Using my Christmas Present at last

I mentioned my Christmas present some time ago in this entry which was still in its box at that time.  A Holzspalter - a wood splitter, made in Germany. This present was included on my Christmas list as I hope to be able to supply my own wood for the woodburner and the open fire in the lounge.

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

We did a fair quantity of wood, but probably only about 40% of what I have from the old trees in the front garden.  Mind you, I know how much wood my two fires can burn, so lots is needed.  The cypress was the most difficult due to its diameter and we had to give in on some large bits, especially if there was a branch joint.  The ash was the most exciting, seeing a ten inch section of seven inch diameter wood suddenly split and both parts propelled forward by four or five feet.  I also had some buddleia, holly, elder and laurel - we couldn't work out which it was which smelled gently of lemon.  Some of my wood was cut before the front garden work last November, and was going quite hard - clearly the best time to split is when the wood is still fresh, so I ought to get on and do the rest soon.  My neighbour is going to do his driveway soon and so I have already put in a request for his wood (holly and dead yew, mostly). I'm still kicking myself for not asking for any of his old wavy glass when he had his front windows done by a certain large company - they just smashed everything and fitted brand new.  I'm not sure Conservation would be happy!

Jane's verdict: "How good to find a tool that even a woman can use". Just stand at the right end!

Spring has arrived!

One of the tasks here was to sort out the overgrown front garden.  This was essentially completed last November, when the rest of the old trees were chopped down and the roots grubbed up (see this entry), and then the new trees and hedge were planted (see this entry).  You can then, perhaps understand my joy at the arrival of spring and the sight of all four trees and all of the hedge showing a bumper crop of buds.  The cherry was the first to burst forth into flower (photo right), and the rest are following. NB The funny green on the lawn in the foreground is lawn reinforcement netting.

Last spring I observed that the different types of tree in the churchyard opposite blossomed in sequence, rather than all at the same time.  Thus, I chose to have four trees of similar types and hope that my front garden will have a similar tree in blossom to match one or more in the churchyard; it looks as though the plan is working.  For the record the trees along the front are a Sorbus Aria Lutescens (Whitebeam), a Prunus x yedoensis (Yoshino cherry) and an Amelanchier Arborea, with a hedge of Carpinus Betulus (Hornbeam) beside the front wall and a Malus Rudolph (crab apple) nearer to the house.  In fact, the planting was done on 28th November 2011, so they have only been in the ground for four months; this success is probably due to the skill of the people involved and the quality of their trees; they weren't cheap but I really do believe that if you try to save money on this sort of thing, you might just completely waste your cash by getting a result which doesn't meet your desires, so I consider the money was well spent. [Edit: As a much later correction to this, I noticed in the summer that my Sorbus was not in fact the same species as the tree in the churchyard.  My tree supplier suggests that the one in the churchyard is a Morus (Mulberry) so in fact my “expert” was not so clever after all. Grrrr….]

One other aspect of the front garden is that I was worried about what the locals would say.  I need not have worried, as I have had a considerable amount of unsolicited praise, not just from people who know me but from many random passers-by.  (I only have to work in the front for twenty minutes and I can guarantee that someone I don't know will stop and talk to me.)  Most locals are well aware of both how bad the condition of the house was and the consequent amount of  work done to get it to this standard.  One suspects that a lot of people have been observing (and wondering!) as slowly the front of the house was cleared and improved, together with the many visits by delivery lorries (30+?) and the grab lorry (9 or 10) in the last 17 months.  I think the comments I get now are partly due to their relief that I could have done far worse.  This public reaction is also quite a relief for me, as I didn't really want to annoy the long term locals by completely laying waste the garden!

Useful Links

I thought it would be helpful to anyone thinking of undertaking a similar project for me to give a list of helpful websites of people I have used.  I should have done this a long time ago!  (You get a bit slow when you get to my age.)  I'll probably update this list periodically in future:

