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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)
- Thread starter Mike G
- Start date
Charlie
Seedling
Well done Mike. I hope, despite the forecasts, that you get some mild dry weather to let you get on more easily.
Mike G
Petrified Pine
Thanks Roger, Charlie. I just keep plodding on, because unfortunately the building doesn't build itself. I'm having half a day off tomorrow to introduce myself to my wife.
The incentive is that this week I can start the green oak work, albeit it may be in sweet chestnut.
The incentive is that this week I can start the green oak work, albeit it may be in sweet chestnut.
Wizard9999
Old Oak
Mike G":235sjn83 said:
Plodding! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Wizard9999":16101znn said:
I was thinking the same thing. Not I word I would use to describe progress so far.
Mike G
Petrified Pine
It's been a funny old few days.
Half a day for a hospital appointment, half a day with a work meeting, half a day trying to sort out timber and window orders...... so lots of time not actually building anything. However, since I last posted I have managed to get to the ridge on both sides of the roof with battens (too dull to bother taking a photo of), and then i made a start on making sprockets for the main roof. Firstly, I used up some of my store of oak. This is all seasoned, in that I have had it for years. It is a vastly different thing to unseasoned ("green") oak, which I'll come to in a minute.
It is a simple job of drawing around the template, and cutting everything out on the bandsaw. Simple, until you run into inclusions, and especially inclusions which include barbed wire, right in the middle of the tree. There goes another blade......
Woodworm eat sapwood for breakfast, lunch and dinner, so it is no use on external timber. Here is a sprocket which contains sapwood (the pale stuff):
I hacked it away on the bandsaw, cleaned up with a draw-knife, then planed it flat and glued (Titebond 3) a lump of decent oak in its place:
There were two like that. The following day I cut off the spare and planed it all flat. You can barely see the join, he lied:
When the weather gave me a chance, I boarded the north gable:
But the weather hasn't really been helping much recently:
Finally, having used up my stock of suitable oak, I bought some green oak. This is what wet oak does in contact with the metal of the saw blade:
A minute later, after a bit of spokeshave work:
That pale stuff wasn't sapwood, believe it or not. It was just some odd coloured heartwood.
But this is sapwood, and some bark, and the draw-knife which dealt with it in very short order:
Thirty sprockets (to the left), and a whole lot of peg blanks. All the oak work will be pegged in the traditional manner, with seasoned oak pegs (albeit turned, rather than riven):
I decided to add a groove to each side of each of the sprockets (only one side for the end ones), so that I can drop in an eaves closer board. A whole lot of faffing about in the workshop now, but that's an awful lot easier than faffing about up on the scaffolding, trying to make boards to go between, and to fasten them in place. So, here are some grooved sprockets:
Then it all went very wrong.
I was resawing the oak for the eaves closer board. I was 5 feet into a 10 foot cut, when the bandsaw blade stopped turning. On inspection, one of the drive belts was slipping. Plenty of adjusting later, and it was still slipping, so, after extracting the timber from the blade (or the other way around).....and that wasn't easy, I had to take the lower wheel off to get to the V belts. Firstly, my circlip pliers fell apart, and sprung to all 4 corners of the workshop, but mainly fell into a 6 inch deep pile of sawdust. Then, once the the circlip was out, I tried and failed to shift the wheel and its bearing off the shaft. I needed to make a puller. Of course, I dropped my box of assorted washers, which also spread amongst the detritus on the floor, and leaped into the pile of sawdust. Thanks goodness for big magnets.......
Anyway, I made a puller:
There's a captive nut on the other end of the central bolt, just let into the timber. A few cranks of a big spanner, and the wheel was off, still with my ad hoc puller attached:
There's years of life left in those belts.......so long as I don't want them to turn anything:
My workshop is utter carnage:
So, I feel like I have lost my way a little. With the bandsaw out of action for a few days I can't finish the eaves detail, so I can't finish the roof. So, I'll have to move to a different line of attack. It'll come to me in the middle of the night....
