Our Little Durham Restoration Project...
Discussion
Pheo said:
We have the plasterers and the electricians in today. They’re complaining about each other which is mildly amusing. Eg electrician can’t find cables, plasterer thinks they’re in the way.
I must admit your celotex far outstrips what our builder has done. I’m concerned about the thermal envelope of the building to be honest, but it’ll still be better insulated by a large margin than it was before. But a concern none the less. Eg they’ve not sealed with tape like you have, and there is no overboarding, although I think this would create some room space challenges in places given our loft is much smaller.
It feels a bit overwhelming as you are trying to progress loads of things at once so nothing ever feels like it’s getting to done! And then there is the temptation to add scope…
Don't look on YT, I was watching two videos on there which pointed out these issues.I must admit your celotex far outstrips what our builder has done. I’m concerned about the thermal envelope of the building to be honest, but it’ll still be better insulated by a large margin than it was before. But a concern none the less. Eg they’ve not sealed with tape like you have, and there is no overboarding, although I think this would create some room space challenges in places given our loft is much smaller.
It feels a bit overwhelming as you are trying to progress loads of things at once so nothing ever feels like it’s getting to done! And then there is the temptation to add scope…
It's said that building regs is either being, or has been updated to cover this issue.
Only some 20 odd years too late!
On another note it's amusing to me you're posting pics up of what i'm doing now, even down to moving her office around so I can crack on.
I'm going to go for joint fill though, so I can do it.
Then I got my next delivery, I load of wood:
The chaos was caused by the sender booking some cheapo palette service that assumed I would have a fork-lift truck and the driver wasn't allowed to touch it.
Luckily he was quite pragmatic and the delivery happened, but it was all very rushed.
Tidied up:
The horse came from the local soft-play place, they had to free up some space due to COVID risk assessment stuff and my wife knows the owner, so did we want Butters the horse?
The chaos was caused by the sender booking some cheapo palette service that assumed I would have a fork-lift truck and the driver wasn't allowed to touch it.
Luckily he was quite pragmatic and the delivery happened, but it was all very rushed.
Tidied up:
The horse came from the local soft-play place, they had to free up some space due to COVID risk assessment stuff and my wife knows the owner, so did we want Butters the horse?
The wood needs to be in before plastering, so off we go.....
First window board:
Cupboard entrance framed out:
The plan is no door on here, the entrance is exactly the same width as my shoulders - I measured that
- so the space for shelves is maximised. Which means both sides are just about deep enough to hang clothes in, so we have the option of using it as a wardrobe with the smallest bedroom which again is the difference between it being a practical bedroom and not. I did toy with the idea of blocking it up completely and removing the side wall into the other bedroom to make that space bigger, but we wanted the light into the landing from the window in there.
Yes there's an ethernet port in there because it's just about big enough to work in.... (It was already there)
First window board:
Cupboard entrance framed out:
The plan is no door on here, the entrance is exactly the same width as my shoulders - I measured that
- so the space for shelves is maximised. Which means both sides are just about deep enough to hang clothes in, so we have the option of using it as a wardrobe with the smallest bedroom which again is the difference between it being a practical bedroom and not. I did toy with the idea of blocking it up completely and removing the side wall into the other bedroom to make that space bigger, but we wanted the light into the landing from the window in there.Yes there's an ethernet port in there because it's just about big enough to work in.... (It was already there)
It's about this point we start overcomplicating things far more than is necessary. Buy a door frame? No.
Pass me the saws:
Pass me the router:
Pass me the screws:
The transom goes like this:
But we'll need a door next to work that all out:
Looks a bit tight on width, that's going to get complicated!
Second frame upright thing - do they have a name?
Everything in:
So this door is basically only there because the rules say there has to be a door, and fair enough, but it'll be open pretty much all the time and open doors get in the way a bit, so......
Tucked into the wall frame thingy. Precise:
Then I built up the wall behind the door as far as that will go:
And sorted out this flat bit as well:
Pass me the saws:
Pass me the router:
Pass me the screws:
The transom goes like this:
But we'll need a door next to work that all out:
Looks a bit tight on width, that's going to get complicated!
Second frame upright thing - do they have a name?
Everything in:
So this door is basically only there because the rules say there has to be a door, and fair enough, but it'll be open pretty much all the time and open doors get in the way a bit, so......
Tucked into the wall frame thingy. Precise:
Then I built up the wall behind the door as far as that will go:
And sorted out this flat bit as well:
After a huge amount of fiddling about to make the door work perfect, get it to open up flush to the wall and leave an edge to plaster to, it was all boarded out:
And everything fixed in place:
Then the transom light and this bit were framed out nicely:
To leave me with this
I can't remember if this was always the plan, but when we'd done the roof works and it was all open the space had a really nice feel to it and we're trying to avoid losing that, by glazing as much of the link between the rooms. Technically you can still see all the way from the front to the back.
