My latest carpentry projects around Southampton
A 2.4mt x 1.7mt raised bed that fills an otherwise unused patch in the garden. The customer hopes to grow squash and courgettes around the edges so that they can overhang and leaks and onions in the middle. Should work out well as it is in a sunny position. The decking around the top enables you to sit whilst you work and place tools and pots on.
Raised garden bed
This bay required extensive refurbishment. Cutting out of most of the bottom 20% , new windows, removal and repair of all the leaded glass before re-fitting.
and the introduction of secondary glazing into the leaded windows – the lead came had perished. New cills.
Was it worth it? well an 8 light timber bay made to measure worked out at over £12.000 this project came to under £7.000
This was a challenging project. The leaded windows had extensive rot to the bottom rail and both the left and right hand stiles. New windows were made.
Because of the long term exposure to high moisture laden timber frames the lead cames around the edge of the glass had deteriorated and fell apart when they were removed. New edge came had to be soldered and each piece of glass recemented as these were leaking.
On top of that the bottom 20% of the actual frames and all the cills were very rotten.
I did at one point question if I had taken on too much! 10 days later I stood back and felt pleased with the outcome. All in all this still worked out cheaper than replacement.
So this character property in Bitterne – Southampton built in 1912 managed to keep its original windows.
Made from a combination of MDF and joinery grade softwood the customer also required a chest of drawers to be housed inside the wardrobe. The drawers could only be 550mm from the front to the back. However each drawer is 250mm deep so you can get lots of clothes into them. The customer complained that the chest of drawers you see in furniture outlets do not have deep enough drawers. I agree. The drawers stop short on the right hand side to allow longer garments to be hung whilst every day garments hang above the drawers. A useful separate cupboard above makes this an efficient use of space with plenty of storage potential.
This Fire Wood store and storage area made use of a redundant corner in a back garden. Constructed from Tanalised softwood for extra durability with Cedar wood
tingles for the roof it should last a few years to say the least, I also used stainless steel fastenings to give the whole piece a’ belt and braces’ specification. I think that the Cedar wood tingles although initially not cheap really finish off the piece nicely. Much better than an ash felt roof and longer lasting as well, Cedar wood tingles should last around 25years. Ash felt between 5 and 10 years depending on the grade used.
So in the long run Cedar wood tingles actually work out cheaper.
Tanalised timber is a pressure treatment that preserves wood from fungal attack and wood boring insects. When first treated it adds a green tinge to the surface of the wood, the treatment uses copper and other chemicals to a depth of about 3mm. After a period of time and exposed to weather the green tinge gives way to a honey brown and finally a silver grey appearance.
Cedar wood is usually left as is, as it is a highly durable timber with natural resistance to insect attack and superb weathering characteristics.
Fire wood store area from Tanalised softwood
Cedar wood tingles for the roof
Fire Wood store and storage in Southampton
An inevitable problem when removing leaded glass from a rotten window is that the solder can break at the joints and/or the edge came breaks away. Generally the longer the glass has been in place the more likely this will be the case. Repairing and in some cases replacing sections is a time consuming job.
Once the glass is out repairs can commence.
Edge came that has broken
Step1. is to remove all the old putty from the lead with the glass laid flat on a board which has two pieces of wood screwed down. One so that the base or top of the glass can be laid tight against it and the other piece of wood along one of the edges.
Breaks in solder joints
Step 2.is to inspect each joint and to arrow these so that I know which joints need to be re-soldered
Wire brush the solder joint and the adjacent lead
Step 3.is to wire brush the solder joint and the adjacent lead clean of all dirt so that the lead is shiny this allows the solder to fuse with the lead.
Step 4. If required I need to hold tight the glass against the screwed down wood by either tapping in some hoarse shoe nails or by screwing down further battens. This is so that the whole piece remains static during soldering.
Soldering now commences.
Step 5. Soldering now commences.
