• Hi all and welcome to TheWoodHaven2 brought into the 21st Century, kicking and screaming! We all have Alasdair to thank for the vast bulk of the heavy lifting to get us here, no more so than me because he's taken away a huge burden of responsibility from my shoulders and brought us to this new shiny home, with all your previous content (hopefully) still intact! Please peruse and feed back. There is still plenty to do, like changing the colour scheme, adding the banner graphic, tweaking the odd setting here and there so I have added a new thread in the 'Technical Issues, Bugs and Feature Requests' forum for you to add any issues you find, any missing settings or just anything you'd like to see added/removed from the feature set that Xenforo offers. We will get to everything over the coming weeks so please be patient, but add anything at all to the thread I mention above and we promise to get to them over the next few days/weeks/months. In the meantime, please enjoy!

Mike's ext'n & renovation (solar panels)

duke said:
I also find that the packing with pointing tool prevents water getting into the joint . If you live in an area with a lot of freeze thaw cycles your joints will remain in place and not crack and loosen out.
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What sort of mix are we talking here chaps? I've to a full patio to grind out and redo over the summer so would be good to know, thanks.
 
TrimTheKing said:
What sort of mix are we talking here chaps? I've to a full patio to grind out and redo over the summer so would be good to know, thanks.
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Just a bag of mortar mix from local building centre. The additive I use is Weld Bond. Probably a different name in your country.
 
duke said:
Just a bag of mortar mix from local building centre. The additive I use is Weld Bond. Probably a different name in your country.
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Ah so you use a ready mixed product? By mix I meant what proportion of cement to sand, which I'm almost certain is how Mike will be doing it himself.
 
I will be using a 4:1 mix, Mark, I think. 6:1 for the bedding, a lot stronger for the pointing.
 
I use 4:1 as well Mark.
To keep a consistant colour and texture you need to measure it out in containers / buckets and that includes the water content.
Use a brickies jointing tool or a bit of 15mm copper pipe if you don't have one. I would normally fill the joints over a few M2 to give it time for the paving to draw out some of the moisture before jointing, you very soon learn when is ideal.
 
Careful, folks. Cement formulae are different around the world. If you are adding lime to OPC then it suggests that there aren't the same plasticisers in the mix as we have here to improve the workability. Our cement changed 20 or 30 years ago such that lime no longer needed to be added to mortar (it used to be standard for bricklaying). So, whilst Duke's experience is interesting, don't try to copy it by adding lime here in the UK.

It's also interesting that mortar is sold pre-mixed. It's the same in France and Spain (the same DIY/ builders merchants chains dominate in both countries).......and pretty uncommon here.
 
Back to the external works, and time to get some concrete in the ground. Just a couple of little footings. One is for a ground level wall/ edging strip between some paving and an area of shingle, to the north of the sunroom:

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The other is the rather more important retaining wall. I've now worked out where this wall is going to start stepping up, so this is only a short foundation at the level of the previous footing. Well, at the level the previous footing should have been at, if it had been laid level!

IMG_7297.jpgIMG_7298.jpg

Next up is some brickwork, then some digging, then some concrete, then some brickwork, then some digging...... :)
 
Mike G said:
Back to the external works, and time to get some concrete in the ground. Just a couple of little footings. One is for a ground level wall/ edging strip between some paving and an area of shingle, to the north of the sunroom:

View attachment 26725

View attachment 26728

The other is the rather more important retaining wall. I've now worked out where this wall is going to start stepping up, so this is only a short foundation at the level of the previous footing. Well, at the level the previous footing should have been at, if it had been laid level!

View attachment 26726View attachment 26727

Next up is some brickwork, then some digging, then some concrete, then some brickwork, then some digging...... :)
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But surely you need to save something for tomorrow Mike.....:unsure:😊
Andy
 
You saw the foundation a couple of days ago. Now is the time to see the "wall". It's only going to be about 30mm tall in the end, so it's not really a wall:

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If you look back on the same view from a week or two back, you can see that I also dug off the vegetation:

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I put some hardcore around, particularly in the low spots, then spent the afternoon mixing and laying concrete:

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Mike, why do you concrete before laying slabs? How thick is it? A lot of people, me included, would do hardcore, then scalps, then bed onto the scalps. All wacked down of course.

Mark
 
Good question, Mark. For a start, it's habit, and it's always worked. But here in particular I don't have the depth to do that build-up, and I don't have the room to store 2 different heaps of stuff. As all the work has to be by hand, it didn't cross my mind to dig out to give me the depth to do the more orthodox build-up you describe, and I've nowhere to put the spoil that would generate.
 