Half a day for a hospital appointment, half a day with a work meeting, half a day trying to sort out timber and window orders...... so lots of time not actually building anything. However, since I last posted I have managed to get to the ridge on both sides of the roof with battens (too dull to bother taking a photo of), and then i made a start on making sprockets for the main roof. Firstly, I used up some of my store of oak. This is all seasoned, in that I have had it for years. It is a vastly different thing to unseasoned ("green") oak, which I'll come to in a minute.
It is a simple job of drawing around the template, and cutting everything out on the bandsaw. Simple, until you run into inclusions, and especially inclusions which include barbed wire, right in the middle of the tree. There goes another blade......
Woodworm eat sapwood for breakfast, lunch and dinner, so it is no use on external timber. Here is a sprocket which contains sapwood (the pale stuff):
I hacked it away on the bandsaw, cleaned up with a draw-knife, then planed it flat and glued (Titebond 3) a lump of decent oak in its place:
There were two like that. The following day I cut off the spare and planed it all flat. You can barely see the join, he lied:
When the weather gave me a chance, I boarded the north gable:
But the weather hasn't really been helping much recently:
Finally, having used up my stock of suitable oak, I bought some green oak. This is what wet oak does in contact with the metal of the saw blade:
A minute later, after a bit of spokeshave work:
That pale stuff wasn't sapwood, believe it or not. It was just some odd coloured heartwood.
But this is sapwood, and some bark, and the draw-knife which dealt with it in very short order:
Thirty sprockets (to the left), and a whole lot of peg blanks. All the oak work will be pegged in the traditional manner, with seasoned oak pegs (albeit turned, rather than riven):
I decided to add a groove to each side of each of the sprockets (only one side for the end ones), so that I can drop in an eaves closer board. A whole lot of faffing about in the workshop now, but that's an awful lot easier than faffing about up on the scaffolding, trying to make boards to go between, and to fasten them in place. So, here are some grooved sprockets:
Then it all went very wrong.
I was resawing the oak for the eaves closer board. I was 5 feet into a 10 foot cut, when the bandsaw blade stopped turning. On inspection, one of the drive belts was slipping. Plenty of adjusting later, and it was still slipping, so, after extracting the timber from the blade (or the other way around).....and that wasn't easy, I had to take the lower wheel off to get to the V belts. Firstly, my circlip pliers fell apart, and sprung to all 4 corners of the workshop, but mainly fell into a 6 inch deep pile of sawdust. Then, once the the circlip was out, I tried and failed to shift the wheel and its bearing off the shaft. I needed to make a puller. Of course, I dropped my box of assorted washers, which also spread amongst the detritus on the floor, and leaped into the pile of sawdust. Thanks goodness for big magnets.......
Anyway, I made a puller:
There's a captive nut on the other end of the central bolt, just let into the timber. A few cranks of a big spanner, and the wheel was off, still with my ad hoc puller attached:
There's years of life left in those belts.......so long as I don't want them to turn anything:
My workshop is utter carnage:
So, I feel like I have lost my way a little. With the bandsaw out of action for a few days I can't finish the eaves detail, so I can't finish the roof. So, I'll have to move to a different line of attack. It'll come to me in the middle of the night....
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2014
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You will be able to get a belt from your local bearing factors. They are scattered in poky corners of small industrial estates. What ever you do don't buy it as a manufacturers spare part!
Bob
Bob
StevieB
Nordic Pine
Sir, Sir, he said he was going to use 'turned' oak pegs Sir, doesn't that require a lathe Sir?! :twisted:
DaveL
Old Oak
And my one is the wrong colour. [emoji33]StevieB":29pofkxc said:
DaveL
Old Oak
Mike,9fingers":20r5sffk said:
I don't know where there is a bearing factors round here, but for your belt, try the motor spares shop on the corner of Bures road and Head lane, I have bought belts in there.
kirkpoore1
Old Oak
Mike G":2mh04xrz said:
Steel plate with a hole in it?
Kirk
who has a steel plate with a hole in it...
Mike G
Petrified Pine
DaveL":3ewkqlbn said:
I've bought from them before, Dave, but these belts are too small for cars, so I doubt they would stock them. I will drop in on my way through Sudbury today, because even if they haven't got the belts, they might know where I can get them.
