Hagg Leys Farm

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TIWDD2: Think about a letterbox

August 27, 2016 /

Yes, second in the series of Things I Would Do Differently (TWIDD) and this is all about the letterbox.

Every house that I have owned has always had a letterbox.  Except this one.

It wasn’t that we thought we didn’t need one.  It was simply something that we did not think about when designing the building.  As a result, we have ended up with a stainless steel post box next to the front door [As an aside, finding a decent modern looking post box is not easy].  Ok, it works, but there could have been a better solution.  To check the post, we have to open the front door and look in the box. If you want to get stuff out, you need to go and get the keys. Not exactly a nightmare, but it is a bit annoying in the winter.

A better solution we have been to have had a slot in the outside wall in the porch with some sort of post box on the inside. However, thinking about it, even this has drawbacks.

Like everyone else, we purchase quite a bit of stuff online, so having a safe place for deliveries can be really useful.  I have seen purpose built parcel “dropboxes” that have a combination code to open them, but they are hideously expensive (they seem a bit over engineered for our purposes).  We have resorted to a waterproof plastic box with instructions on our post box about where to leave parcels. [We used to have them left in the polytunnel, but the automatic watering system soon put an end to that!].

Not entirely sure what the answer is, but it needs to be thought about.

I don't really like this postbox. It was the best choice from a very poor selection. Looking at this picture now, I like it even less. The whole "postbox" thing was a bit of an afterthought. Even the placement of this postbox on the wall under the porch looks like an afterthought!

I don’t really like this postbox. It was the best choice from a very poor selection. Looking at this picture now, I like it even less. The whole “postbox” thing was a bit of an afterthought. Even the placement of this postbox on the wall under the porch looks like an afterthought! It isn’t lined up with the stonework or the light above or the door bell.  It is stuck in the middle of the wall, rather like pinning a tail on the donkey!

TIWDD1: Label all the wiring

August 26, 2016 /

And in no particular order, here is the first of the Things I Would Do Differently (TIWDD)……

There is a lot of wiring in the house.  Much more of it than you think.  All of it put in as part of the renovation.  And very little of it labelled.

There is cabling for the power sockets, cabling for the lighting circuits (there are around 10 lighting circuits in the kitchen alone), cabling for the network, cabling for the TV, cabling for speakers, cabling for the burglar alarm, cabling for the light switches and then odd bits of cabling for rooflights, doorbells etc.  We even put in some spare cables on the basis that it was easy to do with a total renovation.  So for example, I put cabling in for a TV in the kitchen (both power and TV aerial) even though we didn’t intend to install one, but the next owner might.  Little of it is labelled – at either end.

Now to be fair to the electrician, it wasn’t always clear which room was which when we were doing the renovation.  For example, they had assumed that the large bedroom in the old part of the house would be the master bedroom.  So it was labelled as such.  They never realised that we would use the large bedroom in the new extension as the master bedroom.  So when they did label it, the label was often wrong.  They adopted their own sort of labelling schema.  I am sure that it all makes sense to them, but they aren’t here anymore and I am left with lots of unlabelled cables or oddly labelled cables.  2.5 years in and I have gotten to the bottom of most of it.  But it didn’t need to be that hard.

What would I do differently next time?

  • Make sure all the cables are colour coded.  Most of ours are, but not all.  Yellow for data, purple for AV, grey for power etc.  We ran out of cable when putting in some of the network points, so some data cables are yellow, but not all;
  • I would labelled (with numbers) both ends of every cable and record the numbering on the architect’s electrical diagram.  We have a big plan which shows all of the sockets in the house.  Using this plan to label the cables would have avoided labels such as “master bedroom” and been a definitive wiring diagram for the house;
  • I would have taken more photographs of where the cables run up the walls.  Now the walls are plastered, I can’t always remember where exactly the cables run.  This is particularly the case with the “spare” cables that have been installed.  I took hundreds of photos during the renovation, but I can’t always find exactly the photo I was looking for.  I should have gone around after the first fix electrics were done and taken detailed photos.
Most of the cables are colour coded, but not all. Yellow for data. Orange for light switches. Purple for AV. White for the burglar alarm. However, there are some blue data cables around as well as some grey data cables. We simply ran out of yellow data cable during the installation and we could only get grey or blue locally.

