Work on the kitchen has been progressing well this month, and our plans have expanded somewhat from the original design. No surprises there!
Having stripped out the old suspended ceiling, we’ve realised the original mud ceiling is in very poor condition, and would need to be totally replaced. So, we’ve decided not to bother, and we’ll take out the mud loft floor / kitchen ceiling. We plan to leave some of the timbers in place which will give us a vaulted ceiling space up to the original roof, and will add two windows to the front of what is now the loft. Our friend Dave came to inspect the job and advised us to get the roof timbers strengthened, so he has done this for us.
We’ve plaster-boarded the whole roof so that we can insulate behind it, and Dave has made a fantastic job of what Richard and I started. I had quickly got out of my depth with the plaster-boarding, and Dave kindly came and rescued me! He’s also replaced all the old tile batons, and put roofing felt on before replacing the original tiles.
I’ve now started taking out the slatted sides to the upper storey, to be replaced with a stud wall and plastered with external render. We may or may not replace the slats, we haven’t decided yet.
Some of the ceiling timbers are very bowed and old, so Dave will replace those with some fantastic oak beams we got from a Bulgarian friend in the village who is demolishing an old barn. Work starts on these beams on Monday, after which we can start the long job of repairing the cob walls, plastering and rendering the brick walls and plaster-board, before we strip out the mud ceiling / floor.
What a wonderful feature the exposed beams are for the kitchen. I love the rusticity of the unshaped wood.
Just found your blog yesterday and I’ve caught up with all of your entries now. It’s really interesting to read about people emigrating to Bulgaria and I really enjoy the layout of your blog, it’s very easy to read. I certainly couldn’t afford a small holding in England, but one day I might follow your example. I wish you well with your renovations and I’m looking forward to reading your next installment!
The wooden beams look lovely, I’m making mental notes of what works well.
Hi Tom, thanks for dropping by, and glad you enjoy our posts! New instalments are coming soon.
I too have just come across your informative blog. I’ve never had and never likely to have the money to own my own home in the UK but looking online I see places for just two or three K in BG and I think yep I could do that. Nearly 62 so 3 years till I get my pension but thinking ahead I want to get a place now and have holiday/repairing trips to set up for the future. With that in mind been thinking of a camping/recce trip maybe this summer and your info on komp sites was most helpful lol
Hello Ted,
As Julie will tell you…beware of “old komp sites” in BG 🙂 there’s a funny but odd history in BG with “komp sites”. Though there are quite a few still marked on maps, they no longer exist.
Julie and Joe know the British couple that own the camp site in veliko tarnavo, also look up Minty Woodfine & Pete Then McIntosh on Facebook, they stayed in various places in BG before settling here.
We stayed in various hotels…they are so cheap here, if you’re not looking for 5 star. We went through bookings.com to find cheap, clean comfy hotels with good reviews.
Kind regards Karen
If you manage to get over here this summer and are in our area just let us know if you want to pick our brains about living over here and we will help in any way we can