Mike G
Petrified Pine
kirkpoore1":37mqset9 said:Mike G":37mqset9 said:
Steel plate with a hole in it?
Kirk
who has a steel plate with a hole in it...
You know what, Kirk, I'm going to get exactly that made. It is of course the next best answer to riven-and-shaped pegs: there would be an element of riven about it as the timber follows its grain through the hole. My current method involves a router.
you know you can buy dowel making jigs (a steel plate with sharp edges). Lie Nielsen make one with about 5 different diameter holes. Its thick gauge steel plate...of course being LN, you get it in a leather wallet which pushes the price into the upper ionosphere! Pegs are just wide diameter dowels. You bandsaw the stock to a bit bigger than the diameter square and muller them through the hole with a persuader
Rod
Old Oak
Router method using a wooden jig is good too
Rod
Rod
Wizard9999
Old Oak
Mike G":2vpl5y2a said:
Lots of people making square things round with a router on YouTube. But some of the jigs look so complicated that it would take a very long time to make the jig. My guess is your approach would be a bit maore pragmatic, do share...
Terry.
Mike G
Petrified Pine
Rob":1jgyzifz said:
Strictly, they aren't. They should be tapered, square-ish at the thick end, and round-ish at the pointy end. Square pegs lock well into round holes (the expression meaning someone who just doesn't fit in certain company is very misleading when it comes to green oak work). However, given how damn cold we are in the house, and thus the need to get on with things a bit, mine will be slightly tapered and round.
Mike G
Petrified Pine
I found today extremely interesting. I'm not sure others will share my enthusiasm......
I started off late after collecting my tool:
...........plus some belts for my bandsaw, and some other bits & bobs. Buying materials is a very big part of a job like this, and I've slipped up a few times by not getting stuff ordered soon enough. But I digress.
My prising tool fits in behind the render, and pivots on a bar across adjacent studs, sort of like this:
Before I did any render removal, though, I covered the gap between old & new, and the glazing. I also removed an old outside light.
Then it's just a question of working along the top of the wall from one end to the other and back again, getting sweaty (yes, at 2 celcius, you can still end up peeling layers off). Here you can see the temporary roof at the top, and the top couple of feet of render gone:
This isn't classic chocolate box 17th century timber framing. That had continuous studs, with planted-on (let in) wind bracing, often curved. This has primary posts, large lumps of diagonal bracing (straight), and all of the intermediate studs (which curiously are at 17" centres, rather than the more usual 16") are cut to nail onto the diagonal brace. Much like softwood framing of the beginning of the 20th century up to the 1970's or so. It also only has the principle timbers pegged. The rest, although mortice-and-tenoned, appear to be loose (ie not nailed or pegged, nor indeed wedged):
Now, the fun bits. Look at this principle post. The fat one, 17" from where I started removing render:
Look at the mortices in the face which was rendered. Notice also the stopped chamfer on the right hand side. This was clearly, certainly, a bridging joist (the main beam in a first floor that runs parallel to the front wall of the house, subdividing the floor) which had been re-used. Those mortices are likely from soffit-tenons, holding the secondary joists, and they were good big lumps of timber judging by the mortices. So, this beam (now a post) wasn't from an agricultural building, but from another house.
Here's another one:
This is a classic diagonal housing joint for a wind brace, with a peg hole.........yet there is no wind brace, no peg, and there is an off-cut stuck into the joint to fill the gap. So this is another timber which has been re-used, and re-used from a building using mediaeval jointing techniques.
The principle posts go from the sole plate to the wall plate (ie from the bottom of the timber frame to the top), unbroken by the first floor. The girding beam, holding the first floor, is mortice-and-tenoned into the sides of the principle posts. Now, one of those girding beams has unused, large, mortices at close centres....so it is yet another bridging joist from somewhere else. Everyone always wants their cottage to have been made from timbers reclaimed from old ships, and often waste plenty of their time and mine showing me why they think they were from ships. This was seldom the case, particularly so far inland as I am. Different of course if you are on the coast. I can say with absolute certainty that the re-used timbers for this cottage didn't come from a ship, but cam from another, rather grander house.
Anyway, I made rather a lot of mess:
Eventually I made it all the way down to the sole plate in one section:
No surprise: most of the sole plate has rotted away.
