# Workshop, house, kitchen and horsebox projects.....



## Former Glory (4 Sep 2010)

Oh boy, through no fault of our own all of this will be going on at the same time.

Some while back I tried to put a link to a bit of film we took of the demolition of our workshop, but I didn't have enough posts to do links, so Hawk Moth kindly put the link up for me on his workshop build thread. He also asked if I would do a wip update. Well folks, for what it's worth, here beginneth....

Not much progress has been made on the construction front for the last six weeks thanks to builders messing us about, and our "show season" of public demonstrations. However we are now sorted - show season is almost over and we have a great local builder and his son - work begins a week on Monday, (hurrah). The delay shouldn't matter except we are full time restorers and *need* the workshop. Currently we are working in the office, kitchen, dining room, outside, ANYWHERE! I've given up on the housework, it's pointless.

Meanwhile we are also about to start a serious rebuild of our old mahogany bodied horsebox. It had death watch beetle in the luton and as a result has absorbed water and rotted out. Five years ago we let in some sections of new wood, but thanks to the wet winters of the past two years it's gone again so this time the repairs are more serious. Oh, and while we're at it, we need to remove and repair the glassfibre roof. Then we have to take the side ramp off and rebuild that because at a show some heavy "Herberts", (all nine of them) stood at the top of the ramp all at the same time and distorted the hinges!

Then there's the kitchen. Ceiling out, units out, replaster, refit.....There is a diary so far on our blog, I can't post any links yet.

We're going to need plenty of advice! Hope you'll help.


----------



## Orcamesh (5 Sep 2010)

Yep, we're waiting to see the results, so look forward to the inevitable progress...!  

When you say "show season", what is it that you are showing?

And by restoration I assume you mean you restore furniture, right?

cheers
Steve


----------



## mtr1 (5 Sep 2010)

I'm going to hazard a guess at showing teams of horses and carriages, the sort that come with highly polished tack and brass. Good luck by the way, sounds like you have a lot on your plate


----------



## Former Glory (6 Sep 2010)

Hi Steve, yes we restore antiques but specialise in seat weaving so do demos of the techniques at about 7 events a year.

Hi Mark, no - as much as we love horses we'd never let one inside the truck! Its used to take us and our stuff to the shows and then doubles as living accomodation once empty. We use it as an example of recycling antiques - the living area is built out of "butcher" wood from furniture that was uneconomic to repair and a salvaged sink, cooker and fridge. Took us 800 hours to create initially and needs more done each year. I've put a link to show you what it looks like, but I don't know whether I'm allowed yet so it may not work.

http://www.formerglory.co.uk/webdoc7.htm

I'm holding my breath as I type - my OH is just driving the truck to Poole for it's plating test - fingers crossed it passes please cos we're at a show on Saturday in Frome. Last year it was impounded until we called recovery - the brake lights decided to stop working [-o<


----------



## Orcamesh (6 Sep 2010)

Very nice indeed FG! I can see that the truck has had lots of attention! Good to see some restorers in here, I am not aware of any others but I am sure they are lurking in here somewhere! Do you only restore stuff or do you occasionally make stuff from scratch? Very interesting website too, thanks for sharing.

cheers
Steve


----------



## Former Glory (7 Sep 2010)

Hawk Moth":1mo83sns said:


> Very nice indeed FG! I can see that the truck has had lots of attention! Good to see some restorers in here, I am not aware of any others but I am sure they are lurking in here somewhere! Do you only restore stuff or do you occasionally make stuff from scratch? Very interesting website too, thanks for sharing.
> 
> cheers
> Steve



Thanks for the compliments about the truck/website - pleased you found it interesting. We mainly restore, but also make from scratch. Recently we've been using some of our coppiced hazel to make some rustic stools and I do a lot of woven sculptures/baskets. Last week we were asked to make a two tier "stepstool" for an ancient dog so that he can climb up onto his master's bed!

