Third Annual Review

February 20 2018 : it is now three full years since we took possession of The Old Rectory so it is time to review the work of the last year and discuss what is in store for the coming year. This time we have chosen to review the work on a calendar basis. The thumbnails below are active : click on a picture to see a larger scale version.

The house was again worked on with gusto but with less consistency as the garden took up a lot of the available effort. All the house work was internal. It was still limited by the need to plan and, in some cases, to seek Planning Permission [PP] and/or Listed Building Consent [LBC] but that is, we hope, now coming towards the end.

In all, four applications were submitted : increasing the size of the larder [June], changes to the partition layout upstairs to increase the size of bedroom 4 by combining the bathroom and toilet [August], adding a porch to the secondary entrance [September], changing the western windows of the kitchen and dining room to steel frames [November]. There is still the question of a porch for the main entrance which was previously refused despite pre-application advice that it was acceptable.

At the end of year two we had not long demolished the dining room fire place, the hall floor had just been laid but the skirting and architraves were missing, the study decoration was under way and work was under way in the master bedroom ensuite. There was also an LBC application in to undertake remedial work on the 16th century oak frame. Those set the themes for the start of the period, to be followed by a switch of focus to the rooms in the 16^th century core once the 20^th century southern range was substantially complete.

At the very end of February we took delivery of the oak doors for the BICs in the master and second bedrooms plus the ensuite cabinet and a chest of drawers for the second bedroom.

During March and April the emphasis was on finishing the hall [achieved at the end of April] and progressing the ensuite although time was found to complete the study [which was finished by the end of March] and to tile the downstairs toilet.

At the time that this picture on the right was taken the grouting of the ensuite wall tiles had just been completed, albeit without final polishing.

May and its [paid] work plus international travel meant that little was achieved although the ensuite was progressed when possible.

The emphasis in June was on the 16th century oak frame and a change of focus as the ensuite was fully functional [if not complete aesthetically!].

Although various joints were reinforced, the main work on the oak frame was in the dining room where the concrete posts were clad in new but distressed oak and then everything treated to lighten up the wood colour. As can be seen in the picture on the left, the result is very pleasing.

As can also be seen in the picture, work started on the fireplace in the dining room this month with the foundation of the York pavers cast.

The emphasis in July stayed on the dining room with the brickwork for the new fireplace brought close to completion although it took until August 6 to finish it all.

The picture on the right was taken on the last day of the month and shows the oak bressumer beam being fitted, after which the mortar had to cure before the brickwork could be finished a week later.

After that, work was very sporadic and only picked up again – for a few days – when the weather deteriorated for a day or so in late October. It was therefore late November before house work really got going again when the focus was clearly on the 16th century core upstairs and the miniscule larder downstairs. The objectives were to replace the flammable fibreboard skins to the upstairs partitions while also enlarging bedroom 4 by combining the toilet and bathroom and to enlarge the larder to make something usable. Bill the plumber also came in to connect five new radiators to the central heating system, the old ones having been removed much earlier in the year.

Late November and December, or at least those parts of them spent in Peasmarsh, involved some serious demolition and the creation of various new partitions. The picture on the left shows the removal of a concrete lintel in the utility room, an essential precursor to building the new back wall of an expanded larder.

The picture on the right shows the old cast iron bath in the family bathroom part the way through being reduced to small enough pieces for removal.

By the end of December several of the new partitions were well advanced. The aim was to have everything sufficiently complete [but not so much as to hamper the work] to allow the first fix electrical work to be undertaken in the second half of January.

The focus in January was very much on partitions. A decision was taken to use modern oak posts in the corridor upstairs to complement the existing ancient ones. The partitions were ready for the first fix electrical work in the middle of the month and by the end of the month they were complete, awaiting plastering.

This picture shows the work well advanced in bedroom 3. The slab type insulation can be seen in place and the first of the inner skin boards is being fixed, the outer skin having been completed before the first fix.

Brian the plasterer is only available in the first days of March so during February it was a matter of reverting to other work - of which there is a plethora.

Most of the work seems to have been plumbing with the water systems to the family bathroom completed and the shower in the master bedroom ensuite installed and commissioned as seen in this picture [although little more than the control is actually visible, the mixer unit being hidden in the loft].

