Fitting A Loft Hatch

The advantage of being self employed this morning was when I looked outside and saw six inches of snow I decided not to go to work, the disadvantage is that I wont be getting paid!

Our original loft hatch

I decided instead to get some jobs done at home. Putting the Christmas decorations away a couple of weeks ago set me thinking. Our loft hatch is barely big enough for me to squeeze through, let alone massive boxes of decorations - I kind of adopted the open and shove method of loft storage, so I decided to do something about it.

Assembling the loft hatch

Last year, at the big house I've been working at, I fitted five ready made loft hatches with fold down ladders (it is a big house1). These hatches are great as they're ready insulated, sprung loaded and come complete with a ladder so no having to go to the shed first!

Hole cut ready - this is where you hope your measurements were right!

They're fairly simple to fit - well after having done five I think they are. I first went into the loft and found where the ceiling joist ran, I wanted the hatch to be tight on one joist over the door, so I made a hole in two corners and then went below to mark out where the hatch was to go. Checking it was square I then cut out this hatch out of the plasterboard ceiling.

trimming out the ceiling joists

I then cut the ceiling joist running in the middle of where I wanted the hatch to go. I cut this 45mm back from the front edge of the newly made hole to acept the noggins. I trimmed out the hatch by adding timbers fixed with 100mm screws (not too much hammering up here as the artex on the ceiling isn't the best!).

Then the tricky bit, getting the hatch into position on my own! Although they're not that heavy they are awkward (very awkward) and sprung loaded. To make things easier I removed the bottom two sections of the ladder and I also screwed a batten to the one edge of the hole, this was to carry the weight of one side. With some none health and safety endorsed lifting I had the hatch in position, squared up and then fixed.

No more going out to the shed to get the step ladder

It was then just a matter of fixing on the rest of the ladder (and cutting it to length), and trimming round the hole with architrave. Nice way to spend a snowy afternoon. I even used my old Nobex mitre saw as I didn't want to run any leads outside to cut the architrave.

Once I get it painted you won't notice it so much

The old loft hatch will have to stay as it is for now but I plan to get it plastered over fairly soon. This new one should make putting the decorations away easier!

Anyone else done any jobs at home lately?



Some Blogs You May Like

This is just a post picking out a few of the woodworking blogs I like to read on a regular basis, there are many others (I'm sorry if I haven't mentioned someone) as I spend far too long reading blogs.

 

David Alviti Tree services and Rustic Creations

 This is my brothers blog, a top notch tree surgeon who loves his trade. I always enjoy seeing what he's been upto during the week.

 

Talk From The Timber

 I love Brian's blog, a nice mix of lovely photos and natural styled projects using beautiful wood.

 

Clavos y Aserrin

Micheals is a fairly new blog but it's got some great stuff on there and I feel that he's very much a like minded person. His blog is a nice of woodwork/carpentry and some of his hobbies like cooking/baking and flying. I really look forward to his updates.

 

Beer and Lathing

 This blog wasn't updated for ages last year but now Dans back and since Christmas he put some great posts on his restoration projects in America. I think there's a lot I could learn off this man.

 

The Penultimate Woodshop

 Dyami Plotke runs this great blog where as well as great project (like an amazing tree house) he is also trying to make woodworkers connect on different social media.

 

Robin Wood

 A man who needs no introduction, this blog is full of great projects and some though provoking posts about how we see crafts and our life balance.

 

Olly Parry-Jones

A really well written blog with lots of projects and some great design ideas for the workshop.

 

Lost Art Press

This is just brilliant. If your interested in hand tools and how to use them, or even if you're not, go to this blog

 

And just a few for non wood working -

 

An English Homestead

Shameless self plug for my other blog, all about how we live on our little smallholding in Herefordshire.

 

The lazy Farmer

Might offend some but amuse many more, I find him funny and I think we'd get on well over a beer or three. Just the ponderings of a man with too much time on his hands (well he hasn't really he should be working).

 

A Hippo On the Lawn

This blog I found last week, the post are long but they are so well written and so witty I can't stop reading them . This man need to write a book he writes that well (he might have to to finish what he's trying to build!) I really recommend having a look at this (The last post about me made me cry with laughter!)

 

There are so many other blogs I read (many on gardening and living the good life) so I'm sorry if yours isn't here but drop me a comment and I'll try to include it in another post later in the year if I do this again.

Make Your Own Slate Rip

This was something I was meaning to post ages ago but forgot! I was stripping a section of roof before Christmas to add a new back gutter to a chimney when I realised I had forgotten my slate rip.

I managed to make a temporary one out of an old disposable hand saw. Cutting the to the side of the hanging hole on the saw to make a notch.

It's then just a case of slipping the "rip" between the slates and over the nail, hitting the handle downwards to pull the nail out (or snap the head off).

This doesn't last for too many slates, as the plastic on the handle can only take so many hits, but it meant that I could carry on working and strip an area big enough to carry on.

Anyone else made a temporary tool lately?

