Show us yer house and house-related meddlings

[Poi E]

Thank you, equationgirl. Often wondered if it was just a newish thing.

 

[moonsi til]

Had some Coretec flooring leftover & put in ‘summerhouse’. Until Saturday Summerhouse was still a winter shed.

We have a long way to with out small house. I’m most pleased with the small dining area we created back of kitchen & with bi-folding doors goes straight to garden.

Photo of summerhouse.

 

[Poi E]

I'm a bit floored as our dear neighbour who lives on the end of our terrace wants to give my wife and me the large garden he has at the back of the terrace. We currently have access and my wife is a keen gardener and I've been clearing things out and doing fences as my bit since he lets us use it. We can't pay him anything as I'm out of work and my wife is covering things at the moment, but he said he doesn't care and wants it to go to someone who loves it like his departed wife did. A green oasis in Croydon

 

[baldrick]

Oh and I did do some DIY instead of just handing people money, but I was too engrossed to take a 'before' picture - lesson probably not learnt. Our doorstep had big cracks and chunks of concrete missing. I polyfilla'd it, sanded it back, repeated ad infinitum and then painted. Not a perfect finish by any means but I'm pleased.

Looks good. Our step is in a similar state and desperately needs doing. Is that a composite door? We need a new front door, it's wood and I just don't have the time/patience/willingness to do all the maintenance needed. The wooden window frames are bad enough. They look nice, but PVC is so much easier.

 

[mauvais]

Looks good. Our step is in a similar state and desperately needs doing. Is that a composite door? We need a new front door, it's wood and I just don't have the time/patience/willingness to do all the maintenance needed. The wooden window frames are bad enough. They look nice, but PVC is so much easier.

The green one, I think it's timber but I haven't poked at it. It sits within an enclosed porch away from the weather so doesn't really require any maintenance.

The outer door is wooden and as per the start of the thread has a rotten frame - I think it's rot, not an infestation of anything. I've made lots of enquiries about this and most people would like to sell me a composite or uPVC door. Same story with windows. For timber, Accoya comes up a lot as a low-maintenance choice but it's expensive.

However in our case neither uPVC nor composite would retain the same look, and in the case of composites, would be a drastically different design, like another version of the green door with much less glass.



So, I'm angling for a like-for-like replacement even if I have to maintain the thing. A joiner gave me a good estimate the other day, just waiting for a proper quote.

 

[baldrick]

It's a very nice door tbf. Ours is the other way round, with the front door the more solid one. It needs sanding and repainting though. And probably a new colour. It's dark green at the minute but looking quite tired. My husband wants a new door but composite doors are so expensive. So I might have to see what I can do to spruce it up in the meantime.

 

[teuchter]

The outer door is wooden and as per the start of the thread has a rotten frame - I think it's rot, not an infestation of anything.

Pretty sure it's rot, from water sitting in that location, and I think it's because the aluminium threshold has not been installed properly. It looks like the threshold has been cut to a length that fits between the door stops, that is, the projecting bits of the frame at each side just behind which the door sits when closed. But it should have been cut to a length that fits between the sides of the frame, and each end of it should run *under* the stops. It looks like, because it's too short, there has been an attempt to fill the resultant gaps between it and the frame at the end with silicone sealant. So, any water running down the sides of the frame sits on top of the silicone, right next to the timber, keeping the bottom part of the timber damp, then as the rot progresses things get worse as the remaining bits of silicone trap the water in the cavities now formed in the timber.

It should be detailed so that the aluminium threshold is tight against the frame (or even better, notched into it) with a minimal amount of sealant at the junction, so that water runs down and gets immediately directed onto the aluminium and out.

Fix this detail, and there is probably no need to replace the door. In other words the fundamental problem is not that the door and frame are made of timber.

 

[teuchter]

(You can also weatherstrip it so that no water can get in around behind the stops in the first place)

 

[Crispy]

Thanks for typing that so I didn't have to teuchter

If the rot hasn't got all the way to the front, you might be able to cut out the rot, fit a new threshold that goes all the way to the edges, and fill the gap back up with good wood, without having an obvious join when viewed head-on.

Or you could cut the entire bottom of the frame out and add a plinth block over the new threshold. Make a point of expressing the join.

 

[Poi E]

Something I'm proud of. Decades of paint stripped from the bannisters and only a few more coats of varnish to go. Went high gloss to maximise reflection of light in our terraced house. I also avoided filler between components as it invariably moves and falls out over time and the colour never matches properly.

 

[teuchter]

If the rot hasn't got all the way to the front, you might be able to cut out the rot, fit a new threshold that goes all the way to the edges, and fill the gap back up with good wood, without having an obvious join when viewed head-on.

