Reflections on the Last Two Years

Now that I have a bit more time for activities other than building work, I've been thinking about what has been acheived in the last two years and two months.  Specifically, I've been thinking about two aspects of the work, namely the things I've done which have really pleased me, and the things that I would rather had been done differently.

Under the latter heading come a few things which still bug me:

• The attitude of the Conservation Officer - this relationship seemed to have gone wrong near the start, but I still don't really know why, other than because (just possibly) the CO really IS an unhelpful person.
• The fact that Highways at the County Council told me that I could not widen the existing gateway to make a single driveway entrance for both houses as it was too close to a junction, but then (after I had made an entrance in the old wall) they allowed my new neighbour to make a new entrance even closer to the junction!
• A newly laid slate has slipped from the roof to the gutter, but the roofer has yet to come and fix it.
• The new kitchen sash window is four over four, not two over two as the rest of the windows.
• There is still no vent to the kitchen...
• Thames Water fitted an external meter in the pavement and this has been found to be a joint supply. Now we have to get an internal meter fitted, but that would have been so much easier if done before the new kitchen was fitted, as I intended.
• My new loft hatch is not quite square, because the joists were not parallel!
• The new extension is not exactly as intended - the roof is higher, the chimney lower and the plasterer gave me incorrect answers to two clear questions, with the result that the internal work I did is not perfect; one window cill has thicker render than he said, so it's almost level with the top of the lower window frame, and a plastered stud wall is thinner than the rendered blocks that it rests on.

Looking at the good side, there are lots of things which make me smile:

• The stone wall where I filled in the bottom of the old doorway
• The wall which I lime-plastered myself (the stone wall which is the join between the old house and new-build extension)
• The new 6' stone wall beside the front door, and the attached gates
• The new sash window which cost just £95 from a reclamation yard
• The front room floor where I replaced bits of joists and re-laid most of the boards plus some reclaimed ones
• The stud wardrobe frontage which I built for the master bedroom
• The wood-burning stove in the kitchen, in the alcove which I "found" by removing the old tiled fireplace
• The recently fitted secondary glazing (we are cosy, and it is quieter now)
• The limecrete/black limestone floor in the kitchen (laid by Chris, Shane and me)
• The black limestone floor in the new extension which I laid entirely by myself (on concrete...)
• The extension roof on which I laid over half the slates in just over a day on my own, much to Chris's surprise
• The casement window in the new extension which I salvaged from the old extension and did a major repair job
• The 1800+ Imperial bricks from the old extension which Jane and I salvaged and were re-used in the new extension (I only had to buy about 200 more)
• All the other little bits and pieces from the old building which I laboriously removed, kept and re-used
• Buying my own mixer, instead of hiring one
• Deciding that I would manage the entire process myself, instead of paying a builder to project manage it

Actually, the whole place makes me smile - it just feels so safe, solid and secure, just as a home should feel.

My first meeting with a Building Control Officer

The "highlight" of the week, apart from completing the limecrete slab (see previous entry below), was the first visit of a real Building Control Officer (BCO).  I have been trying to develop some sort of communication with BC since early December, and have been in receipt of either poor advice which is contradicted by the next person you speak to, or else they simply fail to respond to telephone calls and even a letter.  So I just shoved in my application, got on with the work (i.e. digging out the hole for the limecrete floor) and called BC when I needed them to do a stage inspection when we were about to lay the limecrete slab this week.

I was actually quite apprehensive about this, but the chap who came was very nice and easy to talk to.  He was also quite frank about the state of the Council's BC team (who have suffered vicious job cuts in recent months), and also about the internal politics which I had viewed from afar.  Basically, Planning, Conservation and BC all have a view of life and the rules for each mean that they are often in conflict!  He believes that BC's hand will be reinforced in the next few years as modern rules on energy conservation are applied more to old buildings, so that Conservation will have less of a say in what is allowed.  Since I had Conservation forbid double glazing in a brand new sash window which is being made for us (replacing a metal framed sixties design), I think that can't come soon enough.  However, I'm sure that there will be a downside somewhere...

