Teaky's attic

[TheQ]

https://youtu.be/r5XX9LX2es4

[St Enodoc]

https://youtu.be/r5XX9LX2es4

Looks like Andy Y...

[teaky]

The great custard spill of 2018 (high tide mark).

 

 

For ages now it has been impossible to do any work in the loft without getting dust on hands, knees, clothes and shoes.  No matter how much I swept, vacuumed or even mopped, there always seemed to be a residue of dust and it just got worse after the plasterer had been.  Just one of those things I thought.  However, the other day I was searching for something in the garage and I hit upon a solution.  Some cans of emulsion paint well past being usable and fit only for landfill, add water and stir.  So for zero cost and just a few hours of painting the floor is less dusty now.  Even though it will all be covered up when I put some flooring down, it seemed worth it.

 

Edited August 11, 2022 by teaky
Re-adding photos.

[teaky]

Before spilling the custard painting the floor I gave the ceiling light panel a final coat of emulsion, fitted foam draught excluder tape to the eaves hatch door and I have also fitted sliding covers over the wall vents.

[teaky]

The handrails are now painted and fixed in place.  Those of a nervous disposition should now feel a little safer when using the stairs.

 

Edited August 11, 2022 by teaky
Re-adding photos.

[Stubby47]

Upstairs to light and salvation, downstairs to darkness and..... ( no trains)

[teaky]

More painting today!  Gloss this time though.  Staircase, door frame, balustrade capping & eaves hatch.  It doesn't take long to dry in this weather!  I thought it was fairly hot in the loft this afternoon even with the windows open, but then I opened the eaves hatch and was hit by a wave of heat from the uninsulated front gable/eaves area.  Blimey!

[Northroader]

My lofts just the same for the remaining roof space heating up. This weather I keep the velux windows wide open, and it makes a nice draught to keep the rest of the house cool,

[teaky]

My lofts just the same for the remaining roof space heating up. This weather I keep the velux windows wide open, and it makes a nice draught to keep the rest of the house cool,

I have been doing the same thing for the past week or two.  It does seem to help the rest of the house.

 

Come to think of it, for anyone reading this thread for ideas, I have windows on both front and back faces of the roof and it has meant that I have enjoyed a cooling flow of air regardless of the wind direction so I recommend this approach if possible.

[teaky]

BTW The other day I had all the roof windows open and two freshly painted handrails drying on the lawn and it still didn't rain.  Bang goes my idea for an alternative to a rain dance. 

 

The other thing that has worked for me in the past is to move house.  It always rains on moving day.  Somehow that didn't seem like the right option. 

[Stubby47]

We planned a bbq for this evening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It rained.

[teaky]

Phew!  Another milestone. 

 

I like the dust-minimising aspect of solid floors so I opted for laminate flooring.  (This should also keep the model-parts-eating carpet monster at bay!)  The down side of a hard floor is that it will be less forgiving if I drop something fragile.  If I get concerned about this I'll have to position a rug or two where the risk is greatest.

 

 

Next up will be a final long thin strip of laminate (it never fits a room exactly) along one wall then fitting skirting and trim.

 

Edited August 11, 2022 by teaky
Re-adding photos.

[TT-Pete]

Next up will be a final long thin strip of laminate (it never fits a room exactly) along one wall then fitting skirting and trim.

 

Nearly there!

[Mrkirtley800]

Those steps look as though they will be difficult for anyone with dodgy knees (don’t bother to ask me how I know). It never ceases to amaze me how I got like this, one minute I was folk dancing and playing badminton, next minute I hit the buffers, and steps of any kind are difficult and walking any distance is impossible.

Don’t be like me. I thought I could go on forever until my joints rebelled. Try and instal your layout and it’s access to suite you when you are ninety.

Derek

[teaky]

Those steps look as though they will be difficult for anyone with dodgy knees (don’t bother to ask me how I know). It never ceases to amaze me how I got like this, one minute I was folk dancing and playing badminton, next minute I hit the buffers, and steps of any kind are difficult and walking any distance is impossible.

Don’t be like me. I thought I could go on forever until my joints rebelled. Try and instal your layout and it’s access to suite you when you are ninety.

Derek

There appears to be an odd battle between what one sees and what one feels with these stairs.  They look steep but each step up is no different to a standard staircase in that you lift each foot the same distance and there is the same area to place your foot.  Where it wouldn't work is if you normally had to ascend stairs slowly and were in the habit of placing both feet on each step.

 

A great aunt of mine used to live in an Edwardian terraced house which had higher ceilings than is usual today but was not very wide.  I remember the stairs being very steep there as they were located about halfway back between the front and back rooms of the house but permitting front-to-back access on each floor, i.e. they were the width of the building less a yard at the bottom and a yard at the top.  This resulted in a staircase with a few more steps for the extra height and narrow going on each step.  It is a long time ago now but I'd say they were a lot harder to negotiate than these alternate tread ones.