By the way, the truck failed it's plating yesterday, inefficient n/s back brake and handbrake. It's with the mechanic now and we're just hoping that it doesn't need another wheel cylinder cos I think we bought the last three in the country five years ago................grrr. Anybody got a stash of TK parts by any chance?


----------



## Former Glory (13 Sep 2010)

The mini digger has been delivered this morning, but as yet no one has arrived to drive it. I've posted up some photos of the demolition and site so far on Flickr here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/sets/72157624821408539/

and the film of the final bit of demo is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSazr4d1AYo

The foundation trench that we dug (by hand) has got to be filled in first so that the digger can access the back of the studio, then the new trenches can be dug out deeper. There is a massive pile of blocks, a concrete mixer, builders barrow and other bits sitting in wait - just need the builders now.

The horsebox finally passed its plating test on Thursday but caused us all sorts of problems coming home from Frome show on Saturday, we ran out of fuel so now have two more problems to sort out, the battery charging system and the fuel gauge. The full lowdown is on our blog.

And so it starts.......


----------



## cmwatt (13 Sep 2010)

Woah, watching that lintel come down (and the wall) was a bit scary! :shock: :shock: :shock: That wouldn't be me knocking down the support lol.

Looking forward to seeing more progress.


----------



## Former Glory (20 Sep 2010)

Stonking progress!! The blockwork is well under way





There will be a door into the garage/workshop fitted to the left of the photo here which will be a mirror image of the house front door. Therefore we need to buy two new 32" front doors. Anyone got any recommendations for suppliers of nice oak or similar exterior quality doors that won't warp? Something modern looking but not too "trendy", (the house was built in 1960 so is open plan/big windows). The house front door faces S so takes a battering from the weather, the new workshop door will face N, both will be under a new porch roof.

There are more workshop progress photos on our flickr photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/

in the set workshop rebuild


----------



## Former Glory (29 Sep 2010)

We've been lucky with the weather so far. The blockwork is finished and now the roof timbers are being fitted. The chippy had a few issues with the angles - the architect has "missed out" a window so the whole design of the original hip to hip roof had to be altered to a hip to gable with an inset for the window.




Roof from the front by formerglory, on Flickr

It's raining today, but the builders are currently demolishing the flat roof on the porch ready to continue the roof line across the front of the house.

We didn't realise it before, but it looks like we will have some extra storage space in the new workshop roof void, the centres of the ceiling beams are close enough together to board out easily and take a fair weight.


----------



## Former Glory (15 Oct 2010)

It's nearly finished. The walls and ceiling are being plasterboard lined today and then that will be it, (for the builders anyway). Then we start the cleaning, painting, electrics etc. It's going to give us a much better space to work in.




The new workspace by formerglory, on Flickr




Roof light by formerglory, on Flickr




Cut roof by formerglory, on Flickr


----------



## Former Glory (1 Nov 2010)

Haven't had a day off now for three months or more, _but_ we've started to move in to the new workspace. This photo was just after the plasterboard was sanded a couple of weeks ago. It's now all painted and I'll get some more photos later today after we have finished a chair we're working on. (just having a late lunch!).




Sanded plasterboard by formerglory, on Flickr

Anybody got any ideas of how we can put an inner draught proof lining to the up and over door? We want to leave it insitu just in case the next owners want to use the space as a garage, but still need to have insulation for getting enough heat for French polishing, (has to be about 20 degrees C). So far we thought maybe an inner frame with two inward opening insulated doors, or a roll down kind of curtain, anyone done this?


----------



## Mcluma (1 Nov 2010)

we have solved this problem with a inner frame and two innerdoors,
so you can open the inner doors and then open the garage door

perfect insulation


----------



## chippy1970 (1 Nov 2010)

Mcluma":1ip04xxi said:


> we have solved this problem with a inner frame and two innerdoors,
> so you can open the inner doors and then open the garage door
> 
> perfect insulation



surely you would lose a lot of space that way as you would need to fit the internal doors at least 4 to 5 feet into the garage so that the up and over door would still work.


