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Re: Mike's extension & renovation (External works)

PostPosted: 02 Aug 2018, 13:20
by Malc2098
I'm running out of words!

Re: Mike's extension & renovation (External works)

PostPosted: 02 Aug 2018, 14:57
by Mike G
The last of my tools leaves the house. Never in 4 years has this house not had tools in it......until the day before the wedding:

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Unfortunately, the only place they can go is into the hell-hole that my workshop has become:

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There is no point thinking of tidying it up, there is simply too much stuff in there. That can only mean one thing....................time for a new shed. Luckily, I have a bit of waste ground alongside my workshop:

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Unfortunately, in clearing and leveling the ground I disturbed a wasps nest, so that was it for the day.

Re: Mike's extension & renovation (External works)

PostPosted: 02 Aug 2018, 17:12
by TrimTheKing
Looks fantastic Mike, you've certainly been a busy lad. How did the wedding go?

Re: Mike's extension & renovation (External works)

PostPosted: 02 Aug 2018, 17:31
by Mike G
The wedding was just great thanks Mark. No photos I'm afraid for 3 or 4 weeks.

Re: Mike's extension & renovation (External works)

PostPosted: 03 Aug 2018, 23:36
by jules70
Thanks for taking the time post Mike. Love looking in and seeing the results of your hard labour !

Floor and patio look particularly good.

Re: Mike's extension & renovation (External works)

PostPosted: 04 Aug 2018, 08:44
by Coley
Mike G wrote:You'll find plenty of examples of this construction still going strong 400 years later.

But things have moved on a bit since then Mike. We have double glazing, insulation and draught strips/excluders to try and keep the heat in nowadays. A draughty and gappy door was probably the norm 400 years ago....not so much now


Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

Re: Mike's extension & renovation (External works)

PostPosted: 04 Aug 2018, 13:57
by Mike G
Thanks Jules.

Re: Mike's extension & renovation (External works)

PostPosted: 04 Aug 2018, 16:12
by the bear
Not got much to add that hasn't already been said. I don't know how you get so much done. I'm currently renovating my place and would love to be able to keep a similar progress going. I particularly like the brick floor in the porch.

Mark

Re: Mike's extension & renovation (External works)

PostPosted: 04 Aug 2018, 16:16
by the bear
I forgot to ask, what lacquer did you use on the floor and doors please Mike?

Mark

Re: Mike's extension & renovation (External works)

PostPosted: 04 Aug 2018, 16:58
by Mike G
the bear wrote:I forgot to ask, what lacquer did you use on the floor and doors please Mike?


I used Smith & Rodger Aquacoat SP Satin (by mistake, I ordered matt) initially, but found that Ingilby Paints of Glemsford, who I use for limewash, also supply their own waterbased lacquer at well under half the price, so I tried that, then bought in bulk. Theirs is called Seacoat Lacquer (Clear), and they gave me some matting agent separately so I could take it down to as matt as I wanted. Their product is a deal thicker than S&R's, so I mixed 200ml of water with 800ml of lacquer, and 25g of matting agent (which is just a white powder). This is just slightly glossier than the S&R satin, but close enough.

As an aside, Ingilbys say the lacquer can be used to seal floorbricks, and should last 5 to 10 years before needing recoating. I shall be experimenting soon, but I think that watering it down a lot to soak in well is the likely starting point.

the bear wrote:..... I don't know how you get so much done. I'm currently renovating my place and would love to be able to keep a similar progress going..........


A hundred hours a week is how. There were plenty of other jobs in that time that didn't warrant coverage here. A couple of days doing electrics, for instance, and a new shower screen shaped under a sloped ceiling, fitting the shower, plastering a wall in the kitchen, finishing the brick plinth in the dining room, boxing in an SVP in the dining room, and so on. Hell, putting together a new bed took 3 hours..... I was so knackered I couldn't keep my eyes open to post anything anywhere.

Re: Mike's extension & renovation (New shed)

PostPosted: 05 Aug 2018, 18:46
by Mike G
A day to dig then ground and remove the stinging nettles. Half a day to cast the base, 3 hours to do the brickwork, and a lazy afternoon knocking together the panels:

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Note the water. I flooded the surface of the concrete to help prevent it shrinking and cracking in this heat (over 30C on the day of pouring, and the following day). This is on made up ground, across an old back-filled ditch. There is no way of ever getting down to solid sub-soil without putting piles down, so I simply dug through the softest of the topsoil, tamped down some hardcore, and cast up a pretty strong mix of concrete. It's only a lightweight store-shed, and even if it were to move a little it wouldn't be the end of the world. The base is 2353 x 2353.......the nearest brick dimension under 2400. Eight foot square ;) .

