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House renovation in Dundalk

Our customer wanted to renovate her terraced house in Dundalk, Co. Louth. She needed a carpenter to redo the roof and the ceilings upstairs, fit new floors, renovate the bathroom and kitchen, and make bespoke fitted wardrobes. We describe below how all the work was done and show some photos:

I enclosed some photos of the work carried out by Anthony and his brother Ciaran two gentlemen, great workers and very reliable, their work, and time spent on the property did not go unnoticed with neighbours etc., the photos don't even do the work they carried out justice that they did on my home in Dundalk, my house had compete renovations and Anthony and Ciaran did the majority of the work over eight weeks which included a complete new roof on the house, which is a three storey house, and the shed roof repaired, new floors and ceilings all upstairs, a new kitchen ceiling and new walls in the kitchen, the floor dug up in the kitchen as the new kitchen was been moved, and repaired walls etc., after the electrician rewired, they also insulated the attic, put a floor and stira stairs in it. Anthony worked very much with me and came up with great ideas, quotations were very detailed also including all material etc. I can not recommend them and their work enough, I was more than pleased with them and how professional they were. Work also included two beautiful built in wardrobes painted and finished to a very high standard and some walls were drylined including a press under the stairs beside the back door with new doors. Well done to Anthony and Ciaran for all the work carried out as it was a big project, but they handled everything very well.

- Catriona Mc Bride

Kitchen Renovation

This kitchen was in the basement. All the outer walls had to come out. The dampness was so bad that when the old kitchen units came out, the plasterboards practically fell off the wall and the timber in the wall was like paper. There was also an old varnished tongue and groove ceiling in the kitchen which our client wanted taken out. We decided to go with plasterboard to make the kitchen look brighter as it was very dull being in the basement.

After everything was stripped we painted the outer concrete walls with a Sika waterproof coating to try and stop the dampness from coming through again. We built a timber wall out of 3x2 timber spaced every 400 mm. We then used the 50 mm insulated boards between the uprights. The walls were made of stone and they were cold and damp. We were hoping the foil on the insulation board would prevent some of the dampness from coming through.

When the old ceiling came down we got 100mm earthwool and stuffed as much as possible between the joists. When the new window went in we made 2 timber walls on either side of the window to make it square. We made a window board, window surround and architrave from MDF and fitted it. We then plasterboarded everything and went with a tape and joint finish.

Here the tongue and groove ceiling had been pulled down and a new timber wall with 50mm insulation board was installed.

Bathroom Renovation

The bathroom was a complete renovation. After the plumber stopped the water, all the bathroom fixtures were dumped and we stripped all tiles off the walls, all old timber walls and floors. We built new timber walls all around and insulated them and the floors with 100mm insulation. The floor had 18mm marine plywood put down. The walls and ceiling were done with moisture resistant plasterboard.

Wooden Floors

We used 10mm grey oak laminate floors in two bedrooms and an upstairs hallway. We had some moisture resistant MDF leftover, so we ripped them down to 125mm with the table saw to make the skirting boards and put a 45º chamfer on the top face edge of the skirting. We then fitted the skirting to the walls on top of the floor.

New Roof

The roof of this house had dry rot and was infested with woodworm. All slates, felt and timber was stripped off right down to the wall plate. All the plastered ceilings also came down with the joists. The wall plates were sprayed with woodworm killer before the new timber went on.

We did our new joists out of 5x2 spaced every 400mm. These were nailed into the wall plate and the wooden partitions dividing the bedrooms. We had to cut all our rafters at different sizes because the building was off square. These were also spaced every 400mm and nailed into the wall plate, ceiling joists and the 7x1 ridge board. We then plummed a line up to the rafters and cut out the bird's mouth for purlings. We used a 5m length of 6x3 and fixed it to the underside of the rafters. The purlings rested on the stone walls and were filled with brick and mortar, with a 3x2 timber supporting wall underneath. We put 18mm plywood on top of the 5x2 joists, wall plate to wall plate for attic storage.

