work to do

In brief, the work which needs done is fairly fundamental...

• central heating to be installed (firstly though, gas needs to be brought to the house, not as awful as that sounds as it is already on the street).
• rewiring. If you take off a plug cover scary fabric covered wires wave out at you.
• a steel beam supporting half of the kitchen floor has corroded beyond saving, so needs replaced. This isn't quite as awful as it sounds as there is a basement area, accessed from outside where these beams can be worked on
• bathroom and WC needed knocked together and bathroom redone
• the central window of the bay in the livingroom is held together with some sort of Heath Robinson style arrangement of a bit of wood (looks like a table leg to me) and an old wire coat hanger. I applaud the imagination of the previous occupants but it is not terribly effective as (a) a secure means of shutting the window, (b) an efficient way of preventing draughts or (c) a design feature. Therefore, the bay in the livingroom and a few other windows need replaced with something nicer than the cheap uPVC currently in place. All the windows need done in due course, but we can't afford it and it is hardly essential.
• Damp proof course, or DPC to those in the know
• Wood worm treatment. You're getting a bit itchy thinking about that one, eh?!
• Something needs done to the kitchen.
• The outside toilet should probably go.

So there we have it. We had been looking at houses for quite some time (eg a year +) when we bought this one and in all the other properties even the prospect of repainting the front door was slightly challenging for me. So, it is with some surprise that I found myself agreeing on this house, which will require such a major overhaul. I should add that I am no stranger to a pasting table etc, but the work on this place is not what I thought I would be drawn to.

In the end, when all the above is done, it is going to be a cracker house. When I initially showed it to my sister she said it was "massive, ugly and overpriced". Don't hold back, eh. The SO on the other hand, said that it was the ugliest house he had ever seen and would not, I repeat, Would NOT be prepared to view it. I hope the doom merchants will be proven wrong at the end of the day...