I'm still officially convalescing but I feel a bit of a fraud, as I am actually healing very well and I feel very well. I'm very limited in what I am allowed to do around the house: I'm not allowed to lift things, or go up ladders, or do anything that really classes as "work". However, I am being obedient and not risking anything, probably until Christmas. The only thing that I don't like to do too much is bending down, as that puts pressure on the wound across my abdomen; this doesn't hurt at all but it just feels like a bad idea!
I went outside the back of the house today for the first time in ages, where it really is cold and damp. I was surprised to see that my new grey limestone slabs all have a green tinge. I presume that this discoloration will last until next Spring, when I would hope that the slabs will dry out as the temperature rises and, like the walls of the house, the green will just disappear. There is no way that I want to take a pressure hose to these slabs every year!
The conditions outside were a forceful reminder about the way to treat an old building; we are dry and quite warm inside, and this was achieved by using no cement, no damp proof course and no modern plaster in the restoration of the house (although of course the extension was built entirely in the modern way). I've only lit the front room fire once, and the woodburner not at all, as I am still waiting for it to turn cold! After all, I don't want to waste firewood. The secondary glazing helps enormously, and keeping draughts down by closing internal doors helps as well although of course the paradox is that good ventilation is essential. The first rule is that if you are not wearing a jumper then you can't complain about the cold inside the house, and the second rule is that if you turn the thermostat up then you can't complain about the size of the gas bill!
Showing posts with label real fire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label real fire. Show all posts
Wednesday, 27 November 2013
Monday, 21 January 2013
Little Bits of Progress
It's really cold outside right now, so you won't be surprised at my lack of activity out there, even before it snowed. All I can manage is an occasional quick foray to feed the birds or to bring in some more wood for the lounge fire - it seems to us that this fire is producing more heat into the room than last winter, but perhaps that's just us being older? We're still burning the trees from the front garden and the (untreated) old battens off the roof - I think that will see us into next winter fairly comfortably. There is a nice feeling of burning fuel that actually cost us nothing as the battens would have gone to landfill if I had left them for the roofers to get rid of; the only cost of the trees was that the tree-fellers had to do a few more strokes with their chainsaw to give me the fire-friendly lengths to split.
So, I've been doing little things inside - the sort of job that normally I don't find time for as there is usually something far more important to do. Last winter there were lots of tasks left on the rebuilt extension, but now there's no excuse. The first thing to do was to sort the wardrobe: I built this in 2011 as a stud wall, a foot in front of the fireplace in our bedroom, the whole way across the room. This was done so that when we moved in we had somewhere to put our clothes which was a little less dusty! Sadly, the recycled doors sat forlornly (getting in the way) awaiting repair, repainting and fitting from then until I managed to do the repairs and repainting last autumn (only a whole year...). However, the fitting had to wait and was eventually done in a hurry on the Saturday before Christmas 2012 (that was 17 months...) as I had some time and realized that it would make Jane smile. They are all done now and look really good - they even make the room seem bigger as there is nothing falling out of the wardrobe!
Also before Christmas I made a new coat rack for the hall, recycling some old coat hooks which I had kept from two years previously. The previous coat rack is still in place but hardly used as (a) it is above the radiator and seems to absorb the heat and (b) it is so high that Jane cannot hang coats onto it! Having moved the coats, the hall now seems larger as well.
Now I've moved on to finishing the tiling in the bathroom - there was an annoying bit which was where the tiles met the window frame; this needed some decent cutting and of course I had bought a good tile cutter ages ago but still never got round to this little job... It's done now and is awaiting grouting - that reminds me, there's also a bit left for grouting in the extension utility.
Perhaps next I will see if it is possible to fit the bath panel properly - this has also been left since we moved in, resting almost in place, due to the impossibility (it seems) of getting it to go under the lip of the bath. Then there's the repainting of the doors on the landing; these were also done just before we moved in, and it is amazing to see how much shrinkage there has been since then - on the door panels there is a whole centimetre of dark wood showing where I had painted white. The dampness in the house must have been much worse than I had realized.
One other external and long awaited job that was done before it snowed was that the roofers came back to fix a slipped slate which had been outstanding since about last April. This had not been done because it was directly under the chimney and thus a roofers ladder couldn't be used, but it was too far up the roof to allow it to be done with a ladder resting at gutter level. Hence a cherry picker was required and, to save money, this had to wait until one was hired for another job. Hence after such a long wait I was quite surprised when they turned up in early January. As you might expect, it took longer to position the cherry picker than to actually do the job, which was a single lead tingle to hold the slate in place. Since the cherry picker was resting on the lawn, they needed some spreaders to stop the feet digging in, so I found some rafter ends (7" x 2") from the construction of the extension and left them to it. When I came back, they had finished and gone, taking my bits of rafter with them! Oh well, I suppose they weren't valuable, but they have been useful for a good number of tasks in the last year.
