Daydream thread... without the rose-tinted specs

choille

I don't know if that's the case in all areas or classes. We do seem to have a lot of 'slums' in some areas that were poorly constructed & are mouldy old knock it downs even though they aren't that old.

The Romans had the right idea with there under floor heating!

The black houses - were just that - black with reek.

The insulation regs here are now really high. The legislation is a bit/lot paper work heavy & often been designed by Edinburgh academics that doesn't fit in the real world, but it is becoming easier to heat houses are now mandatory & that is no bad thing. Fuel/energy is getting very unstable price wise unless you are self sufficient, so it is as well to try & be as energy efficient as poss.

You do need ventilation & a lot of people live in air tight rooms that are pretty unhealthy & dust mite ridden, allergy havens. It's a balance between being dry & warm & keeping the place vented. If you have gas or solid fuel, a wood burner etc you need an air flow obviously.

Historically is a long time & dependant on where you were in the old pecking order dictated how warm you could be. It was n't all cosy cottages.

lostinrates

choille wrote: »

Historically is a long time & dependant on where you were in the old pecking order dictated how warm you could be. It was n't all cosy cottages.

True.

I gues a the thing to do is to look at the house ...the age and nature of it and think how it was built to be used in our modern adaptation.

Our house is a bitss. Bits Victorian, bitsa Georgian renovation on older bits.....

We won't really know how old.

When were further along DH has some idea he'll have some students from his old college crawl over it and give an opinion.

The back part is very much the oldest we think. (and like CTC's has been rendered to conceal faults......unlike CTC we are not brave a ouch to take the render off! ).


Its sad so little of the original is left showing.

The bit we thought was added on to the right is actually older now, we know, because there was a cellar under there, but we think that's later on that the back bit.

The previous owner filled the cellar with concrete. .

choille

Houses have always been adapted, altered to suit the current owners.

When you look at old (Victorian) engravings of the Brochs at Glen Elg they were really complete despite their great age. There were one or two cottages - butts & benns - 2 roomed jobs. Now the brochs are almost down, there's massive walls & extended cottages everywhere. Guess where the stone came from?

We lived in a cottage that used to be a coach house - another that had bits of castle in it! They'd been wood lined a century ago or so in an attempt to warm them up a little. Houses evolve & adapt & have down the millenia

choille

:eek:Cellar filled with concrete.........The previous owner? Did he employ a builder called Fred West?:eek:

lostinrates

choille wrote: »

:eek:Cellar filled with concrete.........The previous owner? Did he employ a builder called Fred West?:eek:

I think it kept filling with water, So the so.ution was......get rid of the cellar. . .


On the plus side, that part of the house has no movement in it whatso ever:rotfl: its the oly bit with no cracks or anything.

But still.....

Can you imagine?

choille

Cellars are handy things, they're not that common here. I think they're more common in towns, on slopes - Edinburgh etc

We built on a rock foundation, so don't have one. apart from gap under floor.

alfie_1

evening folks

weather has drastically improved here ! but wont bank on it staying just yet.

today....... :mad:
[fill in the gaps with what you know of my reactions ]

water board man came, confirmed leak was fixed BUT thought the soak away put in a shambles...
enviro man came..thought soak away a shambles ...
BUHA came and thought mr pratt had done a wonderfull job....

picture the scene.... smug looking BUHA in his tweed jacket and file under arm feeling in charge... until i launched.....

i told him to be very carefull being guided by mr pratt as he was to say the least a lying, useless piece of sh*te that did not know one end of a drainpipe from a cold chip. that had they listened to me in the first place 4 months ago then half the problems now would have been half the cost , now got to be done again so very clever...not.
enviro has a long list of "to do's".. BUHA seems to think its minor things. i asked for my lease to be suspended and i find temp accomodation till work completed. and he said NO. i said im not prepared to be governed by the time spent having to run genny . i told him fuel so far they owe me is over £460... 1st jaw drop... told him im gonna sue his buttt for negligence as a land agent...2nd jaw drop.... told him i wanted proof of MR pratts ability to self cert electrics or id add that to list... jaw now drooping dangerously...

basicly im leaving here, sueing thier butttts and waltzing into a des res with all mod cons..

i love this house but ive had a noose above my head for some time so i thought id switch it and get them before they get me

lostinrates

So how did you leave it Alfie?

Is he going to try and negotiate with you or what? Presumably environmental health will be prepared to sign it off as pretty much unfit as soon as you turn the genny and pump off??

Davesnave

It's ironic that although our property has no significant structural issues, we still need to demolish most of the internal walls. If the previous owners had left the internal layout alone, we would only have had a small amount of re-modelling. Thing is, they did their weird, wasteful corridors in solid block, not stud work.

As someone who hates waste, I've been uncomfortable with this, but I can't see an alternative.

We're running too late for a full build this year, but I think we can do a lot of the external work/drains etc. Now the barn's secure, we are starting to re-organise our stuff so that it all fits in...somewhere!

Edit: That's brilliant alfie, if you have somewhere to go which will accommodate your .. err...lifestyle! :T

alfie_1

lostinrates wrote: »

So how did you leave it Alfie?

Is he going to try and negotiate with you or what? Presumably environmental health will be prepared to sign it off as pretty much unfit as soon as you turn the genny and pump off??

he scuttled off like the white rabbit saying "im late for another appointment" :cool:
will wait for enviro report [i get copy] then i will use it as a basis for HAVING to move.
he just couldnt grasp the seriousness of all the things to be fixed verbally so when he see's it from enviro he may act. hes told me any repairs will up the rent. which is better ammo for me when i claim from them. he just kept saying "i will get that ditch cleared !" ???
i think he is seriously doubting mr pratts word now tho .....
its a mess ! but im moving. i love this house dearly but id rather leave it voluntarily than be told to , which is what they will do...