The house my first husband & I bought, the same thing had been done. 1970's cover ups. Thankfully only cover ups! Ignoring the architects ideas of ripping out old cupboards and triplex range, we rolled up our sleeves and set to. What we had in the end was beautiful pine doors & cupboards and a gorgeous range that was lovely and kept 3 rooms and a bedroom above toasty warm. Well worth the effort. The marriage didn't last, but my ex still lives there with his wife and reckons they'll carry him out in a box. Nice pine one I assume!
Nothing beautiful: squeaks like hell, crevasses are tricky to hoover. I just count the days to change something similar into the single, metal stringer type stairs
I feel your pain. Our Victorian house was 'modernised' in early 70's. With cement pointing and cement render outside and gypsum inside. They ruined the fireplaces for gas and back boilers. Put in a dreadful arch to link the front parlour to the back room and bricked up the hall doorway. They smashed off all the stone and brick cills and then blocked up every vent in the basement and concreted the basement floor. Love the channel and it inspires me to continue to try and reinstate what was butchered.
It is a similar story here with the fireplaces, doors, cellar and of course cement everywhere! We will get through it all bit by bit! At least no asbestos, here at least!
This kind of butchering is still occurring. Some times in listed places too. It comes down to people who don’t understand or those that do and just want to make a quick coin.
My house is 1919, so was built quickly and without too much architectural detail but importantly it was built solidly. I was fortunate enough that when I prised the glossed hardboard off the banister the original spindles and rails were still there, untouched by the philistines. It did take many applications of Nitromors to strip off the layers of brown creosote etc. but I got there in the end and put a few coats of Danish oil on the bare wood and it looks lovely. Plain, but lovely. Unfortunately the original doors (I know they were 4-panel doors, an identical house across the road still had them but replaced them with cheap modern doors... wish I'd asked to buy the originals!!!) and the living room and dining room fireplaces are long gone, but the bedroom fireplaces are still original and looking splendid (chimneys are not functional though, I had to make a concession to modernity there!)
Fair play mate! Nice job on your hands there! I’ve just had to paint a great big staircase to a very dark blue..... almost black, from a stained finish.... 2 coats of zinnser bin, one undercoat and two satinwood coats to finish. 34 spiral spindles and 4 newel posts with strings and hand rails and treads and risers.... I’m seeing stairs in my sleep! Yours will look amazing when your done!
Paint job has been a challenge here too. Although did end up spraying all the spindles and fitting pre finished, which I am hoping will be much easier in the long run! Dark blue stairs sound interesting, think we will keep simple on white for now!
@@plaidshirt9955 Railings like that on interior stairways were very common in tract houses here in the USA, especially split-level and split-entry houses. They were sort of a poor-man's version of the nicely crafted brass and nickle railings that were common in Hollywood, but manufacturers tempted fate by making them as thin and flimsy as possible. They more-or-less worked, but people got tired of looking at them so, even in many 1960s houses, you see traditional wooden replacements.
Love those original floor tiles. They deserve the correct staircase, don't they! My husband has done all this in our first house, and our present home. He went next door to our neighbour and took photos of their staircase as it was original, and was then able to reconstruct the finish. SO worthwhile! Thanx, brought back many memories! X
Those are going to be amazing when you’re done! Our stairs in the stone house are pine I think.. we’re probably going to replace with some salvaged oak or hickory. Great work!
The 50s, 60s and 70s were the worst time in history for wrecking architectural features. In my 1950s house the staircase railings were originally build of a rough frame and hardboard facing. There was never any feature to it. We took it all out and replaced it with spindles etc but our joiner hated us for it because the way the stairs were constructed meant it was a very difficult job!
I believe this was the first video I watched on your channel. Since then I’ve been hooked and went back watching it from the start. I’ve just now rewatched this one. I have to say I love what your doing. As a DIYer myself it’s great to see you going through the same problem solving I’ve gone through although you are much more professional then me. Keep it going. I’ve almost caught up. Should only be a few days now 👍🏻
I had a similar experience in our house (built 1874), fireplaces removed downstairs but easily replaced, the upstairs were boarded over, as were all the original pine panelled doors, but at least they protected them for the time they were on them.
When watching this video it was exactly the same in our Victorian Terrace House - done in exactly the same fashion bar the fact that the previous owner hard boarded over the whole stairs and painted it - we are again going through and restoring
No fortunately the only poured concrete over a 1/4 of it, the rest was under two layers of carpet. We spotted it when we viewed the property and it was one of the many selling points. (even though rather cold under foot in the morning!)