So, I've been doing little things inside - the sort of job that normally I don't find time for as there is usually something far more important to do. Last winter there were lots of tasks left on the rebuilt extension, but now there's no excuse. The first thing to do was to sort the wardrobe: I built this in 2011 as a stud wall, a foot in front of the fireplace in our bedroom, the whole way across the room. This was done so that when we moved in we had somewhere to put our clothes which was a little less dusty! Sadly, the recycled doors sat forlornly (getting in the way) awaiting repair, repainting and fitting from then until I managed to do the repairs and repainting last autumn (only a whole year...). However, the fitting had to wait and was eventually done in a hurry on the Saturday before Christmas 2012 (that was 17 months...) as I had some time and realized that it would make Jane smile. They are all done now and look really good - they even make the room seem bigger as there is nothing falling out of the wardrobe!
Also before Christmas I made a new coat rack for the hall, recycling some old coat hooks which I had kept from two years previously. The previous coat rack is still in place but hardly used as (a) it is above the radiator and seems to absorb the heat and (b) it is so high that Jane cannot hang coats onto it! Having moved the coats, the hall now seems larger as well.
Now I've moved on to finishing the tiling in the bathroom - there was an annoying bit which was where the tiles met the window frame; this needed some decent cutting and of course I had bought a good tile cutter ages ago but still never got round to this little job... It's done now and is awaiting grouting - that reminds me, there's also a bit left for grouting in the extension utility.
Perhaps next I will see if it is possible to fit the bath panel properly - this has also been left since we moved in, resting almost in place, due to the impossibility (it seems) of getting it to go under the lip of the bath. Then there's the repainting of the doors on the landing; these were also done just before we moved in, and it is amazing to see how much shrinkage there has been since then - on the door panels there is a whole centimetre of dark wood showing where I had painted white. The dampness in the house must have been much worse than I had realized.
One other external and long awaited job that was done before it snowed was that the roofers came back to fix a slipped slate which had been outstanding since about last April. This had not been done because it was directly under the chimney and thus a roofers ladder couldn't be used, but it was too far up the roof to allow it to be done with a ladder resting at gutter level. Hence a cherry picker was required and, to save money, this had to wait until one was hired for another job. Hence after such a long wait I was quite surprised when they turned up in early January. As you might expect, it took longer to position the cherry picker than to actually do the job, which was a single lead tingle to hold the slate in place. Since the cherry picker was resting on the lawn, they needed some spreaders to stop the feet digging in, so I found some rafter ends (7" x 2") from the construction of the extension and left them to it. When I came back, they had finished and gone, taking my bits of rafter with them! Oh well, I suppose they weren't valuable, but they have been useful for a good number of tasks in the last year.
Thursday, 5 April 2012
Using my Christmas Present at last
It is quite heavy and has been getting in the way in the extension as it was so difficult to move in the box with one end much heavier than the other. Anyway, recently I was bored so I tried it for the first time. Despite the weight, it is easily portable once out of the box as it has a couple of wheels which only touch the ground when you lift up the lighter end. There's a small amount of assembly work (for which you need tools like spanners, but they provide a small Allen key). There was a slight issue with the assembly of it as the usually hyper-efficient Germans had made two mistakes - one was an incorrect machine screw (I found a spare in my grot box) and the other was that a pair of domed nuts could not be fitted as specified because the stud was too long to fit inside the dome; however, I was able to swap with a pair of stiff nuts used for the wheels as these were the same thread and the stub axle was a bit shorter.
The mains electric motor runs a hydraulic pump which sends a ram along a short track and forces the wood against a fixed splitter at the far end. The whole thing has a very sturdy bed for the ram to slide on. Operation was quite straightforward, once you realise that the design for safety requires the simultaneous use of both hands, one on a button and the other on a lever, keeping your fingers out of harm's way. The trick is to make sure that the splitter is against the right part of the wood - ideally it should be lined up radially where there might already be a small split. Trying to split an inch off centre was a bit problematic until I got the idea.
I was a bit suprised that the movement of the operating ram gently removed both manufacturer's sticky labels from where they were attached on either side of the bed. These are the sort of thing that I, if a manufacturer, would want to ensure stayed on my products.
 |
| The results of a couple of hours work |
Jane's verdict: "How good to find a tool that even a woman can use". Just stand at the right end!
Sunday, 8 January 2012
Warm, Snug and Cosy
It's been quite a mild winter here so far, with only one really bitter spell, but this last week we have had some persistent 70mph winds - but it's good to be able to say that this house is warm, snug and cosy. The theory of how to eliminate dampness has been amply demonstrated already in our first winter in the house, and we are experiencing the results.
The logic is quite simple really: ingress of water equals dampness, and dampness equals chilly and clammy cold which freezes your fingertips, shivers your spine and generally makes you tired and miserable. By tackling every cause of dampness, from the chimneys on top of the roof down to the ground outside which was higher than the floor levels, we have eliminated the cause of this misery. Now, the expensively heated air in the house isn't being consumed by the latent heat of vaporization (*** see below) of the water in the floors and walls but instead it hangs about and warms us. The radiators are on at a pretty constant setting of about 19 deg C, and if it's a bit chilly indoors we either light a fire or put a jumper on (or both!).
To be honest this drying out has happened sooner than I expected. I knew that I had to sort all the causes of water ingress in whatever form, but I anticipated that the house structure with damp 18 inch thick walls would have taken more than one summer to dry properly. However, they say that 2011 was one of the warmest on record because we had a warm spring and and a warm autumn - the summer wasn't bad but there was no risk of sunstroke here. The result was that the outside air temperature was pretty good for a very long period - just what is required to dry something thoroughly.
