3C, grey, easterly.
We have a new lodger. I have put in new door locks.
Winter is coming back for a reprise to annoy us. Wood is cut and scuttle filled.
Today- much mending. I planed two interior doors: this is the path to a unique pleasure from opening and closing doors. What else? Fitted a lockable catch in the study door- with was not the most competent job I have done. There is more, but I won’t bore you further.
3.5°C, SE strong. Dry.
… How annoying DIY can be?
Yesterday, I spent 4 hours installing replacement cable for the phone extension. The signal has so much interference that voices are difficult to follow. Now the new cable is in, the phone is no better. Next try– change the BT terminal socket; last possible cause, this socket is obviously quite old and turning yellow.
The next; to fit a curtain rail. Normally an easy enough job, unless the drill hits the edge of a brick. But at least you know immediately that there’s a problem and you can re-drill.
Cavity walls are quite a different prospect. There are a range of fixings to solve them. It turns out that many of them don’t work easily. See the photo above.. Both plugs failed so that they could not be un-screwed nor slid out. Each one collapsed inside the wall in a different way. I had to pull which which sprung a big scab of plaster. What a mess, it looks like a read bodge job now.
For the second time, I am waiting for poly-filler to dry. If this were my house, I would fit a thin plank and fit the rail to that. Oh well…
8°C, thick fog.
Leave the ride till later.
Decorating– in just a few hours I got the ceiling and walls painted. The ceiling is apricot-white silk emulsion and the walls, flat chalky Matt blue. I worked between 14.00 – 18.30 though failing light prevented proper checks. The only unfinished area is the top of the walls where it overlaps the undercut ceiling paint. The Matt paint skidded unevenly over the silk. Perhaps later…
12°C, Westerly
Investigating a damp patch in the attic. Started with taking up the floorboards in the top room to have a look. There is a dark patch around the point that the pipes come out of the floor to the radiator. That was my first suspect.
However, confusion remains. There are four pipes that end there too. Just open pipes with an elbow bend that is not connected to anything. So, switch on the heating to see whether any water comes out. None.
The boards behind are damp to the touch behind, right into the eaves. There is a roof window just above and my second suspicion lies there. I don’t have any expertise with roof windows but it doesn’t look as if the lead flashing is right. Rain water could, I suspect, run along its lower gutter and under a roof-tile each side. It should run onto a tile then downwards off the roof.
Let’s get an expert.
Micycle 