January News

Beautifully transformed though the countryside was with frost and snow this month, it did not make for good travelling, but we are happy to say that all the team made it through every day, both to work and to appointments, albeit with a few delays and late starts.  So much do we enjoy our work that even the floods after the snow did not deter us!

• The on-site works to the C.16^th Hall House and Court Barn in Essex, with R J Hogg & Sons are progressing well.  In the Court Barn, all modern partitions and the concrete floor have now been removed.  New breathable floors have been laid.  All the modern cement infill has been stripped out.  Insulation of the timber frame wall has begun.  The roof has been stripped with new oak sprockets added, and insulation laid over the top of the rafters, in order to keep them exposed internally.  On the roof, the peg tiles are now being replaced .
•     We are working on two Grade II Listed former rectories in Hertfordshire.  Both are historically very exciting properties.  Coincidentally, both are also currently undergoing the Planning process.                                                                                                                      We are investigating Alternative Energy Sources with the owners of one of the former rectories.  This is of great interest to us, as the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) for domestic use is coming into action in the summer this year.  
•  On 29^th January, members of KPT attended a most interesting and informative CPD lecture on RHI, given by Eco Living http://www.ecolivinguk.com/                                        The RHI is a Government scheme to encourage the uptake of renewable heat technologies among householders, and is expected to lower greenhouse gas emissions, and, ultimately, the householder’s carbon footprint.  More information on RHI can be found on https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/increasing-the-use-of-low-carbon-technologies/supporting-pages/renewable-heat-incentive-rhi                                             
       The Interior Design fitting out and building works at the Grade II listed Regency house in Essex is nearing completion.   We are currently preparing a landscaping scheme for this lovely property; therefore, we are hoping the weather stays warm enabling this work to progress very shortly.
•  Drawings are underway to combine existing historic shelving and new, bespoke furniture for a beautiful but compact library at Finchingfield Guildhall.
•  Pre-application advice has been sought to reinstate a C.17^th Farmhouse in Essex back to its true, former status, as the ‘farmhouse’ of the estate, rather than disappearing amongst the other weather-boarded farm buildings, as it currently does.
•  Drawings for works to the lovely Grade II* Farmhouse in Hertfordshire are now complete, and have been submitted for Planning Permission and Listed Building Consent.
• Planning Permission and Listed Building Consent has been received for the conversion of a Georgian flint outbuilding into a home office at a local Grade II Farmhouse.
• Landscaping drawings for pricing are continuing to be drawn up for the important Late Medieval Grade I Listed Country House in Suffolk, where conservation and restoration work continues by Rose Builders.
•  Professional photography will soon be carried out at the church of All Saints, Great Chesterford; the church of St. Mary the Virgin, Radwinter; and at the church of St. John the Baptist, Leytonstone; so do keep watching our website for these exciting photographs to appear very shortly.
• Church Builders Lodge and Sons are on-site with us at Little Baddow Church, where tiling of the roof has now started.  Good news in that no timber repairs were required on the Nave.
•     Works on-site to The Gatehouse at Pleshey House of Retreat, with Byfords of Dunmow, is nearing completion.