fiveeyes
Sapling
Well now..that was a lesson in building for sure. Thank you for that. The explanation that you gave was just what a novice needed. It is great fun to learn what was/is. I sincerely appreciate that. As you would say...cheers...bill
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Hi all and welcome to TheWoodHaven2 brought into the 21st Century, kicking and screaming! We all have Alasdair to thank for the vast bulk of the heavy lifting to get us here, no more so than me because he's taken away a huge burden of responsibility from my shoulders and brought us to this new shiny home, with all your previous content (hopefully) still intact! Please peruse and feed back. There is still plenty to do, like changing the colour scheme, adding the banner graphic, tweaking the odd setting here and there so I have added a new thread in the 'Technical Issues, Bugs and Feature Requests' forum for you to add any issues you find, any missing settings or just anything you'd like to see added/removed from the feature set that Xenforo offers. We will get to everything over the coming weeks so please be patient, but add anything at all to the thread I mention above and we promise to get to them over the next few days/weeks/months. In the meantime, please enjoy!
Mike's ext'n & renovation (solar panels)
- Thread starter Mike G
- Start date
You can see how flexible a lime/chalk mix in the video in this thread
mjdewet
Seedling
Mike, to quote another Dutchman, Rob, You sir are a magician. :text-bravo: :text-bravo:
And an inspiration to this Boertjie! (14th generation dutchman too)
I've sworn an oath on my dead cat's liver that I'll not show my wife this thread, else she may import you for some tasks around the house.
But alas, my son who now lives on you fair isle, has, and he expects his old man to do it the 'Mike-way'!
So I've committed to doing things the 'Mike-way' from now on.
Plan, Plan, Plan. Get the right materials, and do it right first time!
Your info on using lime render and the mix is most informative.
You would know about the old Cape Dutch buildings down here in the Western Cape. They were built with sun dried adobe type earthen bricks, and the 'mortar' was also a mud/clay/chopped straw mix, and where straw was missing, cow dung, or whatever was to hand, even horse dung, etc.
The walls were plastered with the same mix, and once dried out, a lime wash was made of slaked lime, water and animal fat to an almost slurry consistency. The water reacted with the slaked lime and created heat, which melted the fat, and the melted fat coagulated with the lime particles. This slurry was brushed on with a rough brush, and the fat/lime 'slurry' was the waterproofing on the oustide walls, that prevented moisture from getting in. This white washing had to be done quite regularly to keep the walls waterproof, and in old travel documents sometimes mention is made that dwelling hasn't been white washed, and signs of decay are visible, with parts of the walls in ruins...
Sea shells from mussels, abalone, and other shellfish was gathered from the beaches, and burnt in kilns not too far from the beaches, and then transported by ox-wagon to wherever it was needed.
We can be thankful for living in the 21st Century, but still need to know how the craftsmen of old did what they did, and why they did it that way!
And an inspiration to this Boertjie! (14th generation dutchman too)
I've sworn an oath on my dead cat's liver that I'll not show my wife this thread, else she may import you for some tasks around the house.
But alas, my son who now lives on you fair isle, has, and he expects his old man to do it the 'Mike-way'!
So I've committed to doing things the 'Mike-way' from now on.
Plan, Plan, Plan. Get the right materials, and do it right first time!
Your info on using lime render and the mix is most informative.
You would know about the old Cape Dutch buildings down here in the Western Cape. They were built with sun dried adobe type earthen bricks, and the 'mortar' was also a mud/clay/chopped straw mix, and where straw was missing, cow dung, or whatever was to hand, even horse dung, etc.
The walls were plastered with the same mix, and once dried out, a lime wash was made of slaked lime, water and animal fat to an almost slurry consistency. The water reacted with the slaked lime and created heat, which melted the fat, and the melted fat coagulated with the lime particles. This slurry was brushed on with a rough brush, and the fat/lime 'slurry' was the waterproofing on the oustide walls, that prevented moisture from getting in. This white washing had to be done quite regularly to keep the walls waterproof, and in old travel documents sometimes mention is made that dwelling hasn't been white washed, and signs of decay are visible, with parts of the walls in ruins...
