Winterizing the home.

[Falstaff]

Excellent suggestion by Stew. Easy job for a small roofer, don't let them quote high, it's a half day job. Forget rotating glitter balls and the like, very expensive and tendency to jam. Since they only rotate when there is a wind then the air would be going thru the ball or roof vents anyway.
The other side of it might possibly be too much ventilation, allowing too much wet air to come in then condense inside the attic.

 

[Falstaff]

Is the pull out bed a “truckle bed”?

Nope, I think no truckles (wheels), it slides on runners on the base. However, the drawers are on narrow wheels, which will damage the carpet, so will get converted to wider slides

 

[Stew]

Excellent suggestion by Stew. Easy job for a small roofer, don't let them quote high, it's a half day job. Forget rotating glitter balls and the like, very expensive and tendency to jam. Since they only rotate when there is a wind then the air would be going thru the ball or roof vents anyway.
The other side of it might possibly be too much ventilation, allowing too much wet air to come in then condense inside the attic.

Why would you get a roofer in? If the loft is accessible, just do it yourself. Couple of quid per vent or add a few hundred quid more to pay someone else? If I’m paying someone to do the work, I check it. It would take as long to check the work as to just do it….

 

[Paul_B]

They do look easy to install. £20 for 10 vents on Amazon.

Not sure how many vents would be needed. Guess it is a case of estimating the volume of the loft and how much each vent allows through or rate of flow possible or area of the roof instead of loft volume. I reckon there is a formula for this somewhere.

Did see a photo of a row of them installed in a straigh row across the roof at half height. Not sure that is the best way to encourage through flow of air. I would have thought low to high on the other side maybe. The back of the house i to a hillside so any airflow is along the length of the ridgeline or towards the front of the roof. The back and the side adjacent to next door is low airflow directions. It is likely that the only good flow through lap vents is to the front of the house which faces the slope of the roof. Perhaps vents low at the front and higher at the back might help with an airflow through.

 

[Stew]

They do look easy to install. £20 for 10 vents on Amazon.

Not sure how many vents would be needed. Guess it is a case of estimating the volume of the loft and how much each vent allows through or rate of flow possible or area of the roof instead of loft volume. I reckon there is a formula for this somewhere.

Did see a photo of a row of them installed in a straigh row across the roof at half height. Not sure that is the best way to encourage through flow of air. I would have thought low to high on the other side maybe. The back of the house i to a hillside so any airflow is along the length of the ridgeline or towards the front of the roof. The back and the side adjacent to next door is low airflow directions. It is likely that the only good flow through lap vents is to the front of the house which faces the slope of the roof. Perhaps vents low at the front and higher at the back might help with an airflow through.

Install as low as viable to start with. The height you saw installed may have just been as low as is accessible for them.

You want low so that the wind gets in and goes up, along the inside of the roof. If you’ve started high, it’s missed a load already. If you need more later, just do it. You’ll struggle to over ventilate a cold loft.
If there are more favourable locations for your area then go for it - they’re easy to swap to a different location if you change your mind.

 

[66jj99]

Just get felt lap vents to start with. You can achieve the same with wood wedges if you don’t want to buy the actual product.

Foam pipe insulation cut into wedges did the trick for me. The price was right!

 

[Stew]

Foam pipe insulation cut into wedges did the trick for me. The price was right!

Nice idea!

I’ve used plastic conduit too.

I get that some people like to use the proper product though.

 

[Tengu]

Box beds.

 

[Woody girl]

It's been orrible wet today, so figured on getting a few repair jobs done, if I wait for the h/a to do them it could be months, so fixed the u bed under the kitchen sink that was leaking badly. Repainted the hall entrance where paint had been knocked off the wall by the last lot of workmen(they are supposed to repair damage, but I've been waiting over 2 months for them to do it. Cleaned out the guttering at the back, ( sloping garden and a bungalow make that an easier job) can't reach the front gutters, so they will have to wait. stacked and covered another pile of logs.
Filled up the back door sandbags(sometimes the water drains into the passage between the house and garden wall, making it a paddling pool! So I protect myself from it flooding into the kitchen with sandbags.
Bought a large bag of grit and sand. The drive slopes and gets icy, don't fancy stepping out and ending up on the house
opposite 's doorstep.!
Have "winterised" my walker with reflective tape on the frame, two reflective rememberance poppies each side and a reflective dog collar with red flashing leds in it on the front. I'm quite pleased with it. Now just need some bike lights front and rear, a bicycle bell.
Why? I live rural and often have to walk on narrow pavementless roads. Had a few close calls in the past, they gonna see me this winter!

 

[Woody girl]

Oh, and I bought a huge framed mirror from the charity shop for £25 that I intend to hang in the living room to help reflect more light into the room as it's such a dark room. It needs a new wire on the back and can anyone recommend a secure fixing hook that goes into a brick chimney wall above a fireplace please. ? It's heavy!
I don't know what to ask for.
Thanks.

