Month: April 2013 (Page 2 of 3)

Problems with images in WordPress

April 16, 2013 / stephen

I seem to be encountering some problems with images in WordPress. They either don’t display or they display erratically in the posts.

I seem to be able to fix the problem by reducing the resolution of the images. Everything seems to work OK as long as I keep the images around 2000 x 1500 pixels. The issue doesn’t relate to file size as the images are well underneath the file size image.

It is a bit frustrating as it means that I either need to change the resolution on each of the cameras that I am using (not ideal as I like to capture the images in as high a resolution as possible) or I have to resize each image before it is uploaded. Either way it is a pain!

Current state of the existing cottages

April 16, 2013 / stephen

Well, we are pretty much done in terms of the stripping out of the existing properties. Both number 8 and 10 are now pretty bare. There aare a couple of things left to do here and there, but the bulk of the stripping out work is done. The images below show the current state of both of the interiors of the properties.

I took these photographs as proof that building work has commenced. Once work starts, it is possible to get an exception from paying council tax. Class A exemption (which applies to most major building work) can last for up to a year. Since there are two lots of council tax to be paid, this is a significant sum of money.

The letter that I received a few weeks ago from the council asked for evidence that the building work had commenced, so that they can grant us Class A exemption. I am not sure what constitues “evidence” and, since they don’t seem to answer the phone in the council tax department, I have assumed that some photographs will do. I emailed them to the council today, so only time will tell (assuming that they respond better to emails than a ringing telephone!).

As you can see we have pretty much reach rock bottom as far as stripping the building back. We will go a little further once the major contractor is appointed and the roof is removed. It will just leave us with the four exterior walls. From that point onwards, we are just putting everything back!

You can still see the serving hatch, although the kitchen has long gone. There were two bedrooms upstairs and a bathroom.

Downstairs in number 8. You can just see the end of the soil pipe sticking through the wall upstairs where the bathroom used to be. And yes, that is a hole in the wall to next door (number 10) where the beam used to stick through into next door. The two ends of the beams had been bolted together.

Downstairs in the lounge of number 10. The fireplace has been taken out. The floor beams that supported the floor upstairs have been removed. You can see the ends of the beams (oak) to either side of the fireplace.

Downstairs in the kitchen (or what used to be the kitchen) of number 10. The upstairs floor beams have been left in (for now) as they seemed to be in much better condition than the others in either of the properties. However, they may not be in good enough condition for the building inspector!

Patio 1 removed

April 14, 2013 / stephen

There were two patio areas in the rear garden. One about 4m x 4m and a smaller one 2m x 2m. We have removed the fence and the fence posts, so now it is time to remove the patio itself. To be honest, most of the slabs came up very cleanly and whatever sand and cement was left on them came off with a gentle tap with a hammer and chisel.

The patio is made up of Indian sandstone. It does seem strange that this has been shipped all the way to Yorkshire when we are surrounded by the stuff. Still, I guess that is economics for you!

Both patios are made from the same stone, so it looks like we are going to end up with around 20sq m of reasonable patio slabs. I have no idea what we are going to do with them, but it would be a shame to throw them in the skip. Ebay or Freecycle is usually a good way to get ride of this stuff, but we need to decide what we want to do with them first.

The smaller patio will have to wait until another day.

We have stripped all of the slabs that made up the patio as well as the stones that made up the steps (looks like these were originally part of a window sill).

The patio slabs (Indian sandstone, apparently) sorted and stacked. These come in more or less standard sizes to aid laying them out in a consistent manner.

Dry stone walling – Day 21

April 14, 2013 / stephen

Another Saturday dry stone walling, but this time it was in the sun! It was a beautiful day here in West Yorkshire, although the wind and the rain did set in later in the afternoon (but we were ready to pack up by then!).

We disassemble the next 3M section of wall and dug the foundations. The photo below show how far we got during the day – probably about 5 courses up. This means that one side of the wall is just above ground level (this side of the camera) while the other is showing a number of courses (the other side of the wall).