The garden was again worked on continuously and it was very much a year for architectural garden work with lots of earth moving and construction. It wasn't all progress though with us losing control of some of the glebe land where work had started the previous year to clear the weeds. Bramble is amazingly resilient!

At the end of year two we had started to build the sleeper wall and path along the western walls of the house but were not sure what to do at the south end where a patio next to the orangery was the plan. Work had also started on the gravel bed around Top Pond and on the eastern bed of the entrance. As with the house, those work areas set the themes as spring encouraged a return to gardening drive. Later in the year the southern part of Home Garden, the area around Black Pond and the construction of the dam for the future River Pond at the Chinese Bridge became the main themes.

By the time spring arrived, the plans for the area around the orangery were clear so March and April saw the work progress on that front while the gravel at Top Pond was completed and the sleeper wall was extended towards the patio. A path across the front of the orangery was also started as that was to form the southern edge of the patio. Towards the end of April a new 'boys' toy' was acquired : a tilling machine to help keep control of areas reclaimed from nature.

The picture on the right shows the tiller on its first outing turning over the bed immediately south of Winter Stream.

As with the house, the [paid] work plus international travel in May meant that little was achieved in the garden although a delivery of black pebbles for the paths around the house was received and the excavations around the patio were started.

The theme for June and July was very much the patio and the associated brickwork for the braai [barbecue] and outdoor oven. Early June saw the foundations cast and then, almost immediately, Dave the brickie started work building up brickwork over the weekends. That work was finished by the end of July and we had already had our first braai, as can be seen in the picture on the left.

Not that the rest of the garden was neglected in those two months : we couldn't afford to do that. Of note was the effort that went into starting to recover Black Pond by removing the mass of iris growing in it. There was probably a total of 500 kg wet weight removed, some of which can be seen in the picture on the right. At the same time, a lot of effort went into clearing the scrub behind Black Pond up against the eastern fence and along the downstream banks of Winter Stream.

In August the theme moved to the southern garden and beyond as a 3 ton earth mover was hired for a week. That coincided with the delivery of the parts for the outdoor oven so the patio area was not totally neglected during the month!

Earthmoving started down at Winter Stream below the Chinese Bridge to recover the lovely black topsoil and then form the banks of the future River Pond whilst also sorting out the earth dumps from the orangery work that had lain around the oak tree since then. After that the machine came up to the area immediately south of the orangery and completed the levelling for the future lawn. That created more clay piles on the north bank of Winter Stream but they will have to wait for another year to be dispersed.

It was actually into the first few days of September before the outdoor oven was ready for the drying out fires but by mid-September we had made the first pizzas.

Most of September, however, was spent working on the future lawn to the south of the orangery. That allowed the grass seed to be sown in the first days of October and resulted in a good crop of grass by the time that Winter arrived.

The picture on the left was taken just ten days after sowing the seed.

Much of the rest of the gardening year was spent on building a man cave [sorry, garden shed] in the unkempt area to the east of the driveway.

So, despite a lot of hard work, once again we are even further off track. Hopefully this coming fourth year will see the end of the work on the house and an established Home Garden, at least in part. Accordingly, let's indulge in some forward thinking and establish a 'road map' for the next twelve months :

The house should see a return to some outside work in the rest of 2018 as well as the finishing of the current inside work :

• install a new kitchen [including new flooring];
• decorate the dining room [including carpeting];
• complete the family bathroom upstairs;
• complete bedroom 4;
• complete bedroom 3 [possibly with an ensuite subject to LBC];
• replace the western windows of the kitchen and dining room [LBC already granted];
• construct the porch at the secondary entrance [LBC already granted];
• fit oak doors to the garage [LBC already granted];
• construct a porch at the main entrance [subject to LBC];

The garden should have a year of stabilisation following last year's efforts but there is still construction work to do :

• pave the patio to complete that aspect of the development work;
• construct a sleeper wall on the western boundary of the new lawn;
• complete the rockery and re-establish the pathway down to the Chinese Bridge;
• complete River Pond;
• spread the clay mountains on the north bank of Winter Stream;
• establish the main path from the driveway to the east of the new lawn;
• start the development of a 'game viewing platform' under the oak near River Pond;

Bear with us and come back in twelve months to see if we really have finished the house!