Karesuando Bushcraft Knife

My wife was struggling with what to buy me for Christmas this year so I asked for a good bush craft knife. I got a 4" Karesuando Boar knife, I asked for this one as it's not too expensive, has a good quality blade and should last me a long time for camping, hunting, whittling, etc.

Karesuando Boar Knife

The only downside to this knife is the fact it's been sharpened with a slight micro bevel . I decided to touch up the edge myself (in a break in the rain) using a water stone, something I've never used before - I'm more of an oil stone man!

New sharpening method to try

 I bought this water stone about 3 years ago and I've never got round to trying it so I though this would be the perfect thing to test it on. I only used the fine side of the stone (1000 grit) as it didn't need reshaping just continuing the main bevel to a point.

Using the whetstone

 The stone worked well and produced a polished edge, double sided tools are always much harden to sharpen than double edged and it took me quite a while, I could probably do with an even finer stone to get a sharper edge.

birch polypore strop 

 I stropped it using a little strop my brother made for me a few years ago out of birch polypore fungus.

A well balanced knife

I'm look forward to using this knife and with a bush craft course coming up it won't be long until I do.
Hope everyone has a good new year!

Throwing Axe!

I've been spoilt again this year (like always) and got loads of presents - far more than I probably deserve.
One of the wood related presents I got was a throwing axe, along with other things I'll blog about later. This was from my brother who also got himself one so we could have a bit of fun together.

Light weight Tomahawk

 On boxing day we went out into the orchard and threw them at a large poplar butt Dave had felled earlier in the year. To say it took us a little while to get our eye in would be an understatement -put it this way I wouldn't have wanted to stand behind the target! But once we did we were managing to get them to stick into the wood quite often.

Couldn't hit a barn door at... Oh wait you did!

Tomahawk - bit of fun

I feel that there will be many brotherly competitions coming up!

We're also both booked to attend an axe course (not throwing axes though) towards the end of January with Survival School (who we've done bush craft courses with in the past) and I'm really looking forward to it, although we're camping so I hope we have some dry weather. It should be a great opportunity to learn more about axes and how to use them.

Now I just need to make a target big enough so I can't miss it!

What wood related presents did everyone else get? (I'm sure Brian must have something...)

Merry Christmas

Another year of work over with and it's been a great year.

Merry Christmas!

I've worked on some interesting projects, from a hotel to a prison to a big old farm house and more. Each has brought a new set of challenges and helped develop my skills as a carpenter.

I've missed not having my workshop this year but with a new baby in my life my hands have been pretty full anyway and luckily the jobs I've been on have kept my brain working.

Next year is looking pretty good with quite a few months already booked up.

Thank you to anyone who has followed me, commented on, or read this blog - it makes what I do so much more interesting to me if I have people to share it with, and it helps fuel my passion with wood even further.

Merry Christmas to you all!

Repairing Old Doors

Some low quality photos on this post sorry! 

Last week was pretty cold, not getting above freezing for most of it and I had the pleasure of being out in it everyday except Friday where it hammered down with rain all day. Installing gutter in the rain is a job even I draw the line at, so I went on to repairing some doors that the other carpenter and I had hung previously.

These door weren't the easiest thing to hang in the first place with big cast hinges to remove & fill and frames where the wood seems too thin to hold the new screws needing splicing. On top of that some have got panels that are split and need replacing.

I first removed the beads from one side of the panel, on doing this I discovered that the panels are also fitted into a grove in the door. There is no way I could split the door apart and expect it to go back together (things would fall apart), instead I had to cut right round the panel (the multimaster came in handy again here) to remove it.

I then planed some boards to 10mm thick and fitted then in the door and replaced the beads I saved.

Now the painters fun starts - they're going to need quite a bit of prep work before they're ready to paint! Still doing this work preserves some of the character of the house rather than just buying new doors.

Building A Walk In Wardrobe

This is a continuation from the Building A Stud Wall Step By Step post I did a while ago. The stud wall was built to divide an odd shaped room into a bedroom with a large walk in wardrobe. The customer wanted two long shelves with hanging rails under and a set of large shelves at the far end.

Finding good fixings was the most important part of fitting these shelves as they're so big they need to be secure



With a timber fixed round the outside I added the timbers to carry the inside edges of the shelves

Check everything is level (I used a laser level around the outside so I was fairly confident!)



Add the MDF forn long shelves and the sides to the rack of shelves at the end, along with timber supports

I also completed the second fix carpentry work hanging the door and fixing the skirting and architrave



All the shelves fitted ready for some varnish



The wardrobe from the outside - looks like it's always been there. Just need to stain the woodwork to match in with the old

A nice job and the customer is really pleased.

 I also agreed to paint/stain it all for the customer so I've made quite a few visits in the evenings to try and get it done but its tricky as I don't get back till late and all my other time is booked up, mind you it's better to be busy than not!

Making Stairs

My blog post about replacing the handrail last week made me think about the first flight of stairs I made back in 2006 with a good friend/mentor. Looking through some old photos I found some from when we made them.