Another 3m section dug out and foundation stones laid. I am not too keen on this part of the building process as it always looks a mess at this stage. It does improve as the wall appears from the ground.

Wooden gutters

April 7, 2013 / stephen

I know that this is going to sound strange, but one of the first things that struck me about older properties in Yorkshire was the wooden gutters, particularly on out buildings. I hadn’t seen these before and had assumed that the guttering was made up using standard pieces of timber – it all looked very hand-made.

Now we have our own outbuildings, we have our own wooden guttering too! I don’t know why, but it never occurred to me to look at it more closely until now. This is mainly because I am not that convinced by the plastic guttering that we have put on the re-roofed outbuilding. Maybe, it will be more temporary than I expected! Still, it will keep the rain away from the base of the wall, but it doesn’t add much to the look of the property.

The existing wooden guttering is made from a single piece of timber that has had the water channel machined out. A hole is then cut into the base of the gutter for the down pipe, this is achieved using a lead “top hat” – think of a top hat upside down where the water flows out of the top (or rather bottom) of the hat. This “top hat” is inserted through a hole in the gutter and into the top of a drain pipe (made of a material of your choice).

Bizarrely, I saw the lead top hats in the builders merchants last week and thought “oh, they look like the inserts for the wooden gutter, I wonder what they are really used for!” It would appear that they really are for wooden gutters after all. A quick investigation online would appear to show that there are a number of local suppliers of both wooden gutters and lead top hats. More investigation needed.

Both the “top hat” and the end plate are made from lead. I have no idea how long these have been up, but I would guess at 50 plus years. Apparently, the wood lasts longer if you do not paint it – this lets the wood breathe and does not trap the moisture inside the wood.

The end plate is cut out of lead and nailed on. The “top hat” is also made of lead and drops into a hole that has been cut in the bottom of the gutter. The bottom of the top hat is then dropped into a downpipe.

A view along the top of the gutter. The water channel has been machined into a solid piece of timber. The end plate is made of lead and nailed on.

Dry stone walling – Day 20

April 7, 2013 / stephen

We managed to finish off the section of wall that we have been working on in the orchard – all, but the coping stones anyway. The coping stones are the stones that are placed vertically on top of the wall. Main problem is that we seem to be short of coping stones. As soon as we find some (there are plenty around on site, but there are just not where you would expect to find them), it is a 20 min job to finish this section of wall.

Jo helped out on and off over the weekend and it is quicker with two – even if it is for someone else to fill buckets and fill in the centre of the wall with smaller stones (called “hearting”). Even so, this section – which is 16.5m – has taken us 15 working days to complete. There is a lot of work once the wall is stripped down, the foundations dug and then the wall rebuilt. There is still a lot of wall to rebuild.

Still, now that we have an increasing length of wall completed, you get a real feel for what it is going to look like when finished.

Wall just waiting for the coping stones – the last course is on and level. Zep loves to lie in his bed and watch others working!

Ready for the coping stones.

The last row is put on absolutely level just before the coping stones go on. It is absolutely critical that this course is level.

Dry stone walling – Day 19

April 6, 2013 / stephen

It is difficult to believe but it has been over a month since we have done any dry stone walling. The weather has been a major issue (you can’t find the stones under the snow!) as well as turning our attentions to stripping out the cottages ahead of the building work starting.

Today was a great day weather wise – the temperature hit a positively barmy 13C. Although the wind was still cold, it was great to be working outside and only having to wear a t-shirt. Hopefully, we have many more of these days to come.

We spent most of the day building up the section of wall where we had already sorted out the foundations. Hopefully, tomorrow will be get to the top of the wall ready of the coping stones (which seem in very short supply).

Some of the material that has come out of the cottages during the stripping out will be used in the walls. Either in the foundations of the wall where they are out of sight (always a good place to lose the odd bricks) or in the wall itself (making sure no machined faces are on the outward face).

