Some of the Things We Got Up to When Renovating Our Dorset Cottage
By David Harland
Having recently renovated a small cottage in Dorset I wanted to put a few things down about the process I went through to get my house to the finished article. The property was bought at a reasonable rate due to it needing complete modernisation which entailed removing all of the existing wiring, re plumbing, new windows and sorting out a toilet in the house.
Now I know to most people this might seem like a task beyond the call of duty but to me it felt like a challenge I couldn't wait to get my teeth into. The first job my wife and I did was to strip out all of the 70's kitchen units because to be honest they were hideous and the layers of kitchen grime that had built up on them just had to go. As with anything like this as you take out one thing another issue is revealed and a damp patch on the wall led to a leaking water fitting that needed turning off ready for the refit.
Because the internal heating had been night storage heaters we decided to strip them out entirely and go for an underfloor ground source heat pump system which through the amazing application of science can provide temperatures of up to 65 degrees C. We also used solar heaters on the south facing rooftop to ensure we got an environmentally friendly source of hot water. As we were in the centre of town we couldn't really go for a wind turbine for power due to noise and annoying neighbours saying it would be an eye sore.
Due to the large amount of certification you need for rewiring we contacted a Dorset builder to come in and rewire the house, ensuring that we had plenty of power points to reduce the need for extension leads. Having seen how good the work was by the builders in Dorset we decided to get them in to sort out the plumbing. We wanted to have the wet wall on the north of the house as the back of the house tends to be cool and damp anyway.
Once the wiring and plumbing were in place we did a very rustic plastering effect on walls that had been effected and then bought a fitted kitchen from a local bathroom shop to ensure that the kitchen space worked properly. By having the kitchen space properly planned by a professional planner I found we were able to get a lot more out of the space than if we had tried to fit the units into the space without looking at how each section would work.
A Fitted Kitchen can make all the difference when you are setting up your home. Ensure you get a professional Dorset Builder in when you have any work done on your house (obviously this is dependent on area) as it reduces the level of stress in an already stressful situation.
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