The string and newels routed out to accept the treads and risers

 These were to go in a barn conversion Andy and I had been working on and off for well over a year everything was oak and everything had to be top quality. It's unusual to get site carpenters to make stairs on site in the UK, but as we had our own little workshop there with all the tools, the customer we were working for decided it was the best way he could get the stairs he wanted without having to wait for a joiner to make them and he was pleased with all the previous work Andy and I had done for him.

Using oak meant everything had to be spot on - no bruising wood together here!

 These were made out of oak (the strings were 2" thick!) and as we'd only ever fitted stairs before we went over our workings quite a few times before we started! With stairs a full sized template is sometimes the best way to go if you've got the space.

Beginning the first glue up

 We machined all the treads on the spindle moulder, routed the strings with a purpose made jig and cut the wedges on the bandsaw with another jig to make sure they were a perfect fit.

The glue up went well, with both of us working hard to get it together fast as we were using quite a fast setting glue

All the treads glued in position

Andy cleaning the excess glue from the first flight of stairs

The stairs fitted in position

The nice chunky newel posts really go well with the feel of these stairs

This was a great project and a great test of our skills, they came out looking perfect and on time, the customer was over the moon.

Anyone else taken on a large job like this that they'd never done before?

Replacing handrail

We're getting through the second fix upstairs now and during this week I've replace the old handrail with some that matches what is in the rest of the house.

What was left of the old handrail

 I decided it was best to rip it all out and start again, this way I could make sure I got some solid fixings and make sure it won't move.

Ripping it all out and starting again

The first job was to add the newel post at the top of the stairs. This one had to be strongly fixed as it's what everyone will grab and swing on as they walk down the stairs. The old newel post ran right down to the floor, so I cut it off flush with the top of the stairs and then made a 12" long halving joint to fit the new newel with. As the old post was 3"x3" and the new one is 4"x4" I had to make this halving joint more like a giant L shaped rebate so it would fit over the top of the old post, glued and screwed it was rock solid when I finished.

Adding the newel post, this has to be solid

 The rest was fairly plane sailing, the newel posts already had mortises in them but the tenons on the handrail had to be added on, taking a bit of time (I did these by hand as it's sometimes easier this way), I fixed all the handrail and newels in position then replaced some of the flooring and added the spindles. The flooring I replaced so it finished in line with the new newel posts, it also had a round over moulding on for the apron lining to butt into, giving a nice detail. By doing this all my spindles could also be fixed from the underside giving a much better fixing.

The finished handrail from the top

It was then a matter of adding the apron lining and doing all the finishing touches like pelleting the screw holes, sanding them down and punching in any nails. The bottom of the old newel post also had to be packed out so that it was the same size as the new one



I decided at the start to replace the apron under the handrail as well and it looks much better all being new

The joint connecting the new newel to the old post.

Anyone else had a hand railing project they've done lately?

Making Single Glazed Windows Into Double

I'll be honest - this wasn't a job I was looking forward to!
The customer wanted the 5 windows on the exposed face of his property to be changed from single glazed to double. As the windows were hardwood, of good quality and thick enough, we decided that it would be best to increase the size of the rebate (or rabbet for the Americans) where the glass sits so it could take the thicker units.

Working on the wrong side of the heater!

 This is a bit of a dirty job really every step involves dirt and dust! First we had to remove the old glass from the windows, this was done with a combination of chisels, knifes, the multimaster and a hammer! Cleaning up any broken glass before moving on to the next step.

Luckily I had Tim with me to help or it would have seemed a bit of a daunting job on my own as you couldn't rust it for fear of damaging the frames.

Removing all the old putty

Once we'd removed all the glass and cleaned up the old putty from the edges I could set about making the rebate deeper. My new little Bosch router (bought mainly for this job) was ideal as it has such a small base it could get round all the edges without hitting the walls. It was tricky to find a rebate cutter for the router with the right sized bearing to give us the correct width of cut, the ones in the set were either too big or too small but luckily I had a bearing from an old router bit set that was just the right size (shows you should throw nothing out!).

My new little router was ideal for this job - still had to have a steady handso as not to wobble

 Once I routed round each window, three of them having 16 panes of glass (this was a dusty job - I had sawdust everywhere - and I mean everywhere!) it was just a matter of tidying up the corners with a sharp chisel. I had to be careful when routing as a lot of the time the router was just resting on the thin mullion or transom and a wobble would have been really noticeable.

Cleaning up the waste in the corners

I then made some templates for the new glass and boarded up the windows.

A dirty job, but one that will make the house feel a lot warmer on this exposed site when the new glass is fitted.

Completed Curved Architrave (almost)

The underside now re-skimmed and the architrave filled and painted

The Plasterer, Justin, has now re-skimmed the curve under the architrave to a mirrow like finish and the woodwork has now had it's first coat of undercoat. So although it's not completely finished it gives a good idea of what the finished product will look like.

Justin the plasterer trying to show off the "guns" under the freshly coated arch

A near mirrow finish on the plasterwork sets the architrave off great, just a couple of coats of paint needed then it'll be finished.

Good feature for the room