So has the foot of this principle post. This will require the scarfing in a a new foot, and the classic joint for this work is the scissor scarf. I've never done one for real (just a small one on scrap soft wood in the workshop). Cutting in a lump of 5 inch square or bigger green oak will be a test:
Three inches of screwdriver buried. This means a new sole plate:
Just a quick note for those confused by "sole plate". This are often referred to as cill plates (sometimes sill plates), and all the classic literature refers to them thus. However, around these parts (East Anglia), they are universally known as sole plates.
Just to show that I do tidy up after myself:
Just time to fit the new belts to the bandsaw, and finish off a bit of re-sawing:
For my contribution to the never ending table saw versus bandsaw debate, I offer you 125mm of seasoned rock-hard oak, ripped full length in a couple of minutes with a kerf of 2mm:
DaveL, if you happen to read this, I have a surfeit of waste. A car full. I'd be delighted to see you over the weekend.........
I started off late after collecting my tool:
...........plus some belts for my bandsaw, and some other bits & bobs. Buying materials is a very big part of a job like this, and I've slipped up a few times by not getting stuff ordered soon enough. But I digress.
My prising tool fits in behind the render, and pivots on a bar across adjacent studs, sort of like this:
Before I did any render removal, though, I covered the gap between old & new, and the glazing. I also removed an old outside light.
Then it's just a question of working along the top of the wall from one end to the other and back again, getting sweaty (yes, at 2 celcius, you can still end up peeling layers off). Here you can see the temporary roof at the top, and the top couple of feet of render gone:
This isn't classic chocolate box 17th century timber framing. That had continuous studs, with planted-on (let in) wind bracing, often curved. This has primary posts, large lumps of diagonal bracing (straight), and all of the intermediate studs (which curiously are at 17" centres, rather than the more usual 16") are cut to nail onto the diagonal brace. Much like softwood framing of the beginning of the 20th century up to the 1970's or so. It also only has the principle timbers pegged. The rest, although mortice-and-tenoned, appear to be loose (ie not nailed or pegged, nor indeed wedged):
Now, the fun bits. Look at this principle post. The fat one, 17" from where I started removing render:
Look at the mortices in the face which was rendered. Notice also the stopped chamfer on the right hand side. This was clearly, certainly, a bridging joist (the main beam in a first floor that runs parallel to the front wall of the house, subdividing the floor) which had been re-used. Those mortices are likely from soffit-tenons, holding the secondary joists, and they were good big lumps of timber judging by the mortices. So, this beam (now a post) wasn't from an agricultural building, but from another house.
Here's another one:
This is a classic diagonal housing joint for a wind brace, with a peg hole.........yet there is no wind brace, no peg, and there is an off-cut stuck into the joint to fill the gap. So this is another timber which has been re-used, and re-used from a building using mediaeval jointing techniques.
The principle posts go from the sole plate to the wall plate (ie from the bottom of the timber frame to the top), unbroken by the first floor. The girding beam, holding the first floor, is mortice-and-tenoned into the sides of the principle posts. Now, one of those girding beams has unused, large, mortices at close centres....so it is yet another bridging joist from somewhere else. Everyone always wants their cottage to have been made from timbers reclaimed from old ships, and often waste plenty of their time and mine showing me why they think they were from ships. This was seldom the case, particularly so far inland as I am. Different of course if you are on the coast. I can say with absolute certainty that the re-used timbers for this cottage didn't come from a ship, but cam from another, rather grander house.
Anyway, I made rather a lot of mess:
Eventually I made it all the way down to the sole plate in one section:
No surprise: most of the sole plate has rotted away.
So has the foot of this principle post. This will require the scarfing in a a new foot, and the classic joint for this work is the scissor scarf. I've never done one for real (just a small one on scrap soft wood in the workshop). Cutting in a lump of 5 inch square or bigger green oak will be a test:
Three inches of screwdriver buried. This means a new sole plate:
Just a quick note for those confused by "sole plate". This are often referred to as cill plates (sometimes sill plates), and all the classic literature refers to them thus. However, around these parts (East Anglia), they are universally known as sole plates.