Most of the cables are colour coded, but not all. Yellow for data. Orange for light switches. Purple for AV. White for the burglar alarm. However, there are some blue data cables around as well as some grey data cables. We simply ran out of yellow data cable during the installation and we could only get grey or blue locally.

There is power and an aerial cable behind the plasterboard (it is dry lined) where two mosaic pictures are hanging. This is for a TV that someone else might installed. I am not exactly sure where the cables are, however, you can see the switch for the power next to the double socket lower on the wall.

There is power and an aerial cable behind the plasterboard (it is dry lined, so there is a gap between the plasterboard and the wall) where two mosaic pictures are hanging. This is for a TV that someone else might want to install some day. I am not exactly sure where the cables are, however, you can see the switch for the power next to the double socket lower on the wall.  I should have taken a picture before the wall was plasterboarded.

Things I would do differently – TIWDD

August 26, 2016 /

We have been leaving in the house now for about 2.5 years.  Occasionally, I come across something and think to myself “Oh, I wish we had done that differently!”.  Fortunately, it is never anything that we can’t work around, however, hindsight is a wonderful thing!  If only I had a time machine!

These thoughts are pretty much random – they just occur to me as we encounter issues.  However, I thought it might be useful to document them here – as a series, as and when they occur.  I will categorise the entries as “TIWDD” – Things I Would Do Differently – this way it will be easy to click on the link at the end of the entry (on the left hand side) and see them as a separate set of blog entries.

You never know someone else might find them useful.

New wall in the top field

August 25, 2016 /

There was always a wall here, but in days gone by I think the wall collapsed and what is left is hidden under the grass in the bottom field.  So now is our opportunity to re-build, but this time not to have it too close to the edge of the escarpment.  It is the same height as the back wall (and the sheep pen) in the top field.  It will come around to the right of the large oak tree and then join up with the existing wall in the bottom field.  This will then enclose the bottom field while not obscuring the views from the house.

All of the stone has been moved by hand with the aid of our old dumper.  Compared to some of the other walling we have done, this has been quite a quick job – mainly due to much better building stone.

We have always dug all of the footings for our dry stone walls by hand - not this time! We just happened to have access to a machine (and a man who knows how to drive it). It only took a couple of hours to do what might have taken a couple of days by hand. We used our old trusty dumper to move the soil elsewhere. It is probably a good 30-40m run.

We have always dug all of the footings for our dry stone walls by hand – not this time! We just happened to have access to a machine (and a man who knows how to drive it). It only took a couple of hours to do what might have taken a couple of days by hand. We used our old trusty dumper to move the soil elsewhere. It is probably a good 30-40m run.

We are using our old dumper to move this stone from the mountain to the other end of the field. The stone is pretty reasonable walling stone (even if some of it is a little big!), so the wall goes up pretty quickly.

We are using our old dumper to move this stone from the mountain to the other end of the field. The stone is pretty reasonable walling stone (even if some of it is a little big!), so the wall goes up pretty quickly.

When we had the digger here we used it to lift some of the bigger stones into the dumper. I then dumped these along the wall to go into the foundations of the wall. Although many of them were too heavy to lift, I can just about roll them into position. Zep is lying in the grass by the red trug in the background.

When we had the digger here we used it to lift some of the bigger stones into the dumper. I then dumped these along the wall to go into the foundations of the wall. Although many of them were too heavy to lift, I can just about roll them into position. Zep is lying in the grass by the red trug in the background.

This is the view from the other side of the wall looking up from the bottom field. It doesn't look too bad, although it does feel bigger and taller when viewed from this side.

This is the view from the other side of the wall looking up from the bottom field. It doesn’t look too bad, although it does feel bigger and taller when viewed from this side.

Almost there! Which is just as well since we don't seem to have much stone left! It is amazing to think that most of this wall used to the old barn.

Almost there! Which is just as well since we don’t seem to have much stone left! It is amazing to think that most of this wall used to the old barn.

