Primrose Cottage
- The Final Renovation
My mother
had visited us (Guest Bedroom) on many ocassions since the Cherry Tree
Cottage was built in January 2002. She seemed to enjoy the farm
life and we had enjoyed her company. So early in 2004 we discussed
the renovation of Primrose Cottage, so that she could live in it and
take advantage of the space and independence that it offered compared
to a bedroom, in Cherry Tree Cottage.
Shortly afterwards she made her decision and sold her house in Spalding,
England. There was no turning back. Work started on the renovation
in March 2004 and a house warming deadline was set for Christmas, a mere
nine months away. We believed that it would leave us with plenty
of time, but as it turned out, we only made it with two weeks to spare.
Since the first
renovation of Primrose cottage, the top of one of one of the gable ends got blown
out in a storm and the chimney had crumbled away so badly that it was
too dangerous to leave it as it was. Also the floor needed a firmer foundation as it
was basically soil with a patch of concrete here and there. Finally,
after developing the plans, we realised that the internal wall had to
go. It was about three foot thick and a plaster board either side
would have added a further foot. A lot of space in such a small cottage.
These jobs were tackled by Derek and I during the Summer of 2003.
The concrete
was made in our cement mixer, near Cherry Tree Cottage and Derek remembers
with fond affection, the enjoyment of pushing a full wheel barrow of concrete
up the hill to Primrose cottage.
We also created another window in the lounge,
as there was only one window and a door and the lack of light would have
meant that internal lighting would have to be on most of the time. So
we chipped out the stone, added in a window frame, added a lintel and supporting
timber on the sides. Afterwards we added stone and concrete to fill
the gaps. During March 2004,
I knock out the window in the back room (now kitchen) and created a door
opening. Shortly afterwards, the builders came. Derek and I
had created a concrete ring on the gable end (Summer 2003) and on top of
all the old cottage walls (early Summer 2004), in order to add strength to
the walls and allow the roof timbers to have a solid surface to attached themselves
to. The builders built up
the gable end, created an internal wall (blocks) and constructed the extension
(bedroom / bathroom). While
they were doing this I removed half of the galvanised roof on the cottage
to allow the extension to join the main cottage. The other half kept
the materials and tools dry. When derek came in June, we removed
the other half, so that we could construct the concrete ring.
