Tuesday was about ripping out fixtures and fittings,
old plumbing
and floor tiles
On Wed walls started to come down, they removed a little false wall that was around the safe and discovered the original safe door...so then there was two.
This is the one I could always see...it was made in Iceland by Lands Miðian
On the other side there is the older and smaller of the two doors and it was made in the UK
More can be read here about the history of the Withers family of safe makers.
This is a small town and news seems to travel fast, no sooner had the door been uncovered (literally minutes) that a gentleman approached me to purchase it and also rang a friend who would be interested in buying the larger door. These gentleman are firearm collectors and are in the process of building special secure rooms to house their collections. We made a deal, shook hands and they came back after work to remove the two doors....easier said than done...it took them 5.5hrs of constant hammering and cutting before they finally drove the forklift away with them. I am very happy that a little of the town's history is preserved locally.
here one minute gone the next several hours later.
The red steel vertical beam in the middle has to be removed and replaced with another in a different position, we tried to work the designs around it but in the end decided it would be better to remove, albeit more expensive.
over the next couple of days it was more of the same removing walls and floor tiles
doors, door frames and window frames where the windows are being replaced with a new approved fire escape version.
The old personal post boxes have been removed...not sure what I am going to do with these...I have all the keys....anyone got any ideas what they could be used for???
It has been a little hard to concentrate as the noise is constant but I am
of course happy to put up with it as it means we are moving steadily forward. If you want a reminder of what it looked like before go here.
Enjoy your weekend!
Jeepers! That's one mammoth task! I dips me lid to yer, especially as you have classes to run and an edition to complete!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, that's a lovely space and I look forward to seeing what you do.
Thanks Diana, however I have a feeling the BAO edition may cause me more angst than the renovations.
DeleteCan you sell the PO Boxes? Are they a collectables like the safe doors? Maybe the new post office is interested in them? Would be worth asking. Other wise you could take the doors off and make it some kind of pigeon hole. I think they are farely ugly though? ;)
ReplyDeleteNearly gave the PO Boxes away...but that fell through...so still working on a solution...don't want to see them end up in the skip bin.
DeleteYou are a fearless remodeler!
ReplyDeleteIt is a little scary Jon as this is the first time I have taken on a project this size.
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