That's exactly what I'd do.

 

[mauvais]

Fix this detail, and there is probably no need to replace the door. In other words the fundamental problem is not that the door and frame are made of timber.

Good analysis, hadn't really thought about how it'd happened. I think it's too late for this frame now though, and the door's not in much better condition.

 

[teuchter]

Good analysis, hadn't really thought about how it'd happened. I think it's too late for this frame now though, and the door's not in much better condition.

From the photos (which might not tell the whole story) - doesn't look too late at all. Just cut out and replace the rotten bit as Crispy suggests. Door itself looks fine, just needs repainting/revarnishing. Unless that bottom bit is actually rotten, rather than just pealing varnish/paint. Even then, a bit of filler and a repaint might be all that's needed.

 

[mauvais]

From the photos (which might not tell the whole story) - doesn't look too late at all. Just cut out and replace the rotten bit as Crispy suggests. Door itself looks fine, just needs repainting/revarnishing. Unless that bottom bit is actually rotten, rather than just pealing varnish/paint. Even then, a bit of filler and a repaint might be all that's needed.

The frame base on both sides is holed, on one it goes through into the back and I think front. It's rotten and hollow a long, undetermined way up on the inside. The door probably is OK to be fair, but at minimum needs rehanging in order to actually fit properly and lock, but also expands to stick in winter, etc etc, thus we might find it's warped - personally I suspect it's all about the frame. Probably nothing insurmountable in terms of what's already identified, but I'm loathe to do a lot of work only to find more, when supposedly I can have a complete replacement for £500 or whatever. It is worth considering though.

 

[kabbes]

Gulp.

 

[Crispy]

I am very glad I don't have to maintain a country pile like that, let alone perform major surgery on it.

 

[purenarcotic]

I'm a bit floored as our dear neighbour who lives on the end of our terrace wants to give my wife and me the large garden he has at the back of the terrace. We currently have access and my wife is a keen gardener and I've been clearing things out and doing fences as my bit since he lets us use it. We can't pay him anything as I'm out of work and my wife is covering things at the moment, but he said he doesn't care and wants it to go to someone who loves it like his departed wife did. A green oasis in Croydon

What a lovely thing of him to do.

 

[kabbes]

So far, bat surveys have cost almost as much as architect fees.

 

[Poi E]

bloody hell.

 

[teuchter]

So far, bat surveys have cost almost as much as architect fees.

I think what you mean to say is that architect fees are only slightly more expensive than bat surveys.

 

[kabbes]

I think what you mean to say is that architect fees are only slightly more expensive than bat surveys.

I certainly know from which I have extracted better value for money.

 

[bimble]

*considers career move into bat surveying*

 

[teuchter]

I certainly know from which I have extracted better value for money.

Did you succeed in killing all the bats before the surveyor came around?

 

[Poi E]

It would be the human thing to do.

 

[Mr Retro]

This is our kitchen yesterday 6 weeks into a 14 week job where the whole downstairs is more or less being rebuilt and our garage turned into a home office/library thing.

It’s fucking miserable living on a building site but so exciting to be eventually getting it all done. We’re using a local architect and his wife who is an interior designer. Having been through this in Amsterdam about 8 years ago with no architect hiring one is the best decision we ever made.

Feel a bit guilty and unmanly looking at all mauvais’s impressive DIY. I am doing the sum total of fuck all

 

[kabbes]

Did you succeed in killing all the bats before the surveyor came around?

If I had, I wouldn’t have needed the more expensive detailed second and third surveys.

 

[mauvais]

Feel a bit guilty and unmanly looking at all mauvais’s impressive DIY. I am doing the sum total of fuck all

Don't - I'm only doing minor jobs myself, so mostly just handing lots of money to other people.

 

[8115]

I need to finish my bathroom. I may need moral support. Also possibly technical advice. It's been half done for 10 months now, I'm sick of stepping over paint and rollers when I wake up.

 

[Callie]

*considers career move into bat surveying*

One uh uh uh

 

[Callie]

I'm a bit floored as our dear neighbour who lives on the end of our terrace wants to give my wife and me the large garden he has at the back of the terrace. We currently have access and my wife is a keen gardener and I've been clearing things out and doing fences as my bit since he lets us use it. We can't pay him anything as I'm out of work and my wife is covering things at the moment, but he said he doesn't care and wants it to go to someone who loves it like his departed wife did. A green oasis in Croydon

That's incredibly kind! My colleague who I dog sit for has a double garden. The back of her garden leads onto another, slight to the side but behind. Its nuts, she uses it to grow veg but it's a bit abandoned and foxes live in the greenhouse it must be worth a fortune though? No idea how that happens, if it's land from other gardens or was once communal or something??