Before Christmas I put in some effort to sort out wood to burn, from the copious supply of old rafters, battens and floorboards etc. This effort was largely wasted as we only lit fires on about three days over Christmas! Talking of Christmas, I have mentioned already my two really useful presents: a log splitter and a moisture content meter. The former is still awaiting its first use, as anything I split now can't be used until next winter at the earliest, but the latter has already shown that some bits of wood I thought were dry enough were in fact far too damp - burning damp wood gives poor fires and can damage the stove and the flue. By the same token, the various chemicals used in modern paint and wood preservatives can also damage your fire and, more importantly, yourself. All the wood I mention above is really old and was never treated with anything!
Back to heating and dampness, we made a major step forward with the extension this week: apart from starting the decoration, we have had the first fix plumbing done. Since the house boiler is already working, and the system included supply pipes for the extension, the new radiators have been installed and commissioned. So the extension has heat (what a difference!!) and the remnants of damp plastering are now drying as well (then I can finish the decoration). The floor is next...
*** Water doesn't just turn into water vapour as it warms up (one calorie being the amount of heat required to warm one cc of water by one degree Celsius) - it needs significant extra heat to cause it to become a gas. This is called the latent heat of vaporization. Put it another way, if you warm up water, some of the calories will be used to vaporize it and so will not increase the temperature of anything! So a wet wall requires a lot of heat to dry it, but once dry it will warm up with less heat.
The logic is quite simple really: ingress of water equals dampness, and dampness equals chilly and clammy cold which freezes your fingertips, shivers your spine and generally makes you tired and miserable. By tackling every cause of dampness, from the chimneys on top of the roof down to the ground outside which was higher than the floor levels, we have eliminated the cause of this misery. Now, the expensively heated air in the house isn't being consumed by the latent heat of vaporization (*** see below) of the water in the floors and walls but instead it hangs about and warms us. The radiators are on at a pretty constant setting of about 19 deg C, and if it's a bit chilly indoors we either light a fire or put a jumper on (or both!).
To be honest this drying out has happened sooner than I expected. I knew that I had to sort all the causes of water ingress in whatever form, but I anticipated that the house structure with damp 18 inch thick walls would have taken more than one summer to dry properly. However, they say that 2011 was one of the warmest on record because we had a warm spring and and a warm autumn - the summer wasn't bad but there was no risk of sunstroke here. The result was that the outside air temperature was pretty good for a very long period - just what is required to dry something thoroughly.
Before Christmas I put in some effort to sort out wood to burn, from the copious supply of old rafters, battens and floorboards etc. This effort was largely wasted as we only lit fires on about three days over Christmas! Talking of Christmas, I have mentioned already my two really useful presents: a log splitter and a moisture content meter. The former is still awaiting its first use, as anything I split now can't be used until next winter at the earliest, but the latter has already shown that some bits of wood I thought were dry enough were in fact far too damp - burning damp wood gives poor fires and can damage the stove and the flue. By the same token, the various chemicals used in modern paint and wood preservatives can also damage your fire and, more importantly, yourself. All the wood I mention above is really old and was never treated with anything!
Back to heating and dampness, we made a major step forward with the extension this week: apart from starting the decoration, we have had the first fix plumbing done. Since the house boiler is already working, and the system included supply pipes for the extension, the new radiators have been installed and commissioned. So the extension has heat (what a difference!!) and the remnants of damp plastering are now drying as well (then I can finish the decoration). The floor is next...
*** Water doesn't just turn into water vapour as it warms up (one calorie being the amount of heat required to warm one cc of water by one degree Celsius) - it needs significant extra heat to cause it to become a gas. This is called the latent heat of vaporization. Put it another way, if you warm up water, some of the calories will be used to vaporize it and so will not increase the temperature of anything! So a wet wall requires a lot of heat to dry it, but once dry it will warm up with less heat.
Monday, 26 December 2011
Lethargy Strikes
Well, we just managed to get the plastering finished before Christmas - last Thursday to be exact - so we were right to defer any further work on the extension until the New Year. The week included another day when no-one turned up, with just a "sorry" by text but no actual reason. Thus the five or six day job took 8.5 days of work, spread over 17 elapsed days. No wonder the timescales have slipped; I really did want to have a functional extra
Sunday, 11 December 2011
The Plasterers' Return (See *** below)
Yes, the plastering has recommenced, not to mention the Return of My Favourite Electrician (see this link). Actually, Kurt came and did the whole extension in just a day, so I'm not complaining this time - I just haven't forgotten his lack of empathy with old buildings.
I've had a fair bit of work to do before the plastering, such as the installation of three windows. The first was the sash window which we bought earlier in the year for a bargain £80 - and it's a 95% match to the existing two-over-twos. This was a bit difficult to fit, due to the previously mentioned cavity closers (see this page), which got caught on the fixing brackets as the window was pushed in as it was all very tight. The trick was to use a scraper to depress the closer whilst pushing the window, so I did this with the help of my son. I have also fitted a window board.