Sea shells from mussels, abalone, and other shellfish was gathered from the beaches, and burnt in kilns not too far from the beaches, and then transported by ox-wagon to wherever it was needed.
We can be thankful for living in the 21st Century, but still need to know how the craftsmen of old did what they did, and why they did it that way!
Mike G
Petrified Pine
Hey Thys. Good to hear from you again. Hope you are well.
Great post! Yes, I love the old Cape adobe/ clay lump/ cob buildings*, and you're dead right about the limewash, too. There are cob buildings in Devon whose walls are probably 4 inches thicker than when they were built because of the centuries of limewash inside and out.
* All using much the same materials (often just mud/ straw/ dung scraped off the farmyard), but slightly differing techniques. Whereas your ancestors in the Cape made sun-dried bricks from it, here it was often just pounded into formwork in situ, allowed to harden a bit, then the planks raised up and the next layer added.
Great post! Yes, I love the old Cape adobe/ clay lump/ cob buildings*, and you're dead right about the limewash, too. There are cob buildings in Devon whose walls are probably 4 inches thicker than when they were built because of the centuries of limewash inside and out.
* All using much the same materials (often just mud/ straw/ dung scraped off the farmyard), but slightly differing techniques. Whereas your ancestors in the Cape made sun-dried bricks from it, here it was often just pounded into formwork in situ, allowed to harden a bit, then the planks raised up and the next layer added.
fiveeyes
Sapling
Calling Superman..withdrawal is setting in quickly. What, two weeks gone by, and not so much as a peep. 
Being facetious, of course. I do hope that you are well. ..bill..
Being facetious, of course. I do hope that you are well. ..bill..
Mike G
Petrified Pine
Thanks Bill.
I've done nothing but draw since then, and I'll be drawing for another few weeks at least. Once I get this backlog of work out of the way I'll be plastering the hall and dining room, then building the 2 front doors. It's these I've been looking forward to the most for some while now.
I've done nothing but draw since then, and I'll be drawing for another few weeks at least. Once I get this backlog of work out of the way I'll be plastering the hall and dining room, then building the 2 front doors. It's these I've been looking forward to the most for some while now.
Karookop
Seedling
Having withdrawal symptoms for a few weeks now from not seeing more of the masterful craftsmanship.
Mike, I hope you get some well earned rest over the festive season, that your new roof will be tested by some good snow while sitting in one of the best planned and crafted houses I have seen in many years. :eusa-clap:
While you are having the cold season I am venturing out camping in our semi-desert Karoo to think about that ancient wooden house in the Northern hemisphere that has been given a new life for many (hundreds) of years to come!
Best wishes from SA!
Carel.
Mike, I hope you get some well earned rest over the festive season, that your new roof will be tested by some good snow while sitting in one of the best planned and crafted houses I have seen in many years. :eusa-clap:
While you are having the cold season I am venturing out camping in our semi-desert Karoo to think about that ancient wooden house in the Northern hemisphere that has been given a new life for many (hundreds) of years to come!
Best wishes from SA!
Carel.
Mike G
Petrified Pine
Whereabouts in the Karoo, Carel? I spent 6 months in Graaff Reinet, so I know the Karoo very well.
As a coincidence, I am hoping to start work again on the house tomorrow. I'll be doing some wiring and then plastering in the hall and dining room, then doing the stonework on the floor through the hall. The downstairs window cills are nearly ready for fitting, too.
Oh, and it's all covered in snow at the moment. This is our first snowfall in 4 years in the area.
As a coincidence, I am hoping to start work again on the house tomorrow. I'll be doing some wiring and then plastering in the hall and dining room, then doing the stonework on the floor through the hall. The downstairs window cills are nearly ready for fitting, too.
Oh, and it's all covered in snow at the moment. This is our first snowfall in 4 years in the area.
Karookop
Seedling
Mike G
Petrified Pine
I've been drawing, and I've had the flu. Flu is bad: don't get it.