I wonder if the BCO was impressed by the amount of spoil outside in the garden?

As I said, the point of the visit was for him to see the construction of the limecrete floor slab whilst it was in progress.  He was interested in the details as he had never seen one before, and so I explained with my customary enthusiasm and he seemed quite happy.  He was well aware that in a listed building he has very little power at the moment and so k-values etc were quite irrelevant.  Logically that's fine (in my view) as what is being fitted well be far better in that regard than what was there, and the point is that if you dig down too far to install a breathable floor then your old building might well collapse.  Presumably someone will sort out this sort of issue before BC do get given wider reaching powers; the idea of a three foot deep hole in such a building does not bear thinking about!

Also this week the plastering was completed for now, and there remains only the kitchen, and a chimney breast in the lounge to be done later.  We have the finished smooth coat on three bedrooms, the bathroom, landing, hall, stairs and lounge.  It has been a lot longer in coming than I anticipated, and my budget was well and truly blown by the extra time and the vast amount of materials required.  The only other thing done this week was finishing the floorboard repairs in the main bedroom.  I replaced two sections of board (which had to be ripped to the right width) and repaired another couple of floorboards which were glued, clamped and screwed successfully so I think I'm fairly happy with my skills on that.  This was all required after the ravages of floorboards being lifted without the necessary love and care (don't get me started!) by certain tradesmen. 

Now, it's Easter and I rested on Good Friday, and even took part in some spiritual events at the church opposite the house.  Today (Saturday) we went for a long walk in the wonderful country around here to make the most of the great weather, and on Easter Sunday we shall be at the sunrise service at the church (you work out the time!).  Then on Monday I shall be back at work on the house - no rest for the wicked!

Landscaping, crows and "Vision Technicians"

Following on from the recent granting of Planning Permission and Listed Building Consent for our proposed driveway (through the foliage on the left of the photo), there are conditions: one is that we have to get a landscaping plan approved before we can start work on it, and another is that we have to provide two off-road parking spaces and a turning space BEFORE we can occupy the house.  I was surprised by this second one as the absence of the driveway does not prevent us from occupying the house now, and so personally I'm not sure it is legal.  However, as things stand, we need to get on with getting the plan produced and approved.  Hence, this week, I have contacted a landscaper who sent a designer along on Thursday; she will send a plan very soon and hopefully we can avoid any hassle with the Council by just doing what they want.  In any case, I know I need some advice on what to plant and where, as the garden is very prominent and I don't want the passers-by to be upset when we cut down the huge cypress, the ash and the laurel.  The council Tree Officer thought that none of the trees had any particular "amenity value", either singly or as a group (which I was very pleased with!).

This week I have fought a battle against some crows, who were intent on building a nest in one of my chimneys, as evidenced by the twigs that kept falling into the lounge fireplace.  Despite the lovely weather this week I have lit a roaring fire on three days, sometimes with freshly cut yew producing some lovely smoke.  However, I have to report that I think I have lost as, today, there were no twigs in the fireplace but the birds can still be seen putting them in the top!  Now I shall have to wait until the little blighters have produced their family before I can clear the nest and put something over the chimney pot to KEEP THEM OUT!

There seemed to be some possible progress in The Mystery of the Free Step Ladder (see entry in March).  In church on Wednesday one of the churchwardens asked for my help in a task but said that the church stepladder (aluminium, very light) had gone missing recently.  I said that I had a couple of stepladders in my house and could fetch one in a couple of minutes, so I brought the "new" one (aluminium, very light) across for her.  We were now pretty convinced that it was indeed the missing one, but then someone found the Church's ladder in the church hall, so we still have no idea as to where the mystery ladder came from. 