The second window is my restored casement window. The frame and casements were fitted very easily but then I had to fit the glass. My masterplan here was to use a pair of old sash window panes (from the replaced front window), and cut them down to replace two broken smaller sash panes (see this link for the story on how one got broken), and then I could use the broken bits to cut down to 9x12 casement windows. Although I thought I might do this myself, I found that a local company would do it very cheaply and with a far greater chance of success, so I invested £9 in this enterprise (much cheaper than buying a good glass cutter!). Amazingly, the plan has worked, and we now have two draughtproof sash panes (fitted in the hall and back bedroom) and a complete pair of casements - so the extension is fully weatherproof for the first time since we bought the house.
I've also done a stud wall, above a door in the extension. This was quite straightforward, apart from the fact that the blockwork around the door isn't straight, as both the carpenter and the plasterer have pointed out. Ho hum.
I realise that I never posted
any photos of the exterior of the finished extension, so for starters here is one of the extension itself. 80% of the bricks used were reclaimed from the old building, despite the patchy appearance. Jane and I reclaimed these ourselves; ones with lime mortar were easy but where cement had been used they were a real pain. The white ones were on the inside and I expect that they will clean up in time, as the white is old emulsion paint. My restored casement window is on the left, obviously, although when this was taken there were still 5 panes empty of glass.
I did the gutter a week later and added the offset and downpipe on Wednesday evening (as we were expecting rain that night!).
And here's one (left) of the side of the house, 
showing the extension with the bargain new sash window which balances the old one at the far end.
Finally, here's the one (right) from the back, behind the stone wall. I have still to add the bargeboard but apart from that the exterior is finished. Happy days!
Inside, once the plastering is done the plumber will come back, followed swiftly by me and Chris laying the limestone floor flags. Second fix electrics and plumbing will finish things off, apart from decorating...
Today (Sunday) we held an Open House for friends and neighbours to see the inside, with some early mulled wine and mince pies. We did this the same weekend last year, when no-one took their coats and gloves off as it was still so damp and cold inside. This year, people could not only see all the work that has been done but could also really feel the difference. I lit the lounge fire and the woodburner just for the effect, but they weren't really needed as it is a very warm house. One amusing thing was the couple from along the road who live in an even older house; they came in and both stood right in front of the woodburner as their house is always so cold and draughty! It's this sort of event that makes you realise how much work has been done in twelve months. No wonder I'm tired.
**** "The Plasterers' Return" (as there's two of them) or "The Plasterer's Return" (as there's actually only one plasterer and a labourer) or even "The Plasterers Return"??? Is "return" a noun or a verb in this usage? I don't know the answer, but I've put this question in to forestall the comments of my even more pedantic daughter, who might be able to give me an answer.
I've had a fair bit of work to do before the plastering, such as the installation of three windows. The first was the sash window which we bought earlier in the year for a bargain £80 - and it's a 95% match to the existing two-over-twos. This was a bit difficult to fit, due to the previously mentioned cavity closers (see this page), which got caught on the fixing brackets as the window was pushed in as it was all very tight. The trick was to use a scraper to depress the closer whilst pushing the window, so I did this with the help of my son. I have also fitted a window board.
The second window is my restored casement window. The frame and casements were fitted very easily but then I had to fit the glass. My masterplan here was to use a pair of old sash window panes (from the replaced front window), and cut them down to replace two broken smaller sash panes (see this link for the story on how one got broken), and then I could use the broken bits to cut down to 9x12 casement windows. Although I thought I might do this myself, I found that a local company would do it very cheaply and with a far greater chance of success, so I invested £9 in this enterprise (much cheaper than buying a good glass cutter!). Amazingly, the plan has worked, and we now have two draughtproof sash panes (fitted in the hall and back bedroom) and a complete pair of casements - so the extension is fully weatherproof for the first time since we bought the house.
I've also done a stud wall, above a door in the extension. This was quite straightforward, apart from the fact that the blockwork around the door isn't straight, as both the carpenter and the plasterer have pointed out. Ho hum.
I realise that I never posted
any photos of the exterior of the finished extension, so for starters here is one of the extension itself. 80% of the bricks used were reclaimed from the old building, despite the patchy appearance. Jane and I reclaimed these ourselves; ones with lime mortar were easy but where cement had been used they were a real pain. The white ones were on the inside and I expect that they will clean up in time, as the white is old emulsion paint. My restored casement window is on the left, obviously, although when this was taken there were still 5 panes empty of glass.I did the gutter a week later and added the offset and downpipe on Wednesday evening (as we were expecting rain that night!).
showing the extension with the bargain new sash window which balances the old one at the far end.
Finally, here's the one (right) from the back, behind the stone wall. I have still to add the bargeboard but apart from that the exterior is finished. Happy days!Inside, once the plastering is done the plumber will come back, followed swiftly by me and Chris laying the limestone floor flags. Second fix electrics and plumbing will finish things off, apart from decorating...
