Progress - slowly

It's been a while, but things are beginning to take shape. As expected it was never going to be an easy journey with such an old property, but so far we have not found any hidden treasures (sadly) or old bones (thankfully) only added costs..... also expected.

Below are a few images of the current state of affairs - still a way to go but can't wait to live there later this Summer, feel so blessed and lucky.

The diggers have gone.

Some re-wiring through 5ft stone walls.

Kitchen nearly ready for fitting - part of chimney gone.

Back walls nearing completion, drains re-routed and all sorts of re-inforcement.

Posh shed foundations in progress.

Basement being tanked, damp proofed you name it - it's being done....

Basement laundry room to be and waiting for new stairs to be re-instated.

Drawing room at it's worst, this is the oldest part of the house - previously a tower within Booterstown Castle. Walls being fixed, new floors to go in and most importantly central heating.

Sample of re-claimed oak floor for the drawing room - minus the mahogany strips though - less is more!

Stud work  for the en-suite taking shape in the Master bedroom - finished off with glass panels up to the ceiling.
 

Master En-suite stud work  from another angle.

Windows & more digging....

Well it's well and truly a building site, lots happening and Barry & his team are working away with lots of machinery on site - much to the boys excitement.

All sash windows have been removed and taken away to be restored, the frames will be restored on site.

The basement is moving ahead slowly but a few issues have cropped up that had to be dealt with and it is now being lined with a special membrane as part of the damp-proofing.

The terracing at the front and back of house is beginning to take shape and soon the mounds of soil and rubble will be levelled out again and we may see a bit of our garden again.

Windows removed for restauration 

Marcus: Mummy can we have a swimming pool?

A bit of Spring amongst the mud & madness of a building site

Front terracing taking shape

Back terracing taking shape as well!

Slow but steady progress.

Basement being damp proofed

Demolition

The demolition or 'enabling' work as the architects call it is progressing nicely, and various engineers, conservation people and specialist contractors have been visiting to review the next steps ie. restoration and how to go about it in a sensible (economic) way.

All very fascinating, we had a walk round with the team recently and one of the floor boards in the 'Green' room was lifted to see what's underneath.

The Green room is in the oldest part of the house 16th Century and was apparently where the tower of Booterstown Castle was ie. the 4 walls of this room is the remains of the tower, and the rest is under our floor boards = big chunks of stone! This means that in order insulate under the floor, the boards now need to be lifted as impossible to get under the floor as hoped.

So if the budget escalates to much we could always sell off a few stones as historical artefacts :-)

Here's a few pictures from recent visits.

Green Room - under our floors, remains of Booterstown Castle's Tower

Kitchen being stripped back - we found a copper tank & boiler tucked behind the units

Kitchen - many layers of 50-70's wallpaper hidden behind the cupboards.

Patio doors in Hall and plaster boards under stairs - all gone!

The current view from my new basement office.

Basement nearly stripped out and ready for renovation, underfloor heating and polished concrete floor.

View towards to the garden.

Where the stairs will be re-installed to the basement and remainder Laundry Room.

Beautiful stone walls hidden behind the plaster boards - hoping to clean these up.

Basement Guest Room - Stone Walls to be given a good clean and maybe paint.

Planning Application

Planning application has gone in finally.... Should have an answer in 7-8 weeks. All we are looking to do is knock down the garage and extend parking area and replace with a modern wooden structure/shed. Also, adding a set of doors into the garden from the family room and the all important - Central Heating!