Access was also an issue as the house; its
staircases are so narrow that anything too big or bulky required access through the church hall at the rear of the courtyard and then through the church itself. “Thankfully, the pastor at the church was really lovely. She saw the house when I moved in, and she’s blown away with how it looks now.”
LOW POINT
“Trying to get rid of the Artex and woodchip, it was everywhere – every job took longer than expected but it was bad repairs rather than the age of the building.”
While Emma was keen to get cracking on the kitchen once she started, plans began to evolve. With everything ripped out, the basement went back to earth and brick. “We removed the walls and then tried to push everything back as far as we could. There was a big upstand behind the kitchen cabinets, and I didn’t plan the dog leg either, it was just going to go around the corner, but then I realised we needed more space to fit in the appliances. When I thought about the seating nook it made sense to put the heating pipes underneath to create a toasty bench.” The spongy timber floor was beyond saving, but by removing it, Emma was able to gain a further 5 cm in height in the room. “It doesn’t seem much, but it makes an enormous difference in a basement.” The timber was then replaced with a damp-proof course, an insulated screed, normal screed and then flagstones. “They were a mission! We had to carry every single one down the stairs. They’re incredibly heavy and so thick, and after they were laid, we had to seal each one twice.” This wasn’t the only change in the basement.
The kitchen door was removed and made into an archway. The original WC – which you couldn’t stand up in – was made into a cloakroom and a new WC was created at the bottom of the stairs. The only structural change was the addition of a lintel for the downstairs WC for which a building warrant was required.
Fortunately for Emma, drainage wasn’t an issue as it came straight down from the upstairs bathroom, and she was able to tap into that. However, she did have to resolve the issue of pipes and floor levels. “Initially we were going to have to build a step into the loo which I didn’t want. I decided to fit the toilet marginally higher and that solved the problem. It’s not excessively high so that you’d notice.” The sink is fitted in
may/june 2022
the former access hatch to the kitchen which they no longer required. “It is still a compact loo, but your knees don’t hit the door in this one!” Upstairs, the main bathroom is rather more spacious thanks to its new layout. “I wasn’t sure what I was going to find so I went back to the bare brick walls.” However, Emma got more than she bargained for when she removed some of the plasterboard and realised she could actually see into the church. After some remedial work, privacy was restored, and Emma swapped the location of the sink and WC to create more floor space. The bath is still in its original location, but the sink was under the window, and “you almost had to step over the loo to get to it.” The walls went in and out, so they brought the shower wall forward to make the room more uniform. In the two bedrooms, the built-in wardrobes
were removed, floors sanded, and some budget-savvy decor was introduced. “I love William Morris wallpaper, but it’s so expensive so in the front bedroom I used it like a frieze which gave me the effect without the huge expense.” The panelling is all original and most of the furniture was bought at auction. “The back bedroom is my favourite room, as when the church is lit up you get a beautiful glow through the stained-glass windows.” Throughout the house anything that was original, and that Emma could retain, she has – even down to its external colour scheme. When she bought the house it was red, but it had previously been green. “I had to prove to Historic Environment Scotland that the house originally had green woodwork – thankfully a bit of paint removal proved my point.” Emma was so keen to get the colour as true to the original as possible that she wandered the streets of Glasgow looking at front doors and putting notes through letter boxes asking what shade of green the owners had used. “People did reply to me and eventually the colour I settled on that was closest to the original is the same shade as my trusty Land Rover, Hilda!” Of course, before the painting could begin all the sash and case windows were removed and refurbished with new ironmongery and sashes. The internal solid wooden doors were also
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