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The builder's are coming - floorboard laying

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Re: The builder's are coming ....

Postby Paul200 » 14 Apr 2017, 10:17

TrimTheKing wrote:What do they do with those thick trunks, part cut through them then bend to ground level and wind the branches together?

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Mark


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That's about the size of it Mark. I think they use upright stakes to weave the branches through - like basket weave - although I can't make out any in the photo.

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Re: The builder's are coming ....

Postby RogerS » 14 Apr 2017, 11:14

TrimTheKing wrote:What do they do with those thick trunks, part cut through them then bend to ground level and wind the branches together?

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Mark


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Pretty much all that they can do when trying to layer a hedge with mature trees that have been left alone for 15+ years.

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The skill is in cutting through the trunk enough to let it be bent over without breaking but leaving enough sapwood (think that's the right term) to feed the bent-over tree. They simply bend over the tree, too thick to try anything fancy such as intertwining in vertical sticks. A lot of the tree branches are cut off to encourage growth in the right area.

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I think the guys did a brilliant job and it's certainly opened up the view and letting in air into the garden.

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I was especially delighted to be told that of the three specimen trees left alone, this one is one of those rare beasts....elm :) We're sufficiently isolated that the nasties shouldn't infect it.

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On the building side, the new side window stonework is in place and Clive's done a great job. I looked at a similar window at the rental and it's crude by comparison. The camera angle makes it look a different size to the existing one. Out of curiosity, I stuck the laser measure inside it to see how square the opening was. Within 1mm :eusa-clap:

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I have to say that I have struck gold with my builder - recommended to me by the neighbouring farmer. If there is something that he's not that experienced in doing, such as stonework, then he will get someone in who is. And because he's been doing this for a long time, he has already filtered out the bad trades. Everyone who has come onsite have been top notch.

And finally we have our sliding door opening

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The photo doesn't do it justice.

After Easter, the scaffolding is going up so that the water-tables/skews can be corrected, chimney flaunching etc. On the front elevation, I have a master mason coming along to remove the cement from the ashlar and replace with lime. He's worked on cathedrals and so I guess he knows what he's doing!
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Re: The builder's are coming ....

Postby DaveL » 14 Apr 2017, 11:44

I can remember the grandad of one of my primary school friends spending a week laying a hedge, he made it look easy but he had been taught how to do it by an old boy when he started on the farm. I hope yours turns out like his did.
I am pleased you have a good builder, you need something to make the new place seem better than the first impressions you posted.
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Re: The builder's are coming ....

Postby Rod » 14 Apr 2017, 13:59

Coming from Yorkshire most of the field boundaries there are drystone walls. Not too familiar with Northumbria, are hedges the boundary of choice there?
I used to work on a farm where the old farmer spent a lot of his time rebuilding walls knocked over by sheep straying from the moors adjacent to his fields.

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Re: The builder's are coming ....

Postby RogerS » 14 Apr 2017, 14:10

Rod wrote:Coming from Yorkshire most of the field boundaries there are drystone walls. Not too familiar with Northumbria, are hedges the boundary of choice there?
I used to work on a farm where the old farmer spent a lot of his time rebuilding walls knocked over by sheep straying from the moors adjacent to his fields.

Rod


No, you're quite right. Up in the fells, most of the boundaries are stone.
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The builder's are coming ....

Postby TrimTheKing » 14 Apr 2017, 17:41

Wow some of those cuts are brutal, but leaving enough of the cambium layer intact to keep it alive.

I did mine in our last house with hawthorn but that was only 18 months old so very immature. Still took me a whole day to do a run about 30m long.

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Re: The builder's are coming ....

Postby RogerS » 14 Apr 2017, 18:24

TrimTheKing wrote:Wow some of those cuts are brutal, but leaving enough of the cambium layer intact to keep it alive.

I did mine in our last house with hawthorn but that was only 18 months old so very immature. Still took me a whole day to do a run about 30m long.

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The two guys did 150m in six days.
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Re: The builder's are coming ....