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Yes I'm all for not digging where I dont have to (says the man who needs to start rather a lot of digging out soon).

Mark
 
I've been digging, then laying concrete, then bricklaying, then digging etc...... The foundation for this retaining wall steps up as the ramp inside it rises, and will have a step down at the top as the ground level behind falls:

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And so it goes on......75mm up about every 900 to 1000 along.

At the same time, I was starting the build up behind the wall, which begins with concrete:

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Note the reinforcing rods sticking up through the foundation to bind the concrete back-fill to the foundation, and thus the wall to the foundation:

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After the concrete set, I laid a course of blocks behind the brick facing:

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And then laid a brick-on-edge coping:

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I eventually got the the end of the wall, which by now is only 7" high in total, and started the coping from the other end:

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Here's the same view a couple of weeks ago:

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It is coming together , how many more days till completion? In the first photo 4 brick courses down , is that a hole for drainage?
 
duke said:
It is coming together , how many more days till completion? In the first photo 4 brick courses down , is that a hole for drainage?
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Second question first........yes, it is. I've done them all around the rest of the retaining walls, and never seen any water come out of them. However, there's no harm in them, they only take a second to do, and you never know. I filled behind with shingle, then put a membrane over that to keep is cleanish:

6R2Ad80.png

As to how long to finish. Not sure. I've got another retaining wall to do on the other side of the ramp (3 or 4 days, with all the steps). Then the ramp itself (a day or two), then all the paving (4 or 5 days, with the pointing).....so a week or 10 days of work, but interspersed with earning a living, and weather, it could be 3 weeks yet. Then I am going to start on a brick and flint wall between the car parking area and the garden. That could be weeks of work. Flint is slow. So I've certainly got enough external works to keep me busy into the summer.
 
Mike G said:
Second question first........yes, it is. I've done them all around the rest of the retaining walls, and never seen any water come out of them. However, there's no harm in them, they only take a second to do, and you never know. I filled behind with shingle, then put a membrane over that to keep is cleanish:

6R2Ad80.png

As to how long to finish. Not sure. I've got another retaining wall to do on the other side of the ramp (3 or 4 days, with all the steps). Then the ramp itself (a day or two), then all the paving (4 or 5 days, with the pointing).....so a week or 10 days of work, but interspersed with earning a living, and weather, it could be 3 weeks yet. Then I am going to start on a brick and flint wall between the car parking area and the garden. That could be weeks of work. Flint is slow. So I've certainly got enough external works to keep me busy into the summer.
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Never enough hours in the day. Thanks for the response Mike.
 
When I was working on the house more full-time than I am now, I used to ensure that I always had an indoor job and and outdoor job on the go at the same time so that I could continue top make progress even when the weather was poor. Well, it's been persisting down for the last 2 or 3 days, so external works are definitely on hold, and work pressure is currently completely under control. So, time to start an indoor job.

I bought all the kit for this next job at least 6 or 8 months ago. I made a special table on which to do it at least 3 or 4 months ago. So, it's been quite a build up. The modern auto-didact has more sophisticated ways of learning than when I taught myself woodwork, so I've been on Youtube a little, and I've talked with one or two specialists. So, time to get on with the job.

Here are the locations that need attention. The porch, the downstairs loo, and the screen between the kitchen and the hall:

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Time to make some leaded lights.

I actually spent 5 or 6 hours straightening this mess:

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Those are the lead cames which will form the lattice holding the glazing together, and they were wrapped up in tangle to fit in the box. It's very annoying! I did a partial straightening of all of them, and will do the proper job when it comes to using them. You straighten them as best you can by hand, then put them in a cam clamp and give them a good tug, which helps straighten them, and stiffens them up. Here is about a third of them sitting on the hall floor:

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I decided to start with the porch, because it is actually the most forgiving. As always, draw it, then you then use that drawing to cut some strips from your glass:

9AIOlif.png

Note the jar. That has some cotton wool in the bottom, and is soaked in the lightest oil I could find......WD40. The glass cutter sits in that between cuts to keep the cutting wheel lubricated. Cutting glass is actually pretty straightforward. Here are the first few pieces of my first trial panel, laid in place:

uR53LSb.png

I wonder if I should have bought a specialist leadworking knife, but at the moment I am just using an old kitchen knife. It works fine, but seeing where I was supposed to be cutting quickly taught me that my drawing needs lines for the outside edges of the lead cames, and I need better lighting. I faffed about cutting lead and arranging everything, and very quickly drew a conclusion:

WZ9w02t.png

Yep, the diamonds are too small. I hopped into the car and drove to Sudbury where there are quite a number of buildings with leaded lights. I took a whole lot of measurements, then came back and crunched the numbers before doing a new drawing. The result sits pretty much in the middle of the range of sizes on the traditional buildings I measured:

IMG_7343.jpg

So, my trial panel will be dismantled, and I'll start the new panel next time the weather forces me inside.
 