Edges now need to be inspected and re-puttied
Step 6. All the joints along the edges now need to be inspected and re-puttied using a special putty cement and chalk dust.
Brushing and darkening the new solder with grate polish
Step7. Involves brushing in the putty and darkening the new solder with grate polish.
The whole process then needs to be repeated on the other side of the unit.
With replacement of lead came along the edges the above takes place once the old lead has been removed and the joints prepared to accept the new came.
There are numerous sizes of came so I have to measure carefully the width and profile, profiles are usually rounded or flat to match the original.
Door made of recycled pallets
A project undertaken by Suzanne Carr. This will one day be the norm , upcycling materials; in this case pallets into sliding wardrobe doors. Unique and stylish I think this is a brilliant use of reclaimed wood I helped Suzanne with some of the technical issues that arose but apart from doing some machining of the pallet wood the doors were manufactured and installed by Suzanne.
“I am really pleased that I became involved in this project and would be very happy to advise you if you are considering something similar.
‘Having had quite difficult experiences with rented accommodation over the years, I have always felt very appreciative to now be living in ‘my’ house, owned by a housing association…
… I approached different skilled trades; carpenters and blacksmiths, to see if my idea was possible – I had found an image of a door online I really liked and used it as inspiration, made from horizontal wooden planks sat in a rectangular steel frame.
… I phoned round some carpenters to see if there was anything that could be done and was lucky enough to come across Ian Stone.
He had such confidence in my project and such a passion for sustainability and using reclaimed materials, it gave me renewed determination! He also really brought it home how important using recycled alternatives is for the planet, not to mention that you end up with something different and individual.”
Suzanne Carr , Hampshire
Often it is the case that the mitre joint on a cill opens up. This happens a result of shrinkage usually after a prolonged spell of dry weather. The joint will remain open and this will allow moisture to penetrate over the winter months. Wet rot will follow.
A simple cost effective remedy is to insert Oak Slips. In this case 3.5mm thickness, Oak being a superb weather resistant material will remain in place without rotting for many years to come. By doing this the mitre joint always a weak spot will remain intact preventing wet rot to get a hold. 
I was pleased to be able to save this door. An original 1950s exterior back door, apart from the area of rot immediately below the glazing the rest of the door was sound.
The rot had taken hold along the base of the glass rebate because the glazing beads were no longer keeping the water out. The area of rot had penetrated 20mm into the door, so timber flannels were inserted after routing out the rotten timber. Not only was this cheaper than a replacement door and fitting, but there is also the environmental cost which I and the customer I am pleased to say took into consideration.
I have no statistics on the carbon footprint of an exterior door, its not only the materials used that have to be taken into account. There is also the manufacturing – packaging -shipping- transport to warehousing and retail then the disposal of packaging and the old door ; it all adds up. Without a doubt repairing over replacement is something we all have to embrace. World overshoot day every year creeps back a few days and this simply cannot continue indefinitely.
Learn more about Earth overshoot day.
A opportunity arose for me to undertake some circular work. The window in question had been re-glazed approximately 10years ago.
Unfortunately the glazier did not measure the bend correctly and had to fit the glass ‘off centre of the bend’. This resulted in the glass having to be forced against the rebate and pinned.In turn this meant that the glass was under pressure to spring back to its original form. There is a certain amount of give in curved glass but it will always want to return, just like a spring.
This pressure to spring back resulted in the glazing bead between the two pieces of glass to break at the joints. I suspect when the glazier formed a mould for the replacement glass he/she took measurements from the inside and did not include the depth of the rebate. The piece was 24mm short on the length, the precise depth of both rebates.
I fashioned a new mould by taking out the second piece of glass which fitted correctly and transferred this shape to a piece of plywood.
The glazing bead between the two pieces was repaired using Oak tenons that were slipped into mortices that I cut out and glued.
Once I had the replacement piece back from the manufactures’ it was a simple case of fitting.
There is always a moment of anxiety when offering up a bend but this one fitted like a glove.