Just to show that I do tidy up after myself:
Just time to fit the new belts to the bandsaw, and finish off a bit of re-sawing:
For my contribution to the never ending table saw versus bandsaw debate, I offer you 125mm of seasoned rock-hard oak, ripped full length in a couple of minutes with a kerf of 2mm:
DaveL, if you happen to read this, I have a surfeit of waste. A car full. I'd be delighted to see you over the weekend.........
This is like watching a documentary - a very enjoyable one as a mere spectator.
I don't reply every day but I am here getting my daily fix of building progress. Thanks
I don't reply every day but I am here getting my daily fix of building progress. Thanks
How will you cut the scissor in the end of the principle post without removing it?
I too have cut a scissor scarf after seeing one in Igtham Mote last year. Actually not so difficult as I thought, on the bench
I too have cut a scissor scarf after seeing one in Igtham Mote last year. Actually not so difficult as I thought, on the bench
Mike G
Petrified Pine
Andyp":2x6o8r3c said:How will you cut the scissor in the end of the principle post without removing it?
I too have cut a scissor scarf after seeing one in Igtham Mote last year. Actually not so difficult as I thought, on the bench
I remember seeing the photo of the one you did Andy. How will I do it in situ? I haven't the foggiest idea yet......I'll focus on that nearer the time, but it must be do-able. Remember, I am making most of this up as I go.
Mike G
Petrified Pine
Robert":213hwfqo said:This is like watching a documentary - a very enjoyable one as a mere spectator.
I don't reply every day but I am here getting my daily fix of building progress. Thanks
Thanks Robert.
There was a very interesting programme with George Somebody or other looking at restoration projects and I was quite impressed with the technique used by one guy who inserted his replacement timber behind the original but left a veneer (a thick veneer) of the original timber behind that faced outwards to the outside world. Made a lot of difference to the finished product, I thought.
Mike G
Petrified Pine
There are philosophical arguments to be had about that, Roger. "Architectural honesty" is one of them: being honest and open about what you are doing. There is a strong case for doing legitimate repairs in the same way as they would have been done in the first couple of hundred years of the building's existence........cutting in a new piece of timber, and not being afraid to show it as a repair. I am pretty sure that is the approach I will be taking. I will be using timber which is obviously new, for instance, and not trying to make it look like the stuff which has been there for 300 years......but I'll be jointing it and securing it generally in the same way as it would have been if done 300 years ago. I doubt I'll be doing any repairs hidden in the way you describe, but I don't rule it out at this stage.
Wizard9999
Old Oak
RogerS":3m4803kn said:
Yes, Restoration Man with George Clarke. And interestingly there was a timber frame in that house that had been reused from an older house, which seems to be what Mike has also found.
Terry
It wasn't completely hidden Mike, you could see the new timber around the edges. Look it up, still might not be for you but I bet you agree it's a nice twist on the art and definitely looked good.
Cheers
Mark
Cheers
Mark
before I moved the family into the home we built 7 years ago, in the same village as Terry, we were in (2 knocked together) 400 year old Shepherds cottages which we restored. That too had many of its principle timbers with all manner of redundant mortises and evidence of previous joinery so it seems that salvaging was alive and kicking then just as it is today. One of the interesting features of the oak work was the chisel marks left in beams that would ultimately be joined. They were usually roman numerals, presumably done on the bench and then when assembly happened they knew which mated with what before pegging them. But every now and then there would be other symbols which seemed to be either a system not obvious to us or just that particular ancient chippy's own method.
The oak was so hard in some places we had to drill pilot holes to get the nails in! Loved those old buildings though....not a straight, true, level or square thing anywhere....boy did we learn the value of scribing!!
So its fascinating watching you take the render off and seeing the wattle and daub squelched through the lathes...really takes me back. Very nostalgic.
It reminds me that my longer term dream is when the kids have flown the nest to flog this modern house we built and finish up building a new green oak structure. I like the warmth of the exposed oak but want the comfort of modern technology. But those old buildings become a labour of love don't they...lovely to see the provenance literally built in to the walls They tell such a story compared to (some) modern soulless buildings.