Sheep pen in the top field

August 25, 2016 /

In order to use up some of the left over stone, we decided to build a “sheep pen” in the top field to house our dumper and other bits and pieces.  Part of these walls have been built through the mountain of stone by building the wall a section at a time – we have been moving the stone from in front of us to build the wall.  This in turn allows us to dig the footings for the next section and the process starts all over again.  Laborious, but it works!

It was a bit daunting when we started this job, but at least the stones didn't have to be moved far!

It was a bit daunting when we started this job, but at least the stones didn’t have to be moved far!

We came out about 4m from the existing wall (and at the same height). Now it is time to turn the corner! We built this wall about 1.5m at a time - each time digging the footings by hand and then taking the stones from in front of us to build this wall. This way we managed to build the wall "through" the mountain of stone.

We came out about 4m from the existing wall (and at the same height). Now it is time to turn the corner! We built this wall about 1.5m at a time – each time digging the footings by hand and then taking the stones from in front of us to build this wall. This way we managed to build the wall “through” the mountain of stone.

The foundations of the wall are built on top of the subsoil - we dig a trench to remove all of the turf and top soil. This means that the foundations are out of sight - this is a good place to loose some of the old bits of concrete block and old bricks. It provides a good solid base without using up good stone. The footings are all dug by hand.

The foundations of the wall are built on top of the subsoil – we dig a trench to remove all of the turf and top soil. This means that the foundations are out of sight – this is a good place to loose some of the old bits of concrete block and old bricks. It provides a good solid base without using up good stone. The footings are all dug by hand.

 

The buckets are full of smaller stones that are used to "pack out" the middle of the wall. You'll be amazed at how much stone can be used up doing this and how stable the smaller stones make the whole structure. While I get to put the bigger stones in place, Jo gets to work fill the centre of the wall behind me.

The buckets are full of smaller stones that are used to “pack out” the middle of the wall. You’ll be amazed at how much stone can be used up doing this and how stable the smaller stones make the whole structure. While I get to put the bigger stones in place, Jo gets to work fill the centre of the wall behind me.

We progressively worked our way building through the mountain of stone. You can see where the "mountain" used to be because there was no grass under the mountain. We are now using some orange string to provide a guide for the top of the wall. Our aim is to build this wall to the same height as the old wall behind.

We progressively worked our way building through the mountain of stone. You can see where the “mountain” used to be because there was no grass under the mountain. We are now using some orange string to provide a guide for the top of the wall. Our aim is to build this wall to the same height as the old wall behind.

We are going to stop building the sheep pen and turn our attention to building the wall along the top edge of the field. If we have any stone left over, we may come back here and build out the pen a little more. But for now, we are done here. You can just see the top of the stone pile behind the wall.

We are going to stop building the sheep pen and turn our attention to building the wall along the top edge of the field. If we have any stone left over, we may come back here and build out the pen a little more. But for now, we are done here. You can just see the top of the stone pile behind the wall.

More dry stone walling

August 25, 2016 /

We had a real mountain of stone left over when we demolished the old barn.  It was of little use when re-building the extension, but since it had been here for the last 200-300 years, we didn’t really want to get rid of it.  So the big question is what do you do with around 250 tons of old stone?

We are still "raiding" this pile of stone left over from the renovation to rebuild and repair different bits of our dry stone walls.

We are still “raiding” this pile of stone left over from the renovation to rebuild and repair different bits of our dry stone walls.

Our first call was to build a “sheep pen” around the mountain of stone.  This would give us somewhere to park various bits of machinery where it was out of site.  In the short term, it would also be a good spot to store horse manure/compost.  And who knows, eventually even some sheep!

The next step was to re-build the wall in the top field along the boundary with the lower field.  There had been a wall here previously, but I suspect that it was built a little too close to the edge of the escarpment and it just end up as a pile of stones along the edge of the bottom field.  This old wall can still be seen in places. The new wall is just a little back from the edge, so hopefully the same fate will not await our new wall.

I reckon by the time that we have finished this wall that most of the mountain of stone will have disappeared (or rather, been repurposed!).

Mowing incident

May 28, 2016 /

It has got to that time of the year where the mower is used on a weekly basis.  We leave the cuttings to rot down (with just over 2 acres of grass to cut, we don’t really have a choice), so the grass needs to be cut regularly to ensure that the clippings don’t get out of hand.  It is amazing what a difference a bit of sun and rain has on the grass!

