What I Did This Weekend - In Pictures!

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Well, it worked OK on the first night, but only partially recharged on the second night.

Discussions with the owner resulted in thr disconnection of the dodgier of the two cut-outs, just relying on the single overheat sensor on the right.

Removing the wires to do this showed that the more suspect one on the left had actually disintegrated completely, being essentially held together by the wires it was supposed to be supporting, so it is probably safer like this anyway.

We'll see how it behaves now...
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Well, it worked OK on the first night, but only partially recharged on the second night.

Discussions with the owner resulted in the disconnection of the dodgier of the two cut-outs, just relying on the single overheat sensor on the right.

Removing the wires to do this showed that the more suspect one on the left had actually disintegrated completely, being essentially held together by the wires it was supposed to be supporting, so it is probably safer like this anyway.

We'll see how it behaves now..
What you need is some help from this guy …. :buddy:


.
Mmm, it failed to recharge at all last night, but a survey today revealed that the associated circuit breaker was open, maybe it was last night? - so, I've closed that and checked 'everything' - we'll see what happens tonight - a further failure will indicate 'death' I suspect...
 

Trumpet

Well-Known Forumite
Had a day in Cheltenham on Friday, evening meal at Turtle Bay. Came back on Saturday via Bourton on the Water, Burford, Stow on the Wold, Moreton in Marsh and Broadway.
Saw this in Bourton
20191207_094653.jpg

Still used for local deliveries we were told.
 

Glam

Mad Cat Woman
Had a day in Cheltenham on Friday, evening meal at Turtle Bay. Came back on Saturday via Bourton on the Water, Burford, Stow on the Wold, Moreton in Marsh and Broadway.
Saw this in Bourton
View attachment 7657
Still used for local deliveries we were told.
Memories of our postman, Mr Chell delivering in a Moggie Minor van in all weathers. Nosey git knew what was in the letter before the recipient sometimes, and if you got a postcard, he'd shown it the old bag at the farm across the way first as he stopped to find out all the village gossip.
 

proactive

Enjoying a drop of red.
Had a day in Cheltenham on Friday, evening meal at Turtle Bay. Came back on Saturday via Bourton on the Water, Burford, Stow on the Wold, Moreton in Marsh and Broadway.
Saw this in Bourton
View attachment 7657
Still used for local deliveries we were told.
Apart from the, excellent, Motor Museum in Bourton, the place does seem to be a little treasure trove of classics.
 

BobClay

Well-Known Forumite
Walked around the lake this morning under a clear blue sky and bright but well angled sunshine. Hell of a wind blowing though, not that unusual round these parts and I took this pix of a tree at the side of the path to show the effect of the wind blowing off the Atlantic over time.
If you're ever stuck for a direction pointer, observe one these fellahs, as they are inevitably pointing toward the east.

windtree.jpg
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Well, for once, I'm posting here at an actual weekend...

I took it into my head to make a better job of the shed roof for winter usage.

The roof is 'rectangular' steel cladding, supported by large wooden beams and with a reinforced polythene damp sheet immediately under the roof panels, but there was quite a condensation issue in the early days, possibly due to the internal rendering drying out, so a hardboard ceiling was fitted a few inches below it and that cured the problem. But, I was never really happy with it after the fire was installed, there was little insulation value and warm air could leak out upwards fairly easily - so I ordered some insulated plasterboard panels on Thursday. These will be taped when the fitting is complete, stopping any convection, the attached Inch and a half of insulation will reduce heat loss (and gain), but the plasterboard will be a real asset should there ever be a fire...

I've always suspected that the corrugations allow access for mice, and the amount of 'evidence' on the hardboard panels that I've removed would suggest that this could well be true. Sealing the ceiling properly will considerably reduce the attraction for lodgers - and I'll attend to the access tunnels via the corrugations at some point.

I was expecting the sheets to arrive on Monday, but they turned up around midday today, so I've fitted about a third of it so far - tomorrow looks another fairly reasonable day and so I might even finish the initial fitting, as I need to do some of the work outside, really..

I elected to refit the sheets between the roof beams for three reasons - the supports were already sorted, having the beams (half) exposed is actually quite handy and the full sheets are fairly heavy to install on your own.

Here, you can see old and new ceiling panels.

DSCN7730.JPG


New in the middle....
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Well, for once, I'm posting here at an actual weekend...

I took it into my head to make a better job of the shed roof for winter usage.

