Our new house
We bought this 2 story brick home in the year 2003. It has a hall, 4 bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom, 2 toilets, living room, laundry, storage, cellar and attic.
It is an old townhouse, which was built in the very beginning of the 1900's, in the center of the beautiful old Belgian city of Sint Truiden. Down town the city is still primarily kept mid eaval in style and truly has flair with the
countless street cafes, churches, small stores, and markets.
The house had to completely be renovated before we could move in. We needed to hire a general contractor, a company to install the heating,
the window/door company, an electrician for the new wiring, and the gas company who laid new pipes from the street all the way through the house.
When we bought the house, it was still heated with coal and lacked proper toilets and a bathroom. A bathroom and two separate toilets, upstairs and downstairs, had to be installed, inclusive all the pipes and vents.
Doors and door frames had to be taken out and walls erected, certain other doors had to be renewed, and the house needed new windows throughout. We chose double glass, wood frame windows with Muntin bars (grilles). We also chose to get a new, heavy, raised panel, wooden front door.
The house received new flooring, all the way; beige marbled tiles downstairs and wood laminate upstairs. Ceilings were insulated and lowered, and the walls were cleaned of old wallpaper so they could
"breathe", then covered with sheetrock and painted. Two old fireplaces in the living area, which took up too much room, were torn out. A new kitchen was installed, complete with cabinets and appliances.
The house needed new electrical wiring, outlets and fuse box. Heater units for central heat were installed in each room, and the water pipes for them laid throughout the house. Gas pipes were laid and connected to the new Gas unit which supplies the house with hot water for the kitchen, bathroom, and the heater units.
The stairs needed to be renewed - the rail torn out and replaced with a new one, the worn steps reinforced with new wood. Since the hall with the stairs was quite long, we had a new wall with a door built, somewhat beside/behind the stairs, and this is used as a storage area.
These pictures show the work and house as it progresses, week for week, until done. The renovations took from Aug. through beginning of Dec. of 2003. It might be noteworthy to explain that the pictures never show a whole room. This is because my digital camera zooms in too close, so I am able to only get parts of the room on picture. Sorry! *sigh*
Click here to view Comparisons, before - after