Yesterday we had a minor incident as an old climbing rope (used for attaching our dog to a tree!) was left in the grass.  It didn’t take long for it to wrap itself around the blades of the mower deck and bring proceedings to a swift halt.  Fortunately, the dog wasn’t still attached to it!

It didn’t take too long to sort out this morning, but it meant taking the mower deck off the Z425 to cut the old rope away.  While I was at it, I thought I just as well give the underside of the deck a good clean as well as lubricating the spindles.  The problem with grass cuttings is that they are very alkaline and attack the paint and metal of the mower deck.  Although the underside gets a new coat of yellow Hammerite every year, it doesn’t do any harm to give it a bit of a clean every now and then.

This is what happens when someone leaves an old climbing rope in the grass. The mower definitely wasn't happy!

This is what happens when someone leaves an old climbing rope in the grass. The mower definitely wasn’t happy!

Fortunately, there was no real damage done and it only took a few minutes to cut away the old rope. It actually took longer to get the mowing deck off the mower! I took the opportunity to clean out the grass and hose down the underside of the mower deck.

Fortunately, there was no real damage done and it only took a few minutes to cut away the old rope. It actually took longer to get the mowing deck off the mower! I took the opportunity to clean out the grass and hose down the underside of the mower deck.

I have never had to remove the belt completely from the mower deck. I thought it might be a good idea to take a quick photo of the belt just in case it ever snaps and needs to be replaced.

I have never had to remove the belt completely from the mower deck. I thought it might be a good idea to take a quick photo of the belt just in case it ever snaps and needs to be replaced.

Blinds for the lounge

April 13, 2016 /

We decided that we needed to put some blinds up in the lounge – partly to keep the sun out on really warm days and partly to keep a bit of privacy when it is dark outside and the lights are on inside the house.

We decided to go for vertical blinds – the sort that you regularly see in offices (which was one of our slight reservations).  They were relatively inexpensive (£90 for a very large window) and when open there is no material to get in the way and trip over (unlike curtains).  We also went for a very light colour to avoid any problems with the material fading – this is a real problem in the lounge.  We worked on the basis that if they were a total disaster, it was only £90 at stake!

The blinds are made to order and were ready in less than a week.  They were really easy to install and look great once in place. We have been really impressed with these blinds and I don’t think you can really argue about the price either.  It makes a huge difference to the room – during the day, it softens bright sunlight and during the evening, it makes it feel an awful lot cosier.  Although the photos of the blinds were taken in the last couple of days, they were in fact put up last September.  So you can tell that they are wearing well.

We bought the blinds from here – http://www.vertical-blinds-direct.co.uk/ – another local Yorkshire business!

Blinds in the lounge SAM_1662

Wall in the bottom field

March 31, 2016 /

It needs some coping stones, but the wall in the bottom field is done. We have been working on it for the past couple of weeks.  We have been using the opportunity to use up some of the stone left over from the renovation and although we have used 4-5 dumpers worth of stone, there still seems to be a lot of stone still left.

We aren’t sure what we are going to with this area, but now that it has been tidied up, it is a lot more accessible. The loose stones need sorting out, but we can’t make up our minds about whether we should do this by hand or hire a machine.  The ground is still too wet to get a machine in here.

You can see where we have used new stone from our pile, but give it 12-18 months and it will looks as if this wall will have been here for years.  We are constantly amazed as we look back at other bits of wall that we have repaired about how quickly they seem to age (just like me).

Just needs a bit of clearing up and the ground needs a bit of levelling, but when we first bought the property this was completely overgrown.

Just needs a bit of clearing up and the ground needs a bit of levelling, but when we first bought the property this was completely overgrown.

Well, almost done. Just needed some coping stones along the top.

Well, almost done. Just needed some coping stones along the top.

We are still "raiding" this pile of stone left over from the renovation to rebuild and repair different bits of our dry stone walls.

We are still “raiding” this pile of stone left over from the renovation to rebuild and repair different bits of our dry stone walls.

Some of the bigger pieces here are going to require a machine to lift them.

Some of the bigger pieces here are going to require a machine to lift them.

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