Breathable membrane was used across the rafters and counter battened with 2x1 for the slates. We used black 30x60cm supercem slates and 105-degree ridge tiles. We installed 4 slate vents to help the air circulate in the roof to prevent moisture build-up, and also half round gutter at the front and back of the house. The underside of the ceiling joists was counter battened with 2x2.

Roof insulation

In between the new rafters we put 50mm insulation boards, from the ridge board right down to the wall plate. These were cut with a hand saw and wedged between the rafters. In between the new joists we used 100mm earthwool. We cut pieces 400mm wide and pushed as much as we could between the joists. The fact that we counter battened the ceiling joists with 2x2 stopped the insulation from falling out.

Attic Storage

When we were making the roof we put down our 18mm construction plywood on top of the new joists from wall plate to wall plate. Our purlings then sat on top of the plywood. This way all the attic area had plywood. If we were to do this later on, it would have been more difficult to get our plywood up to the attic. We also left an opening for the attic ladder which we installed later on.

Wardrobes

Our client was looking for two bespoke fitted wardrobes, one unit in the bedroom and one at the top of the stairs. I was given a photograph of the style she was looking for, now it was up to us to make it. In the bedroom, we decided to go with a wardrobe 1.2m wide by 2.2m in height. It had 2 full doors, 2 half doors and 3 drawers. We decided that the inside carcass was going to be white melamine and the doors, cornice, gables and plinths would be done from moisture resistant MDF.

After all our measurements were taken, the melamine was cut to size using a table saw. All edges that would be seen had white PVC edging glued on to cover the chipboard. Each unit was made 60cm wide by 2.1 high. After everything was cut to size I got 2 tops and bottoms and the gables and screwed them together (pilot the holes with a 2mm bit then screw it to stop unnecessary damage to the edges) keeping all the edged sides facing up from the ground. Next, I flipped the box over with the edging facing down and was careful not to damage it.

I got the back piece and placed it on top of the box, kept the top of the back and the top of the box flush, and screwed them. Then I screwed one full gable that would make the unit square and screwed the rest. I screwed the adjustable 100mm legs to the bottom of the unit and stood it upright and made another unit identical to this one. Now that I had 2 units I put a filler gable between the two and screwed them together to make one unit 1.2m wide by 2.2m high.

On the left side of the unit, I put 4 shelves at the top and 3 drawers at the bottom with soft closing 500mm drawer runners. On the right side, I put one shelf for shoes at the bottom, 2 chrome clothes rails and a shelf at the top.

When all the MDF was cut to size, all sides visible would be chamfered and sanded (doors, drawer fronts, cornices and plinths). I got the doors and drilled 35mm holes for our soft closing hinges, slotted them in and screwed them to the doors.

All doors, drawer fronts, cornices and plinths were fixed on the unit to make sure everything was right before painting. We always use moisture resistant MDF. It does not absorb as much paint as standard MDF and is much better to work with when using the router. Everything was marked and numbered then the whole unit was dismantled to make it easier to transport.

When all the MDF was chamfered and sanded, whatever holes or joints could be seen were filled with hardener and soft filler. Everything was sanded with 120 and 240-grit sandpaper until the surfaces were smooth, and then the dust was blown off and wiped with a cloth.

First, I applied the MDF primer to the MDF and when it was dry, I went over it all again with 240 grit sandpaper and filled any more holes or joints that needed filling (when the first coat of primer is on, it makes holes or defects more visible).

Next, I put the first coat of paint on (Fleetwood moonlight grey) and after this was dry I went over everything lightly with a 240 grit sandpaper to help the next coat grip. This process was done another two times fixing any defects along the way until I was satisfied with the finish.

All finished doors, drawer fronts and cornice plinths were wrapped up in dust sheets and placed carefully into the van alongside the melamine carcass. Everything was transported to the client's house to be assembled. The wardrobe on the landing was almost identical, the difference being that I had 3 drawers, 2 shelves, 1 shoe shelf and one clothes rail.

Ceiling and walls

On the ceilings, we used a standard 12mm plasterboard. We screwed them to the 2x2 counter-battens with 32mm drywall screws. We decided to use a tape and joint finish.