A feeling of weary satisfaction after just over a week’s work on my new house in Tooting, south London. This has consisted largely of ripping stuff out, from contents of a cellar and garden sheds to carpets, wild vegetation, door frames, electric appliances (three fridges and a freezer and an old Amstrad desktop stereo system, which we considered getting valued then threw out) and dust. Vast quantities of dust.
As you can see from the slideshow below, it’s a bit of a beast – a double-fronted late Victorian terraced house in Tooting.
So what now? The hard work really begins:
- It needs a new roof. There are holes in it (as a friendly neighbour pointed out to me from the street as I was looking out of my first floor window. Yes I was aware of that)
- No central heating. OK for the next few months, not ideal for the autumn/winter
- Some minor structural work needed
- Rewiring
- Window replacement or repairs
And the rest. So where does the green bit fit into it? Well that’s what I’ve been trying to work out in my head in the past few months. And it’s clearly not easy. The nub is this, and has been repeated by many others: who has the money to combine a basic refit with a green one? Who, barring those with the cash and the commitment, can be arsed to go beyond the bare minimum? I need heating in four months – can I really find the best environmental solution in that time that’s not one that could bankrupt me?
So I’m about to come up against practical experience of the issues I’ve been writing about for the past two years. It’s exciting but somewhat nerve-wracking. What if I end up stuffing up the whole venture? If someone that has pretty good knowledge of the industry and the issues at stake with green refurbishment can’t do it right, who can?
I’ll obviously use this blog as a bit of diary of the project. Clearly I’ll try and be as open as possible during the process, flagging up key decisions and issues that I come up against as the project evolves. One idea I had was to have an open day in a few weeks time and invite a few experts over to offer their take on how best to address such a challenge. Free advice is clearly what I’m after in these financially constrained times.
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on May 6th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
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on May 7th, 2009 at 1:55 am
Yeah it’s buggered, Phil. I’d run away if I were you.
on May 7th, 2009 at 9:27 am
Phil,
Come and see and we’ll help you understand the implications! Nothing like seeing the products in practical application, warts and all.
on May 7th, 2009 at 10:15 am
Walking the walk as well as talking the talk – very impressive. Looking forward to seeing it and helping with whatever advice I can!
on May 7th, 2009 at 11:12 pm
My suggestions:
1) Identify your budget
2) Identify your green aspirations
3) What is the answer to item 2 – answer to item 1 above?
4) Can you fill any deficit identified in 3)?
5) If answer to 4) is no, then identify what you can do within the budget available.
6) Concentrate on those things that will give you biggest bang for your buck, like insulation and fixing your roof in preference to eco-bling. The roof and the heating system sound like priorities, and dependent on your choices will be more (or less) green than other selections.
Dont worry about stuffing it up – look at all those people on grand designs and the decisions and compromises they’ve made. But do consider the implications carefully before you get cracking. Try to compare options in terms of their carbon emissions and by asking questions of the suppliers (consider monetising the carbon to help your decision making).
Making/changing decisions as you go along is a recipe for things going wrong.
Oh and, plan for some contingency.
Good luck.
on May 12th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Agree with the above.
Sequencing is all important from point of view. While windows can be refitted, getting insulation and air tightness to those wall is something you won’t be able to revisit later.
Interfaces too are ticky in refurb. Those wretched floor joists are a problem for heat loss by air and conduction. If you insulate on the inside, you risk rot issues.
Fix your budget, look at the options/impliactions, get a plan and stic to it. I look forward to hearing more.
on May 14th, 2009 at 9:49 am
Thanks for the free advice. I’m getting a survey done soon which should hopefully clarify some of the programme/sequencing issues. Definitely need more thought on the walls situation.
Am hoping the weather gets warmer. Bit parky inside right now. Not much incentive to get up.
on May 20th, 2009 at 10:58 am
Any excuse Phil!
on Jun 11th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
have you considered a hemp and lime internally applied insulation? this may well answer robert prewett’s anxiety about rot issues since it will be able to breath .
the bods at the BRE Insite hemp house seem to have got a pretty efficient shuttering routine. the question is how much internal space you can afford to lose; is 100 mm too much? If you do superinsulate your four month heating scheduling worries will be nugatory.
on Jun 14th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
I’m considering it Ralph. Could be a tricky one to get through under current plans.