Today (Sunday) we held an Open House for friends and neighbours to see the inside, with some early mulled wine and mince pies. We did this the same weekend last year, when no-one took their coats and gloves off as it was still so damp and cold inside. This year, people could not only see all the work that has been done but could also really feel the difference. I lit the lounge fire and the woodburner just for the effect, but they weren't really needed as it is a very warm house. One amusing thing was the couple from along the road who live in an even older house; they came in and both stood right in front of the woodburner as their house is always so cold and draughty! It's this sort of event that makes you realise how much work has been done in twelve months. No wonder I'm tired.
**** "The Plasterers' Return" (as there's two of them) or "The Plasterer's Return" (as there's actually only one plasterer and a labourer) or even "The Plasterers Return"??? Is "return" a noun or a verb in this usage? I don't know the answer, but I've put this question in to forestall the comments of my even more pedantic daughter, who might be able to give me an answer.
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
Roofing and Tree-Felling
Tuesday, 20 September 2011
Let's Start Again
Conservation Officer (CO) actually suggested what we could do instead of the original proposal - an oak conservatory. Although it wasn't really what we wanted, it seemed a good compromise, so that is what we applied for; unfortunately the dear person has now gone back to her original comments about the conservatory harming the symmetry. So the meeting was utterly pointless and has cost us time and money for no good reason.When I saw the CO's objections posted on line, I suggested to my architect that we should withdraw the application for Planning Permission (PP) and modify the one for Listed Building Consent (LB), as the work would not now require PP. However, although the application was revised to delete the conservatory, we now have both LBC and PP for just the service wing - even though we don't need PP at all. The subtle point here is that the archaeological requirements were only specified on the PP application, so if that had been withdrawn as I suggested, we would not have had to pay for any more archaeology. I'm actually in favour of history and archaeology but they are a bit expensive!
Anyway, we shall get on with the new project as quickly as we can, as winter is approaching and we want to have it fully functional well before it gets cold. Talking of temperature, we've noticed that the house maintains a pretty constant temperature at all times, between 16 and 17.5 deg C, even when the outside temperature fell overnight to 7.5 deg C. I reckon this is pretty good with no heating on at all, especially as this was noticed before I plugged up the draught holes around the new windows.
Anyway, whilst writing the above my groundworker called by, to see how things were going. So we agreed to start next week and now I just need to make sure that we can do the demolition this weekend, get the archaeologist to turn up next Tuesday morning and also submit a Building Control application. Back to the grindstone!
Tuesday, 6 September 2011
Slight Progress Again
I've been enjoying the last few weeks, in a lazy fashion. Planning for the "service wing" re-build is still a major pre-occupation; sorting out the contractors is now almost second nature, and quite easy when you use the same ones! (I must have done something right the first time as they are all happy to do another job for me.)
However, there is still a planning issue with the County Council's archaeologist who is interested in our footings. I think we can get round all that, but it means that we will, after all, have to pay for a professional archaeologist - another thousand or more down the drain. I should point out that Jane is actually quite excited by the thought of an archaeological dig on our own property. I think I would be as well, were it not for the expense and the delay (as winter is rapidly approaching).
Recent work has been slight; the fireplace people came back to install our woodburning stove (left),
with which we are very pleased (although of course we haven't actually lit it yet!). The whole thing is a huge improvement over the fire and floor which used to be there (below right, obviously, although it didn't actually slope). 
They have also just fitted a cowl on the chimney above the decorative arch fire which they fitted in the lounge; this had to wait until the bird's nest was empty. They did NOT have much fun clearing it - there had been a considerable effort by the big black things (I was never exactly sure whether they were crows or what) in completely blocking up a chimney which was swept only last November.
In preparation for emptying the "service wing" fordemolition repair, I have purchased and erected a small (7' x 5') garden shed with a pent roof (i.e. a single slope, not an apex). The next task will be to fill this! NB I have it on good authority that, although we have no "Permitted Development Rights" in this conservation area, this is still legal as it is less than 10 cubic metres in volume, so we don't need any permission.
Apart from finishing off around our new double sash window, I have also been tiling in the kitchen, using 10cm square tiles. If you've never used these, they are quite tedious to put up, being so small; I much prefer the 25cm x 33 cm ones we've used in the bathroom as you cover the space so much quicker. Another disadvantage of the small ones is that it is very easy to get out of square, especially on uneven lime plaster. (I must hasten to point out that I am not criticizing the plasterer's work, but rather just pointing out a fact of life in old buildings.)
However, there is still a planning issue with the County Council's archaeologist who is interested in our footings. I think we can get round all that, but it means that we will, after all, have to pay for a professional archaeologist - another thousand or more down the drain. I should point out that Jane is actually quite excited by the thought of an archaeological dig on our own property. I think I would be as well, were it not for the expense and the delay (as winter is rapidly approaching).
Recent work has been slight; the fireplace people came back to install our woodburning stove (left),
with which we are very pleased (although of course we haven't actually lit it yet!). The whole thing is a huge improvement over the fire and floor which used to be there (below right, obviously, although it didn't actually slope). 