The oak was so hard in some places we had to drill pilot holes to get the nails in! Loved those old buildings though....not a straight, true, level or square thing anywhere....boy did we learn the value of scribing!!
So its fascinating watching you take the render off and seeing the wattle and daub squelched through the lathes...really takes me back. Very nostalgic.
It reminds me that my longer term dream is when the kids have flown the nest to flog this modern house we built and finish up building a new green oak structure. I like the warmth of the exposed oak but want the comfort of modern technology. But those old buildings become a labour of love don't they...lovely to see the provenance literally built in to the walls
They tell such a story compared to (some) modern soulless buildings.
Morning Mike
I am making most of this up as I go.
With such an old building, you don't really have another choice, do you?
I googled scissor scarf joints and came across this PDF ...
http://www.tfguild.org/publications/VI. ... Joints.pdf
Not wishing to teach Granny how to suck eggs, there's a paragraph on page 14 about bridled repair techniques which might be of use.
Cheers
Dave
I am making most of this up as I go.
With such an old building, you don't really have another choice, do you?
I googled scissor scarf joints and came across this PDF ...
http://www.tfguild.org/publications/VI. ... Joints.pdf
Not wishing to teach Granny how to suck eggs, there's a paragraph on page 14 about bridled repair techniques which might be of use.
Cheers
Dave
chataigner
Old Oak
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- 55
Interesting to see the re-cycled timber. My former home dated from early 1600's and many of the oak beams had redundant mortices that clearly indicated earlier use elsewhere.
It also had lathe and plaster over oak uprights on the internal non-structural walls which were pegged into mortices in the beams above and loose (ie not pegged) in the mortices at the bottom. I assume this was to avoid these quite light, around 100m x 100mm, uprights taking all the strain that would result if the flooring joists (9m long 30x30) sagged (which they had) but it left odd gaps beween these walls and the floor. It wasnt until I took one down to change a room divider that I understood why these gaps had appeared !
It also had lathe and plaster over oak uprights on the internal non-structural walls which were pegged into mortices in the beams above and loose (ie not pegged) in the mortices at the bottom. I assume this was to avoid these quite light, around 100m x 100mm, uprights taking all the strain that would result if the flooring joists (9m long 30x30) sagged (which they had) but it left odd gaps beween these walls and the floor. It wasnt until I took one down to change a room divider that I understood why these gaps had appeared !
Phil
Old Oak
Mike G":33cd0gyp said:Anyway, I made a puller:
There's a captive nut on the other end of the central bolt, just let into the timber. A few cranks of a big spanner, and the wheel was off, still with my ad hoc puller attached:
Nice easy and simple idea. Filed away for future use.
Cheers
Phil
Mike G
Petrified Pine
Deejay":1htbstsq said:
Thanks Dave. Interesting. I've always been curious about British woodworking techniques being exported wholesale to the US centuries ago, then evolving in their own direction.
old
New Shoots
Replacing a sill beam (How will I do it in situ? I haven't the foggiest idea yet......I'll focus on that nearer the time, but it must be do-able. Remember, I am making most of this up as I go.) Its done quite a lot in the usa maybe have a look on youtube there are lots of vids .I remember seeing it on this old house but can not remember the title may be some one can help with this info.
Mike G
Petrified Pine
No Chris, it isn't the cill plate (sole plate) which is the issue. The difficulty is doing a nice job of splicing in new feet to rotten posts and studs. I suggested that I might use a scissor scarf joint, but don't actually know how I would make all the cuts to the post whilst it was in situ (it would mean making some long and accurate upward cuts).
-
Tip: the quote button at the top right of each post will save you the bother of cutting and pasting people's text, or indeed typing it all out again. It helps prevent confusion, too......
-
Tip: the quote button at the top right of each post will save you the bother of cutting and pasting people's text, or indeed typing it all out again. It helps prevent confusion, too......
Mike G
Petrified Pine
Things don't always run to plan.
