Problems in old bathroom

[JoceAndChris]

Oh, thank you so much for all the ideas, both silly and sensible.
It is so nice to be able to share these things on here.

I'll talk through all the possibilities from this thread with Chris, who is currently saying he wants to chip off all the unbreathing stuff himself with hammer and cold chisel ( but we'll see if he actually does)

We must see what we can do with that stone sill, the bead of sealant sounds like a good plan.

Worms - the doors face East, the little toilet window faces North-East. Most of the weather comes from the South West so this render isn't as bad as the dining room render was. I'm confident that we can get this whole porch area much dryer than it currently is.

 

[worms]

Worms - the doors face East, the little toilet window faces North-East. Most of the weather comes from the South West so this render isn't as bad as the dining room render was. I'm confident that we can get this whole porch area much dryer than it currently is.

I'm sure you can get it drier, but my point was more that the damp inside might relate to the junction between the porch and the house, where there appears to be some sort of a downpipe (or is it the toilet vent pipe?). But in fact if you are saying that the corner where the house/porch join is, faces between north and north east, then it won't be getting much sun or wind to help dry it all out, so would naturally be one of these damp corners.

 

[Penners]

I would go with one of these. Just a little bit smarter..

Aaaaagh! Don't get me started on the Louvre Pyramid! It's an absolute abomination, plonked in the magnificent courtyard of a glorious classical building.

The word "inappropriate" doesn't begin to describe it. :evil:

 

[Flyfisher]

I've often thought it a great shame that swiss-style chalet roofs didn't catch on in the UK. A large overhanging roof provides a great deal of weather protection for walls, even if gutters become blocked or broken, not to mention keeping the ground around the house nice and dry.

Thatched roofs often overhang a great deal, thus also providing good weather protection to walls, so I wonder why the overhang was largely eliminated when tiled roofs replaced them? What was the design process that led architects to think that collecting all the water falling on the footprint of a building and then discharging it all into guttering just inches from the walls was a good idea?

After all, everyone knows that the best waterproof hats have a wide brim.

 

[Penners]

Couldn't agree more, FF. Here's a photo of my son's house, in France near the Swiss border. Altitude 800m. There's no risk of snow in winter - just an absolute certainty.

 

[worms]

Couldn't agree more, FF.

And I couldn't agree even morer!? Why have we never adopted an architectural style that allow for somewhere to air-dry laundry on a wet day, store logs, leave the bike, keep the car out the frost/snow etc etc? Its just so obvious!

 

[Penners]

Penners Towers boasts what we call the lobby. It's actually the space (about 3m wide) between the garage and the house which has been walled/doored in at each end, roofed over with translucent polycarbonate and floored with tiles. It's invaluable as place to change out of muddy wellies, dry a wet dog, hang overcoats and umbrellas... and so on. Most important of all, it means I can get out to my garage/workshop in the dry. Decadent luxury!

Architecturally I would describe it as "utilitarian"!

 

[JoceAndChris]

Your lobby does sound perfect for these November days Mr P.

Anyway we've chipped a plate sized hole in the cement render, on the other side of the damp patch. Tomorrrow we'll take off a load more (slow going , as the render is 2 inch thick concrete) Underneath the render is the original Ancaster stone, which is feeling and looking dry, so we'll aslo cut the plaster off 5cm from the floor as suggested all the way round the bathroom and just see what happens to that damp patch between now and June.

And we'll splice in some new wood on the window frame where it's rotted.

Many thanks for the help in this thread. xx

(and for those interested in decorative schemes, it's now decided. Feltwell's tiny sink, and one of those electric water heaters, and then this paper: http://www.farrow-ball.com/bumble-bee-bp-571/bumblebee//fcp-product/200571 and a double glazed bronze casement with diamond leading, and these tiles: http://www.marlboroughtiles.com/products/detail.php?p=1&c=2&r=8&n=66&s=12 and yellow and white striped silk curtains with Maltese crossed swags, abd honey soaps made by own bees, and a proddy mat made by me. Oh, and silhouettes of my pet bees' profiles on the wall)

 

[Penners]

silhouettes of my pet bees' profiles on the wall

Good luck in getting them to pose for your silhouette photos. And once you've got the angle of the head right, don't forget to use a reflector to bounce a little light under the chin. It's very flattering.

I'm glad you've settled your plans for the room, Joce. They sound very sensible. And it'll look the bee's knees when you've finished it.

PS: What's a proddy mat?

 

[JoceAndChris]

Thank you for the photographic advice. :lol:

A proddy is a peg rug or rag rug. They sound perfect for requirements - cheap - simple to make, and can go in the washing machine.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

I love that bumble bee paper, I used it in a house that I did for a client . Do you have have a mi nimum order still with F& B?

 

[JoceAndChris]

Mmm, yes, 3. I have an awful lot of spare FnB wallpaper, and there would be 2 spare from this job - I'm torn between hanging onto it in case of damp damage or rewiring/plumbing, or selling on Ebay.

 

[Feltwell]

Someone sent me this today and I thought of Joce's bathroom thread - a Polish (guessing by the bottles) answer to your hot water problem.

http://www.thepoke.co.uk/2011/12/13/how-to-install-a-hot-water-tap/

 

[JoceAndChris]

:lol: :lol: :lol:
But it doesn't look very chateau-y so I'm ever so sorry, Feltwell, but I think we'll go for your earlier and excellent suggestion of the tiny electric thing. This is at the top of the jobs list for next year.

 

[LadyArowana]

The auctioneers say this is French, so maybe a tad more chateau-y :lol:
http://www.criterionauctioneers.com...9bG93ZXImYXNjZGVzYz1kZXNjJmluZGV4bG93ZXI9MTYw

 

[Feltwell]

This is even less "chateau-y" - I do hope the seller is not serious.....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-G...408?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3cc0715850

 

[JoceAndChris]

:lol:

Like the copper one, though I only have around 15 cm of space in which to create the illusion of a hand washing facility fit for a princess.