I have managed a little work on the house. I wanted to get the dining room done so that we can empty the contents of our hired shipping container into that room, and get rid of the container. We also wanted the hall done such that we could walk through the house on a finished floor. So, here are a couple of almost "before" photos, which show the plasterboard going up in the dining room and hall. Unfortunately, I had the camera set to "Macro", so they're out of focus:
The plinth is plasterboard stuck double-thickness to the blocks, and then plastered with a rough undercoat plaster to mimic the typical rendered plinth look of old cottages:
It's quite a pain taping everything up. It was even more a pain when I used some old plaster accidentally, and it went off way too quickly.
After doing the plinth of the dining room and hall, I brought the stone flooring through the hall. I had to temporarily prop the stairs up out of the way to run the stone underneath:
The last photo shows a "well" around the temporary front door, simply because I don't want to be re-hanging this door an inch up just for the few weeks until it is replaced by the permanent door.
Focus moved to upstairs above the dining room ceiling for a while. This was so that nailing floorboards down happened before the ceiling got plastered, avoiding the danger of disturbing the plaster on what are pretty thin joists. So, here is the upstairs before work started, with a temporary board over a small area of joists:
This is a problem. The plumber had previously hacked out a big notch for the hot and cold supply pipes for the bathroom, through a narrow joist:
I decided to "sister" this joist:
......and the pipes will be re-routed later. Here is the progression of the floor:
Note the projecting bridging joist has been cut to length, and note the step. Here is the excess bridging joist in situ from below:
This is the tenon on the end of one of the joists, (and note the tapered peg I pulled out via the screw in the end):
This is one of the classic joints of English oak framing. The long projecting tenon is always bang in the middle of the depth of the bridging joist, on the "line of neutrality" (ie neither in tension nor compression. This means that the bridging joist is hardly weakened at all. However, to prevent twisting of the intermediate joists, the tenon is haunched. This removes as little timber as possible from the bridging joist, but still retains the full depth of the intermediate joists such that they can't twist. When I cut the end of the bridging joist away I had to clamp a piece of scrap to it to prevent it falling:
I could then build the floor up:
The chipboard forms the landing floor, and the old oak boards are going to be in the bathroom (and bedroom). Having done all that I could proceed with overboarding the dining room ceiling, and then plastering:
Another day for the plaster to dry and that room is ready for decorating.
I have managed a little work on the house. I wanted to get the dining room done so that we can empty the contents of our hired shipping container into that room, and get rid of the container. We also wanted the hall done such that we could walk through the house on a finished floor. So, here are a couple of almost "before" photos, which show the plasterboard going up in the dining room and hall. Unfortunately, I had the camera set to "Macro", so they're out of focus:
The plinth is plasterboard stuck double-thickness to the blocks, and then plastered with a rough undercoat plaster to mimic the typical rendered plinth look of old cottages:
It's quite a pain taping everything up. It was even more a pain when I used some old plaster accidentally, and it went off way too quickly.
After doing the plinth of the dining room and hall, I brought the stone flooring through the hall. I had to temporarily prop the stairs up out of the way to run the stone underneath:
The last photo shows a "well" around the temporary front door, simply because I don't want to be re-hanging this door an inch up just for the few weeks until it is replaced by the permanent door.
Focus moved to upstairs above the dining room ceiling for a while. This was so that nailing floorboards down happened before the ceiling got plastered, avoiding the danger of disturbing the plaster on what are pretty thin joists. So, here is the upstairs before work started, with a temporary board over a small area of joists:
This is a problem. The plumber had previously hacked out a big notch for the hot and cold supply pipes for the bathroom, through a narrow joist:
I decided to "sister" this joist:
......and the pipes will be re-routed later. Here is the progression of the floor:
Note the projecting bridging joist has been cut to length, and note the step. Here is the excess bridging joist in situ from below:
This is the tenon on the end of one of the joists, (and note the tapered peg I pulled out via the screw in the end):
This is one of the classic joints of English oak framing. The long projecting tenon is always bang in the middle of the depth of the bridging joist, on the "line of neutrality" (ie neither in tension nor compression. This means that the bridging joist is hardly weakened at all. However, to prevent twisting of the intermediate joists, the tenon is haunched. This removes as little timber as possible from the bridging joist, but still retains the full depth of the intermediate joists such that they can't twist. When I cut the end of the bridging joist away I had to clamp a piece of scrap to it to prevent it falling:
I could then build the floor up:
The chipboard forms the landing floor, and the old oak boards are going to be in the bathroom (and bedroom). Having done all that I could proceed with overboarding the dining room ceiling, and then plastering:
Another day for the plaster to dry and that room is ready for decorating.