• Lime products plus helpful advice
• Mike Wye Associates http://www.mikewye.co.uk
• Old House Store http://www.oldhousestore.co.uk 
• and there are lots of others if you search for Lime Mortar Suppliers
• Information about limecrete - http://www.limecrete.net
• Information and Forum for Period Property owners (excellent forum to learn about lime, dampness and how to look after old buildings etc) - http://www.periodproperty.co.uk
• Cast iron rainwater goods - http://www.rainclear.co.uk
• "Conservation" roof lights - http://www.therooflightcompany.co.uk
• Hardware odds and ends - http://www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk and http://www.screwfix.com
• Listed Property Owners Club (who have an annual show at Olympia each February) http://lpoc.co.uk
• Society for Preservation of Ancient Buildings http://www.spab.org.uk
• Tree felling and removal, supply and planting of new trees and hedge - Nicholsons of North Aston http://www.nicholsons.gb.com 
• Sash window manufacturer - Traditional Joinery http://www.traditional-windows.co.uk 
• Wood burning stove and chimney liner -  The Fire Place http://www.the-fire-place.co.uk
• Architectural salvage on line - SalvoWEB - http://www.salvo.co.uk
• The Haynes Period Property manual - http://www.period-house.com/
• Black Limestone flags, imperial bricks, cast iron fireplace plus various other odd bits - Burgess Reclamation http://www.burgessreclamation.co.uk
• NB There is another reclamation company near here who are very noticeable on Salvo which they seem to use as their main marketing outlet.  I ordered my front door from them and had great trouble as they couldn't deliver, because the manufacturer couldn't get wood that big!  Then I had trouble getting my money back which took over seven weeks.  I've never been back.

I can also recommend a plumber, lime plasterer, electrician and groundworker who are all small local tradesmen who did an excellent job.

I'll leave it to you to decide which is the best of the national chains who stock building materials, as I don't think they need me to advertise for them.  Suffice it to say that I think it helps if you can get known in these places to the extent that they don't ask your name but still give you your discount automatically.

[Edit 21 June] Here's a link to another blog which I have started.

Project Management

One of the dangers of doing a restoration is that it might never finish.  You know, you just keep on doing jobs and bits, and never quite reach the end.  I really would like to avoid the feeling, in five or ten years time, of still having jobs which have been outstanding all that time!  However, I have no intention of actually having a project plan as, after all, I'm retired and would like to take it slightly easy!  (Also, I have memories of project managers who couldn't manage, or who seemed to think that a plan on MS Project was the answer to everything... don't get me started.)  Therefore, here are my thoughts on how I will manage the jobs that are left; these fall into at least three four categories:

1. The really important ones which affect our ability to live in the house.  The completion of the extension falls into this category, as we can't tidy up the main house until we have the extension to put things in!
2. The major ones which are awaiting some suitable opportunity (e.g. jobs that need good weather, like refurbishing sash windows), need some item to be bought (when I find it at a reclamation yard) or need some special information (i.e. require internet research)
3. The quite important ones which just need to be done somewhen soon, like finish the bathroom and the bedroom wardrobe (both left from last July when we moved in).
4. The rest, which are mostly small tasks scattered around the entire estate, but which includes ones like the toilet roll holder and towel rail in the new loo.

The temptation is to concentrate on the last category as they are relatively easy and quite satisfying, so the trick is to decide on a Sunday evening which tasks in the first three categories will get my attentionin the following week.  I will also pick off a few of the easy ones just to keep those ticking over so that they don't become more important and move up the list!  One of my techniques as an engineering manager in the RAF was to try to make sure that once a week - often Friday afternoons - I spent two or three hours doing all the routine things (unless a crisis came along). This is how I shall manage the minor jobs here.

In the RAF nearly all of my job was management in some form or other.  As an engineer I once worked at a headquarters where I managed two aircraft fleets  - servicing schedules, technical defects, modifications, that sort of thing.  Some people in similar jobs used to thrive on crises, and in fact only ever seemed to attend to one crisis after another - all routine stuff was ignored as being of no consequence.  They would work long hours (they said) or even go in at weekends.  Of course, one day, that neglected routine stuff would become a new crisis and so the circle continued.  The really annoying thing was that lots of these people got promoted for doing crisis management well, which rather ignored the fact that most of these crises were of their own making.  The high priced help never really looked at the whole job you were doing, just the really visible parts of it (i.e. the crises), so those of us who were able to make sure that crises occurred less often by doing our job properly were not rewarded for doing the job well as we hardly ever had a crisis to shine in!  You can start to see why I was delighted to leave...

Stone Walling - Cotswold Style - Part 1

Wherever in the country you find dry stone walls, there is always a distinct local style - or perhaps even more than one.  The Cotswolds are no exception, and the above photo shows what I believe is the typical local style, with almost rectangular stones in neat lines with vertical coping stones on top - these are set with mortar but that's not always the case.  An alternative form of coping is simply some rounded mortar (photo right).  If the wall is being made using mortar instead of being dry, then the stones are naturally not needed to be so rectangular as the mortar makes good the irregularities, and the lines of stone are not always so even (lower photo right).



Of course, as I'm not actually in the real Cotswolds, the local stone is not exactly the same and so things tend to be just that little bit different here.  This preamble is my excuse in advance for the odd appearance of whatever I build, as I have the need of doing several stone walls soon.