----------



## Mcluma (2 Nov 2010)

chippy1970":3us256b0 said:


> Mcluma":3us256b0 said:
> 
> 
> > we have solved this problem with a inner frame and two innerdoors,
> ...



You would loos a maximum of 20cm

10cm frame and doors and then 10cm behind the door to clear the handles etc


----------



## Mcluma (2 Nov 2010)

or replace that useless door with one of these

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Roller-Garage-Doo ... 20b4bb72d5

or something similar

Even using these roller doors, i would still put a door in front of it

much better insulation!!!!


----------



## Former Glory (2 Nov 2010)

Mcluma":29mtcwtj said:


> or replace that useless door with one of these
> 
> http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Roller-Garage-Doo ... 20b4bb72d5
> 
> ...



Thanks for that McLuma - shame, the door is in Liverpool - bit far for us to travel from Dorset.

I think we will do as you did and build an inner frame with two inward opening doors. We've got some rigid insulation panels left over from the floor slab that should work well as a "buffer" between the garage door and the new internal doors.

We are moving in slowly, took this photo yesterday - the main storage cupboards and drawers are starting to go back but because of the brick dust kicked up, everything is having to be thoroughly cleaned before it can be put in place. It's proving to be a long haul.




Moving in by formerglory, on Flickr[/url]


----------



## Orcamesh (2 Nov 2010)

That's looking great FG! You must be well chuffed. The roof looks kinda familiar! :wink: Good idea to have the light holes in the upper floor to guide light down from the veluxes. Looking forward to seeing the final workshop...

cheers
Steve


----------



## Mcluma (2 Nov 2010)

That looks well nice \/ 

Is that still a concrete floor?


----------



## Former Glory (3 Nov 2010)

Cheers Steve! Yes, the light tunnels work really well...think I may have seen that idea elsewhere.....?! We're lucky because the roof faces SW so gets the best of the light all day and when I'm working on colour matching, overhead natural light is so much better and easier. We are really pleased with the outcome there.

I had this thought going through my head, so I'll ask if anyone else has done this. When we were painting the light shafts, we noticed that even though it was -1 or -3 outside, it was really warm in the shafts (T-shirt warm!). So I had this thought - what if we fitted a small solar panel and a computer fan at the top of the shaft to direct the warm air down into the shop when the sun's shining? Would it work, is it worth it? Would love to hear feedback.

McLuma, glad you like it, my jury's out as yet, it's just plain hard work at the moment, so can't really get the benefits......yet! The floor is still concrete, we've painted it for now but have got various carpet tiles and rugs to go down, but as with everything that was vaguely in the vicinity, deep cleaning is needed before we can even move them near the new space.

More cleaning work to do out there later today, after weve finished yet another rush chair seat....................


----------



## Former Glory (29 Nov 2010)

One of the coldest spells of weather in years, what a time to move into the new workshop.

Well here it is - still some work to do like putting hooks on the walls to hold chairs and other wip up off the floor, but for the most part we're done. It's working really well. Here's the view from the front. Order taking and packing area, then behind the bookshelf the "clean" work area for finishing and weaving, then beyond through the arch, the "dirty" repair and colour matching area.




New workshop by formerglory, on Flickr

The garage door is still intact, so if we ever do decide to retire, (ha ha) we can get the car in! Eventually we decided to build an inner removable frame that fits tight inside the garage door opening and lined it with Knauf insulation. Then we hung a heavy old bedspread across as a curtain which is sealed to the wall using velcro - works a treat. 

Looking back at the packing area.




Order packing by formerglory, on Flickr

The loft space is fantastic, it's now fully insulated and boarded and gives a load of storage space that's perfect for old veneers and bolts of rush - dry, airy, not too cold or hot.

Would we do it again..............yes.


----------

