I stood back and looked at what we've been busy on for the last three months and for the first time this week, I was looking at a house. Yes, we've only slated the garage and utility, yes the right hand side original house is an empty shell inside and we still have no electrics,... Continue Reading →
Do Up Diary #36 & Review : Chembond’s polypropylene fibres
We're feeling a great sense of satisfaction that the double pitch roof to the garage and the triple pitch roof to the utility room are fully slated, with the newly sourced ridge tiles sitting proudly on top and the verges all pointed up In all my years working on renovations and doing DIY, I'd never attempted... Continue Reading →
Do Up Diary #35 Today’s 3Rs: Ridges, reclamation and rubbin’
Woop woop! After timbers, breathable membrane, laths and slates comes the final step in making a reclaimed roof water-tight... sitting the ridge tiles (RTs) on the very top and sealing all the gaps. If you look at the image above on the right, the long navy blue gap you can see to the front is... Continue Reading →
Do Up Diary #33 Dormers, buy two get one free?
No major build comes without it's hiccups and often these hiccups are very hard to spot on flat plans. In my experience, the renovation of old houses can only be done successfully with constant monitoring and adaption. As you can see, the initial plans for the remodelled West Wing elevation included two dormers to the steeply pitched roof... Continue Reading →
Do Up Diary #32 How to source & decide on reclaimed roof slates
As Autumn kicks in with a vengeance, I'm so relieved to be at the stage where the workshop and utility are semi-watertight with breathable membrane and the roof timbers to the main extension & dormers will be up by the end of this week. Starting a large extension / build in late summer often means you... Continue Reading →
Do Up Diary #31 Starting to get watertight
Who ordered a hurricane? Oh we've been so lucky with the weather so far, it seems weeks since the last deluge which turned the garden into Glastonbury, this good luck surely had to come to an end sometime and come to an end it has this week! As the major timbers over the workshop and utility... Continue Reading →
Do Up Diary #30 Going potty for chimney pots
Blimey I'm a tired lady builder today, I think the last week's catching up with me. Mind you, it's only a week since I was groggy from a general anaesthetic, so it's little surprise really. Add that to industrial strength antibiotics & emerging sniffles and I'm definitely feeling very grumpy, resulting in a bit of an epy... Continue Reading →