I have actually made a start this week on my own first simple dry stone wall. This wall is to be about 15" high just to give a clear edge to hold back the raised ground where we lowered the surface to make the drive level (photo below).  Thus only one side is visible and the back of the wall is built into the earth bank.  I already had the foundation which is Celcon blocks laid flat, set on cement; this was done last year when we did the drive, to form a solid edge to the "self-compacting gravel" which we laid as the drive surface (and I'm very impressed by it, by the way).

I'm pretty happy with the progress so far, although it is quite surprising how much stone is required for even a small wall.  This low wall is also a low risk opportunity to see just how difficult this task is as, if it all goes wrong, I can take it down and try again without a great waste of effort or loss of face! 

When I feel competent, I shall progress to a very long wall going alongside the house, to hold back the (higher) garden as mentioned at the end of a recent post (see here), plus a high but fairly short wall beside the front of the house, to incorporate some lovely stones with pintles (which I bought last year) so that I can hang a gate - the other gate will be attached to a post on the side of the house.  The final job is to repair the wall ends where I cut the opening for the driveway.  In my favourite reclamation yard, I found and purchased a large old coping stone which was from the wall outside the local Methodist church.  This lovely piece of limestone was cut in two last June and I think they will look perfect, giving a square end to each wall - see photo of one of them, right, with the newly bevelled edge away from the camera.  However, since that job requires lime mortar, it can't be done until I am sure there will be no more frost; also, it's rather publicly visible so I hesitate to start with that job!

Another Ghost Story

I wrote last year (see this page) about a slightly spooky experience when I smelled perfume whilst stripping paint off a window cill.  Well, I've had another little experience which worried me for a few days.

Whilst working in our new kitchen, I had the distinct impression of someone or something in the garden going past the kitchen sash window - you know, just a movement in your peripheral vision.  The first couple of times, I ignored this as just a quirk of my eyesight but, after a few occasions on different days and times, I wondered to Jane whether I was seeing things.  She said sympathetically that I must be due to see an optician (which is probably true).  Personally, I was wondering if it was my guardian angel working overtime on keeping me safe from various near accidents whilst working on this house.

Then, a couple of days ago, I was looking out of the sash window (at the pile of logs still awaiting splitting with my Christmas present, if you want to know) when a

Drainpipes and Drains

One of the important last jobs was to sort out the cast iron drainpipe from the bathroom - the one that takes the grey water into a hopper and then via 8ft of downpipe and a shoe into the gully at the bottom.  Having lowered the ground level by about five inches beside the house, the recessed gully was now too high; I was not happy with the condition of the downpipe anyway, but since lowering the ground the earthenware had become broken and so water from the bathroom was going all over the ground.  In fact it was quite surprising to see just how much water was being used by the shower - I always thought that they were economical with water but now I wonder.

Hence I decided to gather all the necessary bits together so that I could do the whole thing in one day.  The new 2.5" downpipe and the hopper were actually a renovation of the remaining good bits of the rainwater system which was all replaced over a year ago with 3" (without hoppers).  A thorough job was done with hot air and a scraper, followed by a wire brush and then a couple of coats of black Hammerite (photo right).  All the old shoes were all past it so I had to buy one of those brand new (£££) as well as some coach screws and galvanized washers.

Although I was totally happy to respect the house and comply with all legalities by using cast iron downpipe etc, the gully trap was clearly going to be a new plastic one - and a decent quality OSMA one at that.  Colin the groundworker would never speak to me again if I had bought a W****s own brand!  I then needed an annoyingly short piece of 110mm soil pipe to connect to the main sewer at the inspection cover.  This was really annoying because I needed less than 3 feet of soil pipe but you can only buy 3 metre lengths!  I know it's not expensive (probably just a waste of £10) but just what do you do with the useless piece 2 metres long?  Anyway, I asked both Colin and Steve the plumber and was given a spare bit for nothing, which was just the right length.  The final item was some pea gravel on which to bed the new pipe and gully.

Hence, after all possible preparation, it was time to do the job.  The drainpipe was rather more securely attached to the wall than I had expected, but eventually it gave way to my persuasion (hence the bare bit below the white plastic pipe at the top of the later photo, left).  One of the pins securing the hopper resisted to the end and, sadly, the hopper flange broke leaving a bent pin still in the wall to be ground off later.  I took the drainpipe (2 sections plus a shoe) down carefully in one piece; later, I thought I would try to see if I could separate it, and the first thing I did caused it to break into four pieces!  However, it was quite gratifying to find the pre-existing ('cos they are already rusty) cracks in it, one of which extended lengthwise down the entire six foot section of pipe (see photo right).  Another old crack was 80% of the circumference of the pipe near the collar.  Yes, it was all scrap.

