nice mornings work.

[plasticpigeon]

Hello fellow restoration martyrs. I just wanted to share my recent efforts. I have eventually managed to get the sash window back in the back of my house. The sashes are original and repaired, but the box frame is all new apart from the head and arch filler. I've been painting it in pieces for the last 2 weeks and I think it was still a little too wet to be put together really but it is so nice to have a window rather than the boards up like I have had for the last 6 months. I hope Ivor approves of the original rolled glass in the bottom sash, which is very very wobbly. It even has bits of dirt in it. The upper sash has agricultural glass that looks like float glass from close up, but still has a few shakes from a distance, and doesn't break the bank!!! Even though it is a humble little house, I think it has potential to be charming, I'm almost motivated again now! Shame the builders left the arch and roof verge in such a state.

 

[MatthewC]

It's taken you six months? I've got to do four identical to that, plus one larger and two smaller. Now I'm feeling really depressed.

 

[stuart45]

Looking good. Can't really see the arch and verge clearly enough to say how bad they are.

 

[plasticpigeon]

You'll be glad to know that it wasn't 6 months for the window alone. I would say a week of evenings to make it, and another 2 weeks to paint, although that wasn't really long enough as I only left it 3 days from the last layer before I put it together. The rest of the time was doing lots of brickwork, and I didn't want to put the sashes in before the building was done, so I had the hole covered by a board for many months.

 

[Alex]

Plasticpigeon wrote

Even though it is a humble little house, I think it has potential to be charming

I think what you are doing is great, you should be proud of yourself, the house is charming with the proper windows in it. Terraced houses are an important part of our social history. Just out of interest, how many other houses in your surrounding streets have their original sash windows ? Keep up the good work.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Green with envy, our row of terraced houses, same date as yours and including our house, are all ruined by placcys at the back, and some in the front as well. Fortunately our front windows are still the original wooden sashes.
Great work you have done there!

 

[plasticpigeon]

Thanks for the kind words.

Alex there are 100 houses on my road, I think mine is the only one with all original windows at the back although there are one or two with sashes in the back upstairs room. I counted 3 out of 100 that had sashes on the front of the house, and around 5 with original bay windows. Not many, and to be honest those with the original features are pretty run down (like mine) so they will probably be changed when they get sold. On all but two windows in my place the sills are rotten, but I think it is worth the effort restoring them.

Jocelyn, it's nice to know that I'm not the only person making an effort with a relatively small house. Is yours a work in process too or are you doing the sensible thing and actually living in it?!

 

[plasticpigeon]

Hang on Jocelyn, I think I remember seeing your garden on here, it looked very wide, it must be a big terrace you live in!!!

 

[88v8]

Yes, Ivor does like it, and the colour. Excellent.
Must be all the more satisfying that it's your own work.

If you ever sell, try and get it listed first, then there's a chance that at least one house in your street will be preserved in a proper condition.

Ivor

 

[jocelyn plummer]

We are actually living in it, downsize and 'putting up' with the horrors from previous owners, although inside not bad at all, just redecorating in slow time within budget. ( what budget?)!! There are about 16 houses in the terrace, with gardens around 130 ft long x 40 ft wide. one or two have got even longer gardens. Just a victorian street of small villas cobbled together by local builders from about 1880-1910. Ours was 3 now 2 making it double fronted, hence the wider garden.

 

[Feltwell]

Very nice, and you've inadvertently done me a favour. I wanted to paint our sashes with a Holkhams spruce green frame and buttermilk (cream!) sashes - but Mrs F wanted the whole thing in buttermilk and thought that 2 different colours would look odd. Your picture has now persuaded her otherwise. The more I see windows now where the sashes are a different colour to the frame, the more I like it - one colour just doesn't look right.

Although I like Holkham's linseed paint a lot, I have found that it just gets ingrained dirt too easily on horzontal surfaces to use pale colours. Certainly on my driveway gates - which are under trees - after 12 months I've decided I'm going to have to repaint them in a darker colour -
(the green that others preferred! http://periodproperty.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10984&p=168100&hilit=gates+wooden#p168100) - as the buttermilk colour has got too stained and will not clean up properly, even with Holkham's own linseed soap. Hence sash cills in the same pale colour doesn't seem like a good idea.