Other highlights this week included successfully doing a trial fit of a bath measuring 150 cm long in a space 148 cm long (right - note recesses in the plaster on the walls); I have put two coats of satin black on the new front door but am still unhappy with the finish; and I have bought from Adam the joiner 20 metres of specially moulded skirting board which is now being installed in the lounge (left).  One other task was to repair some of the many damaged floorboards; I asked a local pine shop if they could produce two specially sized small boards of less than half a square metre, and thought that a trained man with the right machines would do it in less than 15 minutes.  However, I was astounded by the price - £60! - so I turned them down and, with some small difficulty, did them myself (lower right; ignore the gap to the lower board which is yet to be replaced).

Finally, we often have visits by interested parties, or friends of one of the contractors, or even their wives and children just passing!  On Friday it was a friend of Phil's who was wearing a useful looking leather belt/holster, so I asked him what his trade was.  "Vision Technician" he replied, without hesitation.  Seeing my slightly bemused look, Phil clarified things for me: "He's a window cleaner!"

A week without plastering

This has been quite a varied week.  Firstly, I spent a long time getting rid of over 200 ten litre plastic tubs, which were the containers for the lime mortar and plaster.  These have gone back to Mike Wye in Devon together with six pallets and about 130 lids (see photo left).  It's good that these items will get re-used, but getting them sufficiently clean was really quite tedious.  I even got a small refund and a thank-you for doing such a good job on the tubs, but I'm not looking forward to doing the rest in a few weeks time.

I forgot to mention the experience of the postman recently.  Whilst Adam the joiner was fitting the new front door, which was catching on the floor; the only way that he could open the door when he was inside was to lift gently on the letter hole and pull.  On one occasion, by coincidence, when the postman was actually about two milliseconds from putting a letter through the hole, a hand appeared on cue as if to take the letter...!  Shades of the Addams Family?

A really "fun" job today was re-instating the soil pipe to match the new position of the toilet in the bathroom.  I had previously removed the old pipe through the wall, although this necessitated wrecking the existing branch piece (see photo right) in order to get the wall pipe out.  Chris and Shane had then removed the old branch, plus the entire upper section of the soil pipe (complete, in one piece!).  Since the 100-year old joints in the cast iron pipes were done with caulking and lead, this was not an easy job, but they achieved it and saved me having to buy four sections of new pipe at over £77 each.  Then, this week I went in person to collect the new branch and right angle bend (cast iron, of course); this both saved a rather high delivery charge and enabled me to return some surplus bits (from the roof gutters) for credit.  Whilst I was doing this, the plumber's mate was drilling a new 110mm hole through the Cotswold stone wall; to my surprise, this was successful - he must have a really good drill bit.  Finally on Saturday, Chris and Shane fitted all the new pieces and re-fitted the old upper section which I had re-painted on Thursday.  I just need to fill the hole in the wall, and paint the untouched lower portion to match.  Most satisfying to see a job almost finished, although I must confess that the photo (left) shows a slight kink that I didn't notice before!  Can you spot the old hole in the wall?

Otherwise, this week has seen me doing an array of minor jobs such as fixing the tiles at the door from the hall to the lounge, fitting the boards for the bathroom floor (photo right; I said it was a small bathroom), re-fitting and repairing various floorboards after the electrician's tender ministrations (see "Kurt the Destroyer" last December), removing more loose and damp plaster (the last?) and putting two coats of undercoat on the new front door (photo, left).  The new front door and frame look great, which is more than can be said for the surrounding render and the loose electric cable.

Progress on plastering has been zero as both were off sick all week...  I actually felt quite lonely as it was the first week that I have had in the house without contractors being present for at least four days of the week.

Finally, the week ended on a good note as I found, on the council website, that we have been granted planing permission and Listed Building consent for our proposed driveway, subject to the usual plethora of conditions.