Then it was the turn of the gully and the pipe which was encased in concrete.  It was with a slightly heavy heart that I took my sledgehammer to the earthenware but, within a minute, I had done the deed; happily I could stop feeling guilty as there had clearly been a long-standing leak between the trap and pipe.  After that, it was pretty plain sailing to fit all the bits of the complete new system, starting with the pipe and gully, then working up the downpipe from the shoe to the hopper.  I did find that some of the drilling for the coach screws seemed to be too much for my (fairly new) drill - I think the bricks are VERY tough but perhaps the (not old) drill bits are now knackered as well. Finally I cemented the new soil pipe in the old hole under the frame of the inspection cover, ensuring that the pipe had a very slight fall on it.

Here's a photo of the finished job (compare to the one at the top):

Emboldened by this success, I decided to tackle the new inspection cover (at the back of the extension) which is mounted on some 230mm pipe about 18" high.  This had been left uncut when Colin fitted it so that I could choose the ground level later.  I cut this down to size by sawing about 15" off it, so now I have a trip hazard but at least the level is right, about 3" above the hardcore.  However, since I want to sort the ground fairly soon, it shouldn't be a problem for long.

The next thing to sort will be the pathway alongside the house, between the house and the elevated garden.  I want to make it like a sort of Devon lane instead of how it was during the excavations (right)!  Having lowered the ground level I am loath to refit a path right up to the house again (as if!) and would like to keep the extra four or five inches of wall as breathing space - it definitely all helps.  I have found some heavy duty iron gratings (27" x 9" x 2") at £15 each (which sounds expensive until you find out what old church gratings cost, if you can find them).  If I can work out how to support these (they are probably about 15-20kg each) then I will fit them beside the house wall, and the path surface will then be 9 inches away from the wall.  The path surface will be either concrete or paving slabs or self compacting gravel as successfully used on the drive (or a mixture of all these in different places).  I also need path edging near to the garden wall as I want to have a narrow flower bed at the base of the garden wall.  Plenty of time for that this summer...

Meanwhile, 'Er indoors has just used the newly installed washing machine for the first time.  Happiness indeed!

Wheelbarrows and Contractors

The wheelbarrow is dead; long live the wheelbarrow!

I forgot to mention my new wheelbarrow.  The old one (above left) suffered fatal injuries at the hands of various contractors last year; clearly it wasn't as resilient as I first thought (in this link).  You can see the frame and bucket are only attached by the front brackets - all four welds have gone, as have the sides where the stiffeners are kinked.  I actually saw that happen when we were doing the floor last April (see this link) - a full load of mortar from the mixer was being settled down by shaking the whole thing from side to side and both sides suddenly went outwards by an inch or two with a kink in the middle of each side.  This was most noticeable as from then on the wheelbarrow scraped on both sides of the old French window as we pushed the next mix inside for Chris to lay.

Of course, the sideways action described above is unlikely to be in the design specification, and I'm sure that this action is what caused the welds to go as well.  Everyone who has mixed a load in my mixer has done it, so why don't the designers think of it?  It soldiered on but eventually died in the autumn, so I'll take it to the metal recycling somewhen - anyone want a used wheel in good condition?

Anyway, I needed to have a useable one so I found one of a different design (above right) which hopefully will prove more durable - and I don't intend to have any contractors misuse it!  It has already helped move several tons of materials from the front to the back and carried the mix for the floor in the extension, plus more recently the mixed lime plaster for the wall.

Talking of contractors, we have had possibly the last contractor job done this week, as Kurt the sparky has done the 2nd fix in the new extension; we now have light and power - and hence a working washing machine as well! When I've tidied up I will post a few photos of what it looks like, but right now it's rather messy.  I lost count a long time ago of the number of different workers there has been on this building in the last 16 months, but a quick count reveals at least 39 people from 18 different "organisations" (and I'm bound to have forgotten some!).  Most have been excellent, and I have had very few reasons to complain.

So, although I can't hear a fat lady singing, it's all over bar the shouting.  This is actually quite a milestone, I realize: everything left to do on the house and garden will be done by my own fair hands.  There are hundreds of jobs around the pace and I don't have a list - that would be too depressing!  My project management technique is to decide at the weekend what I think are the most important tasks to be done, and make a list of what I would like to achieve in the week.  Thus the next weekend, if I have done nearly everything on the list, I can feel pretty happy with myself and make a new list for the next week. And so on...

PS In case you hadn't noticed, it's spring.  I am very happy to report that my hedge and trees, planted at the end of last November (see this link), have survived the (admittedly mild) winter and are now about to burst forth with lots of new shoots.

