We have a greenhouse that is in constant need of repair, we try and do a little every year.

Snow fall a few years ago collapsed a portion which we rebuilt, but there were other sections equally in need.

https://picasaweb.google.com/113038090087066024057/20110507GlassmountGreenhouseRepairMay2011

I had some new astral run and set to chopping out the rot and rebuilding the easiest section to get a feel for what was involved.

While the weather is good I’d better crack on.

This joist had rotted badly at a critical corner, so I had to make the section and fit it. I dont have the skill to make a perfect and strong wooden joint so I made up some steel plates to bolt it together.

I cleaned and recycled the glass.

This section is a bit more involved. The above the door is rotten and the one from there to the ridge is toast too.

Is it just clever camera angles or is everything always HUGE at mcmoonter towers?

tbh my only thought is holy crap your house and grounds are massive

I’m so glad that this is a mcmoonter thread and not a WorldClassAccident thread – we know it’s going to be a happy and successful ending as moonter is doing the work, if it was WCA then the possible consequences do not bear thinking about.

I’m so glad that this is a mcmoonter thread and not a WorldClassAccident thread

😯

Maintenance projects here are always big and always ongoing. We are teetering on the edge of survival. Permanently fixed ladders on the roofs are the giveaway.

I love that greenhouse. You should show everyone a picture of the whole thing.

adds greenhouse envy to sins committed against mcmoonter…

More greenhouse envy – McM has space for a fig in his.

Though perhaps it’s half inside and half out.

Love that House of Moont. Is there a crest?

Well spotted on the Fig front. There are also vines, Peaches and Nectarines. In it’s heyday the boiler in the basement heated the whole space and they grew more exotic fruits.

A crest? It would need a paint brush, a chainsaw, a hammer, a spanner and a bike. maybe Jamie could knock something up.

Here are a couple of pics in it’s heyday. The house was then owned by a branch of the Jardine family, of Jardine Mathieson banking fame.

Now that’s a greenhouse. Great to see a building like that being maintained with care and effort instead of money just being thrown at contractors to get the job done, always intrigued to hear what project is going on next

excellent stuff dude.

McM – I guess beaver-tail glass would be a step too far, even for you. It looks good though.

I’ve seen glass cut like that. It looks really good, but a straight cut is about my limit. The original glazing was straight cut too, so I’m happy to stick with it.

For the information of less garden-obsessive folk, it keeps rainfall run-off down the middle, away from the putty and wood framework.

I didn’t have a whole lot to refer to when I needed to make the replacement central beam that rests above the door, but I had a bash at it. A trained chippy would probably be able to knock it up in no time, but with a day of careful measuring I’m almost there. I need to bore a hole through one of the joints, threaded rod then pulls the joint together.

There are a couple of bits that make up the wall plate and the bevelled section above it to repel internal condensation and any stray drips on the outside.

I have to say Pete you are one of the reasons this country (devolved or not) is GREAT 🙂

TBH despite being an electronics engineer I love working with old tech & wood.

Cheers Mr O

I’m only remaking what the Victorian guys did, they had no power tools, no CAD, just a sound knowledge of engineering. You’d be amazed at some of the bits in the greenhouse.

The valleys are all obviously gutters, but they are only made from wood. No copper or lead guttering. The circular gutters around the dome are also made from wood. There is next to no rot in them after 140 years. They must have used some resinous old growth redwood for it to have survived this long.

Over the last few days I’ve learned a lot about the subtleties in it’s design and manufacture. Working with wood, a razor sharp chisel and a hammer is enormously rewarding. It will take me a while to sort it all out, but it will be a worthwhile journey.

Respect!

With maintaining McMoonter Mansions and Gardens how do you ever make time for cycling?

a worthwhile journey

TV material, surely? 🙂

how do you ever make time for cycling?

I have to leave the country Iain. Idaho beckons, I’m counting the sleeps.

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/MCandBoblogoHotSpringingaroundIdaho

This afternoon’s effort.

I managed to salvage a four inch section as a template, the remainder was pulp. This section is from the wall head on the north facing side, it’s the only part f the building that isn’t exposed to direct sunlight, it only gets an hour or so late in the evening in summer. That must have been a factor in the rotting.

Wow, more outbuilding envy here, top work.