Rod
Old Oak
Nice to see you back at work Mike.
Rod
Rod
Bravo!
Mark
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Mark
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
fiveeyes
Sapling
Plastering..back breaking work! I am glad that I am not good at it, else someone would ask for my help. 
Do hope that you are feeling better. Flu has got the whole U.S. sick, it seems. BTW..Happy New Year
bill
Do hope that you are feeling better. Flu has got the whole U.S. sick, it seems. BTW..Happy New Yearbill
Phil
Old Oak
Looking good Mike 
I'd forgotten how much work was still left to be done. What is the situation elsewhere in the house?
Mike G
Petrified Pine
Yeah, there's quite a bit left to do. The dining room will be finished with a coat of paint. The hall is all but finished, with just a bit of work on the ceiling small amounts of plastering, and then decorating. At that point the electrickery can be connected in the old part of the house. The downstairs loo needs a complete job, but should only take 3 or 4 days. There is also the two front doors to do. The lounge needs some plasterboard on the ceiling (once the upstairs central heating pipes have been extended into the old part of the house), and then plastering and decorating. A couple of days work.
That leaves the biggest area of work: the bathroom and 4th bedroom, upstairs in the old part of the house. Floor, walls, ceilings, plumbing, plastering, fitting out.......lots to do. And finally a new staircase to make. One day I'll make internal doors, too.
Add it all up and there is probably 2 or 3 months of work left to do internally, but I am simply not going to get 2 or 3 solid months of work on it this year. I have too much drawing work to do, and we have a wedding to be ready for in July, so everything is going to happen in fits and starts.
That leaves the biggest area of work: the bathroom and 4th bedroom, upstairs in the old part of the house. Floor, walls, ceilings, plumbing, plastering, fitting out.......lots to do. And finally a new staircase to make. One day I'll make internal doors, too.
Add it all up and there is probably 2 or 3 months of work left to do internally, but I am simply not going to get 2 or 3 solid months of work on it this year. I have too much drawing work to do, and we have a wedding to be ready for in July, so everything is going to happen in fits and starts.
Mike G
Petrified Pine
fiveeyes":3ignfrrk said:Plastering..back breaking work! I am glad that I am not good at it, else someone would ask for my help.
bill
Yeah, I can't say I enjoy plastering, particularly ceilings. However, it isn't all that difficult once you get into it. As I am finishing areas piece-meal, I don't have the option of getting a plasterer in to do a bit here and a bit there, so I am stuck doing it myself. I bought myself a nice new float which has helped somewhat.
This flu isn't pleasant. We both fell ill on Boxing day, and I'm still not right. By lunchtime I need a siesta most days, and by 9 ish I'm asleep in front of the TV, and still with almost no appetite. Don't get it if you can help it.
Rod
Old Oak
Sorry about the flu - did you have the jab, not that it gives complete immunity?
I suppose locking yourselves away in isolation is the only way to prevent it.
My wife and I both caught a very nasty cold over Christmas and New Year, probably picked up from our Grandkids who were ill a week or two earlier.
I always worry when I go to our doctors for our repeat prescriptions when walking through the waiting room, wondering if I’ll pick some bug up.
My Consultant says siestas are beneficial but only for 30mins, longer than that you fall into a deeper sleep which makes waking up without feeling drowsy more difficult.
Rod
I suppose locking yourselves away in isolation is the only way to prevent it.
My wife and I both caught a very nasty cold over Christmas and New Year, probably picked up from our Grandkids who were ill a week or two earlier.
I always worry when I go to our doctors for our repeat prescriptions when walking through the waiting room, wondering if I’ll pick some bug up.
My Consultant says siestas are beneficial but only for 30mins, longer than that you fall into a deeper sleep which makes waking up without feeling drowsy more difficult.
