plasticpigeon
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This is what I have been up to for the last couple of weekends. I will hopefully finish it tomorrow, then on to restoring the wood work.
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(looks fiddly!)plasticpigeon
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Lots of digging to make proper foundations and fiddly corners. Can you see the small error in the footings on the right hand side where I strayed off when doing the corner? It will be under earth so I can't see any point straightening it out.
I am risking holding up the middle of the bay on that 3 x 3 with a couple of pieces of slate wedged under for good measure. No funny noises yet!
I am risking holding up the middle of the bay on that 3 x 3 with a couple of pieces of slate wedged under for good measure. No funny noises yet!
Zebra
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Wow. Good work. Are you reusing the original bricks or new? What mortar are you using?
Zebra
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Give us a "before" picture pp?
jocelyn plummer
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Brilliant brickwork, well done!
plasticpigeon
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Here is the evolution of the bay. When I bought the house the ground levels were very high and the bricks painted black. The wall leaned alarmingly as there were holly tree roots under it.
The second pic shows the wall after I had some morons rebuild it. It doesn't look too bad, but it was a real mess with a mix of stock and facing bricks, mortar everywhere and nothing was straight at all. Also the attempt at underpinning was a joke, and the tree roots remained. The last one is my attempt, still a course to go and it needs cleaning and pointing. I hope it will be an improvement. The bricks are a mix of reclaims and originals, which are an awkward 80 - 81m or 3 3/16" facing bricks. The mortar I used was NHl5 and sharp sand for the footings as I had some NHL 5 to use up. The rest was 1:1:6 NHL 3.5, hydrated lime, and sand, the sand being plastering sand with some red and yellow building sand for colour.
The second pic shows the wall after I had some morons rebuild it. It doesn't look too bad, but it was a real mess with a mix of stock and facing bricks, mortar everywhere and nothing was straight at all. Also the attempt at underpinning was a joke, and the tree roots remained. The last one is my attempt, still a course to go and it needs cleaning and pointing. I hope it will be an improvement. The bricks are a mix of reclaims and originals, which are an awkward 80 - 81m or 3 3/16" facing bricks. The mortar I used was NHl5 and sharp sand for the footings as I had some NHL 5 to use up. The rest was 1:1:6 NHL 3.5, hydrated lime, and sand, the sand being plastering sand with some red and yellow building sand for colour.
stuart45
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Looks like a neat bit of bricklaying. Well done.
Roger H
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Looks good. Are you going to get some insulation batts in before you close the bay off?
plasticpigeon
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I've pretty much done the bricks, I look forward to doing the window next week
jocelyn plummer
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Looking good now!
plasticpigeon
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Hello all. I've now put the sills on and it's beginning to look more like a house again.
Zebra
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Hurrrah!
jocelyn plummer
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That's brilliant, looks very good!
Feltwell
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Looking good PP. Are those new stone cills in the end? What did you go for, cast or real?
I'm having my own epic bay window battles at the moment, which I shall share in the fullness of time. What started out as a medium-sized job anyway has just developed into a proper stinker of a job, due to the whole thing being massively out-of-square - every decision is a compromise and everything has to be made to fit..........
I'm having my own epic bay window battles at the moment, which I shall share in the fullness of time. What started out as a medium-sized job anyway has just developed into a proper stinker of a job, due to the whole thing being massively out-of-square - every decision is a compromise and everything has to be made to fit..........
plasticpigeon
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Yes cast stone sills. They are ok. They looked good when they arrived, but is not easy to fettle them as the outer finish is very different to what is inside. The side pieces were a bit too deep and I chiseled the face off the most visible side to make it line up, but now it looks a bit like terrazzo, so i think proper stone is better, however they were £400, about half to 1/3 the price of real stone.
Exactly the same prob here with everything being out of square. I originally tried a compromise with sloping sills, but it looked terrible, so did them again perfectly level, and let the woodwork appear more out. I think it looks better that way.
Exactly the same prob here with everything being out of square. I originally tried a compromise with sloping sills, but it looked terrible, so did them again perfectly level, and let the woodwork appear more out. I think it looks better that way.
Feltwell
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Bet they were damn heavy!
My "out of square" problem is compounded massively by it being a sash window - sliding sashes don't take kindly to being in an out of square frame, even more so when it's wider at the bottom than the top as well, and whilst the uprights lean to the left the horizontals lean to the right! It's right pig to make it workable and look right. An element of compromise is required if I want to retain the original sashes - the other option would be to get new out-of-square sashes made to fit the wonky frame.
My "out of square" problem is compounded massively by it being a sash window - sliding sashes don't take kindly to being in an out of square frame, even more so when it's wider at the bottom than the top as well, and whilst the uprights lean to the left the horizontals lean to the right! It's right pig to make it workable and look right. An element of compromise is required if I want to retain the original sashes - the other option would be to get new out-of-square sashes made to fit the wonky frame.
LadyArowana
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Excellent progress, well done, you must be so pleased. Good luck Feltwell too, yours sounds like one of those epic things that as grown like topsy.
plasticpigeon
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Well I'm nearly done with the bay, just another coat of white on the beading. After many mistakes, I will just about get it done for winter and the bad weather thank goodness. I hope people think the green suits, i believe this is how is looked when it was made judging by old photographs.
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JoceAndChris
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That looks excellent - how very smart! Your green is identical to the 19thC green found here and in our London place - Very suitable and of the period!