That 'big project' I've been banging on about for a few years now....

[James Harrison]

That's a great point.  Though built at the expense of a historically congruent restoration, an electric fireplace would be a great excuse to have something really steampunk in the house.

Probably not legal in your neck of the woods, IDK, but there is also natural gas or other petroleum based combustibles that could replace wood or coal burning.

We're not allowed to burn green timber but, at the moment, smokeless coal, dry wood etc are still legal (to my knowledge this part of town is not in a clean air zone). 

FWIW you shouldn't be burning green timber anyway; it'll fill up your chimney with creosote and you'll have a chimney fire. (Unless you mean the green pressure-treated stuff, which is instead chock full of copper arsenate.)

It's precisely that reason why I don't have open fires at the moment.  Until I've had the chimneys swept I'm taking the view that the flues are a tinderbox. 

[SeVeNeVeS]

well it appears the flue has a draw as it should, maybe leave the restrictor plate out now the wheather is slightly warmer and see if the natural flow of air from inside to out is enough to dry out the damp problem before being forced to explore the underfloor situation.

[J. Wilhelm]

I think we can discard the green wood and the copper arsenate pressure treated lumber...

Is copper arsenate pressure treated lumber even legal outside of North America? I see it all the time at my workplace, but it always has warning signs posted on them.

[James Harrison]

I think we can discard the green wood and the copper arsenate pressure treated lumber...

Is copper arsenate pressure treated lumber even legal outside of North America? I see it all the time at my workplace, but it always has warning signs posted on them.

It's outright banned in the UK.

[James Harrison]

You remember a few weeks ago I said I would make a template for the washstand?  Well, here it is.





Just a sheet of 3.6mm ply, cut to the appropriate size and then punctured as appropriate for the basin, tap and splashback screws.  Now to get that down to the stonemason.

[von Corax]

I say, that looks absolutely spiffing!

[SeVeNeVeS]

Yep I think that will work. My only other suggestion would be as you intend to get a fresh top made, maybe an ogee edge front and sides stopping 25mm from the splashback for a little extra added feature.

Spoiler: ShowHide

[James Harrison]

Now there's a thought... although I was starting to come around to the idea of cutting the original top.

The chimney breast side; a week since I removed the vinyl paint  a week since I opened the restriction plate. And the moisture level in the wall is coming down. I think this is something that can be controlled and managed.

[SeVeNeVeS]

I would say still doable using the original top just maybe slightly smaller router bit used, have a ponder, then chat with the stonemason.
I only suggest that ogee because that is what I intend to do my own, bought the stone router bits just gotta get off my arse and do it.

As for the chimney leave an open airflow for as long as you can except when cold in winter, all your central heating warmth will be sucked out of the house costing money.

Now you said in earlier post you were worried about the dark green tiles, again only suggestions, but if you use smaller tiles and a slightly larger spacer with white grout it dramatically reduces the block of colour not forgetting a white bog and bath will be in front.
Of course you could go herringbone (your tiler will hate you)

Spoiler: ShowHide

Do full height arond the bath and shower, then reduce to half wall or less above the wc and towel rail, that will allow for a wall cabinet, lights or mirror etc.
Rather than a ladder towel rail maybe something like this...

Spoiler: ShowHide

Again only thoughts.

[James Harrison]

Bathroom tiles ordered; some nice bottle green metro tiles that will compliment the green tiles in the washstand splashback. 



From the supplier's website, which I'm not going to be fool enough to publicise....

The plan is that I'll tile only half of the room; just the two walls that the bathtub and WC are fixed to.  That will be up to, just about, ceiling level.  The other walls I'm going to paint a cream colour, again to pick up on the washstand splashback. 

[SeVeNeVeS]

Good choice, did you remember to order extra boxes for "cuts and cockups" and you usually get quite a few that have blemishes in the glaze.

I usually like to use a local supplier who has loads in stock so in an emergency I can just pop off site and buy some more.

May I throw another suggestion to wall colour, a lighter pastel green will contrast the darker tiles, looks good against most other colours and make the window stand out more.
https://www.sleek-chic.co.uk/2023/03/dulux-green-paints.html

Any thoughts on floor tile colour and design?

And you just have to have an antique leaded glass panel somewhere that has the greens and other colours from the splashback........may take some sourcing but a great period addition.

[James Harrison]

I ordered 10 square metres of the stuff, for 8 and a half square metres of wall. 

The colour for the painted walls isn't set in stone yet but I painted it a deep green a few years ago as an interim thing and I'm not too keen on the result (not so much the colour itself but more the tone of it).  That's kind of why I'm thinking of a more neutral finish on the un-tiled walls.

For the floor tiles I do have one or two ideas - I've already decided that I don't want something too busy - but I haven't seen anything yet that jumps out as me as The One.  That's kind of how my designs develop, either there's a defined concept that I start from (eg 'blue room with lots of bookshelves' which was the starting point for the sitting room), or else I find one element that I just have to include and then everything develops organically from that (eg the washstand in the bathroom). 