If I'd known how much hassle it was going to be and how much bespoke panes of 18mm thick fire glass costs I might not have done it. Certainly my wife would have told me NO anyway, she still doesn't know that the biggest pieces was £900! FFS
And everything fixed in place:
Then the transom light and this bit were framed out nicely:
To leave me with this
I can't remember if this was always the plan, but when we'd done the roof works and it was all open the space had a really nice feel to it and we're trying to avoid losing that, by glazing as much of the link between the rooms. Technically you can still see all the way from the front to the back.
If I'd known how much hassle it was going to be and how much bespoke panes of 18mm thick fire glass costs I might not have done it. Certainly my wife would have told me NO anyway, she still doesn't know that the biggest pieces was £900! FFS
There were frames to make round a few more windows too, these are a bit of a pain to say the least as they're such tight mitres and although the roof looks perfect, by the time it's all built up they're out a little as a result of the two original walls being an inch or two out of parallel with each other.
So the frames are measured accurately, Marked out with a knife and cut by hand using the Paul Sellers knife-wall method. Like I said, at this point we are massively over-complicating everything:
Knife wall:
Perfect fit:
Both sides in:
This was the trickiest one to get right:
I've no pics of it finished, but it was.
Then the cupboard got framed out too:
And at some point a can of Dow Instastick made a bid for freedom:
Can't help but think I got off lightly here, with it going off into a pile of sawdust!
So the frames are measured accurately, Marked out with a knife and cut by hand using the Paul Sellers knife-wall method. Like I said, at this point we are massively over-complicating everything:
Knife wall:
Perfect fit:
Both sides in:
This was the trickiest one to get right:
I've no pics of it finished, but it was.
Then the cupboard got framed out too:
And at some point a can of Dow Instastick made a bid for freedom:
Can't help but think I got off lightly here, with it going off into a pile of sawdust!
Then we're into the last of the plasterboarding. If I remember correctly I had the week off work before the plasterer was due to start and it was all far more of a mad rush than it should have been!
All the gable edges were beaded with these LED tracks, which should look good if I ever get around to fitting the tapes and this plaster-in box cover thing is hiding the power and HDMI for the projector.:
Then it was all tidied and left for the plasterer to mess up and it looked like this:
It just needs plaster, carpets and paint now, then it's basically done. Right? Right?
At this point it feels so close, but this is still only November 30th 2020. I was probably telling my wife at this point that it would be done by the March or something. Luckily she's stopped asking now!
All the gable edges were beaded with these LED tracks, which should look good if I ever get around to fitting the tapes and this plaster-in box cover thing is hiding the power and HDMI for the projector.:
Then it was all tidied and left for the plasterer to mess up and it looked like this:
It just needs plaster, carpets and paint now, then it's basically done. Right? Right?
At this point it feels so close, but this is still only November 30th 2020. I was probably telling my wife at this point that it would be done by the March or something. Luckily she's stopped asking now!
Evoluzione said:
I see lots of Ash and a plasterer on the way. Oh dear, how did that go?
Ha ha, yeah, you live and learn right?Luckily I knew what a mess there would be and had covered everything up pretty well already. When I discovered some staining on a few bits some frantic Googling suggested that vinegar was my friend and that did a great job of removing the staining. So yeah, got away with that one!
paulrockliffe said:
Evoluzione said:
I see lots of Ash and a plasterer on the way. Oh dear, how did that go?
Ha ha, yeah, you live and learn right?Luckily I knew what a mess there would be and had covered everything up pretty well already. When I discovered some staining on a few bits some frantic Googling suggested that vinegar was my friend and that did a great job of removing the staining. So yeah, got away with that one!
The other way was to get in when the plasterer had turned his back and scrape the muck off the frames, both part way through and immediately after he'd gone.
I did notice that the plaster stained/aged the wood perfectly though, so I once got some skim and purposely spread it on some woodwork to age it. It worked quite well.
Evoluzione said:
Yes steep learning curve. We used to put 'fake door frames' in, linings made from scrap or cheap wood the same thickness as the proper frames. These were then of course blathered up, removed and the proper ones put in place.
The other way was to get in when the plasterer had turned his back and scrape the muck off the frames, both part way through and immediately after he'd gone.
I did notice that the plaster stained/aged the wood perfectly though, so I once got some skim and purposely spread it on some woodwork to age it. It worked quite well.