Age and Forgetfulness

Before I get to the age bit, a quick update: I've done float coat of the lime plaster on the wall in the extension, which I'm pretty pleased with.  It had to be done in two bits as I was unable to find the energy to do the whole thing in one day.  I'll tackle the final coats when I feel up to it!  Compare these photos with the original ones when I started (note the old square hatch in the middle).

It's not all I've done recently, but I have been a bit distracted because of recent events like my birthday, which seemed to last for four days last weekend.  It's not necessarily a great event to celebrate one's birthday.  OK, when you're young, each one is exciting, with presents, a party and possibly some sense of being closer to being a "grown-up".  I'm not sure when this sense of excitement ceased for me, but my latest birthday was, as they say, a BIG one with a zero at the end. My lovely family were wonderful and I had a great time with some great presents (see below).

It is obvious to me that I am getting old - after all, I'm retired!  I partly excuse myself as my early retirement was prompted by redundancy at 58.  I reckon I'm pretty fit - having then spent 17 months refurbishing this house I have become much fitter. I proved this last year when, needing some working trousers, I found an old pair of RAF trousers last worn in 1992, and they fitted!!!  I also have a sweet grandson, but I know some people who were grandparents before they were 40, so having a grandson doesn't make me old, does it?

Nevertheless, I myself find it hard to believe that subtracting year of birth from the current year somehow equals 60.  I've tried checking the arithmetic to make sure I've not miscalculated, but it's still 60.  A good number of friends at church were astonished when sharing some birthday cake last Sunday.  Actually it was two cakes, one a '6' and the other '0'; I cunningly shared out the '6' first, and then asked the latecomers to guess what number had appeared in front of the '0'.  Very gratifying to see the looks of astonishment on some faces who thought that a '5' was more appropriate.

One of the things that I notice about myself is increasing forgetfulness.  Whilst doing something, it is so easy to be asked to do something else, which you then totally forget.  I have developed techniques for coping with this, to make things stick in my memory, but even these are not infallible.  This happened to me the other day, when the rector asked me to give a message to Jane; I was in conversation with a group of friends and I actually replied that I would forget unless I took home something as a reminder of the task.  So then I forgot to take the reminder!

I also forget things like ideas for this blog - something comes into mind whilst plastering or painting, and by the time I am in a position to write it down, it has gone.  If you're lucky, you go back to the same place and somehow the same thoughts come back, but it doesn't always work.

Back to my birthday: the best present was the last one to arrive.  It was a hardbound book of this blog!  Apparently you can get this done at a well known high street chemist.  It is about 10 inches square, and has lots of photos from this blog (plus a few by Jane that I had not seen before), together with a selection of brief quotes (the better ones, probably selected by Suzi) telling the story of what has been done to this house.  What a thing to treasure!  Come the day that the internet crashes or Blogspot disappears, I will still have a wonderful memento.  Beat that, as they say.

A Loo and a Washing Machine

Well, the plumbers have been, and most efficient they have been too.  In about four hours the two of them fitted the new loo, the corner basin with tap and outlet, the tap and outlet in the utility sink, and the washing machine supply and outlet.  Apart from the lack of electricity for the washing machine, we are all ready to go once the sealant sets, so I'll probably have an initiation ceremony tomorrow when I'll fix the worktop and base unit properly.

I have spent a fair bit of time on odd jobs in preparation for this event.  Once the floors were laid and grouted (see this page from January) I had to do tiling behind the loo and basin, assemble the base unit, cut the worktop and fit the steel sink in it, and then fit and paint the skirting board that goes behind the sink unit (as this will be visible beside the washing machine).  I know that professionals do this sort of thing much faster than me, but it still seems to me that there is no real reason why I should pay someone for a job that I can do - and I can feel proud of the achievements afterwards!

I would post some photos of the utility and loo in the extension but, like our main bathroom, they are so small that it is almost impossible to get a decent and meaningful photo.  It's all black (worktop), white (all tiles, sanitary ware and the base unit) or stainless steel (the sink), so please use your imagination!

I now need to finish the plastering so that the electrician can come and do his second fix.  I didn't properly appreciate the time required for the lime plastering (I have no excuse after all the other work done here) and really I should have started it before doing the floor if I wanted to finish earlier.  Never mind, where's the hurry?  I guess the electrics will get done in about ten days time, and I've plenty to keep me busy whilst the plaster goes off.  For instance, today I stripped and painted a 6ft cast iron downpipe and a hopper which will be a job to fit in place of the ones for the bathroom grey water outlet.  The fitted ones are in danger of falling off the wall and, as we've lowered the ground level, they are too short.