You have no idea how hard I searched to find those Minton tiles in Canada and if not the real thing, I would have settled for any sort of square/triangle shapes. I wouldn't buy from the US because of customs/shipping costs, and my refusal to ever enter that country... Since our house is 1950's but the furniture is all Victorian, I ended up doing a modern take on the patchwork idea. Our tile setter was a real trooper, and cut the shapes from large 1 x 2' tiles to make a patchwork that I designed. The result is a nice compromise between two centuries. Anyway, loving what you are doing and there's a lot on your channel to catch up on.
I'm not sure where you are but in the US a stair rail must be continues all the way to the top of the stairs. Continues and unbroken. that means that once the hand rail reaches the second floor line it must offset and continue up the wall to the top floor or landing. You will want to use a horizontal offset and wall brackets. I am a carpenter and have built numerous stair cases.
Building codes vary by states and municipalities. However, in general, a stairway handrail only has to be provided on ONE SIDE. This means he could have a continuous handrail on the opposite wall and meet the building code and does not have to build in an offset etc. I am a retired building inspector and have inspected numerous commercial and residential construction projects for compliance with building codes.
Similar here I think. We will be mounting a matching (or similar) hardwood handrail up the full length of the stairs on the wall side. Due to the ceiling and stair line it would have taken some quite bespoke work to step the handrail in and out to keep it continuous.
Yes, the craze for 'modernisation' has a lot to answer for. I well remember panelled doors covered in hardboard, picture rails and cornices being ripped out and Barry Bucknell (or whatever his name was) on television showing how 'mushroom' gloss made thing look 'modern'. Sadly it still goes on. Fad after fad, fuelled by the crazy urge to keep 'upgrading' and commercialism. .
You have to remember that when all that work was done in the 60's it was a modern makeover. It was how houses were revamped. in 50 years time if the house is still standing what will be someones idea of modernisation ???
I feel the pain... the house that my husband and I purchased is either the oldest, or second oldest in our small town... fireplaces bricked up, the old servants stairs blocked off, horrible kitchen added on at some point, and the upgrades over the years(decades) you can actually see when it was done. There’s shag carpet, dark hardwood paneling, gold and white colors in all of the bathrooms, and even a very unfortunate shower stall in a bedroom corner. When I say in the corner I don’t mean that there was a full bathroom, I just mean somebody jammed a shower stall in the corner of the bedroom with the biggest surround windows in the whole house.. Lots of work to do still, as anyone with an older home can attest too. Although I do laugh at the sight of the electricians face when he noted that the whole house was being run on an electrical box made for a toaster...
@@catinbowler3387 Wikipedia says it was in production in France during the 1860s and introduced to the USA (and presumably other countries) during that decade.
I just hate modern day architecture, it is so squared off. I like natural woods, Victorian scrolling architecture is is just so interesting to look at, very beautiful.
not all old houses are that good, even when they were new, I have worked on lots of old houses, and have seen lots of really bad things, very shallow foundations, some internal load bearing walls sitting on a bit of 4" x 2" wood, gone rotten, take the plaster off, and see that the 9" solid flemish bond brickwork does not tally with external facade, " gerry built " just for profit for the developer, who could not care less.most terraced house are holding each other up, but there are well built places as well. lots of victorian / edwardian houses, are more interested in the front facade, looking fancy, than quality, a reflection of the mind set of that era, more interested in their image, than the truth.
The house my first husband & I bought, the same thing had been done. 1970's cover ups. Thankfully only cover ups! Ignoring the architects ideas of ripping out old cupboards and triplex range, we rolled up our sleeves and set to. What we had in the end was beautiful pine doors & cupboards and a gorgeous range that was lovely and kept 3 rooms and a bedroom above toasty warm. Well worth the effort. The marriage didn't last, but my ex still lives there with his wife and reckons they'll carry him out in a box. Nice pine one I assume!
Do you have a kitchen range??
What a beautiful old wooden stair. I can see what it used to be. I truly hate people who destroy such beautiful craftsmanship and call it improvement.
Nothing beautiful: squeaks like hell, crevasses are tricky to hoover. I just count the days to change something similar into the single, metal stringer type stairs
I like the way you interact with your children and explain stuff to them.
I feel your pain.
Our Victorian house was 'modernised' in early 70's.
With cement pointing and cement render outside and gypsum inside. They ruined the fireplaces for gas and back boilers. Put in a dreadful arch to link the front parlour to the back room and bricked up the hall doorway.
They smashed off all the stone and brick cills and then blocked up every vent in the basement and concreted the basement floor.
Love the channel and it inspires me to continue to try and reinstate what was butchered.
It is a similar story here with the fireplaces, doors, cellar and of course cement everywhere! We will get through it all bit by bit! At least no asbestos, here at least!
The Restoration Couple
This kind of butchering is still occurring. Some times in listed places too. It comes down to people who don’t understand or those that do and just want to make a quick coin.
