"Thankyou for taking so much care"

I love taking care of old buildings. This one has been standing for 500 years and contributing to it remaining so, makes me a happy man. Water ingress and retention is one of the main causes of decay in traditional buildings, so keeping on top of leaks is of vital importance, and having breathable coverings allows them to dry out, if they do spring a leak.

Enter quicklime. Mortar made from sand slaking quicklime, is the best thing for rendering traditional stone built buildings. What we are doing here is moving in that direction, for this building; as the sliding sashes are renovated, they are being re-sealed with oakum and slaked quicklime.

Slaking the quicklime.

Soaking oakum in the still-slaking quicklime (after the reaction has cooled some; much heat is given off when slaking quicklime).

Sealing around frame with mortar made from sharp sand and the hot lime putty. This is not sand slaking (which is addition of quicklime to damp sand, a dryish process, where more water is added later to beat up a workable mortar). I have done it this way because I wanted three products from the same mix; oakum/quicklime 'filler', hot lime putty mortar to point the oakum, and thick limewash to coat.

Quicklime mortar (and the oakum filler) will give a much more breathable seal around the windows. The wood will last longer and the masonry which was built with clay/lime mortar, will be able to dry out if it does get wet. The cast iron gutter, hopper and downpipe have been re-jigged, so they all meet up, and dispatch rainwater away from the building (instead of into the wall, which was happening).

The new massive sweet chestnut sill, from Zav at Dart Valley Sawmills, will be shedding rainwater off this window, for many years to come.

The implication of using quicklime, is that it takes a long time to set. It is not hydraulic, i.e. it does not set by the addition of water. It sets by 'carbonation', the re-absorption of the carbon dioxide, that it released in it's making. It is effectively re-becoming the limestone, from whence it came.It needs to be protected with dampened hessian while this process takes place, so that it does not dry out too quickly. It's worth noting that modern portland cement, does not do this 'carbonation', it does not re-absorb the C02 that it releases, which means it is responsible for 8% of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere, it releases CO2, but never re-absorbs, because it sets HARD. It's not breathable and causes moisture from leaks etc to stay in the building fabric. It's a no-brainer. Using quicklime (air lime) and caring for old buildings in this way, is caring for the planet. It's exciting, why do anything else?

The chemical explanation of this.

The practical side of this; covering with damp hessian, and keeping the oakum/mortar/limewash misted for at least a few weeks afterwards.

The bottoms of the boxes and cheeks have been repaired, with new timber spliced in. The sashes have been to the window hospital, and have been re-installed also. The above box sash, and the below horizontal sliding sash, with another piece of the lovely reclaimed greenheart, for replacement sill.

Putty all tidied and paintwork re-freshed.

"Thankyou for taking so much care".

Repair works on 16th century 2* house

Renovation of box sash (and horizontal sliding sash in 16th century 2* house. Cast iron not despatching rainwater effectively, allowing water into the wall, where a valerian has taken hold, feeding the water into the wall, rotting the sill and is damaging the lime plaster inside. Time for some tlc to this beautiful building, once again within a stone's throw of St. Mary's, Totnes.

Sashes out for repair and tidying. Overhaul of cast iron gutters and downpipes, so they meet up, and take the water away from the wall. Removal of valerian plant which has rooted into the wall. New sill, repair to fascias. Repair of render and internal lime plaster.

Guildhall Walk graced with new red door.

The Guildhall Walk in Totnes now has a new red front door.

We re-used the original heavy knocker and brass handle. Also re-used the existing stained glass of St. Mary's church. The door looks out on to the Guildhall Walk and St Mary's beyond (and the window perfectly matches the view).

There has been a lot of footfall this week, as the re-modelling of St. Mary's is happening and pedestrian's shortcut through the church grounds has been blocked. There has been much admiration of the new door.

The Guildhall Walk has some crazy rooflines and is usually a peaceful respite from Totnes High St on market day. 

The door has a new Greenheart step/cill. This ancient piece of very hardy timber was most likely a part of Plymouth Docks a long time ago. It then sat in a local barn for many years, before I came by it recently. It's not going to rot in a hurry. Greenheart cill, bronze red water-based paint from Little Greene.