The roof is 'rectangular' steel cladding, supported by large wooden beams and with a reinforced polythene damp sheet immediately under the roof panels, but there was quite a condensation issue in the early days, possibly due to the internal rendering drying out, so a hardboard ceiling was fitted a few inches below it and that cured the problem. But, I was never really happy with it after the fire was installed, there was little insulation value and warm air could leak out upwards fairly easily - so I ordered some insulated plasterboard panels on Thursday. These will be taped when the fitting is complete, stopping any convection, the attached Inch and a half of insulation will reduce heat loss (and gain), but the plasterboard will be a real asset should there ever be a fire...

I've always suspected that the corrugations allow access for mice, and the amount of 'evidence' on the hardboard panels that I've removed would suggest that this could well be true. Sealing the ceiling properly will considerably reduce the attraction for lodgers - and I'll attend to the access tunnels via the corrugations at some point.

I was expecting the sheets to arrive on Monday, but they turned up around midday today, so I've fitted about a third of it so far - tomorrow looks another fairly reasonable day and so I might even finish the initial fitting, as I need to do some of the work outside, really..

I elected to refit the sheets between the roof beams for three reasons - the supports were already sorted, having the beams (half) exposed is actually quite handy and the full sheets are fairly heavy to install on your own.

Here, you can see old and new ceiling panels.

View attachment 7687

New in the middle....
Well, I've completed three of the six roof "channels", with substantial progress on two others - today had some disruptive showers and some fiddly fitting work.

Tomorrow should see the last two sheets cut up and fitted - it's looking very tight on material, I may need another sheet - we'll see.

The effect so far is quite noticeably beneficial - the three completed sections are at the fire and either side if it.

At times, it was a bit too warm...

The cordless circular saw has been very useful, though it will need a good clean when the end finally arrives..
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
The other three "channels" have all their full panels fitted now and it looks like I will have enough left to do the fiddly bits remaining where a suspended "mezzanine loft" hangs from the beams. This will take a bit of time, but I don't need to do any further work outside now.

I may make some sort of hatch arrangement in one of the channels, to check for lodgers in the future - although access down from the completed roof should be fairly unlikely, but I don't want them repurposing the foam for soft furnishings.

I've had a small fire running today and it's been very pleasant in there - even with the door open.

I may go and immerse myself to remove all the plaster dust now...
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
OK, so it's nearer next weekend, but the ceiling is essentially finished.

DSCN7732.JPG



I had a few bits left, so I've inserted a sloping 'deflector' above the fire, to double the insulation at the hottest point, and to promote a little more circulation. I'll tidy up the edges eventually.

DSCN7733.JPG



The joints will be taped at some point, but I managed to cut the final panels of each channel a tiny bit oversize, so that things are fairly tightly wedged - we'll see if humidity affects them much...


This is all that I have left from ten 2.4 X 1.2 metre panels - it was looking a bit close at one point...

DSCN7734.JPG
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
I've finally fitted the final stiffener between the greenhouses and the shed. The southerly gale last week was a good test, and was passed successfully,

It's at a bit of an angle, to miss the window aperture and allow for the opening pane - although, that is generally only cracked open now and then, to allow bees and butterflies to exit.

DSCN7736.JPG



And I've mounted the flue gas thermometer rather more 'professionally' than having it dangling on the end of the copper pipe 'spring'.

DSCN7735.JPG
 

BobClay

Well-Known Forumite
I'm sort of counting Christmas Day as the weekend here, but weather wise that's one of the best days of this season I think I've seen. Took a walk along a Stourbridge Canal under a cloud free light blue sky. The canal water was like a mirror, not a breath of wind, and only the odd ripple as a duck glided by. The reflection from the canal surface was almost disorientating it was so clear and precise. The camera just couldn't do it justice ….

StourbridgeCanal.jpg
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
OK, so I know I have a few vices, one of which is collecting 'useful' tools, but I've spent today dismantling, cleaning, lubricating and reassembling a few...

DSCN7737.JPG



The lovely little scraper nearest the camera is worthy of note - "Harrison Bros & Howson - cutlers to Her Majesty"

I believe that she has papered the whole of Buckingham Palace twice now.
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
That anvil is handy too for fixing things with a bloody big hammer. (Marine engineers worship them.)
And who knows what the nearest of the blue devices is?

I'll admit that that has not yet passed my "Buy it cheap, use it once and you've got your money back" standard, although I've had it for about ten years..

One day...


It is, theoretically, a very specific device, but adaptable for many related uses.
 
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