My house is 1919, so was built quickly and without too much architectural detail but importantly it was built solidly. I was fortunate enough that when I prised the glossed hardboard off the banister the original spindles and rails were still there, untouched by the philistines. It did take many applications of Nitromors to strip off the layers of brown creosote etc. but I got there in the end and put a few coats of Danish oil on the bare wood and it looks lovely. Plain, but lovely.
Unfortunately the original doors (I know they were 4-panel doors, an identical house across the road still had them but replaced them with cheap modern doors... wish I'd asked to buy the originals!!!) and the living room and dining room fireplaces are long gone, but the bedroom fireplaces are still original and looking splendid (chimneys are not functional though, I had to make a concession to modernity there!)
Fair play mate! Nice job on your hands there! I’ve just had to paint a great big staircase to a very dark blue..... almost black, from a stained finish.... 2 coats of zinnser bin, one undercoat and two satinwood coats to finish. 34 spiral spindles and 4 newel posts with strings and hand rails and treads and risers.... I’m seeing stairs in my sleep! Yours will look amazing when your done!
Paint job has been a challenge here too. Although did end up spraying all the spindles and fitting pre finished, which I am hoping will be much easier in the long run! Dark blue stairs sound interesting, think we will keep simple on white for now!
I've seen some silly things done in my house but this tops it. Why on earth would you do this? It's like they replaced it with a garden gate.
Oh wrought iron was a 60s/70s thing We had a staircase like this with matching glass topped wall mounted table !
There's no accounting for taste, or the definite lack thereof! Stripping out the tradition and putting in that junk is was an offense.
Great video!
There was a popular DIY show on UK TV in the 70's where that kind of nonsense was encouraged. Borderline criminal!!
Agreed. There is nothing wrong with modernising if properly done.
You not might like that railing but they were the height of design in there time, that said, I've never actually seen them installed indoors...
Well I loved every second of this. I love finding the old stuff
@@plaidshirt9955 Railings like that on interior stairways were very common in tract houses here in the USA, especially split-level and split-entry houses. They were sort of a poor-man's version of the nicely crafted brass and nickle railings that were common in Hollywood, but manufacturers tempted fate by making them as thin and flimsy as possible. They more-or-less worked, but people got tired of looking at them so, even in many 1960s houses, you see traditional wooden replacements.
Love those original floor tiles. They deserve the correct staircase, don't they! My husband has done all this in our first house, and our present home. He went next door to our neighbour and took photos of their staircase as it was original, and was then able to reconstruct the finish. SO worthwhile! Thanx, brought back many memories! X
Sounds great! Unfortunately the tiled floor hasdn't been looked after either so that's a future restoration too!
Those are going to be amazing when you’re done! Our stairs in the stone house are pine I think.. we’re probably going to replace with some salvaged oak or hickory. Great work!
Great to see your =little-- helpers instead telling to get out the way they will learn to appreciate your work
The 50s, 60s and 70s were the worst time in history for wrecking architectural features. In my 1950s house the staircase railings were originally build of a rough frame and hardboard facing. There was never any feature to it. We took it all out and replaced it with spindles etc but our joiner hated us for it because the way the stairs were constructed meant it was a very difficult job!
Where did you learn all the skills you use in each video?
New Bosch impact I see! Impacts are absolute gamechangers, only got one just last year.
I believe this was the first video I watched on your channel. Since then I’ve been hooked and went back watching it from the start. I’ve just now rewatched this one. I have to say I love what your doing. As a DIYer myself it’s great to see you going through the same problem solving I’ve gone through although you are much more professional then me. Keep it going. I’ve almost caught up. Should only be a few days now 👍🏻
You're doing that work without shoes? You got balls of steel!
I had a similar experience in our house (built 1874), fireplaces removed downstairs but easily replaced, the upstairs were boarded over, as were all the original pine panelled doors, but at least they protected them for the time they were on them.
Aww! Bless her, she thinks your explaining everything to her, such cuties both of them, wonderful work sir x
Barry Bucknell has a lot to answer for!
You took the words out of my mouth.
I have to admit getting out 1st house in the late 60s and did exactly the same thing :-(
When watching this video it was exactly the same in our Victorian Terrace House - done in exactly the same fashion bar the fact that the previous owner hard boarded over the whole stairs and painted it - we are again going through and restoring
First video of yours I've seen - that floor!!! Is it the real thing? If so, thank heaven they didn't rip those out!
No fortunately the only poured concrete over a 1/4 of it, the rest was under two layers of carpet. We spotted it when we viewed the property and it was one of the many selling points. (even though rather cold under foot in the morning!)
