Action at last

All the plans, permits and paperwork are in place, and so we have lift-off at last. It begins with further demolition in the back area - ripping down the ceilings in the back area. And yes, I do mean ceilings plural as there are two separate roof structures, separated by half a wall and a beam. And in the inner part of the room, the old 10ft ceiling had had a second lower ceiling inserted, so there are two to remove there. When the first one comes down, it reveals the original ceiling rose stuck firmly to the old lath and plaster ceiling. But by the middle of the day it is all gone, with just a huge pile of timber laths in the back courtyard.

We are excited by how much better the room looks with the higher roof line. Once the part wall is removed the roof in the back part will just slope down gently from just below the new beam that will hold up the roof between the two halves of the room.

On the left (above) you can see that the main roof above the inner part of the room is in good shape, and also how high it looks with the two ceilings removed. On the right you can see that we will need to replace the tin on the skillion roof that covers the outer part of the room, but that we can put the ceiling flush against the roof beams to keep it as high as possible as well.