German Country Cottage Refurbishment – 12 Jul to 9 Sep 2021
Our latest project was the refurbishment of a country cottage in the north of Germany, which we managed in 8 weeks. The 1 bedroom cottage had remained vacant for the previous 18 months and had clearly not been shown any TLC for a long time before that.
The images below cover the majority of “before” and “after” details. On the first day we decided to tile the complete cottage (this hadn’t been planned) and were fortunate to get a great deal on a job lot of tiles. Some of the walls had to be taken back to brickwork to allow damp to escape. Some of the wood cladding was removed, particularly in the living room and bedroom and some of the exposed walls behind it had to be rendered again.
In the bathroom, the only original item remaining is the sink. Tiling of the walls was completed and the tiles that were on the floor removed and replaced with new. A new toilet, shower, shower door, cabinet and heated towel rail were installed. The doorframe was completed with timber. New lights were also fitted – in every room.
In the kitchen, the mains water was at such a high pressure (7 or 8 bar) that a pressure regulator had to be installed. Cold water and waste pipes were extended through an internal wall to allow for a washing machine to be installed in the porch area. Upcycled kitchen cabinets were installed and bespoke shelving built from timber panels. The chimney walls were renewed and 4 historic holes through to the chimney sealed off. The base of the chimney was raised by about 20cm with mortar to prevent any rain ingress reaching the base of the surrounding walls.
All doorframes throughout the cottage were smaller than the holes in the walls so these were built up with mortar and/or plasterboard.
In the bedroom all walls and ceiling were sealed and painted and the old floor ripped out and re-tiled. In the living room the fireplace was installed (first fireplace we’ve done),the walls completed and painted and everything tiled.
The cottage into which previous visitors had refused to enter is now a cosy, warm and tastefully decorated (we think so) home from home in the far north of Germany. Future work will include fitting skirting boards and adding some colour through paint but will predominantly be outside. Landscaping the garden, building a terrace and spa area are next on the list for 2022.
The Cottage
Bathroom door frame before
Bathroom door frame after
Bedroom before
Bedroom after
Bedroom after – another angle
Side of chimney as we found it
Chimney corner before
Chimney with plasterboard
Chimney and kitchen sideboard
Chimney corner as we found it
Chimney corner after with refurbished sideboard
Installing the fireplace – hole for chimney
Chimney installed with heatproof mortar
Fire working
The kitchen area – before
New pressure regulator (blue) installed – water pressure too high
Kitchen build in progress
Kitchen area complete
Bathroom door frame onto shower area – before
Bathroom door frame onto shower area – completed
Toilet area before – rough render and wood panelling
Tiling the toilet area
Toilet area complete
Living room before – plaster board and exposed cement
Living room area complete
All ceilings were painted to brighten the cottage
Painting ceilings and walls
Reclaimed doors and frames installed
Bathroom finished less skirting board
Bathroom finished
Completed living room
