Baby, It's Cold Outside

(Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan, 1949)

In order to achieve our 'low energy' status, the front of the house also needed to be insulated.   This was slightly complicated by the fact that, in order not to spoil the facade, we had to do this from the inside.   
 

As you'll recall, we had already stripped this wall back to the bare brick, with our own fair hands (and a fair bit of help).  

Next, blocks of insulation (neopor) 10cm thick were stuck on, all the way up to the ceiling.  



Originally we had a doubt how this would look encroaching on the mouldings on the ceiling, but it turned out fine.












The pipes from the bathroom upstairs had to be added (since there was no bathroom in the house originally, these had to be put somewhere, inevitably making a hole in the ceiling unfortunately).










 

Finally, the wall was plastered and the edges of the window frames tidied up.  Not much to look at, but we're hoping we'll be able to feel the difference. 

Knock On Wood

Up on the top floor, we are beginning to get an idea of the final finish.  Floorboards are being sanded...

 ... and the bathroom has been tiled. 

A Whiter Shade Of Pale

While the Not-So-Super Mario Brothers tinker with the plumbing and heating (they have now had to return four times to re-do/complete various parts of their brief and some things are STILL not right), the other contractors have been plastering away.

From the top down, the house has gradually been covered in a pristine layer of white, starting with the bedrooms under the roof:

Twins' bedroom

Spare room

Down to the first floor, where all the walls have been plastered, save the front facade which is still waiting to be insulated from the inside:

Back bedroom

Front dressing room

The rear facade has also been insulated from the outside, and plastered. 

Rear bedroom, from the flat roof

The ground floor is however a story for another day...

Protection

(Massive Attack, 1994)

This is the reason why the downpour on Friday evening was particularly satisfying.

Tadaa! 

The kitchen roof is still a few steps behind.  The main part has been covered, but the skylights still need to be fitted.

And the mezzanine in the attic now has a floor that can be walked on.

With that, the ‘gros oeuvres’ are more or less complete, and the first team of contractors will hand over the baton to the technical guys, who will do the electricity, plumbing and heating, as well as the windows and the interior works.  

Here is hoping that the new crew will be as efficient… 

Touch the Sky

Kanye West (2006)

This week, work on the back roof has started, under thankfully blue skies. 

In the spare room, we can now see the centuries of dust and grime...

... but also one of Brussels' landmarks, the Atomium, built for the 1958 Expo (World Fair) and now the symbol of an era.   The bedroom is also in line for some demolition. The window has been taken out, and next the brickword underneath will be removed.

Eventually, this will be French window leading onto the green roof.  You can also just make out the neighbour's illegal terrace, decorated with hanging plastic dinosaurs. More news on that in due course..

Stripped

(Rolling Stones, 1995)

The leaky cornice is now in hand: our new friend André is going to do some provisional fixing to make sure the water goes down the drainpipe, rather than seep into the wall, and to remove any bits which risk falling off of their own accord.

 

This will also mean that the walls can start to dry out. Which, judging by the various species of mould developing on the wall of the main bathroom – the floor below - is probably not a bad thing.

To help this process along, we have stripped off the wettest parts of the plaster to expose the brick walls underneath and let them dry out.

And while in emergency plaster removing mode, we also pulled down the pieces of plaster which were beginning to crumble off the ceiling above the staircase, making climbing the stairs just a bit too exciting. Yes, fixing the roof is the first thing to be done once the works finally start.

Meanwhile, the power drill ninja was making friends with his new Christmas present, and taking down the kitchen units in the back bedroom.

So that was our Saturday. So much more fun than the January sales...

New year, new plans

So here we are, 2011. The year in which Things Will Happen. Though to be fair on 2010, despite a few slow spells in the middle, it did make a decent effort at a sprint finish.

Let me take you back to the 23rd December, the day of the Great Snow. Before heading off into the snow for Christmas, we also met with the architects to see the new plans and… get this for administrative efficiency, with the Commune’s planning department to discuss the renovation (more on that another day).

So, without further ado, I give you the new plans.

To recap, we had agreed to keep the kitchen on the upper ground floor, next to the sitting room, rather than on the garden level. Something like this in fact. Taddah!

The kitchen keeps the same 4 metre ceiling height as the other reception rooms (in case of a visiting BFG, you never know), which means that the roof terrace above is accessible from the back bedroom/dressing room.

But this leaves a few questions: how to configure the kitchen to ensure access to the garden? and can we fit in a WC on the ground floor? In fact we have three options:

Option A: slice a section off the left side kitchen for a WC and pantry. There is no access to the garden from the kitchen here, but steps could be added from the back window. Here we keep the existing staircase down to the lower ground.

Option B: slice off the left hand side of the kitchen for an internal staircase that leads directly to the garden. It then goes down another few steps to the garden room underneath the kitchen, and the wine cellar. Here, the existing staircase down to the lower ground become a bit de trop, so they’d be taken out and the space used for storage (or a guest WC).

Option C: Keep the very large kitchen, and have external steps into the garden.

What do you think? We've made up our minds, with a few tweaks, but will save that for another day.

The other feature we are quite excited about it the floor-to ceiling bookshelf in the middle sitting room, and a little internal window that looks out from the landing. In fact from there you’ll also be able to look down into the kitchen through another internal window at the back. See, in the top centre of the picture, you can just see the staircase peeking through?

Above that, things become more simple:

First floor – master bedroom at the front of the house with an en-suite bathroom (deliberately not separating the rooms to preserve the pretty ceiling mouldings): Second floor – two more rooms and a bathroom.

So, 2011, bring it on!

In a Bad Way

(St Etienne, 1992)

There will be more photos still to come, but here is a little idea of the task ahead.

First, the kitchen. Look at those lovely floor tiles..



Next, the garden. We have yet to make it to the far end. Machete anyone?


Upstairs, the front room on the first floor, some of the original wooden window frames



And on the second floor, a bit of work to do on the roof:


That's all for now, more to follow...