Tuesday 23 December 2008

DYDIY? (Do you DIY?)

If you do this site should be very interesting to you. (this is not a payperpost!) Lets Do DIY is a new site dedicated to aspiring DIY'ers. It features step by step instructions for various projects including replacing a single damaged tile, removing graffiti and many different painting techniques. The glossary is also very handy but the best thing is the forum. Sometimes no number of articles can compare to real one-on-one advice and opinions. The site is still under construction but is already looking great.

Tuesday 9 December 2008

And it burns burns burns...

...hopefully not a ring of fire.

Well it's been a really long time since I last posted, a combination of having no time and loosing the pc-camera cable! These pictures are about a month old but isn't this the best sight ever? Finishing the chimney was more complicated than we expected, finding the right attachments for the flue, figuring out how to attach it to the masonry so it wouldn't shoot back inside the chimney when we needed to clean it etc etc. A 'T' junction was added to the bottom of the flexible flue to create a right angle for attaching the woodburner, a removable pot was attached on the bottom of the 'T' to collect soot/condensation. Using these handy metal strips we created a sort of spider to attach it to the front of the chimney and the bottom of the chimney was bricked back up. Using a very sophisticated bracket, made out of oven gloves and planks, we attached a piece of fire resistant plasterboard to the bare brickwork which needed to set overnight. By some sort of miracle we managed to cut the whole for the flue in the right place! Now the fire needed to stand on something strong and durable enough to handle all the soot and dust from the fire so we bought these 15x15cm blue stone tiles to make a hearth. The joints won't be filled until we lay the rest of the floor. On the pictures you can see just how dusty and dirty they are. The one remaining problem was that the wood burner needed feet, something to make it easier in case we have to move it. We had glass stove coasters from the 40's but the 250kg was too much for them so Koen cut pieces of blue stone from a reclaimed door step. I then sanded and sanded and sanded them smooth and rounded the edges off with a dremel. And voila! The stove needs blacking and the tiles need cleaning but you can get the general idea. It's been so nice to be able to heat up the house again and it's really necessary at the moment, the first snow of the season came early in November and stayed for about a week. And the old saying is true, if you want the best seat in the house, move the cat!

 

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