 

[Pattree]

A couple of these will hold it.

You’re going to need a hammer drill!

EDITED TO ADD:
Scroll back to the hooked version.

 

[Woody girl]

A couple of these will hold it.

You’re going to need a hammer drill!

EDITED TO ADD:
Scroll back to the hooked version.

So I gotta buy a hammer drill too? I think I'll have to get an odd job man. Thought this would be a simple, cheap thing to do.
Just occasionally I miss a man about the place! Though I'm getting pretty good at doing simple things.....like the u bend.
I don't have a hammer drill, just a bit and brace......how on earth did they hang heavy mirrors in victorian times before electric hammer drills ??????
Thanks for the info on what to get to hang it safely xx

 

[Pattree]

..how on earth did they hang heavy mirrors in victorian times

They used a hammer drill!

It was a hardened steel tube with teeth that they hit with a be big hammer. Then they filled the hole with strips of wood and screwed in some heavy hooks.

Can’t you borrow an electric hammer drill?

Edited to power the drill.

 

[Herman30]

@Woody girl I use reflective webbing like this when outside at dark:

 

[Chris]

How come a hammer drill is needed? Can you not just use a normal drill with a masonry bit?

 

[Stew]

How come a hammer drill is needed? Can you not just use a normal drill with a masonry bit?

If the suggested 10mm bolt is used for haning then I would want a hammer drill. To be honest, I think the suggested bolts are probably overkill but without actually seeing the mirror and feeling the weight plus seeing the condition of the brick it's hard to be sure. Those bolts could end up just smashing more brick out.

 

[Chris]

If the suggested 10mm bolt is used for haning then I would want a hammer drill. To be honest, I think the suggested bolts are probably overkill but without actually seeing the mirror and feeling the weight plus seeing the condition of the brick it's hard to be sure. Those bolts could end up just smashing more brick out.

What benefit does a hammer drill offer that a normal one doesn’t? Genuine question, I’ve not long owned a house and it’s a new build made of paper so not had cause to use one!

 

[Stew]

What benefit does a hammer drill offer that a normal one doesn’t? Genuine question, I’ve not long owned a house and it’s a new build made of paper so not had cause to use one!

If you look at the profile of a masonary drill bit versus a metal or wood drill bit, you'll see that the head shape doesn't cut material in the same way. They're more grinding they're way through - the hammer action punches it forward a bit, chipping into material then grind some more.

On soft brick, I've used just a rotary drill. On tougher stuff, you definitely need it.

 

[Paul_B]

We only have a wired normal drill and it got through everything we needed it to, eventually. In brick a masonry drill bit went in very easily but we had stone walls too in places. That took a lot of effort and you needed one new masonry bit per hole!! I doubt a proper hammer drill would change that much as the stone in the walls with it were real tough on drill bits np matter how they are delivered to the wall.

We ended up not putting pictures and mirrors up on the stone wall pretty much early on for obvious reasons.

SO to WG i say that in brick any drill with a masonry bit will do the job even if a hammer drill might make it easier. IMHO those wall anchors might be overkill and as said could damage the brick. If the brick is good I would go for decent length screws in rawl plugs but there are some fixings made for brick cavity walls I believe something intended to go through the inner brick and fix behind but I can not remember what they are called or much detail at all.

All I know is I used those anchor bolts in reinforced concrete to setup a fire test a few times. That was holding up a 3m square structure so needed a bit of strength. It was a pain though as some of them simply damaged the concrete too much and came out. Our setup was not the only setup bolted into that concrete since it was installed, so it was not the best. Those are seriously heavy duty fixings and I would think that two good screws fixing in a good/solid brick should hold most mirrors up. I seriously doubt a typical mirror found in a charity shop suitable for a typical house will be too heavy. We got a full length mirror in thick, very solid frame and it came with at most 1.5 inch long screws and rawl plugs to hold it up. and only four (two top and two bottom). Even in our victorian terrace house's dodgy walls it was very secure.

Disclaimer: nobody can guarantee a fixxing solution from a forum post without see what the situation is first hand so please take advice on advisement only and make your own final judgement.

 

[Pattree]

A simply rotary masonry bit works by wearing away the ceramic material that it’s drilling. My house is built out of locally made Lillishall brick. Rotation does not wear away the brick, it wears away the drill bit.
When I suggested a hammer drill all I meant was a domestic drill with a hammer option. This vibrates the drill tip s well s rotating it and has a chisel effect.

I have a collection of old Black and Decker drills and even the little 300W set in hammer will drill my bricks where the 1000 watt set on rotation only just melts bits..

Two 6mm rag bolt hooks will work fine and be safe. If I lived a bit nearer the job would be done by now.