My man cave build - UK edition

[group911@aol.co]

I'll bet if you made it a stop on the "Hop on Hop off" bus tours, plenty of us would sign up.

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

Very gratifying to know people haven't lost interest in our build and we both enjoy reading the comments

Mrs Ahab would be great on a TV show but I've got a face for radio

This has taken a back seat to my F1 clients work for too long now. Only taken 2 days holiday in the last 8 months chasing yet another championship

All of this is about to change, from next month I cut that work down to 3 days a week and from June I'm back to being a full time builder again with hopefully only the occasional F1 interruption as, when and if my help is needed

I know it's not the smartest financial move to make in the middle of a global pandemic and impending double dip recession

My thinking is, why should I pay tradesmen to take my building fun away from me and if I don't finish my man cave soon I'll never get started on my other projects

[daepp]

test

[daepp]

Yes, legendary is right!

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Today was goodbye F1 but call me if any drama's need my attention

Tomorrow and the the next 6 months will be hello man cave, remember me?

Real time updates to recommence as we make progress

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

Real time updates to recommence as we make progress

I'm in!

Get busy

[daepp]

Yesss!!!

[LJ851]

Oh hell yes.

[carambola]

This is the weather for it.

[ckelly78z]

Originally Posted by carambola

This is the weather for it.

What IS the weather in merry old "central England" Captain ?

[carambola]

just a bit warmer
almost drinking weather

[A930Rocket]

Woohoo!

Daily updates with pix!

[Nostril Cheese]

looking forward to more

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Thanks for the interest, only taken me a day and I'm back into the swing of building, my tools not so, already burnt out my small Makita angle grinder

Originally Posted by ckelly78z

What IS the weather in merry old "central England" Captain ?

The sun has shown itself again and with the hour change I have come out of hibernation

Weather is dry, but not too warm, around 45F, was up a ladder yesterday painting and I sure felt it as it was a north wind

Originally Posted by carambola

just a bit warmer
almost drinking weather

Not quite drinking weather, due to COVID, pubs will serve outside after mid-April, I feel for these businesses so plan to support them

1st shopping trip today, bought a few 10ft long 6 x 2 floor joists, compared to some of the beams I've used these are mere twigs



Building material prices over here have gone up too Got lots to buy so guess I just got to grin and bear it

[thor66]

I guess they salt the roads in England?

[JacobS911]

Porsches and yotas! Loved catching up on this thread!

[A930Rocket]

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

Thanks for the interest, only taken me a day and I'm back into the swing of building, my tools not so, already burnt out my small Makita angle grinder



The sun has shown itself again and with the hour change I have come out of hibernation

Weather is dry, but not too warm, around 45F, was up a ladder yesterday painting and I sure felt it as it was a north wind



Not quite drinking weather, due to COVID, pubs will serve outside after mid-April, I feel for these businesses so plan to support them

1st shopping trip today, bought a few 10ft long 6 x 2 floor joists, compared to some of the beams I've used these are mere twigs



Building material prices over here have gone up too Got lots to buy so guess I just got to grin and bear it

Your 2x6 looks better her than ours... 1-1/2” x 5-1/2”

[Captain Ahab Jr]

My 1st full week in a longtime, 1st day was so tiring I put myself to bed 3 hrs early, was great to be back at it, really into the swing of it now and pleased to have some progress to show

We've had, rain, hail, snow and sunshine this week but jumping between indoor and outdoor jobs it didn't slow me up

Must have been asleep when giving our builder upstairs window opening measurements Windows are too low and too tall, nowhere near a close match to the original house upstairs windows

What was needed was more 'cowbell' ie more exposed oak lintel showing below the green painted soffet board as per the original house.



A bit of keyhole surgery, added another course of stone on the bottom which is almost impossible to spot. Also added another 4" oak lintel underneath the original lintel,. Window on the left is before and on the right after.

Was hoping to just lower the original lintel but I did such a good job of fixing them in I'd have needed to remove roof tiles to do that. Also returned the stone in towards the inner block work as the window frames will be recessed 6" from the outer wall face.



Spot the difference, looks much better now, very happy with the new front window openings matching with the original front window openings on the house. Painting the original fascia boards and replacing the rain gutter on the old house is one of my weekend jobs



Most important indoor job was to make a set of temporary stairs, only took a couple of hours and my knees thanked me! Also threw some Ebay bargain plywood off cuts down as temporary flooring so I don't do myself a mischief falling between the 1st floor joists.



Made good progress on joisting out the top floor. One half was very easy, only took a morning, just a notch each end needed to fit each joist snugly into the steel beams. I now understand why you guys like building your houses out of sticks

The other half was brutal on my hands as I cut vertical slots into the stone of the original house, played safe and used my small angle grinder with a diamond tipped masonary blade. Then hand chiseled each hole and mortared in each joist



That the top floor joists almost done, will finish it after I have knocked through the top floor and 1st floor doorways through the 2ft thick original stone walls.

[javadog]

Looks great. For cutting openings in masonry walls around here we have companies that will bring out a wall-mounted concrete saw for a couple hundred bucks and be done in two hours.

[DonDavis]

Wow, just wow.

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Originally Posted by javadog

Looks great. For cutting openings in masonry walls around here we have companies that will bring out a wall-mounted concrete saw for a couple hundred bucks and be done in two hours.

Where would the fun be in that!