A floor to dance on, and A Mystery

This week's success was finding and installing some reclaimed flooring in the lounge.  I started the lounge floor job last November, and did repairs to the joist ends in one half of the room; basically the joists were rotten wherever they were close to a wall!  This let me keep the other half as a datum as I had no intention of doing a complete new floor from scratch.  However, when refitting the usable boards to the first half, I found that the boards were all different widths, which made the job immensely more difficult as I couldn't just use any board in any position, but had to find serviceable matching pairs to cross the room.  My next problem was that I went to the wrong reclamation company who didn't deliver the 24mm thick floorboards which they promised.  I then found that I was driven by the various contractors who needed me to do preparation of some sort to keep everything going (OK, I could have paid for someone else to take off the old plaster...) and the floor took a back seat for a long while.  Two weeks ago I found a gap in my own schedule and did enough of the floor to let me start on the other half of the room - hence the joist story earlier this month when I removed the remaining floorboards.

On Wednesday this week I re-visited another reclamation yard which had no floorboards when I had visited before.  This time I was lucky as they had a huge pile of reclaimed pile, 20mm thick and 200mm wide.  I reasoned that I could plane down the edge of the last 24mm board and so this thickness would be OK.  Then I persuaded the lad to go through the pile with me so that I could choose over 100 feet of matching boards of suitable lengths, and they even delivered for free that same afternoon! 

So, Thursday's task was to finish off the joists in the front half of the room where it had all been so damp.  I got quite bored cutting nine notches in lengths of new 4x2 to retain the same level when replacing the slightly different sized older joists.  This worked surprisingly well - I won't bore you with my calculation and cut marking technique but it worked!  The photo (right) shows the joists in the bay window; note that I have not changed the position of the joists at all - the ends you can see are original, apart from the two where I have added an end-piece after sawing off the very end in order to retain as much as possible of the original wood.

Then I started to fit the new (reclaimed) boards and the floor was virtually finished by Friday; it would have been completely finished but I ran out of screws.  I also had a single uncorrectable mistake, when my very last saw cut was 10cm short...  Fortunately Jane was going past the reclamation yard later, so she picked up another 2 metre length for me.  The photo (left) shows the almost finished floor in the same bay window - it's almost fit to dance on (if I could).

Other Progress

Plastering has continued; progress is slower than I had anticipated.  Doing the two skims over three major items takes two days, so in four days this week, Phil did three ceilings and three walls (plus a few other odd bits).  We hope to have finished the upstairs completely by the end of next week, and another week should see downstairs done apart from the walls with the two chimneys and the kitchen window wall.  We are progressing and the end is in sight, but it has been a long haul.

We have also just received Listed Building Consent for the various items already mentioned such as the new fires, the kitchen floor etc.  Hooray! First major hurdle over.

A Mystery

Finally, an unsolved mystery: I have gained a step ladder.  I don't have a photo of it but I'm sure you can use your imagination.  On Wednesday I thought I heard a sound at the back door, but when I checked there was no-one there.  An hour later, going outside, I noticed that there was an aluminium step ladder propped on the wall a few yards past the door.  Phil and Jaye agreed definitely that it was not there earlier, so where it came from is a mystery.  If it was one of my other contractors I cannot understand why they would leave it here now as they are not expected back for weeks.  In any case, anyone who knows me wouldn't just leave it without a word, they'd pop in for a chat, wouldn't they?

Soil Pipes and Useless Joists

Our house has a very small bathroom: 2.1 x 1.5 metres (although it is 3 metres high!).  We usually use a shower not a bath, but feel that a house does need a bath, so we were looking at options of using part of a bedroom for a bath when inspiration struck.  Various suppliers do shower baths which are "P" shaped, so you shower standing in a decent area which is also flat; the inspiration was to discover that they also do these - wait for it - exactly 1.5 metre long.  This then fixes the design of the bathroom as there is only one way that can fit everything in.

