livingroom

The living room

When we moved into the property in March 2016, the downstairs area that was to become the living room, was derelict and a mess. The previous owner had used 6 inch nails to secure hundreds of wooden batons to the ceiling in order to hold a cork type covering for some really bad insulation. This all had to be removed before we could see the state of the massive ceiling support beams. So with some scaffolding, a crow bar and loads of hi-carb food, Jude and I went to it! Later, we commissioned local staircase builder John Dean to come up with an idea for the stairs. His choice was a perfect solution, being a metal spine with stairs made from a cut up huge wine vat.
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Renovations; the pool Renovations: the living room. Renovations; Ensuite Guests room. Cordes

The original space cleaned 2016

Clearing out the space before we attack the ceiling

Starting to remove the 6" nails, the hardboard and the insulation

Then to remove the batons

Mostly cleared, now to find out the state of the beams

Starting the patching and painting

New rear false walls

Original doors

New doors by Jean-Baptiste

Making the floor access for the stairs

Bringing in the new vertical beam

The space as at 2019

John Dean and helper bringing in the beam

2019

John Dean used a metal spine with steps from an old very large wine vat.

After drilling 10mm into the beams, itl stopped, so still very solid. I scrapped off the soft wood. So we figured there was no damp problem down here.