I was going to do this on concrete lintels and have a timber suspended floor, but firstly my local builder's merchants didn't have any the right length, and secondly, that would have been a more expensive option anyway (albeit probably more appropriate for the ground conditions). Anyway, the normal low brick plinth:

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Then marking out the plates (45x45, or ex 2"x2"):

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Finally for now, nailing together the frames. As we've got to walk this into position I just put on the lower piece of 9mm OSB, which squares everything up:

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Re: Mike's extension & renovation (New shed)

PostPosted: 08 Aug 2018, 01:43
by fiveeyes
Malcolm said it first..WOW. As a 'colonist' , this is a first rate education in the ways done long ago. Fully appreciated. Most of all, I must thank you for WIP, as that is time consuming, and your pride in workmanship is quite apparent. :obscene-drinkingcheers: bill

Re: Mike's extension & renovation (New shed)

PostPosted: 08 Aug 2018, 07:36
by Mike G
Thanks Bill. Here are a few more of the shed, which I doubt has anyone thinking "wow"> It is going to make an enormous difference here, though, enabling me to clear out my workshop and use it properly for the first time in months.

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I wish I'd made the roof steeper. It looks too boxy, It has shelves 600 wide full height each side of a central aisle, floor to ceiling, so will hold an awful lot of stuff.

Re: Mike's extension & renovation (New shed)

PostPosted: 08 Aug 2018, 09:27
by wallace
My daughter at the age of 20 no longer needs her wendy house so I liberated it to store things that clutter the workshop. Its amazing what you find when de cluttering

Re: Mike's extension & renovation (New shed)

PostPosted: 08 Aug 2018, 10:51
by Mike G
"Liiberated it". :lol: Love it.

Re: Mike's extension & renovation (New shed)

PostPosted: 12 Aug 2018, 14:56
by Phil
The house is really looking great Mike. :eusa-clap:

Not sure why you built such a small shed with all that available open ground.

Re: Mike's extension & renovation (New shed)

PostPosted: 14 Aug 2018, 09:32
by Mike G
Phil wrote:The house is really looking great Mike. :eusa-clap:

Not sure why you built such a small shed with all that available open ground.


Thanks Phil. Well, it's my second over-spill shed from my workshop, just to take paint, excess building materials, and building-type tools (as opposed to woodworking tools). It is bigger than I need.

Re: Mike's extension & renovation (Letterbox)

PostPosted: 21 Aug 2018, 08:32
by Mike G
Just a quickie. I had an afternoon free, and wanted a small job, so I had a go at my letterbox in the porch. You may remember I had left a slot. You can see it is greying nicely as the weather gets to the oak:

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Firstly, I made the small infill piece, fitting it into the rebate I had left for it when I made the porch about a year ago:

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There is a rebate at the head of the slot, and I made a profile to fit out of a scrap:

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Then from a scrap from my off-cuts store:

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Note the line of holes in the first and last photos. I measured these, and then with my nearest bead cutter made the following:

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I trimmed this down to near-round, then fitted it in my vertical axis single chuck lathe and shaped it (rasp and sandpaper) down to the size I wanted. After cutting them to length I fitted them in the holes, and after adding a rebate to the letterbox cover it all went together:

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It slides beautifully, always sitting on at least 3 dowels.

I should have stopped there. But in the tradition of sharing all my balls-ups with you, I then proceeded to carve the front. I got the spacing wrong, because I measured rather than doing it by eye:

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Oh well. It will have to stay like that for a week or so before I plane it off and do it again properly. I have only got the thickness to for one further attempt.......I'll take more care next time!

In the meantime, I have started the inner front door:

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Look out for this, as the door is going to be something special.

Re: Mike's extension & renovation (Letterbox)

PostPosted: 21 Aug 2018, 09:15
by 9fingers
Are you going to have something like a sash weight to keep the letter box closed off or just relying on Postie doing the decent thing?

Bob

Re: Mike's extension & renovation (Letterbox)

PostPosted: 21 Aug 2018, 09:35
by Malc2098
I'm still waiting for the spandrels carving!

Re: Mike's extension & renovation (Letterbox)

PostPosted: 21 Aug 2018, 09:59
by Rod
Neat idea except like Bob said, not self closing and I’d be worried that the “dragon’s teeth” might rip the mail with a clumsy postie.
Solid slider with drain holes??

Rod

Re: Mike's extension & renovation (Letterbox)

PostPosted: 21 Aug 2018, 10:22
by Mike G
9fingers wrote:Are you going to have something like a sash weight to keep the letter box closed off or just relying on Postie doing the decent thing?

Bob


Terry is terribly well trained. He says it is the best letterbox on his round. Anything is a bonus after 4 years without a letterbox, such that he had to hand the mail to me personally every day, or hang on to it until the following day. He'll keep it closed.

Re: Mike's extension & renovation (Letterbox)

PostPosted: 21 Aug 2018, 10:23
by Mike G
Malc2098 wrote:I'm still waiting for the spandrels carving!


Patience, grasshopper!

I might even be doing the inner ones today..............or it might wait until I've made the door.

Re: Mike's extension & renovation (Letterbox)

PostPosted: 21 Aug 2018, 10:24
by Mike G
Rod wrote:Neat idea except like Bob said, not self closing and I’d be worried that the “dragon’s teeth” might rip the mail with a clumsy postie.
Solid slider with drain holes??

Rod


They're all rounded over now, and they're well below the top of the upstand anyway.

Re: Mike's extension & renovation (Letterbox)

PostPosted: 21 Aug 2018, 10:40
by Malc2098
Surely, it's 'Glasshopper'!