Anyway, this has been my morning's work - well, 3 days worth in fact. Now back on the road, after 5 years of inactivity due to my always having something more important to do!

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Enjoy!! Agreat friend of mine has just done the opposite to you, sold his husbusa and bought a property to renovate!!!!!!!

 

[Feltwell]

Enjoy!! Agreat friend of mine has just done the opposite to you, sold his husbusa and bought a property to renovate!!!!!!!

Hayabusa! :lol:

Better than a friend of mine. He bought a house with his girlfriend and sold his motorbike to buy........ curtains! :shock:

Of course his loyal and trusted friends did not take the mickey out of him at all when he confessed to this..........

Actually Jocelyn, if the bike had to go in order to do essential works on the house (the definition of which does not include curtains!) then it would. It's not worth much though, it's over 20 years old and I've had it for nearly all of that time. I have however got another bike which, if I don't use it within the next year, will be sold. 3 young kids + full time job + old house = very little spare time.

 

[philpjuk100]

Nice bit of "fred drift" just tidied the garage and removed a pile of scaffold boards and found a bike which has been hidden for a couple of years,now do I finish the windows whilst the weather is good or spend a couple of days getting the bike through its MOT,or do I wait until november when it will no longer need one? Its a "no brainer" I will get the scaffold up tomorrow (maybe)!

 

[Feltwell]

No contest. Nimbus?? Am I right in saying that's a Danish or Swedish make? Certainly not British. That back cylinder must get rather warm.

I should clarify my curtains comment - nothing wrong with buying curtains, or spending a great deal of time & effort on them. In this case the individual concerned confessed that his girlfriend had *made* him sell his bike in order to buy very expensive curtains. At least that was his excuse!! Love was clearly blind, as the curtains were horrible and they split up 6 months later.

 

[LadyArowana]

the curtains were horrible and they split up 6 months later.

He should have gone to small claims, curtains are definately not fit for purpose if they only last 6 months.

 

[philpjuk100]

On purchase of a previous property I had to sell my Ossa trials bike to buy curtain rails which had been "stolen" by the seller (they were there when we viewed the place) but this gave me sundays free to work on the house!

 

[philpjuk100]

No contest. Nimbus?? Am I right in saying that's a Danish or Swedish make? Certainly not British. That back cylinder must get rather warm.
.

Yup Nimbus made in Copenhagen by Nilsen and Fisker who still make Nilfisk vacuum cleaners (like a Henry on steroids!) no problem with cooling as it is really oil cooled and the engines go on forever (two have just returned from a round the word trip) This model was made from 34 until 59 but never exported.750cc ohc,used by the danish police,army,post office etc.

 

[plasticpigeon]

What a lovely old bike. I'm getting a bit concerned that rich or poor, young or old, people on PPUK are all rather similar beyond the obvious house/old buildings obsession. I used to have one of these, not old but rare and interesting. I chose not to ride motorcycles any more as I felt I got away rather lightly just suffering a broken wrist and a broken collar bone in around 10 years of riding. I now drive a Saab 93 and I bet I'm not the only one to drive a Saab on this forum. I used to own an old BMW I wonder how many of those have been owned by PPUKers. What other interests do people on here have in common. Are there any jazz fans/players out there???

 

[88v8]

Never had a SAAB, but mmm, I used to ride motorbikes, had a couple of Hondas (one with a sidecar made of a pram chassis, some dexion and the cedar lining from an old wardrobe, it smelt better than it steered), a Greeves Scottish, and a Sunbeam S3 (oops, mean an S8). Mind you, this was a while ago, I gave up a year after the crash helmet regs came in as I never felt safe in one... interferes with peripheral vision, can't hear... anyway never hurt myself except my pride skating along the road on my behind a couple of times.

Jazz, yes, my father won the Melody Maker solo plectrum guitar prize in the late 40s, alas I only listen. Not the squeaky gate variety that Radio 3 seems to favour when they have live groups, but JRR is often worthwhile.

Went to see these chaps last week, when they launched their new album in a local brewery.
http://www.swingfromparis.com/music/
The music was good too.

Ivor