Oh, I didn't know fake frames was a thing? When you remove the frames does it not pull part of the plaster away and leave a mess? It would have been much less stressful to simply add a strip of wood to remove later! The other way was to get in when the plasterer had turned his back and scrape the muck off the frames, both part way through and immediately after he'd gone.
I did notice that the plaster stained/aged the wood perfectly though, so I once got some skim and purposely spread it on some woodwork to age it. It worked quite well.
Actually there was one bit where a metal stop bead was used and afterwards I did think it would have been simpler to bead every edge, plaster to the bead, then fit the frames and fill in the tiny gap left with caulk later.
Bit late now, but never mind!
Anyway, the tidiest plasterer in the world turned up and made a modicum of mess:
Soon everything started going a lovely shade of brown, which was really cool:
So cool!
I think we had 4 days work and got the main rooms done, but there wasn't time for the new bathroom, the landing and stairs or the bits in the old bathroom. Which was fine as it took the pressure off me to get all sorts done in that week ready, but it meant we had another long wait to get that all finished. This is November 2020, I think it was like February when the landing and bathroom got sorted and it might have been early the summer before the new bathroom was done, but I had plenty to do so no bother.
Soon everything started going a lovely shade of brown, which was really cool:
So cool!
I think we had 4 days work and got the main rooms done, but there wasn't time for the new bathroom, the landing and stairs or the bits in the old bathroom. Which was fine as it took the pressure off me to get all sorts done in that week ready, but it meant we had another long wait to get that all finished. This is November 2020, I think it was like February when the landing and bathroom got sorted and it might have been early the summer before the new bathroom was done, but I had plenty to do so no bother.
paulrockliffe said:
Evoluzione said:
Yes steep learning curve. We used to put 'fake door frames' in, linings made from scrap or cheap wood the same thickness as the proper frames. These were then of course blathered up, removed and the proper ones put in place.
The other way was to get in when the plasterer had turned his back and scrape the muck off the frames, both part way through and immediately after he'd gone.
I did notice that the plaster stained/aged the wood perfectly though, so I once got some skim and purposely spread it on some woodwork to age it. It worked quite well.
Oh, I didn't know fake frames was a thing? When you remove the frames does it not pull part of the plaster away and leave a mess? It would have been much less stressful to simply add a strip of wood to remove later! The other way was to get in when the plasterer had turned his back and scrape the muck off the frames, both part way through and immediately after he'd gone.
I did notice that the plaster stained/aged the wood perfectly though, so I once got some skim and purposely spread it on some woodwork to age it. It worked quite well.
Actually there was one bit where a metal stop bead was used and afterwards I did think it would have been simpler to bead every edge, plaster to the bead, then fit the frames and fill in the tiny gap left with caulk later.
Bit late now, but never mind!
It isn't too late anyhow, you can use the idea on the next one you do
Evoluzione said:
Temporary linings is a better term, but yes they work fine. Not only do they stop the plaster on frame problem, but also the frame from soaking all the moisture out of the plaster and swelling.
It isn't too late anyhow, you can use the idea on the next one you do
Thanks, they sound a way better approach! You joke, but I have two more big projects to do eventually so......It isn't too late anyhow, you can use the idea on the next one you do
Looks like I was wrong about the plastering, these photos suggest the bathroom was sorted at the same time:
The ceiling was done, so I put the light up too:
It's all quite messy in terms of how the plaster and the tiles sit, but it's not the worst compromise given the new window going in and time constraints. This bathroom will likely get redone quite soon anyway. The gap at the top corner is where the pipes for the new bathroom run, I couldn't easily run them in the timber frame above without resorting to plastic pipe and they'll be covered by the coving.
The ceiling was done, so I put the light up too:
It's all quite messy in terms of how the plaster and the tiles sit, but it's not the worst compromise given the new window going in and time constraints. This bathroom will likely get redone quite soon anyway. The gap at the top corner is where the pipes for the new bathroom run, I couldn't easily run them in the timber frame above without resorting to plastic pipe and they'll be covered by the coving.
I also needed to finish off cutting back the original ceiling, it was left long as we wanted to maximise the space above and couldn't work that out without the stairs in.
Saw out and..... crikey that's heavier than it looks!
Dust everywhere, this mistake got me in a lot of trouble! Actually I think it fell because I wasn't holding it at all, thinking the plaster was stronger than it was.
And it smashed the edge off a step, so that's another job for another day.
Saw out and..... crikey that's heavier than it looks!
Dust everywhere, this mistake got me in a lot of trouble! Actually I think it fell because I wasn't holding it at all, thinking the plaster was stronger than it was.
And it smashed the edge off a step, so that's another job for another day.
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