There were two 70’s type stone fireplaces in both of the cottages and much of this material will end up in the wall. I am spreading it throughout the wall so that it is not too noticeable. However, we got a surprise today when we turned one of the pieces over – it turned out to be part of a gravestone. I have no idea if this is a real gravestone or just a waste piece of stone. Either way, not quite what I was expecting to see a 70’s fireplace made out of!

A year off!

April 5, 2013 / stephen

Well, I have decided to take a year off work starting from 30th April 2013. This will give me time to concentrate on the renovation. The plan is that I will pick up the project management instead of having to pay someone else to do it.

It is a big decision. I am very grateful to CSC for giving me the sabbatical. The decision to take the time off is made a lot easier as I know that my team will be in safe hands (thanks Brian). But for me, this is the once in a lifetime opportunity to get involved with something that I have always wanted to do. It is never easy to leave something that has been such a big part of my life for the last couple of years, but I feel that it is something that I need to do.

So I have just 3 weeks left before I take off for the year. There is a lot to tidy up at work before I go. However, with the work progressing well with the building regulation details. There are a lot of decisions to be made around a number of things – most notably: Windows (plastic or wood), underfloor heating (type and supplier), ground source heat pump (type and supplier). All of this takes time to research properly and it will be good to be able to spend more effort on this.

The current plan is that the tender for Phase 1 should be ready to go out around the 12th April. By the time we have reviewed the responses and appointed a contractor, it is unlikely that the Phase 1 will start before mid May.

U-values

April 4, 2013 / stephen

U values are an indication of the thermal conductivity of building materials. You will need these if try to calculate the amount of energy required to heat a building to a certain level. While these values are well understood for standard building materials, renovations can be more of a challenge. In our case, the U values for the new build extension are relatively straightforward, however calculating the U values in the existing buildings is more of a challenge. The walls are solid stone around 500mm thick and will be insulated using a new Gyproc system. The roof is also going to be revamped in terms of insulation (at the moment, there isn’t even roofing felt under the stone slates). Even so the figures below show a significant performance difference between the new and the old parts of the building.

U values for the new build:

Roof: 0.2 W/m2K
Walls: 0.17 W/m2K
Floor: 0.15 W/m2K
Sliding Doors 1.6 W/m2K
Windows 1.5 W/m2K
Rooflights 1.8 W/m2K

Existing cottage conversion u-values/fabric upgrades:

Walls 0.34 W/m2K

Roof 0.24 W/m2K

Floor 0.22 W/m2K

Working with architects

April 2, 2013 / stephen

I am getting the distinct impression that I am irritating the architect. Now I come to think about it, I think I have probably been irritating both of them (as there are two – Mark and Stuart) for quite some time. It isn’t much of an insight as my other half has been telling me this for sometime. I am just choosing to acknowledge now!

I am not doing it on purpose, you understand. It is just happening that way – it seems to be happening without me even really trying too hard – a sort of natural by product of the interaction between us.

What I am finding frustrating is that I can’t work out why this is happening! Irritating other people is all part of life (it has certainly been a large part of mine!). It is a natural consequence of opposing views or different styles of getting things done. But in this instance, I think we are all pretty much aligned in what we are trying to achieve, so the source of the irritation must be a difference in approach.

As I think about this further (as well as running the risk of sounding too corporate), it occurs to me that we have never defined the roles and responsibilities between the parties.

While much of what an architect does is very clear – producing designs for planning permission, sorting out building regulations – there are a number of other activities that aren’t quite so black and white. I think it is these activities that are the source of irritation.

For example, who decides on the internal wall colours? who chooses the type of windows? or the window supplier? who selects the type of central heating? or where the control unit goes? Some of the answers are simple. Some more complex as they can only be answered by working together. For example, the type of central heating will be impacted by level of insulation (U values), type of wall/ceiling construction, or how the services run throughout the building. And we haven’t even talked about personal preferences.

So if we take the lack of clarity over roles and responsbilities, then add in a certain amount of confusion (on my behalf around the process) and the occasional curved ball (“Well, I didn’t expect to find that under the floor!”), it is no wonder there is irritation.