Postby RogerS » 21 Apr 2017, 14:16

Scaffolders arrived unexpectedly yesterday and made a start

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It's in readiness for the stone mason and once the end gables are done then the water tables and skews can be worked on. It will also give us the chance to investigate that chimney further and provide a firm platform for the builders to insert a new small window.

These two trees were in the way.
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Not any more :D

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I was quite chuffed with my lumberjacking skills as I dropped the tree exactly where I wanted it.

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Re: The builder's are coming ....

Postby Mike G » 21 Apr 2017, 14:33

RogerS wrote:........I was quite chuffed with my lumberjacking skills as I dropped the tree exactly where I wanted it..........


Directly on top of your mother-in-law? :lol:
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Re: The builder's are coming ....

Postby TrimTheKing » 21 Apr 2017, 15:03

Mike G wrote:
RogerS wrote:........I was quite chuffed with my lumberjacking skills as I dropped the tree exactly where I wanted it..........


Directly on top of your mother-in-law? :lol:


I'll get you my pretty!!!!!



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Re: The builder's are coming ....

Postby Andyp » 21 Apr 2017, 16:03

did you cut that down in high heels :D

strip the bark off that log and you will have a much neater border for the raised beds.
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Re: The builder's are coming ....

Postby Tusses » 21 Apr 2017, 16:16

something I've always wondered .... How much is scaffold hire ?
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Re: The builder's are coming ....

Postby RogerS » 21 Apr 2017, 17:13

Tusses wrote:something I've always wondered .... How much is scaffold hire ?


How long is a piece of string ? It depends on the complexity of the job, how many men, how much scaffolding and how long you want it up for.

When I got the front of our last house re-rendered I got a couple of quotes and they were in the very high hundreds.
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Re: The builder's are coming ....

Postby Tusses » 21 Apr 2017, 18:04

ah, no cheap then , as I thought.
will prob make my own with 2x's when I need to :-) lol
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Building DPC question

Postby RogerS » 25 Apr 2017, 11:31

We've exposed one of the water tables by removing the skew stones (if that's the right term) and you can see what an iffy job was done.

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Carries on up the roof

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and those two holes marked with yellow arrows are a couple of original chimney flues - remember the original building was three stories and so I guess that those flues would have kinked over towards a central stack during the course of the third floor.

Talking to the roofing guy, he was proposing to lay Code 4 lead over the water tables and overlap the tiles. I suggested it would be better to put in individual soakers all the way up. And then maybe overlay with lead again on top....dunno. Anyway, the laths are rotten at the ends and so the slates will have to be stripped back a ways to allow new laths to go in.

Is my approach the best way or is the roofer's suggestion just as good ?

Comments very welcome.
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Re: Building DPC question

Postby 9fingers » 25 Apr 2017, 13:39

I've not heard that meaning of the term "water table" before. Is it a regional thing?
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Re: Building DPC question

Postby RogerS » 25 Apr 2017, 14:00

9fingers wrote:I've not heard that meaning of the term "water table" before. Is it a regional thing?
Bob


I think it probably is. I've just realised I've stuck this post in the wrong thread !

Bob, could you possibly move these to the The Builders Are coming thread please. I'd screw it up big time if I tried.
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Re: Building DPC question

Postby Rod » 25 Apr 2017, 14:07

It's in Websters but I've not heard of that definition too
String course or similar when projecting so as to throw off water

Skew in this instance seems to be a Scottish term

http://www.buildingconservation.com/art ... -roofs.htm

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Re: Building DPC question

Postby 9fingers » 25 Apr 2017, 14:17

RogerS wrote:
Bob, could you possibly move these to the The Builders Are coming thread please. I'd screw it up big time if I tried.


I nearly did too! but recovered the situation thankfully

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Re: The builder's are coming ....

