How’s the building made?

Original construction was:

• stone faced rubble walls
• timber roof structure, slates
• sliding sash, timber window frames
• timber floor with ash deafening.

Changes from the original:

• electric wiring, 1970
• fan in kitchen, 1980
• shower-room with toilet, 1960, altered 1995.

Examples of projects

• Doing the basics
   

• Rewire
   

• Central heating
   

• Kitchen makeover
   

• Flooring and decorating

What’s the problem?

Kitchen — tiny, extract fan doesn’t clear steam, oven door hits wall, tatty cupboards and worktop.

Electrics — ancient sockets coming away from the wall, old fuse box.

Fire safety — no smoke alarm.

Room heating and water heating — electric fires, electric immersion heater.

Drying washing — clothes, sheets and towels take ages to dry on a clothes horse in the bedroom.

Floors — uneven boards, worn carpet.

Noise — downstairs neighbours hear washing machine in kitchen, people using shower-room.

Doing the basics

• Low energy lamps in all room lights, standard lights, desk lights.

• Shared the cost of insulating the roof with other flats.

• No hot water cylinder (combi boiler). Insulated hot water pipes.

• Secondary glazing and insulating blinds on windows. Draughtproofed around windows, inside secondary glazing - but left top clear for ventilation. Door already draught proof due to fire safety strips.

• Set new radiator valves at 2 in the bedroom, 3 in the living room. Set thermostat in hall at 18°C.

• Replaced washer on kitchen tap. Put save-a-flush bag in toilet cistern. Fitted spray insert on sink tap.

Rewire

• Sockets at 500mm (1’8”) in living room, bedroom, and hall, 900mm (3’) in study.

• Cooker socket in kitchen to side of cooker, other sockets 100mm (6”) above worktop.

• Light switches and circuit breaker box at 900mm (3’).

• Wired-in ionisation smoke alarm in bedroom, optical smoke alarm in living room, heat alarm in hall near the kitchen.

• Extract fan with duct from fan to chimney stack — the old fan only circulated steam into ceiling!.

• Fan with humidistat in shower-room — to prevent condensation from washing on new drying rack.

Central heating

• 86% efficient combi gas boiler with 7-day programmer, separate heat and hot water control.

• Thermostatic radiator valves in each room.

• Shelves over each radiator direct heat into the room.

• Floorboards were lifted to fit pipes - plumber topped up ash in floors with granular chips to limit noise nuisance to the neighbours below — made extra check in bathroom and wrapped insulation round plastic drain pipe.

Kitchen makeover

• Gas fitter moved cooker so that there’s a clear 1m space in front of it.

• Cupboard doors and formica worktop replaced with FSC-certified solid oak.

• Recycled glass tiles for the splashback.

Flooring and decorating

• Evened floor by sanding it with basic grade sheets.

• Linoleum in kitchen and bathroom over a layer of recycled tyre underlay to help dampen noise.

• Recycled tyre underlay and wool based carpet in other rooms.

• Stripped woodwork and sealed with beeswax, painted walls with mineral based paints.

Work done well

Found accredited electrician and heating engineer at:

www.clescotland.co.uk

Planning

Checked with council — OK because no change to external appearance or size, not a listed building or conservation area.

Building warrant:
Got warrant for rewiring flat.