Drop-down loft ladder February 2024 © Ricky Yates

In the last few weeks, the eighth anniversary of my retirement as Priest-in-charge/Chaplain of St Clement’s, Prague (30/04/2017), and of moving into my new home in Stará Oleška (15/05/2017), have both passed. And I am delighted to be able to say that, just in advance of those anniversaries, I have finally managed to see the completion of the renovation of the interior of Stará Oleška 44.

Back in March 2024, I wrote a post entitled, ‘House renovation – the next stage‘, in which I outlined how I wanted a staircase installed to give decent access to the two rooms in the roof space which were then only accessible by a drop-down loft ladder into my study bedroom. Karel junior of K & K renovace nemovitostí Decín, had assured me previously that he doesn’t know anything that isn’t feasible. So on Monday 16^th December 2024, he and Karel senior, came to look at what I wanted.

They said that to insert a staircase in the little un-renovated room, as I outlined in my March 2024 post, would involve making alterations to the roof and would be very expensive. Instead, they suggested completely dismantling the tall double cupboard just outside that room, (which I had installed back in May 2018), and reassembling it in the little room and installing a staircase in the space vacated by the cupboard. This would involve no external alterations. So I accepted their suggestion and work commenced on Monday 6^th January 2025. I’ll let the photographs do the talking.

Little room following decoration but before repositioning of the light © Karel Konvalinka

Tall double cupboard to be moved © Ricky Yates

Tall double cupboard in its new location with the freezer slotted in alongside © Ricky Yates

Where the tall double cupboard once was © Ricky Yates

Once the cupboard had been relocated, then a hole was cut in the ceiling, from below and in the floor, from above.

The view from below © Ricky Yates

The view from above © Karel Konvalinka

I was expecting that K & K would then install the new stairs. But they told me that they wouldn’t do that until they had completely renovated the two rooms in the roof space as they wanted the stairs to abut the floor of those rooms at exactly the correct height. So whilst they worked, they used their own ladder in the newly created hole to get up and down.

Lining the walls of the room at the rear of the roof space © Ricky Yates

Lining the walls of the room at the rear of the roof space © Ricky Yates

Over the following couple of weeks, K & K lined the sloping sides, the narrow central strip of ceiling, the triangular walls at either end and the dividing walls between the two rooms.

The walls of the room at the front of the roof space lined & wood laminate flooring being laid © Ricky Yates

Only once this was done, together with removing the old drop-down ladder and new floorboards being laid over the resultant hole, could the final task of laying a new wood laminate floor be carried out.

I’ll let the following photos speak for themselves to show what has been achieved and the high quality of K & Ks workmanship.

Front bedroom complete © Ricky Yates

Rear bedroom complete © Ricky Yates

Safety barrier around the new stairs © Ricky Yates

The new staircase as seen from below © Ricky Yates

So after living here in my retirement home in Stará Oleška for eight years, I finally have the ability to host guests. My son Phillip has already asked when the Airbnb listing is going to happen 😉 It isn’t – the two renovated and accessible rooms will be purely for visiting friends and family. And I’m pleased to say I’ve already had my first guest 🙂