Postby RogerS » 25 Apr 2017, 14:25

Thanks, Bob. Thought I'd post a relevant extract from the survey report

The pots are held in mortar flaunching. The front two are a pair of decorative octagonal pots and the rear two are mismatched, one is square. The east chimney should be cleared of vegetation as soon as possible. The chimneys will require re-pointing in the medium term and, as the mortar flaunching is cracking, the pots will require re-bedding at the same time. These jobs should be done using a mortar made with eminently hydraulic lime. See the following section for comments about chimney bases and skews..............

The gables are finished with water-tables (or copes, or skew stones). These are poorly bedded, with open joints; those at the north-west wall-head are modern replacements – and one has been broken by the television aerial mounting. Panel margins are, at ridges, capped in clay tiles; and at gable wall-heads and chimney-bases, butted to stone with cement skews; the joints at chimney bases are dressed with stepped lead flashings. The abutment joints at the rear elevation are also dressed with lead flashings......

The worst parts of the roof are at the panel margins. The abutments are poor and are responsible for most of the water ingress at the Property. Good abutment joints are necessary because the roof panels are supported by timber, which is relatively dynamic – moving with changes in temperature and humidity – compared to the masonry walls, gables and chimneys. The existing joints rely on mortar skews, which are cracked and admit water to the centre of the gable walls. These should be stripped out and replaced with open lead watergates. This involves temporarily removing the water-tables, removing the slate margins, preparing a solid bed along the gable wall-heads, fitting lead in accordance with a detailed specification – including flashings at the chimney bases – and reinstating. Reinstatement of the water-tables should include pinning every second stone with stainless steel dowels and pointing using a mortar made with eminently hydraulic lime; care should be taken to avoid this mortar coming into contact with the lead – using bitumen paint and lead mastic as appropriate.

The chimney flashings should be checked and serviced as required at the same time. The abutment joints at the rear extension have lead flashings, of a simple kind, and probably made in too long lengths for the weight of lead, and would also be more secure and watertight if re-fitted with open lead water-gates – which do not require an overlay of mortar.
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Re: The builder's are coming ....

Postby 9fingers » 25 Apr 2017, 14:31

An impressively high level of detail rather than just a list of what is wrong!

At some stage in your move thread(s) I built up the impression that this was a relatively modern build property.

Seems like it has been around a while?

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Re: The builder's are coming ....

Postby RogerS » 25 Apr 2017, 14:48

9fingers wrote:....Seems like it has been around a while?

Bob


Yes and No.

This was all that was left of the front of the 1752 building ..as at 1979

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and the back

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plus a wall internally...now hidden
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Re: The builder's are coming ....

Postby Mike G » 25 Apr 2017, 21:23

"Removing the slate margins" is an easy thing to say, but a big job in practice. This will entail stripping a triangle up from the bottom edge of the abutment, and goodness knows how they'll cut in new battens. I'd say that there is half a chance you'll end up with your entire roof stripped, and those gorgeous old slates won't all go back on the roof, as a percentage will break.
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Re: The builder's are coming ....

Postby RogerS » 27 Apr 2017, 12:32

Mike G wrote:"Removing the slate margins" is an easy thing to say, but a big job in practice. This will entail stripping a triangle up from the bottom edge of the abutment, and goodness knows how they'll cut in new battens. I'd say that there is half a chance you'll end up with your entire roof stripped, and those gorgeous old slates won't all go back on the roof, as a percentage will break.


Well they managed it without too much fuss or bother. I bought some identical (or as good as) slates from a local company to replace the odd two or three that got broken. As far as I can see, jobs a good'un.

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There is a 'belt'n'braces' layer of lead over the top of the soakers then the skew stones laid back in place with lime mortar. Looks rather good, I think.

The slates on the opposite side of the roof were much better ones, he said. But the gable wall is lower than the slates. So if he dressed the slates this side as he did the other side then the water would run down into and under the skew stones. So he has dressed them differently.

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Re: The builder's are coming ....

Postby Mike G » 27 Apr 2017, 16:50

I'd love to know how he fixed the rotten battens.

That finished gable looks great. Very impressed.
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