Renovating existing buildings: always exciting

As is typical with flexible planning, first it was considered how to proceed. It was clear that something had to be done against moisture from below. After a long discussion, we decided against a foil and opted for a capillary-breaking layer instead. Gravel would possibly have been the most authentic, but I refused to carry 3 cubic meters (4.5 tons?) of gravel into the house, so the choice fell on Glapor glass foam gravel, this time carried in buckets through the window. In the end, three loads (logically, three cubic meters) were needed...

The fitting had to be improvised because our predecessor had converted the door into a sliding door and therefore cut off a part, namely the one with the original fitting. Our carpenter "reassembled" it and had the fitting forged by a friend.

The next step was done entirely by my husband; I would have gone crazy with all the puzzle-like work. Two layers of OSB boards were laid floating. What no one dared to hope for: the floor was perfectly level afterwards.

Very nice this thread! We also belong to the old building/renovation faction. When I have more time, I can gladly contribute pictures of our little house from 1921. Since we are almost finished with the renovation, I can already draw the following conclusion: We neither had a terrible layout (it's just small but nice), nor other things like major mishaps. We had no mold spots, no structural damage to the house. Fortunately, our house was not over-renovated, so for example, we still have the original attic door, the original stairs. We have a brick building combined with timber framing and wooden beam ceilings, in the [DG] with beautiful visible beams, a vaulted cellar with an old pigsty. Our cellar is a damp cellar. So not a moist cellar, but a cellar where high humidity is deliberately maintained, because food was stored there in the past. We have kept it that way as well. There is no mold there and it is almost always the same temperature in summer and winter. Sure, not everything is exactly straight, but you don't expect that in an old building either.

I'm curious to see more from you!

Ah, we also found a long-forgotten window, namely in the kitchen where we renewed the plaster for the tile backsplash and electrical work. I also saw that in the construction file. And something like very old newspaper papers, from 1933 for example, somewhere in cracks near the door frames for instance.

Oh yes, please another thread like this, it’s really exciting!

My brother renovated an old farmhouse from the 17th century – that was partly very exciting as well (not always pleasantly exciting, but exciting – I already know about the issue with the no longer usable beams in the floor. Only with my brother, the monument protection office was after every rotten beam).

Oh yes, Winniefred, I would be happy to see pictures! And nice that you only "found" beautiful things. But I have to say, really nasty disasters haven’t happened here either. As trained children of a new housing estate, we first had to learn how to deal with an old building (and, for example, a damp basement). Climbee, a farmhouse of 16Äppelstückchen would be a bit too much for me. I'll just finish the renovation quickly and then finally shut up

There was also the thing with the window (I’ve photoshopped out the carpenter, I don’t know if he wants to be online). What can I say, it was done in half a day.