| This is the story of the renovation
of the Old Wool Shop in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.
The building is composed of two former shops built
around 1914 by the Co-Operative Society. As far as we can work out
work out the larger of the two shops was a general store, the smaller
a butcher. Years later the shops were used as a golf shop and wool
shop by the previous owner.
We purchased the property in July 2004 shortly before
it was due to be auctioned. Since then we've been living in the
cottage attached to the rear of the shops. Since 2004 it has been
integrated with the shops to create one large house.
Updates
Latest pictures (07/09/07)
 
The
new garage is rendered and painted so that's all the major work
for this year. I'll add another bathroom and partition an office
downstairs sometime over winter.
The
new garage is built and in use, I'm just waiting for it to be rendered.
I've takn a series of pictures of the finished house and I'm enjoying
some newly found free time. I've even fitted out the utility room.
I've
completed all the finishing touches and sat down for a rest, I'll
post some finished result pictures soon. I've now started on the
new garage round the side of the house
Kitchen
is installed and most of the decorating is done all in time for
holidays. We've now got a pantry and utility room although they
need some more work and I'm working on plans for the new garage.
Rest
complete and we're doing the fiddly finishing jobs. Final decorating
and cleaning is a very slow and time consuming job. We've moved
in to the new rooms and the kitchen is due to be fitted next week.
I'm leaving this to the professionals although I've done all the
preparatory work.
Second
fix is complete, just need to fit some doors, paint some skirtings
and clean up. The bathroom is now a shower room and the back hall,
stairs and landing has finally been re-plastered. We're ready for
a well earned rest!
First
fix completed, and we're well on the way to second fix. The plan
is to move in by the end of June. All the electrics are on, the
CAT5e network is set up (broadband in every room) and the final
joinery is about 60% complete. The next update should show all rooms
except for the bathroom complete.
I've
installed 100 sq metres of acoustic insulation and its very itchy.
The plasterer starts next Monday and there's light at the end of
the tunnel.
First
fix is approaching fast, the electrician has laid all the cabling,
I have just installed the central heating upstairs and I now have
a bathroom to install. The porch is boarded and I need to insulate
the 1st floor. Finally, the new doorways are bult in the kitchen
and I've had a door casing custom made for the large double doors
we salvaged.
The
new slate floor is laid, and will be grouted soon. The electrician
has started and we need a plasterer, I have loads of joinery to
complete and things are moving pretty fast.
60 square
metres of reclaimed flooring have been laid at the painstaking rate
of 0.6 square metres per hour and I've earned a week off!
I've
been installing 20sq m pf space age roof insulation, the new roofer
has fixed the leaking roof by replacing all the flashings and the
back boiler is heating hot water. This weekend we have 100 sq m
of reclaimed flooring to lay (if we get it cleaned up in time).
The
underfloor heating is working! The wood burner, back boiler, new
condensing boiler and solar panel are all working and we owe the
Pot Belly. I've collected the stained glass door and window and
am fitting the window this weekend if the weather holds up. I've
also completed the electrical plan, bought a period radiator for
the new kitchen/diner and am planning the bathroom. I'm also concious
that New Year isn't far away and we don't yet have a finished floor...
The
underfloor heating and floor joists are laid, I've built the steps
between the shops and I'm about to pressure test the plumbing for
the back boiler. It looks like I'm going to spend my birthday shovelling
drymix...
I've
been really busy, hence a lack of updates to the site. The chimney
is nearly completed, I've smoke tested it and it draws well. I've
started pluming the stove in and the next job after that is the
underfloor heating. I've no idea how long that will take, I'm hoping
only about 8 days. Another sunpipe has been installed and I've created
some extra headroom in the bathroom by replacing the wooden purlin
with steel work.
The
house stairway now has a balustrade, the walkway between the first
floors is complete and there is a new step in the hallway downstairs.
I've hung two of the reclaimed doors between the shops and we've
decided to replace the sidedoor of the big shop with a tall stained
glass window which is currently being made.
We found a beautiful gritstone fireplace on Ebay (photos to follow)
and have selected Able Fuels to install a condensing boiler and
solar panels. The final piece of the system is the wood burner with
back boiler which is now on order. I'm learning how to build a proper
firebox and chimney. The layout is now complete, both staircases
are operational and there are doors between the house and shops.
Back at work and the basic layout is complete.
There's a new staircase and several doorways. The reroof is 90% complete
and we have four new veluxes. Both shops have been cleared and the
underfloor heating system has arrived, I probably won't get to install
this for a month or so because there's still loads of tidying to do
next door, i.e. building the stair balastrades and fitting door surrounds
and doors to the new doorways.
The
new internal layout is nearly complete, we've created three new
doorways and are in the process of bricking one back up. I'm also
currently rebuilding the staircase in the house to allow access
at first floor level between the cottage and the upstairs of the
larger shop.
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