Month: January 2014 (Page 4 of 4)

Door furniture

We are getting to the stage where we need to start sorting out the finishing touches.  There are a lot of decisions to be made here – doors, handles, lights, tiles, etc.  This is also the stage of the project where the costs start to mount up quickly – often on items that you might not have thought about.

All of the door furniture was delivered today.  This included all of the door handles, hinges, latches and bath room locks.

We are using a brushed stainless steel finish through the house.  This means not just the door furniture, but also the electrical sockets and switches.  All of these components are from the Schneider Get Ultimate range – screwless face plates in satin stainless steel.

We are using engineered oak internal fire doors throughout the property.  We don’t need to use fire doors to meet building regulations, however, these doors are thicker (44mm) and heavy than normal internal doors. These heavy doors have more of a quality feel for only a small additional cost. These have been bought from Oakwood Doors in Huddersfield.  They are going to be pre-finished (with a sation matt lacquer) and should be delivered before the end of January.

Due to the size and weight (around 30kgs) of the doors we are using 3 hinges per door (each hinge is 4″).  We have 20 doors in total, so we need 30 pairs of hinges.

The handles are from Zoo Architectural Hardware.  They are called Florence and we have already used them on the 2 pairs of external doors to the property.  It turns out that this model is end of life.  This is good news as they can be picked up very cheaply – £8.50 pair rather than £20 a pair.  I have bought a couple of spare handles since they are going out of production, but still a great buy.  We could have easily have paid twice as much for an alternative.

We have selected bathroom thumb turn locks so that they match the Zoo handles above.  They aren’t from Zoo, but the finishes are a good match.

We are using EuroSpec latches on all the internal doors – the latches are larger for the bathrooms to accomodate the bathroom lock in the same machanism.  All of the latches are 3″ latches – latches come in a variety of sizes with 2.5″ and 3″ being the most popular.

All of the door furniture came fromt the Door Handle Company who were extremely helpful in finding all the rights bits.  The delivery was very quick – taking only 4 days from ordering over the phone and the items being delivered.

 

Handrail for the parapet wall

There is a small parapet wall that overlooks the staircase from Jo’s office.  The studwork has been in place for a while, however, we have yet to fix the handrail.  The oak timber arrived for the handrail a few weeks ago.  The timber is fairly chunky at 150mm x 150mm.  It has been languishing on the floor of the study since it arrived.  Today, we decided that it was about time that we had a look at it in situ.

It looks great, particularly when viewed from the stairs as the handrail matches the beam below.  We need to get the handrail fixed before the outside of the studwork can be plasterboarded.

These pieces of oak timber arrived a few weeks ago.  They have been on the floor in my office.  They look a bit big for a handrail!

These pieces of oak timber arrived a few weeks ago. They have been on the floor in my office. They look a bit big for a handrail!

From this side of the parapet, the handrail looks the right size.  The panel between the oak timbers will be plastered.  We can only get this plastered once the handrail has been fixed in place (using screws from underneath).

From this side of the parapet, the handrail looks the right size. The panel between the oak timbers will be plastered. We can only get this plastered once the handrail has been fixed in place (using screws from underneath).

Progress on the kitchen

The shell of the kitchen is now more or less complete.  We are ready to start plastering in here.  It will probably be a week or so until we get into here since we still have some plastering to do in the old part of the building.

It is difficult to take photos in here and convey the sense of space.  The photos below are from a number of different angles in an attempt to provide an overall impression.

This is looking from the kitchen towards the older part of the building.  This wall used to be part of the old barn.  The upper opening is the balcony from Jo's upstairs office into the kitchen.  There is a doorway (but no door) between the kitchen and the hall as well as an internal window (probably no glass) that looks along the line of the staircase and the upper landing. We have rendered this wall with sand and cement since parts of it were loose.

This is looking from the kitchen towards the older part of the building. This wall used to be part of the old barn. The upper opening is the balcony from Jo’s upstairs office into the kitchen. There is a doorway (but no door) between the kitchen and the hall as well as an internal window (probably no glass) that looks along the line of the staircase and the upper landing. We have rendered this wall with sand and cement since parts of it were loose.

