The renovation work of the house is progressing, slowly but surely. The electricity is now done, as well as the external separation wall. This week’s biggest project: the heating system renovation. Indeed, we need to rethink the radiators placement, and we want to replace them by vintage cast iron radiators.
But before getting into the subject, just a quick mention about the exterior wall which I had talked about in my previous post, and that is finally done.
The exterior separation wall finishes have been completed
We originally wanted the wall to be coated in beige / off-white, but after some hesitation we opted for a beige / ocher coating because that’s all there was left in stock when we went to buy it and couldn’t lose any more time ordering the other colour… We were afraid when the coating was applied because the wall was really yellow, but it fortunately brightened a lot when drying, and the colour looks pretty nice after all and goes well with the house.
Renovation of the heating circuit: the existing radiators are replaced by period cast iron radiators
Given the interior layout plans we chose to implement in the house, the entire heating circuit has to be reviewed because some existing radiators are positionned in the wrong place: on the first floor, the kitchen and living rooms radiators are located on the partition that we knocked down to create an open space; they must therefore be moved somewhere else. Ditto in the bathroom, where the existing radiator is located where we wantto put the shower …
We also want to add radiators in the basement to avoid humidity and to heat the house better.
The existing radiators are made of cast iron, but are damaged and have no charm. So we decided to replace those on the first and second floor with flowery period cast iron radiators, that look much nicer and will bring a lot of charm to this old house.
For neophytes, this is what a flowery cast iron radiator is (In the UK they are called Victorian cast iron radiators):
When classified ads help us save money
But this type of radiators are very expensive when bought new or already renovated. We therefore scoured classified ad websites and luckily found a lot of used flowery cast iron radiators, in good condition but that needed to be repainted, at an unbeatable price.
We also had to get old radiator valves, because it was obviously out of the question to put basic valves on these beautiful radiators. So we had to buy new valves that had a vintage look, a lot more expensive than the standard ones (100 £ against 12.90 £), but definitely worth the price, considering the character and added value it brings to the house.
Think about space optimization and choose carefully where to pu the radiators
In order to optimize the space, we decided to move the radiators under the windows whenever possible. Indeed, among the common mistakes made on construction sites, the bad location of the radiators figures prominently in the errors made, especially in small places.
It took the plumber one week to make all these changes.
And now, we’re getting ready to renovate the parquet floors, which I’ll develop in more detail next week in my next post!
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