[montysaurus]

https://assets.wfcdn.com/im/71557938/resize-h445%5Ecompr-r85/3028/30287198/Oxford+11%22+x+11%22+Porcelain+Honeycomb+Mosaic+Wall+%26+Floor+Tile.jpg
how about this for the floor?

[James Harrison]

Oohh... now that would like nice. 

[James Harrison]

All in all, it's been an eye-wateringly expensive weekend. 



Yes; I've ordered a new shower...

It had to be copper (naturally) to match the basin and tap that I've already bought.  You would not believe how much this constraint narrowed down the field.

My first thought, a few months ago, was to buy one of those combined bath tap and shower mixers - the sort that looks like an old telephone that someone has jury-rigged up to the water supply.  The problem is I cannot for the life of me see how this is something that could work in real life (as opposed to looking very pretty in a showroom).  The showerhead sits on a cradle that's practically at top of bathtub level, I can't see that the hose is long enough to use it whilst standing up, and you never see anything used to enclose the thing.  I can only conclude that the idea is that you use it whilst actually sitting down in the tub.  But then where does the water go?  How do you prevent the bathroom being turned into a set from Titanic or The Poseidon Adventure every time you shower?  What do you do with the showerhead, whilst you're lathering up?  On reflection, it just looks the sort of thing that is more suited to set-dressing than everyday life. 

So that then left the option of going for something wall mounted, like what I already have.  The problems I generally ran into were;
- copper shower but was far too modern/ contemporary;
- copper shower that was just I wanted but actually finished in brass, or chrome;
- copper shower that was far too rustic;
- something that was exactly what I wanted but about five times more than I'm prepared to pay;
- something that looks like exactly what I want but is suspiciously cheap and shipped from China.

This one - I'm not going to be so fool as to provide a link to the seller or do anything else that could be interpreted as an advertisement or endorsement - this one is made in Morocco.  You might be thinking 'well then what makes you happy to buy it' but the thing is the copper basin and tap I already have, also came from that source.  And shower handles in the photograph are exactly the same as the handles on my copper tap.  So I'm reasonably confident it will look like the photos when it arrives, turn up on time without unexpected shipping or customs charges, and be of decent quality. 

[Sir Henry]

If you have a B&Q nearby it might be an idea to pop in and have a look at their discount paints. They are discontinuing the Craig and Rose paints, including the copper one, so are selling it off cheap.
They're also selling the copper patina effect paint that reacts with it. I bought a bottle for a quid (having bought some of the paint months ago when it was on offer) but looking at the website it doesn't appear to be the verdigris I was looking for. https://craigandrose.com/products/artisan-copper-patina

[James Harrison]

Interesting;  I'll have a look into that thanks.

[James Harrison]

With the rest of the week off work, I'm going to (try to) make a start in earnest. 

Full list of bathroom bits either already bought or on order;
- Washstand
- Hand basin
- Hand basin tap
- Hand basin plug
- Shower
- Wall tiles

Bits yet to buy;
- Bath tub
- Shower screen
- WC
- Radiator
- Floor tiles

Plumber has been booked in (for Friday this week) to disconnect the existing radiator.  When that's done I can, at least, repaint half of the room.  That's also a good opportunity to get an idea of how long they think it will take to change the pipe runs, whether there's anything they can see as an issue that we haven't discussed here, and how much they think it will cost. 

I've had a discussion also with a stonemason about getting the washstand top sorted out, naturally cutting the existing top is entirely at my risk but they're prepared to give it a go.  It might mean that the basin has to sit a bit further back into the top and the tap has to sit a bit further round, obviously if you start cutting too near the edge (and apparently where I'm currently thinking of placing the basin is in that territory) you run the risk of the stone fracturing when you try to pick the slab up.  So that's probably going to the mason this Thursday.  I did ask for a quote both for cutting the existing top, and for making up a new top, and the latter was somewhat more than double the former, which put another complexion on the matter. 

https://assets.wfcdn.com/im/71557938/resize-h445%5Ecompr-r85/3028/30287198/Oxford+11%22+x+11%22+Porcelain+Honeycomb+Mosaic+Wall+%26+Floor+Tile.jpg
how about this for the floor?

I looked into this and it looks like it's a product in the US.  I couldn't find an exact match in the UK but I did find something very similar.  It's a mosaic product sold by one of the various period house reproduction companies, which somehow translates to £££.  The price stated on their website was I think £17 per square foot, which is just far, far too expensive for me.  So the search continues there.

[SeVeNeVeS]

How about good old fashioned re-claimed quarry tiles? maybe a little utilitarian but period. Or something to echo the tiles you restored in the hallway...... a continuation of theme......dunno.

Spoiler: ShowHide

[James Harrison]

I would be a little concerned about the weight of them, and also that (if the ones in my hall are anything to go by) they'd be too deep. 