This is the view from the balcony into the kitchen and lounge.

This is the view from the balcony into the kitchen and lounge.

This is the view from the balcony looking down into the kitchen.  The doorway in the distance is into the utility room.

This is the view from the balcony looking down into the kitchen. The doorway in the distance is into the utility room.

You can see into the lounge (and the beginnings of the new fire place).  As well as a doorway into the lounge, there is a large internal square window.  The roof trusses are exposed throughout the kitchen and lounge.

You can see into the lounge (and the beginnings of the new fire place). As well as a doorway into the lounge, there is a large internal square window. The roof trusses are exposed throughout the kitchen and lounge.

This is the view from the top of the stairs.  You can see the internal window into the ktichen (the edge of the opening is lined up with the edge of the kitchen units).  You can also see the balcony in Jo's office which overlooks the kitchen.  There are a couple of props to camera left where we have made the new opening between the porch and hall.

This is the view from the top of the stairs. You can see the internal window into the ktichen (the edge of the opening is lined up with the edge of the kitchen units). You can also see the balcony in Jo’s office which overlooks the kitchen. There are a couple of props to camera left where we have made the new opening between the porch and hall.

Water leaks!

We have had a couple of problems with water leaking into the building – one from under the floor and the other through the roof.

When the new concrete floors were laid in the extension, a 75mm insulation board was put down first and then 75mm of screed on top.  The underfloor heating pipes are fixed to the top of the insulation boards and the screed is laid on top.  The hot and cold water to the bathrooms, along with the heating for the towel rails, is run underneath the insulation.  We pressure tested all of the pipework before laying the screed, but unfortunately it looks as if we have a leak in one of the downstairs bathrooms.  The underfloor heating is fine since it is maintaining pressure (if there was a leak the pressure would drop) and the floor seems to have started to dry out now that we have turned off the water to this part of the building.  Next job is to dig up part of the screed to find the leak.  This shouldn’t be too bad as the wet marks in the floor are giving us a clue where the leak is!   The last place to dry on the floor is probably where we will find the leak!  A job for this week.

It looks as if the leak is under the floor in the bottom right hand corner.  As the floor dries out (we have turned the water supply off to this area), it slowly reveals the location of the leak.  The water has travelled along the gaps in the insulation boards under the floor and then soaked through the concrete screed.

It looks as if the leak is under the floor in the bottom right hand corner. As the floor dries out (we have turned the water supply off to this area), it slowly reveals the location of the leak. The water has travelled along the gaps in the insulation boards under the floor and then soaked through the concrete screed.

The next problem is in my study.  Rain appears to be getting in the joint between the roof and the wall.  The roof here is a simple mono pitch roof.  We have increased the height of the lead upstand on the outside.  This has improved the situation, but rain is still clearly getting through.  We believe that the rain is soaking into the exterior stonework and then running down behind the lead.  One way of solving this is to treat the exterior stonework with waterproofer – something like Clear Cladding from Belzona.  Unfortunately, all of the suppliers have been closed over the Christmas period, so we will have to wait until the new year before addressing this one.

It looks as if rain is penetrating the joint between the roof and the outer wall.  The roof here is a mono-pitch.  Putting an additional lead upstand has helped, but the rain is still soaking through the plasterwork.

It looks as if rain is penetrating the joint between the roof and the outer wall. The roof here is a mono-pitch. Putting an additional lead upstand has helped, but the rain is still soaking through the plasterwork.

This has dried out a bit over Christmas, but clearly rain is still penetrating this part of the roof joint.

This has dried out a bit over Christmas, but clearly rain is still penetrating this part of the roof joint.

What happens if you drive over a hose

Yep, another hose bites the dust.  One way or another, they don’t seem to last very long.

At least this one is connected to an outside tap!

Mmmm...this is what happens if you repeatedly drive over a hose pipe!  I am not sure how many hose pipes that we have damaged during the build.  We normally cut the damaged end off before it becomes too short and it is thrown away.

Mmmm…this is what happens if you repeatedly drive over a hose pipe! I am not sure how many hose pipes that we have damaged during the build. We normally cut the damaged end off before it becomes too short and it is thrown away.

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