We’ve had our property in Dunoon for a few months now, and I’m sure some of you are wondering what we’ve actually been doing. We’ve decided to start writing intermittent progress reports to update everyone on our developments. Progress Report #1: Nov-Dec 2018 When Cal first visited Jameswood with our good friends Barry and Dexter, they had a difficult time reaching the front door of the building. The grounds were overgrown with a wide variety of bushes, trees and weeds and some ferns had even managed to take root inside the building. Nature had truly taken over.
We can now walk around the house!
On days where it was bucketing down, we had plenty to do inside the house – where our holey roof provided us with a little protection from the rain. The apartments had been left fully furnished… with soggy, mouldy couches and mattresses, broken furniture and decades-old appliances. After more than five runs to the dump, with our Ford Transit filled to the brim, we are getting to know the friendly staff at Dunoon’s local tip and gradually clearing the trash that has been left on the property. Click photos to view full size. Before we can start fixing the house, we also have to clear out the crumbling wet plaster that lines Jameswood’s walls. Property development tv shows make this job look easy. Their montages of knocking down walls with sledge hammers and bringing a house back to its bones look fun and exciting! I’ve now found out that plaster is dustier and heavier than I could ever have imagined! And getting rid of the mouldy, wet insulation sitting behind the walls and ceilings can be a very itchy endeavour! Bucket by bucket, and with plenty of help from our friends, we’ve managed to bring our apartments back to the studs, and in the process, we’ve also collected a lifetime supply of kindling produced by the lath! Clearing the land and the house has been A LOT of hard work, but we’ve managed to have a lot of fun in the process. Cal and I are really enjoying having nature right here on our doorstep, and have managed to take a few days off to explore and hike in the area. Little by little, the property is starting to look less like a haunted house in a spooky, overgrown forest, and more like a proper building site. Now that we’ve prepped Jameswood Villa, we’re excited to start actual restoration work in the coming weeks!
Thank you for joining us, as we take on Jameswood Villa! What Have We Dunoon Blog by Claire Segeren is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Based on a work at whathavewedunoon.weebly.com.
61 Comments
Carroll
2/5/2019 03:06:23 am
Well done we live about a mile from you and have seen your amazing progress
Reply
Claire
2/6/2019 06:49:21 am
Thank you Carroll!
Reply
Paul Ashton
2/5/2019 04:19:03 am
Great to see your blog. You must be very brave or barmy, or maybe a bit of both 😄
Reply
Claire
2/6/2019 06:51:32 am
We're definitely a bit of both Paul! But we LOVE the area. I'm from Toronto, Canada, and Cal grew up in Hull and Bristol. We are so glad we moved to such a friendly and beautiful community!
Reply
Margaret Smith
2/5/2019 05:55:56 am
What an undertaking!!! I admire your determination and look forward to seeing how the work progresses. I've seen this house lying for so long. Best wishes for the next stage of your venture.
Reply
Claire
2/6/2019 06:53:13 am
Thank you Margaret! It really means a lot to us to have so much support from the Dunoon community.
Reply
Sophie Houston
2/5/2019 06:03:06 am
Wow! Wish we had a tenth of your energy - we've been renovating our Dunoon flat for 13 years and still haven't finished! I moved here from Manchester and it was the best decision I ever made. Lots of luck, and let's hope for a good spring and summer so you can work in nicer conditions!
Reply
Claire
2/6/2019 06:56:13 am
Thank you for the support Sophie!
Reply
Margaret Smith
2/5/2019 06:06:11 am
What an undertaking!! I admire your determination. Good luck with the venture - I look forward to seeing your progress.
Reply
Renata
2/5/2019 09:06:23 am
From Dallas Texas, I will be watching your progress as your home comes back to life. Thank you for posting as I love the dunoon area. I wish they would post castle toward progress also. Renata
Reply
Claire
2/6/2019 07:00:21 am
Thank you for your support Renata!
Reply
Joanne Helme
2/5/2019 05:14:54 pm
I see you are not wearing masks for this work. please reconsider for the sake of your health. you have a lot of dusty work to do yet!
Reply
Claire
2/6/2019 06:59:20 am
We have a bucket-load of masks, and Cal and I always wear them while doing dusty tasks inside the house - but I see now that our friends who came to help us didn't keep theirs on!
Reply
Harry Dalton
2/14/2019 12:10:41 pm
My wife rented an upper flat in Jameswood about 30 years ago and the floors were like a roller-coaster then.My kids,unbeknown to me at the time,played in the derelict building about 15 years ago.Good to see it being renovated, Good -luck with your project!
Reply
Claire
2/19/2019 02:26:56 am
I think all the neighbours houses have had the same problem with the floors at some point in time! It's because the sleeper walls were built onto the top soil, instead of being placed on sturdier ground below.
Reply
Lisa Rose-Hawkins
3/18/2019 05:57:10 pm
Congratulations and prayers for a safe and successful restoration from Abilene, Texas! What a wonderful gift to you both and wow...such an adventure. I can’t wait to see and hear more about this awesome house and it being brought back to life!
Reply
Claire
3/19/2019 05:13:24 am
Thank you so much for your kind, positive support! We really appreciate it!
Reply
Andrew
3/18/2019 10:27:33 pm
Is the itchy insulation glass wool or asbestos?
Reply
Claire
3/19/2019 05:12:17 am
The itchy nature of the insulation actually helps confirm that it's fibreglass!
Reply
Hmm. Being from Toronto, you should know how dangerous asbestos is. But it's only dangerous if exposed to the air. It's often in linoleum floors and insulation around pipes.
