I can also add to that bit of urban myth that most homeowners leave a bit of their own character and eccentricities amongst the bricks and mortar that they have previously inhabited.
I have seen many fine examples of such uniqueness in the course of my work in the property sector for the last 30 odd, and I stress, odd, years.
There was the house that I came across in the 1980's with a strongly blue-painted theme. I mean not just the woodwork but just about every square inch of masonry externally and plastered surfaces internally. The shade of blue was not really complimentary to a dwelling and upon seeing it I had a very strong feeling of Deja-Vu. I wracked my brain for a few hours before realising that the colour was the trademark found on the City buses of Sheffield for much of the post-war era prior to the inevitable muscling-in of private companies. The homeowner, I recall did have a distinctive South Yorkshire accent and chances are that he had worked for the Corporation or had purchased a job-lot of the stuff in a surplus auction.
Similarly, in my home city of Hull there is a strong association with caravan manufacturing. In many homes of employees, either current or former there can be a dominant decorative finish of matchboard-effect wall boarding, glued or nailed on trim and that distinctive smell of woodwork that is a vivid reminder of family holidays in touring and static caravans.
A neighbour where we used to live was a contractor at the time of the construction of the huge Meadowhall Shopping Centre in Sheffield. He would bring home some hefty industrial tools in his works van over a weekend and use them on the renovation of his own house. One such tool was a diamond tipped circular profile drill which could, with ease, form a perfectly round hole through a solid external wall. Perfect for making an outfall to take a waste pipe or extractor fan our neighbour asked for permission to come onto our adjoining garden in order to make a hole for an en-suite bathroom that he was putting in on the first floor. I am not the best at thinking laterally but our neighbour, an affable guy, was even worse and by the end of the day the external wall of his house resembled a Swiss Cheese after he had misjudged where to drill to match up with the internal plumbing.
Other Occupations and Professions of homeowners have been evident with a fireman's pole, furniture made out of timber freight pallets, the fuselage of an aircraft , a full wall finish of beer cans, internal astro-turf as carpet and many disastrous DIY projects including a sunken bath which protruded at head height in the kitchen below and a ceramic tiled ceiling.
This week I came across a clear hint that at some time a former owner of a house had worked in a fish and chip shop.
The cottage, in a coastal town, had been nicely and sympathetically refurbished under new ownership but in the roof space I came across the signs of former employment.
In older cottages there can often be an absence of a vertical dividing or fire wall onto the neighbouring property or properties. Under modern insurance criteria and also to prevent trespass through connecting roof voids it is a requirement for a firewall to be retro-fitted.
Blockwork or fire retardant plasterboard are the best materials but in this house the divider was in a panel of expanded polystyrene food or chip trays.
Perhaps there were benefits of noise and heat insulation but as an impeding barrier to fire or criminal activity it was completely useless.
No comments:
Post a Comment