| The Ecohome : First floor kitchen |
|
|
|
|
|
The
Ecohome : First floor kitchen
This room was formerly a separate bathroom and WC. The partition
which separated the two was made of original studwork and wood lath
plastered with hair-reinforced lime plaster.
The old bath was situated in the far corner with a basin between
the window an the partition. The full British 7.5 litre flush WC
was situated against the back wall facing the corridor. An old steel
header tank was supported off the partition and connected to the
old hot water cylinder with lead pipes. The floor was carpeted and
the walls papered and painted.
Firstly, the window reveals were rebuilt
in the same manner as most others throughout the house. The doors
were moved long before the partition was knocked down because of
the header tank it supported. This tank could not be removed until
the new hot water system was operational, otherwise there would
have been no hot water. Once the tank was taken down, the lathes
were stripped off carefully for reuse. The roof received the substructure
for the insulation, 300mm (12") thick on the slope. The flat
portion of the ceiling was left in place throughout the landing
and received 400mm (16") of the same above it, installed from
the loft hatch in Bathroom 1.
As in the Family Room directly below, the
junction between the party wall and the exterior wall has been clad
in zero ozone depleting phenolic foam backed plasterboard, to reduce
the cold bridge.
The newly constructed ceiling structure was
underclad with the recovered wood lathes, matching the existing
construction on the flat part.
Claytec Undercoat was used as the base coat directly onto these
lathes, a process similar to traditional wattle and daub, so that
the performance and suitability of the material could be observed.
As the lathes are absorbent, cracking in the plaster occurred as
they dried - overall, the technique was found to be effective, if
more labour-intensive. Tierrafino was used once again as the finish
coat - this time sponged. The fourth and final heat recovery fan
was installed and the dipped skirtings put back up.
Penney and Gil's old fridge/freezer was fitted
with a SavaPlug and set up in here for use by the lodgers. The only
remaining gas appliance in the house - the cooker which came with
the house - was connected in here.
The sink has been reused from the former kitchen next door as a
temporary measure, while the plywood worktop was put together from
site surplus - again for temporary use.
The floor will be covered with linoleum as
in the bathrooms and the sink and worktop units will be renewed.
Continue
the tour >>
|
|
|
|
|
|