That’s the last beam made, I’ll give them a few coats of paint before I start to reassemble everything.

There’s the small issue of a wobbly brick wall to dismantle and relay, I think it’s in hand.

Rate my brickie!

From his Facebook page.

The brickwork at the door was shoogley, so I’ve stripped it down to where it’s solid. I’ve cleaned up the bricks and Big Kev is going to build them back in. It’s worth conserving the original hand made bricks, they are all a subtly different colour and shape. The long lean to section must have thousands of them.

Big Kev came over this morning and restored the brickwork. It will need to set for a couple of days before I can start to put the beams back on top. I’m really starting to feel as though there is light at the end of the tunnel.

was the valley between the main roof and the hip still in good condition? often these are just wood and only about inch by inch in cross section (way too small; these buildings were not seen as permanent structures I think).
On the two roofs I’ve repaired with this detail I’ve axed the valley back flush then plated the sides to make a 2″ by inch valley which then got lined with lead.
With a Scarf Joint (so you’ve got face grain in the glue joint) you could have got away with a much more minimal steel plate; even 6 by 25mm galvanized strap would have done the turn!
Looks really great BTW!

The valleys we replaced three years ago, they had rotted badly at the bottom joint and one side had collapsed under the weight of snow that winter. Those were the worse effected valleys. part of the problem is falling leaves choking them, it’s really difficult to get up to them to get them cleared.

I agree the steel plate is a tad oversized but my joinery skilz are limited, I figured a big badass plate might be stronger.

Just catching up on this, Mc.

Inspiring as ever!

Those were the worse effected valleys. part of the problem is falling leaves choking them, it’s really difficult to get up to them to get them cleared.

would something like this help?

Leaf blower?

leaf blower and a length of plastic drainpipe 😉

Dunno if you are using porous paint Pete?

I was recommended it to stop window frames rotting.

part of the problem is falling leaves choking them, it’s really difficult to get up to them to get them cleared.

Sounds like a perfectly valid reason to invest in a cherry picker to me 😉

Seriously though, if I had a hoose like yours, with all those trees around, I’d have a cherry picker for sure.
I work on a lot of old roofs and so many of the problems are caused by, or exacerbated by, simple things like leaves lying in valleys and directing water where you don’t want it, loose slates going unnoticed, split flashings and the like.
I’d want the ability to check often, and deal with little things as they arise.

This being STW, naturally I’d recommend full training, certificates and safety wear and lanyards for all your tools 😉

Al, I’ve been using oil based undercoat to date. When we first repaired it in the 70s you could still buy lead white from Craig & Rose. It was certainly better paint, but no matter what you use you have to repainted it every three or four years.

Bedmaker, I came very close to buying a trailer mounted cherry picker at an ex council plant sale. The main trouble we have is access around the house, there are only a couple of places we could use it. For the most part we use ladders, very long ladders.

This afternoons job was to make a round section to repair two rotten sections of the ridge. I had to plane it out of a square block, it’s surprising how much planing was required, I was wishing I had a wood lathe. Still, its another thing I’d never tried before, quite chuffed my system worked.

The main trouble we have is access around the house, there are only a couple of places we could use it.

Have you thought about perhaps chopping down some trees?? 🙂

Thanks for your threads Peter, they’re a right eye-opener for a DIY phobic like myself.

Re Al’s comment about breathable paints: A monster Victorian greenhouse in Edinburgh where I spent about 3 weeks replacing rotten wood was then painted with green Butinox; paint is still looking good 16 years down the line. the problem with Butinox was that it was always rather matt and translucent (white particularly so)and customers were always asking me about putting a top coat on.
Sadolin Supadec is a newish paint that is breathable, waterbased, self priming, satin and opaque; I use it all the time now, just hope it lasts as well as the Butinox.

Thanks for that Chickenman, I will see if I can find it locally.

A really productive afternoon. Murr, the bird’s mooth master came over last night, with a tiny tweak we got everything lined up for fixing. I was really anxious I had screwed up somewhere. Murr has the sort of confidence and experience you’d value in a surgeon.

I anchored the wall plate, made up the tenon recess and bolted it together. I welded up some new brackets for the astragals, it’s a shallow pitch and will be really heavy when glazed. Feeling as if the end is in sight.