Weekly update 18.10.2015

I made an effort to finish the kitchen off this week.  I had some left over MDF skirting from a previous project and, seeing as I didn't need too much for the kitchen, this proved to be more than enough.  There was quite a gap to fill behind the skirtings as the plasterer didn't want to plaster down over the DPC injection so I needed something with good gap filling properties.

 

Fortunately, once again, Screwfix had the solution.

 

 

I applied a bead of this stuff to the back of the skirting and along the brickwork, then squashed the skirtings into position. There was enough adhesion to be able to leave them unsupported whilst the adhesive set overnight.  Once set, I sealed the gaps using decorators caulk.

 

The architraves and skirtings were then painted using a water based, quick dry satin paint.

 

Meanwhile, Jacqui has been busy in the pantry. The window frame has been undercoated and the walls and understair cladding have been glossed with Dulux Trade White Gloss.

 

 

 

...and then the window frame was top-coated using the Dove Grey Eggshell to tie in with the kitchen.

 

With the weather still fair, I managed to finish off glossing the outside of the kitchen window, so that's another one ticked off... only 5 more to go!!

I knew the back door frame needed some attention, but on the face of it, it didn't look too bad.

...this part was a little bit "spongy" to the touch though...

...so, out with the chisel and mallet!!  Needless to say, the underlying timber was pretty rotten and the mallet soon redundant! Likewise, the doorstep was a little worse for wear although, being hardwood, had survived a little better.

 

Any excuse for a new toy... I've been considering an electric plane for a while now so put some birthday money towards one.  Although not ideal for this task, I managed to use it to strip off a thin layer of the damaged wood from the surface of the doorstep.

 

...and with the damaged wood cleaned up, I applied Ronseal Wet Rot Wood Hardener to the surface and left to set.

Let filling commence...  this is quite a large bit of damage and will probably take a whole tin of 2 part wood filler. The challenge is to re-build the frame to the same shape using the filler. This has to be done using multiple layers, gradually building it back up and sanding shape as you go.

 
...this is about as far as I got today but it's starting to resemble the original shape and should be sufficiently weatherproof to leave overnight.

Weekly update 11.10.2015

The architrave which I previously removed from the kitchen-dining room doorway was too badly damaged to re-use so I replaced it with new.  Getting straight pieces was a challenge though...  I've seen straighter bananas than the first lot I bought!  Having got a couple of reasonably straight lengths, I just had to mitre them and cut a rebate on the lower section to fit the contour of the step.  That's the last of the architraves for the kitchen, so just skirting boards to do now.  I've cut these ready, but just need to patch some of the plaster where it finishes a bit too high before I fit them.

Out in the front entrance, where the old fusebox had been removed, the rendering was quite rought and a bit damaged so a bit of fresh mortar was mixed up and applied.

...then a rough skim of plaster which will be sanded smooth when dry.

...and whilst at it, a few other blemishes were patched up on the ceiling.

The dining room window has now been sanded, primed, undercoated and glossed on the outer surfaces.

...and bedroom 3 window has been glossed and now complete.

We only recently brought our TV up to the property and, despite the aerial and the two co-ax cables looking pretty new, we just couldn't get a signal from either.

Assuming it was just a weak signal area, I bought a simple plug-in aerial amplifier but, with a maximum gain of only 20dB, it proved to be completely useless so it went straight back to the shop for a refund.  We called upon the services of Capell Bros (now in the hands of Robin Garfield). Turns out that there is already a masthead amplifier attached to the aerial itself but this needs a 12V DC supply to operate.  We suspect that the previous owners may have taken the PSU with them, perhaps thinking it was an amplifier.  Robin fitted a new Triax PSU which feeds the 12V supply up the co-ax cable to the masthead amplifier and also decouples the signal from the DC power feed. Works a treat... we now have access to about 174 channels, picking up not only the main signal from the Waltham transmitter but also some additional channels on the side of the aerial coming from the Sandy Heath transmitter!

The Triax 12V DC PSU

The co-ax cable on the front of the house extended down only as far as the main bedroom. I wanted it to supply the living room below so bought some foil screened co-ax cable and joined it using a pair of F-connectors and jointer.  As the connection is outdoors, I weatherproofed it using a length of self amalgamating tape.

Whilst investigating the aerial problems, I noticed that there was a small lawn growing in the front gutter so spent a couple of hours at the top of the ladder cleaning it out.

The soil, moss and grass from just the front gutter half filled a bucket and weighed several kilos!

...so with the gutter now clear, the water flows freely.

Weekly update 04.10.2015

So, to finish off the window frame and restore the original profile, I screwed a length of plastic trunking into position on the sill before back-filling with 2 part plastic wood filler.  Several applications were needed to bring it up to the right height, but it only takes about 15 minutes for each to set.  I lightly oiled the plastic trunking so that the filler didn't stick to it and it was easy to remove afterwards.  I then just needed to fill the screw holes and give it a light sanding.

Once sanded down and primed, it's looking like new!

A quick reminder of how it was before...

...and now, with a coat of undercoat...

The flat roof is due to be re-covered this month, so I thought I should get the fascia boards repaired and painted beforehand.  Once again, a bit of poking with a screwdriver has revealed yet more rotten timber!  I used the Ronseal rotten wood hardener to stabilise the timber before filling it with the 2 part filler.

Sanded and primed, the boards are looking much better...

We had plenty of grey undercoat left over from the kitchen units so I used this to undercoat the fascia boards.

And finally a top-coat of non-drip black gloss.  Whilst off, the guttering and brackets were cleaned up.

Another job that needed to be done before the flat roof is re-covered was the window of the 3rd bedroom, otherwise it would mean having to walk all over the new felt if done later.  What I expected to be a fairly simple painting job turned into something a little more involved.  You can see that the frame had become detached from the surrounding brickwork...

...so I set about digging out the loose mortar.  This left quite a gap!!

...and at the bottom corner of the frame, surprise surprise... more wood rot!

So, more filling and rubbing down of the woodwork was called for.

I then repaired around the frame with fresh mortar and took the opportunity to repoint the engineering bricks below the window.

...and whilst the weather still holds, a coat of white undercoat is applied for protection.  Rain is forecast overnight!!

Meanwhile, at t'other end of garden, the shed continues it's programme of preservation, courtesy of 'er indoors (or should I say 'er outdoors).

Whilst up the ladder, testing the reinstated guttering, I was reminded that there's quite a lot of mortar missing from the upper corner of the wall.  In fact I could get my fingers virtually to the other side of the bricks here!!

...and further along the wall, it looks like someone had started to rake out the mortar, but never got round to re-pointing it.

With the daylight fading, I managed to re-point most of the offending areas.  The rest will wait until another sunny day.