Rod
Mike G
Petrified Pine
No, we didn't have the jab. Depending on the flu kicking around next year we might well have a jab.
The afternoon nap thing is out of my control. I fall asleep in my chair in front of the computer if I don't go to bed. But you're right........10 or 15 minutes is all you need to get through the afternoon refreshed.
The afternoon nap thing is out of my control. I fall asleep in my chair in front of the computer if I don't go to bed. But you're right........10 or 15 minutes is all you need to get through the afternoon refreshed.
Mike G
Petrified Pine
MJ80":2v1spw40 said:
Here:
https://www.floorsofstone.com/our-tile-range/limestone-tiles/jaipur-brushed-limestone-tiles
The price fluctuates quite markedly. If you wait , you can get it for around £25/ sqm.
Mike G
Petrified Pine
To be fair, I bought it some months ago, and did a bit of work on it before using it to help float up the lime render. The extra length, and the flatness compared to my really old £1-bargain-bin previous float made the ceilings so much easier. Unfortunately, it was rather too large for most of the wall panels, so it was back to the old one for those.
Mike G":3pmo8m1f said:
That's the thing. Having been working in close contact with excellent plasterers these past few months I now realise that they prefer a 'worked' piece of kit that has curves on it. That way you don't dig in and leave tramlines. They will work a new one to remove the flatness at the edges before using it in anger.
Mike G
Petrified Pine
I meant the flatness (or lack thereof) of the face. I filed the edges and the corners before I started using it so they are slightly curved, but having a relatively flat face compared with my old trowel helps quite a lot. What helps most, though, is having the extra size.
Mike G
Petrified Pine
This is a small but very significant step for us. A major transformation of the feel of the site from a building site towards being a normal house:
The land behind where the container stood is the site of a proposed new garage, for which I haven't even yet applied for permission. There is a somewhat overgrown hardcore pile where the garage will go:
This is the first time I've been able to photograph the entirety of the southern elevation.
The land behind where the container stood is the site of a proposed new garage, for which I haven't even yet applied for permission. There is a somewhat overgrown hardcore pile where the garage will go:
This is the first time I've been able to photograph the entirety of the southern elevation.
Halo Jones
New Shoots
It must feel like quite a milestone :eusa-clap:
Your workshop looks quite sizeable in that last photo!
Your workshop looks quite sizeable in that last photo!
Jimmy Mack
Old Oak
If gives a good sense of scale of everything. Lovely to free up some space and a view too.Halo Jones":59slwwsr said:
I expect to see the container being converted into a miniature marvel of sorts on "George Clarke's Amazing Spaces" in the not too distant future.
Sent from my Moto G (5) using Tapatalk
Halo Jones
New Shoots
I'll have to try that one with LOML - the workshop isn't too large its just a bit of distortion :lol:
techauthorbob
New Shoots
PHEW!
I have just finished reading the whole of this post over the last few days - what a saga! (Old Yorkshire word for pudding).
An absolutely incredible achievement, along with having more body parts fixed than me, along the way!
I sure have learned loads about different construction methods and how little I know.
If you want to see big timber construction look at Pure Living For Life on YouTube. Lots of crap but some good bits.
Bob
I have just finished reading the whole of this post over the last few days - what a saga! (Old Yorkshire word for pudding).
An absolutely incredible achievement, along with having more body parts fixed than me, along the way!
I sure have learned loads about different construction methods and how little I know.
If you want to see big timber construction look at Pure Living For Life on YouTube. Lots of crap but some good bits.
Bob
techauthorbob
New Shoots
It did, over several days, but I was a Technical Author so well used to reading lots and extracting the relevant bits.
The secret is wife mot around and plenty of whisky!
Seriously, learned loads from this post alone, plus lots about useful materials
Keep up the good work!
Bob
The secret is wife mot around and plenty of whisky!
Seriously, learned loads from this post alone, plus lots about useful materials
Keep up the good work!
Bob
fiveeyes
Sapling
Mike..just caught up reading the thread..you have been busy. Hope to look in again soon, as we are leaving for Arizona, and SoCal in the morning . do take care..yes, trying my best to avoid most people...TA...
. do take care..yes, trying my best to avoid most people...TA...