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Wot.. not making your own cames Mike? :giggle:
Don't worry, I've not used my lead mill/glaziers vice either ;)
Top marks for cracking on with doing the leaded lights.
Cheers, Andy
 

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toolsntat said:
Wot.. not making your own cames Mike? :giggle:
Don't worry, I've not used my lead mill/glaziers vice either ;)
Top marks for cracking on with doing the leaded lights.
Cheers, Andy
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Wow, that's brilliant Andy. You do find some odd stuff, don't you.
 
AndyP said:
Please sort out that porch down pipe Mike. I surprised you can live with that .
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There's a bit of a story there, Andy. The render on the house has failed, and so we will be re-rendering in the next 6 or 12 months. Because downpipes are screwed onto the render the job has never been done. Although the porch doesn't fit into that pattern as the pipes will fasten to the frame, I'll be doing all the downpipes as one job.
 
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The leaded lights work looks quite difficult. Quite a few years ago we developed a GII listed manor house for sale divided into units and had to employ an ecclesiastic specialist to repair the leaded light windows. Was very interesting to watch as they set up a workshop on site. Some of the old float glass was different thicknesses between panes, presumably because of inconsistent manufacturing standards. I suspect this craft is dying out now.
 
AJB Temple said:
The leaded lights work looks quite difficult. Quite a few years ago we developed a GII listed manor house for sale divided into units and had to employ an ecclesiastic specialist to repair the leaded light windows. Was very interesting to watch as they set up a workshop on site. Some of the old float glass was different thicknesses between panes, presumably because of inconsistent manufacturing standards. I suspect this craft is dying out now.
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Also over a period of many years it’s been shown that glass isn’t as "set" as it appears and it will migrate to the bottom due to gravity, a tiny amount of movement admittedly.
 
Cabinetman said:
Also over a period of many years it’s been shown that glass isn’t as "set" as it appears and it will migrate to the bottom due to gravity, a tiny amount of movement admittedly.
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Turns out this is a bit of a myth. I used to tell that story too, but it seems the story started with a misunderstanding of the manufacturing techniques employed by glass blowers, and a mis-analysis of glass in ancient windows.
 
AJB Temple said:
......Some of the old float glass was different thicknesses between panes, presumably because of inconsistent manufacturing standards.....
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The reason leaded windows exist is due to the manufacturing technique of glass. It wasn't float glass until the 20th century. Before that it was blown. Large cylinders would be blown, and then cut and opened out before it cooled. This produced the stress lines and bubbles familiar in old glass.....and of course it produced lots of variation between one piece of glass and another. This form of glass making necessarily meant small pieces of glass, so they were joined together with lead to make a window sized panel.

There was a time glass was so valuable that only the landed gentry could afford them, and some of them would pack up their windows and leave them with relatives for safe-keeping, or take them with the household when they went travelling.
 
Mike G said:
The reason leaded windows exist is due to the manufacturing technique of glass. It wasn't float glass until the 20th century. Before that it was blown. Large cylinders would be blown, and then cut and opened out before it cooled. This produced the stress lines and bubbles familiar in old glass.....and of course it produced lots of variation between one piece of glass and another. This form of glass making necessarily meant small pieces of glass, so they were joined together with lead to make a window sized panel.

There was a time glass was so valuable that only the landed gentry could afford them, and some of them would pack up their windows and leave them with relatives for safe-keeping, or take them with the household when they went travelling.
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And of course that’s where bulls eyes come from, it’s the cheap bit that’s left after the rest has been cut away.
Must say I thought it was formed into a disc not a cylinder, but I’ve no doubt that you are correct.
Ian
 
It might not have been float glass then, as it did have bubbles and was not perfectly clear - there were some distorted bits. But I didn't think the building was old enough.
 
 
For a lead knife get an old putty knife and grind the end square, you need to judge how long to leave the blade because you don’t want it to flex. Then sharpen the edge with a steep double edge . This is then used by pushing the blade through the came on a flat surface.
 
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