Shuttering Steps

Back on the swimming pool this weeks to build the form work for the steps into the pool.

The finished steps

Building the underside of the steps. There needs to be a void underneath for duct work

A side view of the shutters. I enjoyed putting this together as it's only the inside measurements that are critical



My work area was not great!  It was raining and the layer of sand we put down to protect the floor slab stuck to all my tools.

A picture showing some of the bracing for the strings and the two tie bars holding both sides to each other

The completed stutters. There is two layers of steel mesh tied together inside the form work

We mixed the concrete by hand. Here's Neil and Richard levelling off and vibrating the concrete

The completed stairs in the pools with the side shutters off

Finished job. We'll remove the underside shutters on Monday

Stripping the shutters off yesterday I was pleased with how these stairs turned out. I'm just looking forward to when we've got some water in the pool and I get to try them out for real!

Restoring Shutters

On the large job we replaced the windows many months ago for new ones. In doing so we removed the old shutters and their surrounds that they sat in. These were a real feature of the house and the customer wanted us to make something similar to what was there before.

One of the windows with plastered reveals

 We reused the old shutters, but replaced all the ironmongery and the surrounds. First we refitted the shutters then built the surrounds around them as they were all individual sizes so each had to be built to suit.
We framed below the bay windows with 3x2 this meant they weren't quite so deep and could have a wider window board.

We cut a wide architrave and machined a rope bead on the front to match the other mouldings in the house (as well as machining a smaller architrave that sits on top). We then created a frame to bring out the architrave to give the shutters the clearance they needed before fitting it all.

 Once we had done that it was a matter of installing the window boards and plaster boarding the bay so the plasterer can get it finished next week.

Three windows finished and a lot of character added back into a large room.