Usual thing, end of year time to look back at what you have done over the year.... My worst project was a bedroom in an older house. I had to refit some B&Q wardrobes that had been partially fitted 8 years ago, solve the damp problems, fix the electrics and redecorate - and of course it was a busy family so they couldn't empty the room for me to work, indeed they still slept in the room at night. What made it the worst absolutely nothing was was square or plum - and not necessarily a few mm. When I fitted the wardrobes either side of the bed, the side of the wardrobe touched the foot of the wall whilst the top had a 45mm gap, same as the floor in a 1m span the floor dropped 60mm! Usual artex on the ceiling to skim. The worst thing was the B&Q wardrobes. It would have been easier and quicker to have junked them and started again. Usual thing, threw away the 3mm hardboard backer and replaced it with 5.5m ply. However, some of the wardrobe were so flimsy, I had to put two pieces of cls along the length of the run to stop the tops sagging and replace around 60 hinges as they were so poor quality and couldn't hold the weight of the doors. Made new window cill, pelmens, paneling and trim - in the oak stain to match the sides of the wardrobe. Absolute pig of a job The best job was at the same place, put down a slate surface in their backyard. I had an assortment of tile sizes that I had to work in around drains, manholes etc. Went down really well but to make it a bit more special I engraved some of the tiles as a surprise using some Celtic knotwork patterns. We had an emotional moment from the lady of the house when I showed her the symbol for motherhood with a circle for each of the children. Quite nice when a simple job turns out really well Anybody want to share their good and bad uns
I was quite pleased with some solid wooden skirting that had to go around a solid brick pillar. The pillar had wide radius, bullnose bricks on the corners so it had to curve around it. It was to be varnished so I couldn't just cut wedges out the back, fill and paint. Fiddly jobs with wood aren't really my thing, but it worked out well. Another job that went well was felling some tall trees in an awkward spot. There were overhead telephone lines, a balustrade wall and a conservatory that had to be avoided. The lean on the trees was all wrong, but with planning it all worked out. Worst job? Tanking a water tank on an external concrete water supply. It'll need re-doing as it's cracking already.
Contender for rewarding job of the year for me is second fixing an ancient house complete, new linings, oak doors, skirts, arcs, cupboards, wardrobes, ceilings, knocking two rooms into one, lining and truing up different wall depths, the lot. Floors out of level half inch a foot, walls two and a half inches out over nine foot. Anyone that's tried to fit new items into old buildings will know where I'm coming from, there's a great sense of pride when the "**** has been polished" though, coupled with disappointment that it's finished. I didn't realise I could cut wood in some of the shapes I did, but was nice to stand back and see a house that looked like a showhome by the end. Another one was cutting a roof on a new extension, incorporated four large valleys as it was a roof sandwiched in between two other roofs if that makes sense, all of different pitches, but also with Velux windows and the roofspace utilised as a living area/loft conversion type design. Again, there's a great sense of worth when you realise you've built something that no rulebook or textbook can show you how to, gives you impetus for the next job. Worst of the year by far was new skirting, architrave and ten alcove shelves in a downstairs typically wonky disjointed Victorian terrace house not far from where I live. Came "highly recommended" to the people, work was done to usual best possible outcome, cleaned up, waste removed, all smiles throughout, but didn't stop them turning at the end when it was time to pay and started picking holes in the work and lying through their teeth about "brand new wallpaper scratched" (it wasn't, not by us anyways, and if it was brand new then I'm a chinaman), and small hole in door lining(where old filler had fallen out) despite the fact that they were getting a decorator in after I'd gone. They seemed to think it was reason enough to withhold payment (£1000), I got the money eventually after three re-visits but it left such a sour taste in the mouth as I'd worked my nuts off, bent over backwards and they were nothing better than wannabe con artists. Still, taught me a very important lesson. Here's to 2017!!
Working in old house is a bit of an art. Fitting architrave and skirting is a bit of an art as sometimes it is a compromise between getting it plumb and looking right. I had a fiddly job to fit some architrave around a door frame that was hopelessly out of square. Ideally should take the frame out and reset it but it would have been a new door. No matter what I did, the architrave looked out compared to the patterned paper, In the end had to make up some custom architrave
They were, but it was me that was being picky. I could have just fixed them on and left them but they looked horrible.
, I had done similar before, it is only about 20 mins each with a Dremel but gives a bit of a lift to something that can be quite boring
Craftsmans intuition, when you KNOW that you're creating work for yourself, but the thought of leaving it is too much to bear. Good on you.
. I find I get more work through being fussy, sometimes you have to lose on a job to get more in the long run.
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