Emma
3/22/2019 04:44:36 pm
Wow, just came across the article about you and your ‘mishap’ purchase. Well done you guys for knuckling down with the renovations. I wish you all the best.
Reply
Sheila Paxson
5/31/2019 06:18:29 am
Oh how proud and concerned this Mama Bear is Althea way from Indiana (just south of Lake Michigan) I only wish I were there to help! Even though I’m up there in years and have too many health issues, talk of French drains, scaffolding, and caravanning all bring longing. So keep us updated, be careful, rest, and enjoy your adventure!!!
Reply
Sarai Johnson
6/23/2019 11:48:22 am
Thank you for restoring this place. What is the history of the site? When was it first built?
Reply
Michele Alessandrini
6/24/2019 10:00:08 am
Life throws us curve balls all the time. You two won the curve ball lottery. I love how you have embraced your new found destiny. Thank you for documenting all your achievements along the way to home. Being a DIY person myself I can really appreciate all of your hard work and taking on tasks that you have never done before. Consider me one of your cheerleaders. I will be checking in on your progress. I wish you much success and sunshine from Canton, Ohio USA.
Reply
Andy
6/25/2019 04:36:22 am
Crikey, you should have put it straight back up for auction when you saw it and taken whatever loss you had to and learned the lesson. Hope it all works out for you though, I can't even imagine taking that on.
Reply
Sharon Pearson
6/26/2019 12:56:57 am
Wow, what a mammoth taste you have taken on. Here in Australia we complain about the heat and clay soil, The cold, rain, mud and living in a caravan is just so amazing. The end will be worth it, and you will be so proud of the work done. I wish you well in bringing her back to her glory days.
Reply
6/26/2019 12:42:31 pm
I can not imagine how you two had the energy and the desire for such a task. You two are amazing young people . I would love to see it when you are completely done. What a accomplishment it will be to have it completed. .Since you two have gone through this you can handle anything together. I am totally amazed !!!
Reply
Lisa Richards
7/25/2019 08:22:27 am
Good luck from northern Minnesota! :)
Reply
William Shaw
11/1/2020 03:04:43 pm
Please show more pictures. I cannot get enough pictures of your progress. You are doing such a great job and I love how you are dealing with the authorities (building warrent guys). Good job!!
Reply
4/1/2021 05:43:19 am
Awesome work. I have bought and renovated two derelict houses one of which the woman had several dogs that never went outside so all toilet functions were performed inside ! We had to remove all the joists and floorboards as a start, the other one had been empty for years and all the local cats made it their meeting place and pigeons had taken over the top floor and roof space. Really enjoying your blog and cant wait for the next update and to see the finished product.
Reply
Hel Cruse
6/7/2021 05:32:12 am
Just found you via BBC - Did you have to make a purchase for the other TWO parts of Jameswood house? What would you have done if someone else had purchased a part of it?
Reply
9/5/2022 10:07:09 am
Really informative article, I had the opportunity to learn a lot, thank you. https://freecodezilla.net/xenforo-free-download/
Reply
9/11/2022 01:28:43 pm
Really informative article, I had the opportunity to learn a lot, thank you. https://kurma.website/
Reply
9/14/2022 07:31:13 pm
Really informative article, I had the opportunity to learn a lot, thank you. https://bit.ly/site-kurma
Reply
9/30/2022 07:21:50 am
It's great to have this type of content. Good luck with your spirit. Thank you. https://bit.ly/site-kurma
Reply
10/4/2022 10:07:27 pm
I think this post is useful for people. It has been very useful for me. Looking forward to the next one, thank you. https://escortnova.com/escort-ilanlari/kahramanmaras-escort/
Reply
10/5/2022 05:27:29 am
It was a post that I found very successful. Good luck to you. https://escortnova.com/escort-ilanlari/erzurum-escort/horasan-escort/
Reply
10/5/2022 11:51:37 pm
I follow your posts closely. I can find it thanks to your reliable share. Thank you. https://escortnova.com/escort-ilanlari/ankara-escort/cankaya-escort/
Reply
10/6/2022 11:09:45 am
I support your continuation of your posts. I will be happy as new posts come. Thank you. https://escortnova.com/escort-ilanlari/balikesir-escort/marmara-escort/
Reply
10/7/2022 02:57:27 am
I think the content is at a successful level. It adds enough information. Thank you. https://escortnova.com/escort-ilanlari/bursa-escort/gursu-escort/
Reply
11/21/2022 05:03:59 am
Sitemizi ziyaret et ve evden is imkanina bak: https://sites.google.com/view/evden-ek-is/
Reply
12/9/2022 05:24:13 am
Düşmeyen bot takipçi satın al: https://takipcialdim.com/
Reply
12/15/2022 04:59:03 am
takipçi satın al ve sitemizi ziyaret et: https://takipcim.com.tr/
Reply
4/27/2023 04:46:27 pm
Steroid Satın Al: https://www.anabolickapinda14.com/urun/
Reply
8/9/2023 06:32:48 am
Steroid Siparis Steroid Fiyatlari Steroidler Anabolizan Orjinal Steroid Steroid Satis Steroid Satın Al Steroid Siparis Et
Reply
9/4/2023 10:55:28 pm
We believe that building relationships through honest communication and providing outstanding service is as important as the projects we construct.
Reply
12/20/2023 05:15:28 am
Great article Lot's of information to Read...Great Man Keep Posting and update to People..Thanks
Reply
Leave a Reply. |