They have also just fitted a cowl on the chimney above the decorative arch fire which they fitted in the lounge; this had to wait until the bird's nest was empty. They did NOT have much fun clearing it - there had been a considerable effort by the big black things (I was never exactly sure whether they were crows or what) in completely blocking up a chimney which was swept only last November. In preparation for emptying the "service wing" for
Apart from finishing off around our new double sash window, I have also been tiling in the kitchen, using 10cm square tiles. If you've never used these, they are quite tedious to put up, being so small; I much prefer the 25cm x 33 cm ones we've used in the bathroom as you cover the space so much quicker. Another disadvantage of the small ones is that it is very easy to get out of square, especially on uneven lime plaster. (I must hasten to point out that I am not criticizing the plasterer's work, but rather just pointing out a fact of life in old buildings.)
Friday, 24 June 2011
Suddenly, we're nearly finished
The Scent of the Past?
I had my first slightly spooky experience in the house this week. I was stripping the thick layers of paint on the window cill in the main bedroom with my heat gun and favourite scraper. The window was open and suddenly there was a really strong smell of perfume, as though someone wearing half a bottle had walked past the first floor window. Then it happened again and it seemed that the smell was actually coming from the paint! Was I really disturbing the accumulated smell of perfume bottles set on the window cill by the spinsters (first Miss Coleman and then Miss Dealey) who lived here from 1925 until 1984? I'd just love to know what perfume they wore!
Nearly Finished
It seems strange after so many months work to realise that we are mere days from being able to move in. Of course, it won't be finished then, just liveable, but moving in will be a great step forward, of course. Many jobs have been prioritised on the basis of whether they assist the moving-in day, so refurbishment of the sash windows, for instance, has taken a back seat, as has the rebuild of the Victorian "service wing" (as the conservation officer calls it), which has a roof still covered in green tarpaulin and a brick wall in danger of collapse.
The last two weeks have seen huge leaps forward, with many tasks coming good in quick succession; I reckon that 14 different tradesmen have worked in the house in that fortnight. After the driveway (see last week's entry), we have seen the delivery and installation of two new windows, the fitting of the kitchen units, delivery and fitting of the kitchen appliances, installation of the gas boiler, installation of the lounge fireplace and mantel, and the fitting of the bathroom units, not to mention the rest (almost) of the second fix electrics and plumbing. In that time I myself have tiled and grouted the bathroom (mostly), grouted half the kitchen floor, repaired mortar around the soil pipe, and sanded/painted doors, skirting boards etc, not to mention continuous tidying up!
The one failure was the installation of the new cill for the kitchen window. First, Chris dropped and broke the newly cast cill, then he broke his own foot in a small motor bike accident. Hopefully, we can muster enough muscle to fit the new cill in a few days, as it lets the draught in under the newly installed window (left) which at least is already a huge improvement on the old galvanised steel door and windows (right).
The kitchen looks wonderful; the two excellent fitters worked hard and most skilfully, although it did take them from Monday until Friday morning to turn the packs (left) into the finished article (right). It looks even better with the range installed (below).
I like our new decorative arch on the fireplace in the lounge; this is how it has progressed from horrible (as bought) to great with an intermediate step this week:
My list of tasks is still quite large - it includes making a wardrobe (before we can lay carpets), as well as lots of decorating and tiling. So, we're on course to move in early in July (and this is June 24th!); then we can start on the service wing, for which we are putting in the necessary applications very soon.
Finally, I was much amused by the fact that our new range has a dog chain. Honestly. Apparently it is to ensure that the range does not fall forward when the heavy doors are all opened. Presumably this has happened to someone and I feel sorry for them. I guess that someone then at the major range manufacturer has decreed that, to avoid a similar event, a chain should be attached at the back of the range. However, commonsense has been lost along the way: this range does not have heavy cast iron doors, but rather its doors are light, similar to an oven, and the chain is totally redundant! Another stupidity done in the name of Health and Safety!
I had my first slightly spooky experience in the house this week. I was stripping the thick layers of paint on the window cill in the main bedroom with my heat gun and favourite scraper. The window was open and suddenly there was a really strong smell of perfume, as though someone wearing half a bottle had walked past the first floor window. Then it happened again and it seemed that the smell was actually coming from the paint! Was I really disturbing the accumulated smell of perfume bottles set on the window cill by the spinsters (first Miss Coleman and then Miss Dealey) who lived here from 1925 until 1984? I'd just love to know what perfume they wore!
Nearly Finished
It seems strange after so many months work to realise that we are mere days from being able to move in. Of course, it won't be finished then, just liveable, but moving in will be a great step forward, of course. Many jobs have been prioritised on the basis of whether they assist the moving-in day, so refurbishment of the sash windows, for instance, has taken a back seat, as has the rebuild of the Victorian "service wing" (as the conservation officer calls it), which has a roof still covered in green tarpaulin and a brick wall in danger of collapse.
The last two weeks have seen huge leaps forward, with many tasks coming good in quick succession; I reckon that 14 different tradesmen have worked in the house in that fortnight. After the driveway (see last week's entry), we have seen the delivery and installation of two new windows, the fitting of the kitchen units, delivery and fitting of the kitchen appliances, installation of the gas boiler, installation of the lounge fireplace and mantel, and the fitting of the bathroom units, not to mention the rest (almost) of the second fix electrics and plumbing. In that time I myself have tiled and grouted the bathroom (mostly), grouted half the kitchen floor, repaired mortar around the soil pipe, and sanded/painted doors, skirting boards etc, not to mention continuous tidying up!
