Weekly update 28.02.2016

A bit of a diversion from the house renovation this week... This dressing stool was in need of a bit of TLC.

One of the legs had split lengthwise, forced apart by its fixing.

Each leg affixes to the stool frame by means of a length of studding. Half of the stud is screwed into the leg and the other half passes through the frame and is secured by a wing nut on the inside.

At the top of each leg is a decorative beading. This is made from plastic and is stapled on.

The first task therefore was to carefully prise the beading away, exposing the damage to the leg.

I figured that if I routed a square channel down through the split, I could implant a piece of oak to provide a new sturdy mounting for the stud fixing.

So... with the leg firmly held in the vice, I carefully routed the channel, gradually increasing the width until the oak insert fitted snugly.

With the piece of oak inserted, I marked the contour of the leg onto it...

...then, using the jigsaw, I cut it slightly oversize.

I drilled a couple of small pilot holes right down through the oak and into the leg.

These were then drilled out to a diameter of 8mm from the other side, allowing me to insert a couple of short dowels.

All parts were then liberally coated with PVA adhesive before assembly and the whole lot firmly clamped together and left overnight to set.

I was then able to trim off the excess oak using a guided router bit to follow the contour of the original leg.

The biggest challenge was to re-cut the angled channel at 45 degrees to fit the corner of the frame. I started by using the multi-tool to roughly cut away the majority of the excess, then a combination of the router and good old fashioned chisel to get it into shape. I then applied 2 part wood filler to all the joins and sanded it to a smooth finish. The hole for the stud fixing was marked and drilled at this stage.

A quick test to ensure it fits the frame...

Before re-fitting the decorative beading, I noted that one of the other legs had part of its beading missing. So, taking the good piece of beading, I pressed it into a lump of modelling clay to make an imprint and left the clay to partially dry out overnight.

Once the surface of the clay was set hard, I pressed in some 2 part wood filler, ensuring that it was worked well into all the crevices. After about 15 minutes, when set, I broke away the clay and cleaned up the plastic copy.

This obviously had a lot of excess plastic filler on the back, so I gradually ground this away using the bench grinder.

Finishing off with a piece of sandpaper, this was the result.

All that was required now was to trim it to length and glue it to the leg using high viscosity cyanoacrylate.

The stool had several thick layers of paint which had built up over the years...

...so I decided to strip all parts right back to bare wood ready for repainting.

I gave all parts a couple of coats of acrylic primer, followed by a topcoat of quick-dry satinwood.

Jacqui stripped the cushion and cleaned the cover before re-stapling it to the seat base.  Good as new!

Meanwhile, I haven't neglected work on the house this week... I've now replaced the worst of the floorboards in bedroom 1 with 22mm sheet chipboard.  After packing out the gaps below the plaster with scraps of timber, I fitted the skirting boards using a combination of screws and grab adhesive.

The screw holes and joints have been filled with wood filler.

Weekly update 21.02.2016

With bedroom 3 all but complete (just needs carpeting), I've now turned my attention to bedroom 1. A bit of a logistical challenge as this is by far the largest of the three bedrooms and has a lot of our belongings in it.

Firstly, all the tools and materials had to be decanted from bedroom 2 into the newly decorated bedroom 3, taking great care not to damage any of the new décor. Bedroom 2 has now become our "main" bedroom for the duration. The bed had to be completely dismantled, just to move it the few metres along the landing into bedroom 2.

Just about fits... cosy!!

So, with bedroom 1 almost cleared, I began by cleaning up the window frames ready for a thorough inspection... there are two windows in this room so twice as much work. Both windows look like they're going to need a bit of attention... on the left hand window, neither the upper or lower sashes appear to have enough counter-weight (they both drop under their own weight) so will need a little more investigation.

The upper sash on the right hand window doesn't sit square to the top of the frame... there is about a 1/2 inch "ventilation" gap at one end!!

The fitch fastener is totally useless and has what appears to be a pile of washers (or maybe coins!!) wedged underneath.

It looks like the installer ran our of quadrant beading as it stops about 2 inches short of where it should in the top corner!!

With the amount of work envisaged for both windows, I won't be able to turn each one round within a day. I've therefore decided it would be best if I boarded up each window, one at a time, in order to strip them right down and undertake the necessary repairs at my leisure. Just need to source some suitable boarding now.

Meanwhile, the floor needs a fair bit of work.

First step is to cut out any remaining damaged boards...

...and re-lift all the temporary boarding that I fitted during cabling.

With the boards up, I took a bit of time to clean up all the debris that had accumulated during the earlier works. So far, I've uncovered a 1900 farthing... nothing too spectacular, but you never know...

22mm Chipboard sheets, cut and planed to size, will replace the damaged boards.

The smaller of the two radiators had been fitted with its pipes a fair distance from the wall. Rather than cut long slots into a new board, I recycled one of the old floor boards, planing it down to fill the space behind the radiator. This only required a couple of small notches to clear the pipes and the straight edge of the new chipboard can then just butt up against it.

Meanwhile, down in the living room, the curtain rail has been temporarily fitted. I pre-assembled it all onto the batten...

...and then secured the whole assembly to the wall either side of the bay. An angle plate was added in the centre for support, screwed into a plasterboard fixing in the ceiling.

Weekly update 14.02.2016

Picking up where we left off last week, I continued work on the door for bedroom 3. The latch requires a rebate for the faceplate and a deep hole for the backset. It's easier to make the rebate first, but, before doing so, I drilled a small pilot hole to mark the centre point of the backset. This just makes it easier to locate the drill bit later on.

I set the router depth to the thickness of the faceplate and used the guide fence to keep it parallel to the door edge.

Having routed channels from either side of the door, I used a chisel to square off the corners.

For the backset hole, a 25mm flat bit was used, centred on the pilot hole that I drilled earlier.

The latch could then be inserted into the door frame and the two screw holes marked and drilled. The distance from the faceplate to the centre of the spindle was measured and transferred to surface of the door. A 13mm flat bit was then used to drill the spindle hole. For accuracy, I drilled this from both sides.

After checking that the latch was fitted round the right way, I installed the square spindle and could then position the handles, mark and drill the screw holes. The handles are the originals which we are re-using so have been spruced up using a spot of Brasso... good as new!!

Now, with the door furniture fitted, the door could be hung and the position of the latch plate marked on the door frame. I stitch drilled the hole for the latch before chiselling away the rebate for the latch plate.

The latch recess was then chiselled out and the latch plate fitted.

With the door furniture removed, the door and frame could be painted. All sharp edges were chamfered with sandpaper, then a coat of acrylic primer/undercoat was applied. Once dry, a couple of coats of quick dry satinwood finished off the door nicely.

In the meantime, I've continued to emulsion the walls and have given the skirtings another topcoat of quick dry satinwood. The window frame has now had another coat of satinwood too, but I've used the oil based variant for this.

To finish off the window, I decided that these old fitch fasteners weren't quite up to the job. Not only do they look a bit grotty, but they are not particularly effective.

These Brighton sash fasteners from Screwfix are much better... When tightened, they pull the two sashes together, reducing the likelihood of the sashes rattling, reducing draughts and they effectively lock the window. They also match the door furniture.

So, with bedroom 3 almost done, I've made a start on the preparations for the lounge curtains. These will go straight across the front of the bay window so the pole requires a support. For this, I've sourced a 2.4 metre length of 21mm x 70mm Richard Burbidge planed pine.

I've drilled and screwed this to the wall at either side of the bay and will add a stretcher bracket to the centre which will attach to a plasterboard fixing in the ceiling.