Does make me wonder though, if I could get some floor tiles of a similar size.  Particularly if I could get some in a buff or cream colour and pick up on the bits I was digging out of the front garden a few years ago. 

[James Harrison]

So;

- I've ordered a second copper mixer tap (this one for the bathtub);
- The washstand top has been taken off to the stonemason so the holes can be cut into it;
- Plumber is coming tomorrow to disconnect the bathroom radiator;
- Wall tiles are apparently coming tomorrow or Monday.

Suddenly it feels like the project is going to take a big leap forward.

[James Harrison]

Progress in a few directions;

Firstly - the sitting room radiator has been rehung and is no longer hanging off the wall and making to rest on the floor. 



And - bonus - I didn't have to have the wall replastered. 

Secondly - the bathroom radiator has gone.



Also took the opportunity to have a chat with the plumber about phasing the bathroom works, broadly

1) I take down the wall tiles and patch up the wall as required
2) plumber comes in and takes out the bathtub and cistern
3) I fit the new wall tiles
4) floor has to come up entirely for the new plumbing
5) plumber comes back and fits the new bathtub and cistern

Hmm, I can work around not having a bathtub for a little while but the cistern is obviously another matter.  I wonder if it could be loosened off so I can get behind it to put the tiles on whilst not actually disconnecting it.  That might have to be the way we go with this. 

It also means there are a couple of bits I can be doing now for myself;
1. Clean up the woodwork and varnish same
2. Repaint the back wall
3. Start breaking out the floor tiles

1. and 2. I'm quite happy to make a start on but let's leave 3. for a little while yet, shall we?

Oh, and other news;



With the splashback having been separated from the washstand it seemed a perfect opportunity to try to sort out the warped backboard. 

Well, the warped bit of timber came off easily enough and I quickly found that the main reason for the warping is that a splinter of it had fallen off and gone down the gap between the tiles and the backing.   
You can see that the tiles are in any case grouted to a piece of board that's secured into the frame, so my nightmare - that I take the backing piece and the whole thing breaks apart - isn't going to happen. 



The backboard, with the splintered bit at the top now reinstated.  The board has split and parted around all of the tack pins that were holding it in place and there's some residual warping and twisting, I'm not sure yet how I'm going to be deal with that.  There are basically now a number of natural weakspots, cracks and breaks around the tack locations.  My concern is that if I loose tack it, it will fall free, whilst if I tighten the thing up those cracks will worsen and who knows it might destroy the whole thing.  As it's going to be close in to the wall anyway I'm even considering just leaving the backboard off entirely. 

[James Harrison]

Well, what I've done is to refit the backboard, but only using 5 or 6 of the tacks (originally there were .  I've just loosely tacked it in place so if it does carry on doing its thing, it's just going to pop off the splashback.  Which would be annoying, but not a complete disaster. 

Otherwise;
- The wall tiles have arrived; they're exactly the same colour as the washstand splashback (success!);
- I've lightly sanded the splashback and the washstand carcass preparatory to a few coats of yacht varnish;
- Rawlplugs etc have been pulled out of the wall before I grout up and sand down the surface;
- The caulking around the airing cupboard has been removed (beyond me why this was applied in the first place).

So hopefully at some point this weekend I'll be starting to varnish the washstand, stain the timberwork and paint the walls.

[James Harrison]

First coat of yacht varnish applied to the washstand.  It says after 16 to 24 hours it's ready for smoothing down and recoating.  Well, 21 (ish) hours after putting on the first coat and it's still quite tacky.  Getting this protected against errant water is going to be a long-winded affair, I think. 

Speaking of errant water, the latest named storm blew through last night and seems to have left some of itself behind on and in the roof over the bay window... so that's a call to my roofing guy tomorrow.  Best case scenario is that the joint detail where the tiles change direction has failed.  I've been wary of the cement joints for the last few years (even though they appear to be original to the house) and you may recall that getting the bay roof looked at - and probably leaded - was/is on the list for this year. 

[James Harrison]

Hmm, odd.  I could have sworn I updated earlier this week but the post appears to have disappeared. 
Anyway, to recap/ catchup.

1. The bathtaps have arrived, they're brushed copper rather than polished/shiny.  Not a massive issue, the difference between the two finishes isn't profound. 

2. The shower is still in transit, having been hostage for a few days by Chas' licenced highwaymen.

3. My roofing guy came out today to look at the bay window roof so he can price up for the work.  It's not as simple as just putting some lead strip over the tile joints, it's probably more in the way of taking the roof off and replacing it. 

4. The washstand has had a couple of coats of yacht varnish now and I think is about as waterproof as it can be.  It looks like the tiles in the splashback are losing their grout, so it would benefit from being re-grouted when the splashback doesn't have to be moved around any more. 

5.  The bathroom radiator which I had taken down (and no plans to reinstate it) has been carried away by the scrap metal man this morning. 

6. I've started filling in various holes in the bathroom walls preparatory to the repaint. 

7. Once that filling work is finished I'll be sanding down the skirting boards and staining those.