The one failure was the installation of the new cill for the kitchen window. First, Chris dropped and broke the newly cast cill, then he broke his own foot in a small motor bike accident. Hopefully, we can muster enough muscle to fit the new cill in a few days, as it lets the draught in under the newly installed window (left) which at least is already a huge improvement on the old galvanised steel door and windows (right).
The kitchen looks wonderful; the two excellent fitters worked hard and most skilfully, although it did take them from Monday until Friday morning to turn the packs (left) into the finished article (right). It looks even better with the range installed (below).
I like our new decorative arch on the fireplace in the lounge; this is how it has progressed from horrible (as bought) to great with an intermediate step this week:
My list of tasks is still quite large - it includes making a wardrobe (before we can lay carpets), as well as lots of decorating and tiling. So, we're on course to move in early in July (and this is June 24th!); then we can start on the service wing, for which we are putting in the necessary applications very soon.
Finally, I was much amused by the fact that our new range has a dog chain. Honestly. Apparently it is to ensure that the range does not fall forward when the heavy doors are all opened. Presumably this has happened to someone and I feel sorry for them. I guess that someone then at the major range manufacturer has decreed that, to avoid a similar event, a chain should be attached at the back of the range. However, commonsense has been lost along the way: this range does not have heavy cast iron doors, but rather its doors are light, similar to an oven, and the chain is totally redundant! Another stupidity done in the name of Health and Safety!
Friday, 22 April 2011
Laying a Limecrete Floor Part 1
This might be a bit detailed for some of you, but I have been researching the use of limecrete as a breathable kitchen floor for some time and have found very little good advice on t'internet; hence I thought that some detail in the public domain might be found useful. I shall publish another entry soon detailing some other events of the week.
This week, at last, I bit the bullet and engaged Chris and Shane to dig out the existing floor and help me lay the limecrete slab. The general deal was that they would do the physical bit and I would provide the technical know-how (aided by desperate telephone calls to Mike Wye). Of course life is not like that and so I am now absolutely shattered (as indeed they are, and they are half my age!).
When we first saw the kitchen I immediately
knew that we would have to sort the floor (photo right). The red and black 6" quarry tiles, in a pleasing diagonal pattern, were damp and sadly neglected. They were suffering from a variety of additional coverings (like rotted lino and bitumen), and many (mostly red ones) had lost their flat surface entirely, revealing a pitted face with a white bloom. I tried various techniques of cleaning but nothing persuaded me (far less Jane!) that we would be able to live with the end result for the duration of our intended retirement. Delaying this was not an option as there would be no real way of doing it once we had fitted the new kitchen and were living in the house. Another issue was the strip of bare concrete (foreground on photo) which ran across the room where there used to be a wall; this pre-dated the tiles, as the diagonal lines on either side did not match!
I made an early decision that what I wanted to do was to lay a breathable limecrete floor, and researched this on the internet. It can be difficult to get Building Control approval for this material, but there is an exemption for listed buildings on account of the foundations usually being shallower than the required depth to meet Part L (Conservation of Fuel and Power). I knew that the foundations were about 8 or 9 inches below the floor level, and the essential detail here is to dig down at 45 degrees from the walls at a point a small way above the bottom of the foundations so that the integrity of the walls is not affected. If you are cautious like me then that small way is about 6 inches.
I got the team at Mike Wye to do the materials quotation which also gave me the essential design of the floor. It seemed to me that the quantities required were enormous (4 tons in photo left) so I asked them to do it again; the result was the same so I just had to trust their figures. Of course, they were very accurate - see later. Their design uses LECA (lightweight expanded clay aggregate) which comes in various sizes but essentially looks like an unappetizing version of Maltesers without any chocolate. A coated version of LECA is used as a loose lay foundation; this allows the floor to breathe but does not allow any water to rise by capilliary action. On top of this the main slab is made of a slightly smaller LECA, uncoated (presumably to allow better binding), mixed with NHL5 (Natural Hydraulic Lime). A breathable membrane is used both below and above the loose lay LECA to prevent migration between the layers. On top of the slab a screed of NHL5 and sharp sand is laid, on which the chosen floor surface is laid. Most of the insulation is from the loose lay so I chose to use 200mm of this, with a 100mm slab on top. This was the task for the week, as we will let it go off before laying the screed and flagstones.
The first task was to remove all the tiles - only about 900 of them - and then Chris and Shane removed (in about three minutes) the old (1950s) fireplace - see result in photo left. What I had not really bargained 
on was how much spoil there would be (photo right), and the sheer physical effort in getting it out of the house. Everything had to be lifted up a couple of feet - well, we were digging down - and extracted through the fairly narrow single French door.
I estimate that they removed something like 10 tons of lime mortar and soil in three days, all by hand through that single doorway. The end result was basically an empty swimming pool where there will soon be a kitchen. I also removed about half a ton of rubble which filled the old fireplace - compare the photo left (after excavation, with membrane laid) with the one above. I was expecting to build a rectangular alcove for the new woodburning stove, and it was there all the time!
