RMweb Gold Alister_G Posted April 4, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 4, 2014 Phew! Near miss there Gilbert, very glad you checked! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tetleys Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Gilbert, I am also relieved to learn of your escape but a word of caution to other members perhaps, stud walls which if I recall is what that wall is will not take too much weight hanging off them and also probably more relevant in modern times, Thermalite breeze (to use a common name but not accurate) blocks are notoriously weak at holding fixings but often used in modern buildings to achieve the required thermal 'U' values and they can be laid one handed. They are light grey in colour and look solid but are in fact like Aero chocolate full of bubbles, the older style but thermally less efficient true breeze blocks are a darker grey and heavier, they will take kitchen units, lavatory cisterns and more importantly book cases and model railways. There are no Thermalite blocks in our houses. Railway books are like locos, we just cannot resist 'just one more' especially a rare out of print one but we have to find a home for them. Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mallard60022 Posted April 5, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 5, 2014 Too true Dave. Most 'modern houses' (since' 98 at least and most probably much earlier) and possibly 'additional work' in older properties, often just have a wooden frame/plaster board 'dividing wall' (if it isn't weight bearing), with insulation. These are just hopeless for hanging anything more than a very lightweight picture or similar. They are also not very "sound proof", which is a problem if the bathroom/bog is next to (say) a bedroom, or two bedrooms are adjoining..... I won't explain why ....Gilbert's wall should be more substantial as it is the wall between his and next doors accommodation (I believe) so this is indeed a cautionary tale. Books are, of course, very heavy when we have so many Maybe worth reappraising the library mate. Get some lighter weight stuff up there such as golf trophies or your collection of old loco's no longer in service? Glad it was caught in time. Dave has illustrated the huge advantage of being able to build your own house stuff; bloo*y brilliant. P 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium great northern Posted April 5, 2014 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted April 5, 2014 Gilbert, I am also relieved to learn of your escape but a word of caution to other members perhaps, stud walls which if I recall is what that wall is will not take too much weight hanging off them and also probably more relevant in modern times, Thermalite breeze (to use a common name but not accurate) blocks are notoriously weak at holding fixings but often used in modern buildings to achieve the required thermal 'U' values and they can be laid one handed. They are light grey in colour and look solid but are in fact like Aero chocolate full of bubbles, the older style but thermally less efficient true breeze blocks are a darker grey and heavier, they will take kitchen units, lavatory cisterns and more importantly book cases and model railways. There are no Thermalite blocks in our houses. Railway books are like locos, we just cannot resist 'just one more' especially a rare out of print one but we have to find a home for them. Dave It is indeed a stud wall Dave, and we discovered two things about it the other day. The first was that the builders didn't bother with much in the way of support struts - my present joiner had to drill a succesion of holes to find one or two - and the joiner who put the shelves up didn't bother locating them at all! I'll post some photos tomorrow to show what has been done to fix the problem, but I shall also be relocating or getting rid of some of the contents to minimise the chance of further trouble. I was amazed how many railway books I have which I shall never want to refer to again. The other bookcases have been checked, and thankfully show no signs of trouble, but they mainly house my collection of novels, quite a lot of which are paperbacks, so less weight to bear. No doubt I shall read very few of them again either, particularly as many are out of reach! Final thought. Isn't it wonderful in this day and age to find a tradesman who really takes a pride in his work, and will respond to a problem in the way this chap did. He will of course get all my work from now on. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
All thumbs Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 It's all those heavy skies you've been putting on your photos... Leaden, even... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 I must send Gilbert some lighter skies to use. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mallard60022 Posted April 5, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 5, 2014 Gilbert, if you want to move on your paperbacks there is a set up in Ranskill called Book Aid. It is some sort of charity; don't know what it helps! Anyhow I'd be happy to collect and take if you wish. However, there must be loads of places in the Nottingham area that will take paperbacks. There seems to be a 'thing' going on these days at decent (usually Country) stations where folk leave books for others to collect read, return, pass on and so on. P Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
artizen Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Funny - in NZ where the ground shakes on a regular basis, you are required to screw all your trophy cabinets and bookcases to the wall if you ever want to claim insurance. The houses over there must be made of sterner stuff? As for the sky falling in - perhaps sunny skies so everything could go out in a blaze of glory? ( ) That's a particularly awful joke there Gilbert as I would never want anything bad to happen to this particular work of art. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
westerner Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Perhaps free standing bookcases rather than book shelves might be a more permanent answer. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theakerr Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Don't you have stud finders over there (no funny answers please)? FYI, It is a device that uses what i suspect is a cheap Eddy Current Probe. Over hear in the GWN pretty well all our houses are build using a wooden stud system and when installing a fitting you always find and attach to a stud. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium great northern Posted April 5, 2014 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted April 5, 2014 I must send Gilbert some lighter skies to use. Ah, it's all your fault then. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwordsmith Posted April 6, 2014 Share Posted April 6, 2014 Gilbert how are you planning to dispose of your unwanted railway books collection? I'm sure you must have some in there that would convert into new loco vouchers from your many admirers on here! Peter 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CUTLER2579 Posted April 6, 2014 Share Posted April 6, 2014 Ah, it's all your fault then. Gilbert , he has included to many Nimbus and Stratus Clouds and as their moisture level increases so too does their weight. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted April 6, 2014 Share Posted April 6, 2014 Ah, it's all your fault then. Hopefully by way of apology for including bits of unnecessary weight in images (bushes, trees, electricity pylons and blocks of flats etc) I've emailed some other diet-skies over. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted April 6, 2014 Share Posted April 6, 2014 Think yourself fortunate you don't need Welsh mountains against azure skies.......................Heavy man..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium great northern Posted April 6, 2014 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted April 6, 2014 Perhaps free standing bookcases rather than book shelves might be a more permanent answer. I'd love to do that, but there is the small difficulty of finding somewhere to put them, as there isn't much free wall space anywhere else in the house. There are one or two ideas floating around though, and I have already managed to relocate quite a bit. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium great northern Posted April 6, 2014 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted April 6, 2014 Hopefully by way of apology for including bits of unnecessary weight in images (bushes, trees, electricity pylons and blocks of flats etc) I've emailed some other diet-skies over. Thanks Andy. I haven't had much time to look at them yet, but they will be a big improvement on my efforts so far. I'll try some photos using them once I've sorted the book problem, and got everything back in the fiddle yard where it belongs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium great northern Posted April 6, 2014 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted April 6, 2014 Gilbert how are you planning to dispose of your unwanted railway books collection? I'm sure you must have some in there that would convert into new loco vouchers from your many admirers on here! Peter I think some will go Peter, if I can persuade myself to part with them. You know what its like - they might just come in useful some day. If I do decide to get rid of things they will go in Classifieds, and I'll put a notification on here when they do. Any GE fans out there? I've got some rather nice stuff about that area, and I'm sure I shall never be doing an East Anglian layout now. Well, nearly anyway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rail-Online Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 I think some will go Peter, if I can persuade myself to part with them. You know what its like - they might just come in useful some day. If I do decide to get rid of things they will go in Classifieds, and I'll put a notification on here when they do. Any GE fans out there? I've got some rather nice stuff about that area, and I'm sure I shall never be doing an East Anglian layout now. Well, nearly anyway. Second hand books sell for very little, in my opinion it is worth keeping them for the inspiration and 'just in case'. Old timetables/Appendices even more so. I had an original GWR 'Gentlemen' sign fall down off the wall and miss a built Brassmasters Jubilee by 6 inches (and it was a visiting loco!). Still kept the sign though! Is there any way you could put up 'safety chains' from the side/front/top of the bookcases up through the lightweight ceiling and secure them to the rafters in the loft? They just need to be wires that only come into play if the back fixings fail. Cheers Tony Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewartingram Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 If it wasn't for the time factor, I would say scan them into digitised copies on the PC. No storage space problems, unless you need an extra external HDD. Stewart Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium great northern Posted April 7, 2014 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted April 7, 2014 Second hand books sell for very little, in my opinion it is worth keeping them for the inspiration and 'just in case'. Old timetables/Appendices even more so. I had an original GWR 'Gentlemen' sign fall down off the wall and miss a built Brassmasters Jubilee by 6 inches (and it was a visiting loco!). Still kept the sign though! Is there any way you could put up 'safety chains' from the side/front/top of the bookcases up through the lightweight ceiling and secure them to the rafters in the loft? They just need to be wires that only come into play if the back fixings fail. Cheers Tony The ceiling is lightweight Tony, as it is a false one put in when the building was converted from its original use. Above it however is a five inch thick concete raft, which forms the loft floor. When the builders left, I found that they had put insulating material on top of the concrete. I pointed out that I then could not use the loft at all, and that it would do precious little good up there anyway. Has to be there, they said, regulations. In the end they reluctantly agreed to put the stuff on top of the false ceiling, which is therefore not a nice place to visit, so your suggestion, for which many thanks, is sadly not achievable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mallard60022 Posted April 7, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 7, 2014 Maybe a Club like the Bingham one or those very nice chaps from the 'Notinum' club might like your books with a proviso that you can borrow them anytime? P 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted April 7, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 7, 2014 Don't you have stud finders over there (no funny answers please)? FYI, It is a device that uses what i suspect is a cheap Eddy Current Probe. Over hear in the GWN pretty well all our houses are build using a wooden stud system and when installing a fitting you always find and attach to a stud. We do have them 'over here', in fact I've got one and it's a smashing little device - which is not quite so much use if you have foil backed plaster board, ask me how I know that (Actually when I installed my library shelves I asked the carpenters where the studding was and at what centres they had set it and after finding one I measured off that with a pretty good success rate - only pretty good because they had one about an inch or so out of line). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwordsmith Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 My first ever job was learning to be a surveyor, and my mentor taught me a very valuable life lesson "Never trust a plan or any measurement you haven't confirmed yourself." 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theakerr Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 "Foil backed plaster board". Thats a new one on me. I can see why it would make a stud finder useless. Presume it is there as a vapour barrier. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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