I had meant to just pull off enough render from the end of the house to enable me to connect the new utility room roof to the old house, and then get on with felt and battens. However, I had overlooked the absence of a girding beam on the end wall, and the absence of any render or plaster on the inner face of the wall. So I quickly found myself staring straight through into the inside of the current utility room:
I decided I would complete the job of removing all render from the area within the new utility, and then board up from the inside. When I got to where the sole plate should have been, instead I found a lump of concrete:
I also found that the corner post, a really important part of the structure, was shot:
Here is a classic illustration of why vapour-impermeable materials on the outside of buildings is a bad idea:
Up against the cement render the timber is rotten through. On the inside, where it is exposed to the air, it is absolutely fine.
Before felt and battens could go on the roof, I had to build the panel behind it. I couldn't do as I had wanted and attach to the corner post, because I had just discovered that this was rotten and would need removal and replacement, so I put in some temporary spacers, and built against those. It's not quite skyhooks, but not far off:
I couldn't build the full height panel because the temporary roof is in the way:
Finally, I could start the roof. First, the eaves detail. I started with a stopping plate under the eaves against which the boards will finish (this is feather-edged board, this little outshot):
Then I screwed the sprockets in place:
I had decided to slide a board between the sprockets as an eaves closer, but this involved quite a bit of work. After cutting them to length, I needed to put a 50 degree bevel on the bottom. Well, I've not cut a 50 degree router cutter, so I took the bulk off with a 45 degree cutter:
Then made a jig for the planer to remove the final 5 degrees (sorry, no photo........nothing to do with the precarious guarding situation at all, obviously ). Test fit in the workshop:
The fitted in situ:
Next, the eaves carrier, which is to prevent the breathable membrane from being exposed to UV light, but mainly it means that you won't be able to see blue when looking under the eaves:
The finally the first piece of roofing membrane and battens before I ran out of light:
I had meant to just pull off enough render from the end of the house to enable me to connect the new utility room roof to the old house, and then get on with felt and battens. However, I had overlooked the absence of a girding beam on the end wall, and the absence of any render or plaster on the inner face of the wall. So I quickly found myself staring straight through into the inside of the current utility room:
I decided I would complete the job of removing all render from the area within the new utility, and then board up from the inside. When I got to where the sole plate should have been, instead I found a lump of concrete:
I also found that the corner post, a really important part of the structure, was shot:
Here is a classic illustration of why vapour-impermeable materials on the outside of buildings is a bad idea:
Up against the cement render the timber is rotten through. On the inside, where it is exposed to the air, it is absolutely fine.
Before felt and battens could go on the roof, I had to build the panel behind it. I couldn't do as I had wanted and attach to the corner post, because I had just discovered that this was rotten and would need removal and replacement, so I put in some temporary spacers, and built against those. It's not quite skyhooks, but not far off:
I couldn't build the full height panel because the temporary roof is in the way:
Finally, I could start the roof. First, the eaves detail. I started with a stopping plate under the eaves against which the boards will finish (this is feather-edged board, this little outshot):
Then I screwed the sprockets in place:
I had decided to slide a board between the sprockets as an eaves closer, but this involved quite a bit of work. After cutting them to length, I needed to put a 50 degree bevel on the bottom. Well, I've not cut a 50 degree router cutter, so I took the bulk off with a 45 degree cutter:
Then made a jig for the planer to remove the final 5 degrees (sorry, no photo........nothing to do with the precarious guarding situation at all, obviously
). Test fit in the workshop:The fitted in situ:
Next, the eaves carrier, which is to prevent the breathable membrane from being exposed to UV light, but mainly it means that you won't be able to see blue when looking under the eaves:
The finally the first piece of roofing membrane and battens before I ran out of light:
kirkpoore1
Old Oak
Mike, does all this bad woodwork in the old section of the house give you concerns about the rest of the house? I mean, the more you expose the worse it looks--it's probably no better elsewhere.
Kirk
Kirk
Mike G
Petrified Pine
No, Kirk. I know I will be replacing the sole plate almost everywhere. I also know that the corner post at the other end of the back is in pretty good order. It is a nuisance that I have to replace the most awkward corner post of the lot, the one I have wrapped a new bit of building around. I can see the inside of all the rest of the principle posts, and they are in good order. If I have to replace studs, having diagonal braces break each of them up into short lengths makes that an easy job. So I'm quite relaxed about the state of the frame. I've seen far worse.