You have no idea how hard I searched to find those Minton tiles in Canada and if not the real thing, I would have settled for any sort of square/triangle shapes. I wouldn't buy from the US because of customs/shipping costs, and my refusal to ever enter that country... Since our house is 1950's but the furniture is all Victorian, I ended up doing a modern take on the patchwork idea. Our tile setter was a real trooper, and cut the shapes from large 1 x 2' tiles to make a patchwork that I designed. The result is a nice compromise between two centuries. Anyway, loving what you are doing and there's a lot on your channel to catch up on.
I blame Barry Bucknell - the 60s TV DIY expert - could have been known as the Hardboard King - so many staircases covered in it !
I'm not sure where you are but in the US a stair rail must be continues all the way to the top of the stairs. Continues and unbroken. that means that once the hand rail reaches the second floor line it must offset and continue up the wall to the top floor or landing. You will want to use a horizontal offset and wall brackets.
I am a carpenter and have built numerous stair cases.
Building codes vary by states and municipalities. However, in general, a stairway handrail only has to be provided on ONE SIDE. This means he could have a continuous handrail on the opposite wall and meet the building code and does not have to build in an offset etc. I am a retired building inspector and have inspected numerous commercial and residential construction projects for compliance with building codes.
Similar here I think. We will be mounting a matching (or similar) hardwood handrail up the full length of the stairs on the wall side. Due to the ceiling and stair line it would have taken some quite bespoke work to step the handrail in and out to keep it continuous.
Isnt it crazy how some people can ruin a house
Beautiful hall tiles.
Yes, the craze for 'modernisation' has a lot to answer for. I well remember panelled doors covered in hardboard, picture rails and cornices being ripped out and Barry Bucknell (or whatever his name was) on television showing how 'mushroom' gloss made thing look 'modern'.
Sadly it still goes on. Fad after fad, fuelled by the crazy urge to keep 'upgrading' and commercialism.
.
The Billy Bucknell diy. Either friend or foe. The dust Victorian Collectors where boarded up
The stairs! Good things come to those who wait.
Thumbs up for your "assistant" 👍👍👍👍👍
Do you have plans to draught proof the stairs?
I can see what your daughter is gonna do when she's grown up, she's watching you closely. :D
You have to remember that when all that work was done in the 60's it was a modern makeover. It was how houses were revamped. in 50 years time if the house is still standing what will be someones idea of modernisation ???
You're right it is Criminal that is really sad how they destroyed those stairs
I feel the pain... the house that my husband and I purchased is either the oldest, or second oldest in our small town... fireplaces bricked up, the old servants stairs blocked off, horrible kitchen added on at some point, and the upgrades over the years(decades) you can actually see when it was done. There’s shag carpet, dark hardwood paneling, gold and white colors in all of the bathrooms, and even a very unfortunate shower stall in a bedroom corner. When I say in the corner I don’t mean that there was a full bathroom, I just mean somebody jammed a shower stall in the corner of the bedroom with the biggest surround windows in the whole house.. Lots of work to do still, as anyone with an older home can attest too. Although I do laugh at the sight of the electricians face when he noted that the whole house was being run on an electrical box made for a toaster...
knock at some of your neighbors doors, and ask if they have the original stairs etc, then take some pictures, they should be happy to let you do it.
I like what you are trying to do :)
BTW you are so adorable!
waheey first comment! looks like a lot of work but will be a well worth it result, bring back the original fearure any day!!
Is this your children's first time on stairs?
The victorians invented plywood did they not ?
gavin merrigan I thought plywood was invented sometime in the 1920s?
@@catinbowler3387 Wikipedia says it was in production in France during the 1860s and introduced to the USA (and presumably other countries) during that decade.
this is a [ hard hat place ] for the kids
Crying shame. Suppose it was trends at the time like some of the trends we have today won't be so trendy in years to come.
Those metal railings were awfull
I just hate modern day architecture, it is so squared off. I like natural woods, Victorian scrolling architecture is is just so interesting to look at, very beautiful.
not all old houses are that good, even when they were new, I have worked on lots of old houses, and have seen lots of really bad things, very shallow foundations, some internal load bearing walls sitting on a bit of 4" x 2" wood, gone rotten, take the plaster off, and see that the 9" solid flemish bond brickwork does not tally with external facade, " gerry built " just for profit for the developer, who could not care less.most terraced house are holding each other up, but there are well built places as well.
lots of victorian / edwardian houses, are more interested in the front facade, looking fancy, than quality, a reflection of the mind set of that era, more interested in their image, than the truth.
Carpet Grippers and no footwear, bad combo lol. Looking forward to seeing another project on the go.
Most Victoria houses met with catastrophic Renos in the 70's. So sad.
if it's 30's then it won't be ornate.
i cringed watching the kids running around.
clickbait title :(
Playfully so? As someone who has followed a long time, I knew the stairs had been destroyed, so I don't feel mislead.
I agree. I don’t understand RUclipsrs need to misrepresent their video. There are plenty of people looking for specific videos without all the drama.