in a year or so.

Doors - much easier to switch sides than inside/outside. Even switching sides will be a nightmare if you want to strip the door and frames.

GOOD LUCK!
 
Part of me envies you, the other really doesn't!!

I wish you all the best with that - it will be stunning once completed (I just luurve the high-ceilings you guys get up there!).

Just remember to plan everything with as much detail as you can.

Watching "The Money Pit" is probably not a good idea either!!
 
on the point of changing the doors to swing into the hall to give you more room in the small room - we have just went through some building works and on the original rooms, rather than the doors opeing into the room, we had them changed so that they open toward the wall (still into the room)

gives a much better sense of space for a small room.
 
Part of me envies you, the other really doesn't!! :)
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Yes, I'm looking forward to it but don't want it to take forever (I love starting things but...!). My better half will keep me right on the detail.

The door does open into the wall but, at 82cm, it eliminates almost half the floor space at that point. Pic from doorway below.
[GALLERY=media, 20260][/GALLERY]

We're planning to have anything requiring floors or walls disturbed done first so we can complete one bedroom and the bathroom. It's a very tight budget so the kitchen will take a bit longer.

My main concern with the electrics is that most of the wiring is ancient. I've not opened anything to take a look, will wait for an electrician for that. If I can take a mould of the cornice edge I might have a go at doing a repair.

The first thing I'm tackling is taking measurements to use in googlesketch. I've got to go back tomorrow to check some of them (having gone back twice already!) - never get it done at this rate.

Thanks again for the comments and encouragement.
 
Well, the flat is definitely alive. Each time I've measured it I've come up with something different so it must be moving about as it's not me that's wrong!

Awaiting estimates to get gas, central heating, electrics before doing anything so (rough) floor plan is only progress so far.

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