 

I have found the handrails take a little getting used to though.  Descending they feel like they are in a natural position but ascending I find myself either reaching forward and upward quite a bit (my now preferred option) or grasping the handrails close to my shoulders.  Having the handrails in place though is reassuring and find myself holding the handrails lightly as I ascend or descend whereas on standard stairs I often don't touch the handrails.

 

I would happily install alternate tread stairs again but they are a solution to a specific problem and a standard staircase would be the preferred option wherever space permitted.  The Building Regulations think along similar lines and, in fact, you are not permitted to use these stairs to access an upper storey with more than one room (a bedroom plus en-suite is OK but two bedrooms is not).

[Mrkirtley800]

Yes, I take your point teaky, and you will probably be OK. My way of ascending stairs is left foot up, bring right on to the same step, and so on. Descending is worse, and more painful. Handrails are an essential.

Friends ask me why we don’t try and buy a bungalow, but if I stopped going up and down stairs, I think I would seize up altogether. My doctor tells me to keep on, stairs are a good excercise and after all, I have a model railway to support.

Derek

[teaky]

Well, there I was earlier today tapping the final piece of flooring into place and just standing back to see that it all looked OK, and someone had kindly arranged a low level fly past straight over our house of a vintage DC47 in RAF colours.  I am pleased with the floor but, nice as it was, that did seem a little OTT. 

 

Edit: It was a DC47 not a DC3 and part of the BBMF.

Edited July 8, 2018 by teaky

[chris p bacon]

, and someone had kindly arranged a low level fly past straight over our house of a vintage DC3 in RAF colours.  I am pleased with the floor but, nice as it was, that did seem a little OTT. 

 

 

A bit OT.

 

We have opened the garden for charity (NGS) for about 14 years, and about 10 years ago we had our usual Sunday afternoon opening. At the same time elsewhere in Sandy the British Legion had their summer day at a pub garden (the Queens Head) the chairman at the time had booked the BBMF for a fly past as they were passing overhead at approx 3pm on their way to an airshow.  With about 70 people in our garden No 1 son shouts that the Lancaster is heading for us, people start to wave (it's the law) and the Lanc tipped his wing and starts to circle the garden waving at the crowd below. In all he did 3 very low tight circuits before giving a wave and heading off in the direction of the Queens head. We heard him circle once then head South.

A few days later I bumped into the Chairman of the RBL who was a bit put out, as he'd heard that we'd got 3 circuits and they had just one. I explained that as the Lanc saw a large group in a garden he must have thought he'd got the RBL party, but on the 3rd circuit he realised we were a lot younger so headed off to look for grey hair and blue rinses. 

 

I had to cough up a donation to the RBL for that !

[teaky]

Self-adhesive anti-slip strips + paper template + a few minutes.

 

 

They seem to do the trick but I'll never know until someone slips and proves that they don't, so needless to say, I hope they aren't tested.  At least they have one immediate benefit in that they help highlight the edge of each step.

Edited August 11, 2022 by teaky
Re-adding photos.

[teaky]

I have just put a final coat of varnish on some pine trim around the landing edge.  Not the tidiest bit of carpentry but it'll do I think.  Using strong double-sided tape, the trim is attached to the floor only and not to the vertical sides (which I have trimmed with some cut down lengths of laminate).  This ought to allow the laminate to expand and contract and serves the same purpose as the gap around the room along the walls.

 

 

This fly past thing is catching on: Hawker Hurricane whilst I was varnishing.  Lovely!

 

Edited August 11, 2022 by teaky
Re-adding photos.

[teaky]

I have just renamed the topic slightly.  Now that it feels much more like a proper room "attic" seems more appropriate than "loft".  Trivial I know but there you go.

[teaky]

I made a trip to a local DIY shed this morning and purchased some skirting.  This is now unwrapped and warping acclimatising in the room, though I have brushed on some knotting in the numerous areas where it was needed.

[teaky]

I have also had to spend part of today dealing with a wasp nest.  They decided that our porch, which is open to the air but has a ceiling with a tiled, pitched roof above would make an ideal nesting site.  I'm usually quite tolerant of beasties of all kinds as long as they remain outside, but sadly for the wasps, nesting 40cm from the front door was a fatal error. 

 

I'll be out with the mastic tomorrow, I think.

[Northroader]

Best time is late at night after dark when they’re all tucked up in bed. They’re persistent little b******s, I did four goes with the mastic before they finally admitted defeat. They’d got round a plastic window frame into the wall space. Good luck with it.

[NHY 581]

Bonjour Teakers.

 

 

My apologies Old Boy. Struggling with the new Avatar. Looks too much like Trump.

 

 

Rob