the loft hatch debate
Early one morning there was a knock on he door and an old man was stood outside my back door. "Hello" he said. " I often drive past your house and noticed your big pile of wood from your renovation. I was wondering if i could have some wood to repair the fences on my allotment up in the village . In return i can bring you down some fresh vegetables. " "Help yourself" I said "I would be pleased for it to go, and if you can make use of it, I'm happy for you to take it"
The pile has diminished a little this week, but more has now been added, so if any one wants any timber for making fences or even just burning in their log burner..please come and help yourself..there's tons of wood there.
The chimney sweep came this evening. He swept and vacuumed 2 of the chimneys in anticipation for the log burners to be fitted. Luckily our chimneys are in excellent condition with no loose mortar or stones, so we don't have to have flue liners fitted. Which is a massive saving. Our chimneys are about 11m high, from hearth to pot and each liner was around £1,000 plus fitting. We had the chimneys inspected with CCTV 2 weeks ago, and they were deemed fit for use. Today the sweep confirmed they were perfectly safe to use with out flues. Flues, he told us are only a temporary measure anyway. What do you mean i asked? Flues have to be replaced, he said. They are expensive to fit, and sometimes may need replacing with in a couple of years. I didn't know that! I wonder how many people have got open fires and log burners with defective flues and don't realise !
Tomorrow we are off to purchase log burners. 4 of them .
We are also going to look at heritage plaster mouldings. We have found a company that makes them to match existing original features. So i am perusing, ornate plaster coving, roses and corbels!
The master bedroom ceiling has been reinstated. New plaster board now covers the complete expanse of the ceiling , all 350 square feet of it . That's a massive bedroom! I have decided to have a walk in wardrobe/dressing room made so part of the room has been sectioned off with a partition to make a smaller separate room accessed off the bedroom.
His nibs and I had a heated debate on the phone yesterday, as to where the loft hatch was going to go. I was just about to order a hatch and ladder combo, when i suddenly had a thought. Our ceilings are much taller than conventional ceilings, so a conventional ladder would be too short and would end up dangling 2 feet off the floor. We needed a ladder that would extend to 10ft when the hatch was pulled down. That was easy enough to find after a quick web search. The debate began with where to position the dammed thing and how big of a hole to make for it. I said "were not going to squirrel away crap up in the attic" He said " i want a loft hatch that is big enough, so that boxes don't get stuck in the hole when you're trying to climb the ladder whilst manoeuvring a heavy item above your head. I think he secretly wants to install a model railway up there ! The builder suggested the hatch went in the dressing room, out of sight. I thought that was a superb idea.. He wants it in the hall so its easier to access. I still think he wants a miniature Hornby train track up there. I can imagine him in his wilderness years, making miniature trees and bridges and painting tiny cows.
The cat is getting brave. He took himself for a long and exciting walk last evening. Across the lane, and under the parked cattle truck. along side the hay barn and then disappeared. I left him to it. The hay barn is pretty dilapidated so i didn't fancy venturing in there. I went out with a torch 20 mins later and found the cat still mooching in the barn, under some agricultural spraying machine.. he came out with cobwebs on his whiskers and I shooed him back across the lane, and into our the boot room doorway. He sleeps all day, tucked under the main staircase. in the dark , on top of a pile of still to be unpacked packing boxes. As soon as the builders leave for the day, within 5 minutes he re appears and starts meowing...He is now sprawled on my desk purring very loudly
The weather is supposed to be fairly good this weekend, so i am hoping to be able to work on the fascias again. Ive been busy each evening and early mornings doing a bit each day to refurbish them.
Will take some more photos tomorrow.
xxx
JO
The pile has diminished a little this week, but more has now been added, so if any one wants any timber for making fences or even just burning in their log burner..please come and help yourself..there's tons of wood there.
The chimney sweep came this evening. He swept and vacuumed 2 of the chimneys in anticipation for the log burners to be fitted. Luckily our chimneys are in excellent condition with no loose mortar or stones, so we don't have to have flue liners fitted. Which is a massive saving. Our chimneys are about 11m high, from hearth to pot and each liner was around £1,000 plus fitting. We had the chimneys inspected with CCTV 2 weeks ago, and they were deemed fit for use. Today the sweep confirmed they were perfectly safe to use with out flues. Flues, he told us are only a temporary measure anyway. What do you mean i asked? Flues have to be replaced, he said. They are expensive to fit, and sometimes may need replacing with in a couple of years. I didn't know that! I wonder how many people have got open fires and log burners with defective flues and don't realise !
Tomorrow we are off to purchase log burners. 4 of them .
We are also going to look at heritage plaster mouldings. We have found a company that makes them to match existing original features. So i am perusing, ornate plaster coving, roses and corbels!
The master bedroom ceiling has been reinstated. New plaster board now covers the complete expanse of the ceiling , all 350 square feet of it . That's a massive bedroom! I have decided to have a walk in wardrobe/dressing room made so part of the room has been sectioned off with a partition to make a smaller separate room accessed off the bedroom.
His nibs and I had a heated debate on the phone yesterday, as to where the loft hatch was going to go. I was just about to order a hatch and ladder combo, when i suddenly had a thought. Our ceilings are much taller than conventional ceilings, so a conventional ladder would be too short and would end up dangling 2 feet off the floor. We needed a ladder that would extend to 10ft when the hatch was pulled down. That was easy enough to find after a quick web search. The debate began with where to position the dammed thing and how big of a hole to make for it. I said "were not going to squirrel away crap up in the attic" He said " i want a loft hatch that is big enough, so that boxes don't get stuck in the hole when you're trying to climb the ladder whilst manoeuvring a heavy item above your head. I think he secretly wants to install a model railway up there ! The builder suggested the hatch went in the dressing room, out of sight. I thought that was a superb idea.. He wants it in the hall so its easier to access. I still think he wants a miniature Hornby train track up there. I can imagine him in his wilderness years, making miniature trees and bridges and painting tiny cows.
The cat is getting brave. He took himself for a long and exciting walk last evening. Across the lane, and under the parked cattle truck. along side the hay barn and then disappeared. I left him to it. The hay barn is pretty dilapidated so i didn't fancy venturing in there. I went out with a torch 20 mins later and found the cat still mooching in the barn, under some agricultural spraying machine.. he came out with cobwebs on his whiskers and I shooed him back across the lane, and into our the boot room doorway. He sleeps all day, tucked under the main staircase. in the dark , on top of a pile of still to be unpacked packing boxes. As soon as the builders leave for the day, within 5 minutes he re appears and starts meowing...He is now sprawled on my desk purring very loudly
The weather is supposed to be fairly good this weekend, so i am hoping to be able to work on the fascias again. Ive been busy each evening and early mornings doing a bit each day to refurbish them.
Will take some more photos tomorrow.
xxx
JO
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