Part of this design is that the toilet has to be moved, and this necessitates changing the branch in the soil pipe from left hand (135 degrees) to right hand (112.5 degrees), and moving the branch up a small way.  See existing arrangement, right.  So, this week, I have started by lifting the bathroom floor and removing three feet of the internal soil pipe which is four inch diameter lead pipe.  Being a foul pipe this could have been an awful job but, since the toilet has not been used for ages, it was all dry and so not too bad at all.  The wall of the bathroom was one of the really damp places in the house due to the state of the roof, and so (with the roof fixed) I was very surprised to find dampness still present in the floor.  This was doubtless related to the discovery of a 6mm hole in the side of the lead pipe!  I also found that the toilet had been moved once before as the pipe once went through a large cut-out in the second joist from the wall.  The joist is 7" x 1.75" and the cut-out is almost 6" deep (see gap in front of the pipe in photo left).  This hole had been ignored subsequently when they fitted the floorboards, which had spanned the gap and rested on the rotten end joist... 

Unfortunately, as so often happens, another job appeared whilst doing this one.  The plaster of the hall ceiling under the bathroom floor is not just lath but was actually rotten lath held up by plasterboard.  This combination was in a very bad state (due to the hole in the soil pipe) and, in the corner under the lead pipe (above) the board was not attached to the rotten joist at all!  In no time it was all down in a heap on the floor.  Standing on the few remaining bits of floorboard on joists with just space below is surprisingly disconcerting.

Back to the joists: I quite enjoy this sort of joinery.  Fortunately both joists have good wood at the ends so I have fitted a 6" doubler to each joist, attached to the originals with a copious number of 70mm screws.  In doing this I found that the second joist had predictably split in the middle where the six inch gap started, so I added a couple of screws upwards to re-attach that as well.  In the photo from underneath (see left, before I did the first joist), there is a line of light visible between my doubler and the original second joist - this is where the cut-out was.


The other job was to start removal of the old external soil/vent pipe.  This is an unexpected expense as, to install the new branch, the pipe has to be rebuilt from the ground right up to the (new) flashing in the (new) roof.  I have started by grinding off the old external toilet outlet (right) to remove the pipe in the wall, so that I can progress inside.  We will need to dismantle the old stack, order the required new bits (if we can save any?) and then re-build it all when the new outlet has been fitted.  All that is a joy for a later week! Happy days.

Vandalism, an accident and flooring

Plastering continued this week, with much of the scratch coat being covered by the float coat, ready for the final skim.  This has been coupled with the start of the first fix plumbing, intermingled with floorboard work.  I've been delayed on doing the lounge floorboards by a reclamation company who are complete rubbish.  They promised me a new front door and some (fairly thick) pine floorboards; the door proved impossible for the manufacturer, and they sold the floorboards to someone else, and then blamed the 16 year old yard lad for this mistake.

We had some vandalism this week.  I arrived early one morning and found an upper main pane of the Venetian sash window (two over two) had been broken (to match the boarded lower one, broken before we bought the house).  There was glass both inside and out, and almost none left in the frame.  It looked like an attempted break-in, but if it was, why choose the front window, and break one of the upper panes?  Surely you go round the back and break one at waist height?  I called the police and, when I was talking to the (very) young constable, a chap came over from across the road to say that he had heard it (at 1.10am that morning) and had seen the miscreant departing on a child's silver scooter in the direction of the town centre.  The PC (scenting an arrest) said that he would check on the town centre CCTV to see if there were any good pictures of the unusual sight.  No news yet, but at least this confirmed that it was simple vandalism rather than attempted burglary, which consoled me slightly.

I forgot to mention my little accident the other week.  We are applying for listed building consent (LBC) for various things, including the replacement of two awful 1950s fireplaces with a woodburning stove and a nice Victorian fireplace respectively.  Unfortunately, I seem to have pre-empted this permission when I had to fit a floorboard under the end of the existing fireplace in the lounge.  As I lifted it slightly, its weight took control and the entire concrete facade fell forward, landing with an almighty crash which left the white concrete moulding in about twelve pieces, and an ugly gap into the chimney above the brown tiles.  Oops.  Hopefully the LBC will be forthcoming in March, which will make me legal!