Cheer of the Day!

Flyfisher said:

So you use an airline to dust yourself off as well. Thought it might just be me - works well doesn’t it?

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Yep! Standard procedure now after any dusty job before I venture back in the house.

I must be getting houseproud, it'll be shoes off at the door next... :lol:

Feltwell said:

I must be getting houseproud, it'll be shoes off at the door next... :lol:

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The Covid numbers for places where shoes in the house is an unthinkable transgression make you wonder if it isn’t a wise habit. That and wearing a mask, which is very standard, but seems not to be popular here.

Yes, I remember my surprise at seeing many facemasks on my first trip 'out east' and discovered it was standard practice even for simple colds - and that was decades ago!
Blowing one's nose is also frowned upon in polite company.

Cheer of the month. Completed repainting all of our front widows

Not full strip out and rebuild repairs, more an intermediate repair to stop any damage worsening.

Upstairs sill rotted out (leaking gutter from last owner :roll: )


Inserted a new sill.


Kitchen window "new" in the last 20 years by one of the previous owners.


Lots of two pack.


Don't think there were any without some form of repair. Various repairs included wood inserts, 2 part epoxy along with wood root treatment and wood hardener as well as putty and window mastic (sand / linseed) repairs.
Then 3 or 4 coats as well as taping up the glass and scraping down afterwards.

165 panes of glass in the end :roll: I am sure that everybody here will know and appreciate the pain and effort.

Back of house next summer, thankfully a lot less glass.

I hope that's a good period classic work of fiction you're using to hold the window up........that looks like quite a job! Well done so far!

Always satisfying to finish a "collective" job like that, well done! 165 panes :shock:

I'd love to have everything on the front elevation of this place finished this year, but alas with repointing taking forever I doubt I'll get all the windows done, as they are a "full stripdown and rebuild" job. Next year!

We've not had a "Cheer" for a while. They're an endangered species these days y'know.

Anyway - today I had that rarest of phenomena, the job that (should!) turn out to be simpler than I envisaged.

Feltwell Towers has a stupidly small family bathroom, but if I can move a wall by just 18" I'll be able to turn the bath by 90 degrees, get a wider bath and actually have a space where the loo can go so that you're not wedged between the bath and a wall! It'll make the room much more useable, and whilst the adjoining en-suite bathroom is already not the biggest it can be 18" shorter and still be perfectly tolerable. They are all looking sad and need refitting so now is the time to bite the bullet and do it.

After some earlier investigations I concluded that the bathroom wall in question was indeed structural, supporting the floor of the attic room above. Things were further complicated by not wanting to leave a supporting pier on one side of the new wall opening.

Today a Structural Engineer came out and has already phoned me back to say that a 150 x 100 timber will do fine - easier for me than a steel, I can lift this in myself - no pier on one side is no issue, just get a 6" bearing into the external wall, and I don't even need to insert padstones for the loading I'll have!

So, it's hire a couple of acros to temporarily support the floor above and start bashing away!

Whilst he was here I got him to review another job for the future that I have planned, he confirmed it's possible to do what I want to do and he's not even charging me any extra for the calcs for Building Control for this.

Hurrah!

I have of course now put the mockers on it all and the job will be a nightmare I'm sure, but hey ho........ :wink:

I think you have dealt with a very good engineer there Feltwell. Being able to use timber without a pier is a result!

Yes, nice chap, well & truly into his retirement years - I think he does this to keep his hand in & earn a bit. Bonus for me, years of experience!

He sounds like just the sort of structural engineer that I need. Feltwell do you think he would travel as far as the Bishops Castle / Montgomery area?

I'm sure he would - he lives in Halfway House I believe, so Bishop's Castle is only half an hour away. If it's a straightforward query though he'll do it over t'internet. I found out about him from the brickie I've been using, the construction company he works for uses him. Will PM you the details.

Great, thank you. I took down part of a plasterboard ceiling for some plumbing work to discover a few shockers. Professional advice will be most welcome.

Re: acro props, when I last needed some there wasn't much cost difference between hiring them and buying used off ebay or whatever, so I now have 4, plus strong boys to go with, and they have proved surprisingly useful ever since.

My cheer of the day!

What I thought was the return of a damp problem (just as we are selling up - typical) turned out to in fact be residual water damage from when the trained monkeys, ahem "labourers" assisting on the repointing of the chimney got a bit enthusiastic with their "damping down" and liberally hosed down the inside of the chimney. Pointed a 2kW electric heater at it for 5 days, then a new coat of clay paint, and Robert's your father's brother - all nice and dry, and stains no longer visible.

Also selling up has finally forced me to finish off the utility/boot room, repair the leaking toilet, re-carpet the hallway - in short finally finish the blimmin place. Reckon we'll have a solid week living in a "finished house" before we move out and start all over again. :lol:

Sounds about right! I got the Artex ceilings skimmed over and the rooms decorated *after* I'd moved out of my last house (and into rented 200 miles away) :roll:

Feltwell said:

So, it's hire a couple of acros to temporarily support the floor above and start bashing away!

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Acro props are great for supporting structure. However, if you are putting in beams there can be better options for beam support.

In my youth the company I worked at did a lot of steels a we had tripod Accro's that we had made, they gave more stability and allowed the beam to be unsupported by the structure. (Acro now make tripod supports that fir their single post design.)

There are also specalised hand operated beam lifters for getting the beam up. (We just used muscle :roll: )

I've seen those, neat bit of kit. Luckily no need here though - it's only a 5'6" long, 4" x 6" timber beam, so well within the "me up a stepladder" capability to fit.

In truth it's almost certain I could just make the hole in the wall and insert the beam with no support - there's no masonry above, just floor joists which are cantilevered at the other end anyway - but I wouldn't do that. A big lump of timber on 2 acrows a foot or so away from the wall, supporting the floor joists above, should do fine.

All this effort just to move a wall by 18" :roll: It will make a huge difference to the bathroom though.

Next cheer of the day, confirmed today that our "new house" has a DPC - I genuinely am very excited by this after 6 years of putting in mitigation measures for a property that didn't.

Picked the last few figs today. Celebrated by making a Port sauce to lightly poach them in. Went a bit over the top and used a whole bottle to get a tablespoon or two of almost black syrup.

Last post in 2020! What happened to our cheer?

Anyhow, I shall have one - neighbours are getting an extension built, their kitchen window has to go, but I've snaffled it for the kitchen at Feltwell Towers! It's a little too tall but it's just the right width, and it's easier to make it shorter rather than longer

With some tittivating (Ooo Matron!) it will be suitable. It is a modern sash but seems quite well made, no rot, and it is a proper one with weights rather than balances. And it's bl@@dy heavy - just the box frame without sashes is an effort for me plus another big hairy bloke to carry, mind you the lead weights were still in it! Saves me about a grand I reckon - last sash I priced up was much smaller and was £600, and the way prices have been going.......