So we worked along from the far end, laying the loose lay LECA with the membrane over it up to a bit of temporary shuttering, then the slab mixture on top up to a couple of feet back. Then we added LECA in front of the shuttering, removed the shuttering,
unrolled the membrane and added more slab mixture, and so moved on. The addition of the LECA in front of the shuttering is key as otherwise the edge would move significantly when the shuttering is removed and this might allow the slab mixture to drop down a bit. Here's Chris (right) doing a bit of levelling with some marker stakes for the next bit of shuttering.
Finally, we had a floor slab. I know it doesn't look much for the result of so much work, but I'm convinced that it's a good way of controlling dampness in such an old building.
We actually received 84 bags of the loose lay LECA, and 42 of the stuff to mix with the mortar; we used 81 and 38 respectively - a surplus is far preferable to running out. The LECA totalled about three tons, and we also used almost exactly half a ton of NHL5. All that remained was to clear up, including removing the remaining mortar (for the screed next week) from the lawn to the house. I have to confess that I was surprised to see the entire lawn cleared in just seven hours, and I bet the neighbours were as well, considering that half of the lawn is theirs!
This week, at last, I bit the bullet and engaged Chris and Shane to dig out the existing floor and help me lay the limecrete slab. The general deal was that they would do the physical bit and I would provide the technical know-how (aided by desperate telephone calls to Mike Wye). Of course life is not like that and so I am now absolutely shattered (as indeed they are, and they are half my age!).
When we first saw the kitchen I immediately
knew that we would have to sort the floor (photo right). The red and black 6" quarry tiles, in a pleasing diagonal pattern, were damp and sadly neglected. They were suffering from a variety of additional coverings (like rotted lino and bitumen), and many (mostly red ones) had lost their flat surface entirely, revealing a pitted face with a white bloom. I tried various techniques of cleaning but nothing persuaded me (far less Jane!) that we would be able to live with the end result for the duration of our intended retirement. Delaying this was not an option as there would be no real way of doing it once we had fitted the new kitchen and were living in the house. Another issue was the strip of bare concrete (foreground on photo) which ran across the room where there used to be a wall; this pre-dated the tiles, as the diagonal lines on either side did not match! I made an early decision that what I wanted to do was to lay a breathable limecrete floor, and researched this on the internet. It can be difficult to get Building Control approval for this material, but there is an exemption for listed buildings on account of the foundations usually being shallower than the required depth to meet Part L (Conservation of Fuel and Power). I knew that the foundations were about 8 or 9 inches below the floor level, and the essential detail here is to dig down at 45 degrees from the walls at a point a small way above the bottom of the foundations so that the integrity of the walls is not affected. If you are cautious like me then that small way is about 6 inches.
I got the team at Mike Wye to do the materials quotation which also gave me the essential design of the floor. It seemed to me that the quantities required were enormous (4 tons in photo left) so I asked them to do it again; the result was the same so I just had to trust their figures. Of course, they were very accurate - see later. Their design uses LECA (lightweight expanded clay aggregate) which comes in various sizes but essentially looks like an unappetizing version of Maltesers without any chocolate. A coated version of LECA is used as a loose lay foundation; this allows the floor to breathe but does not allow any water to rise by capilliary action. On top of this the main slab is made of a slightly smaller LECA, uncoated (presumably to allow better binding), mixed with NHL5 (Natural Hydraulic Lime). A breathable membrane is used both below and above the loose lay LECA to prevent migration between the layers. On top of the slab a screed of NHL5 and sharp sand is laid, on which the chosen floor surface is laid. Most of the insulation is from the loose lay so I chose to use 200mm of this, with a 100mm slab on top. This was the task for the week, as we will let it go off before laying the screed and flagstones.
The first task was to remove all the tiles - only about 900 of them - and then Chris and Shane removed (in about three minutes) the old (1950s) fireplace - see result in photo left. What I had not really bargained 
on was how much spoil there would be (photo right), and the sheer physical effort in getting it out of the house. Everything had to be lifted up a couple of feet - well, we were digging down - and extracted through the fairly narrow single French door.
So we worked along from the far end, laying the loose lay LECA with the membrane over it up to a bit of temporary shuttering, then the slab mixture on top up to a couple of feet back. Then we added LECA in front of the shuttering, removed the shuttering,
unrolled the membrane and added more slab mixture, and so moved on. The addition of the LECA in front of the shuttering is key as otherwise the edge would move significantly when the shuttering is removed and this might allow the slab mixture to drop down a bit. Here's Chris (right) doing a bit of levelling with some marker stakes for the next bit of shuttering.
Finally, we had a floor slab. I know it doesn't look much for the result of so much work, but I'm convinced that it's a good way of controlling dampness in such an old building.
We actually received 84 bags of the loose lay LECA, and 42 of the stuff to mix with the mortar; we used 81 and 38 respectively - a surplus is far preferable to running out. The LECA totalled about three tons, and we also used almost exactly half a ton of NHL5. All that remained was to clear up, including removing the remaining mortar (for the screed next week) from the lawn to the house. I have to confess that I was surprised to see the entire lawn cleared in just seven hours, and I bet the neighbours were as well, considering that half of the lawn is theirs!
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