Then over to tidy up, at Jasmin Cottage, where the lime rendering is now finished. Cracked cement render removal, repair of timber frame, insulation with ionic sheepwool and re-rendering in lime to match existing.

Then over to Torquay to survey another prospective job on this converted windmill.

A bit more East Devon carving and the start of the joinery.

So, the front three panels are taking shape. 

The two outside need more detail, but I'm not sure what yet. I'm going to move on to making the front rails and stiles, decide on the pattern for them and come back to the front panels. It seems fitting that organic designs are coming together, well, organically.

The nearest/right one still needs grounding.

On to the top rail.

An old familiar way of working, with well used tools. I don't get to work this way all the time, so a day on this is joyous.

This board was twisted and I am surprised it planed up ok.

Setting the marking gauge with my Rabone rule for the thickness.

All change tomorrow, hanging a front door.

Time for some East Devon carving

 It's been a while, and I do love it so.

Those East Devon joiners and carvers, whoever they were, made something special 400 years ago.

I was going to re-create one chest from the several that have survived. Looking over them, I realised that apart from the one, this was based on:

there were elements on each, that I was not so keen on. So I decided to scavenge my favourite elements from all of them, and put them into one.

As always there's a few South Devon influences as well. I do live in South Devon, after all.

Spoon post

It's not everyday you are asked, to come and take your pick from a freshly thinned wood, that is almost exclusively cherry. I haven't had any fresh cherry for a fair few years, so to be faced with a cherry woodland on the verge of spring, with piles awaiting selection is a rare treat.

I think I will celebrate, by carving a spoon, for Clare and Nigel, the woodland owners.

Split with the froe, into halves, quarters, billets.

Axe a crank. Sketch an outline. The cherry grain has provided me with a centreline.

Saw down to the line.

Axe to the line. Same with the profile, then out with the knives. Time to catch the last few rays of the sun. Almost Equinox.

And we have a spoon. The first of many, I imagine, given the big pile of cherry logs next to me.

From tree to log to spoon, before the sun went down.

I offered some of the cherry to Mick, but I don't think he wants, to carve a spoon; says it's too much like a religion. That made me smile, I used to do a lot of Buddhist meditation; nowadays carving is my meditation. People do all sorts of things in the name of religion, but I've never heard of anyone doing bad in the name of carving spoons! I do treat my chopping block like an altar, though, I guess.

Door and some hunting and gathering.

 A door in Accoya.

Wedged tenons. Pinned with brass. Fixing the drip, with brass flatheads and my turnscrew. Holding temporarily with the Jorgensens.

Hunted and gathered this new old anvil today. It was a lively beast and took some subduing, but with Mick on the seesaw, we roped it in! 

So, forging ahead with the forging. Bang bang bang.

Angles

Lots of angles in the roof lantern. Basically a miniature hipped roof, with glazing bars instead of rafters.

A temporary structure and tent was placed over the roof lantern, as the work was happening in the middle of winter.

On installation day, a genie lift was used to raise the lantern up in two sections.

Over on to the scaffold tower.

Then slid along, and posted through the 'letterbox' in the tent structure. Over the hole and then the scaffold boards slid out and the lantern fixed down.

The tarpaulin battened back down, for work to continue, in the dry!

New roof lantern for Birdwood House

Birdwood House is a listed building, overlooking Totnes market square. It was originally called Somerset House and was the home of the Babbage family; later to produce Charles, the inventor of the Difference Engine, the first mechanical computer.

The building was refurbished in 2005 to house the Gallery, a venue for art. The art gallery is partially lit by a roof lantern. Unfortunately, the lantern had seen better days, so we were called in to do a restoration of it, starting on the 23rd December last. Listed building consent was acquired by the owners. After stripping the paint back, it was obvious restoration was not possible, and so a new lantern was made, saving and restoring the roll-top cap.

Here it is this morning, complete with anti-bird wire to replace the nasty bird spikes that were there before.

From below.

It has been blanked off for years, because of it's unsightly appearance, but now the possibility of using it to add a vertical element to exhibitions, has been opened up.