Narrowboat refurb - Back to the bathroom...

Discussion in 'Restorations' started by Zed, Oct 12, 2022.

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  1. Poptop2

    Poptop2 Administrator

    I got the dubious job of finding applications and ways to use it when it first came over from Germany as a trial product for window use. We bought it in large orange containers a bit like a fire extinguisher with a long hose and a trigger like a garage airline blower. We cleaned it with a special thinners after each use. We found it sealed pressed metal transoms and mullions quite well and was quite a good glue to set domestic windows into brickwork. We never did compress tests on it but from some of the old stuff I’ve since taken out of jobs I’ve done over the years I’d be quite content to use as such in certain places. It’s quite a good product and has saved a lot of people a lot of work over the years. In our case we used to order lots of cast aluminium stop ends of all shapes and sizes for our pressed metal mullions and transoms, we had three guys drilling and securing them on trestles laid out for yards in the factory and it took days on a big job. One day I looked at the possibility of just sealing the ends with a squirt of foam and after trials decided that was the solution. We never did use cast aluminium again.
     
    Poptop2, Nov 25, 2023
    #381
  2. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    That was more or less how I first used it - steel curtain walling with hollow sills - we filled the sills after pointing out to the designer that they were exposed. How it faired I have no idea.
     
    Zed, Nov 25, 2023
    #382
    Poptop2 likes this.
  3. Poptop2

    Poptop2 Administrator

    Curtain walling design and troubleshooting was my life for five years after I qualified. Interesting job as it incorporates the whole building design. I was often sat up for night after night studying plans and drawings to see why the fitters were having issues fitting one of the floors or a lot of top floors, then I’d do a site inspection and low and behold the expansion joints from floor’s below would be missing, brickwork could be 100mm out in places and people who were supposed to be able to read drawings and in charge of others couldn’t. Some of the top level site meetings could get a bit heated to say the least, especially when the blame lay squarely at someone’s feet! I left after five years because the poor workmanship was getting to me. I’ve since let that side of my character go as it eats at you!
     
    Poptop2, Nov 25, 2023
    #383
    art b likes this.
  4. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    We had a job doing 40 classroom walls. Each one diligently designed by the boss who'd been a detail draughtsman previously. They were loaded on the lorry as separate classrooms then chucked in heaps by part type when delivered. Doh! Best laid plans and all that. We spent an hour or two every morning just searching for the parts for that day's "wall" and sorting other parts if we could, but there wasn't room to sort the lot out in one go.
    I sent back anything where the powder coating was damaged by delivery. Luckily it was delivered by the company that powder coated it all so there couldn't be any argument.
     
    Zed, Nov 25, 2023
    #384
  5. Poptop2

    Poptop2 Administrator

    One of my other hat jobs was being in charge of transport ( actually that was my main jobs before taking up the qualification and studying for it) Because our jobs were so huge at times we developed a system where everything was ordered and delivered in stages, we wouldn’t have even allowed the drawings out until the previous planned stage was done and dusted, ie in the final stages of production. My drivers were well drilled in delivery stages too and were like little corporals when overseeing the unloading. Pilkingtons and the pressed metal companies were in on every stage too and their drivers were of the same mind. I worked really hard on that side of things but then they decided I had to better myself and take that qualification. In hindsight I should have stuck to what I enjoyed and said no!

    You have just reminded me of the different coatings we had on offer. Powder coating superseded acrylic coating, but anodising remained a constant. I still have my micron tester here somewhere!
     
    Poptop2, Nov 25, 2023
    #385
  6. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    Just looked on google and whole school has been demolished and rebuilt with hardly any windows - no surprise really, it was all single glazed.
     
    Zed, Nov 25, 2023
    #386
    Poptop2 likes this.
  7. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    Just to keep the thread ticking along, mostly for my own record and amusement...
    Bog installed. Messed up with my paint colour height didn't I? :rolleyes:
    IMG_20231125_163359496.jpg

    Towel stuff above the radiator and a hook nearer the shower... Didn't really need that, the towel rails aren't a million miles away but I bet I do use it... and the shower drain pump switch with extra plate after messing up it's installation. That will be on the "could have been better" list but was the biggest bit of flat white plastic I could find.
    IMG_20231125_163346952.jpg

    Oh yes, I'd forgotten all about the roof vent until I remembered a few days ago, cut the hole through the ply and insulation and fitted the liner. No choice positioning it because it was already there through the steel roof... and some plastic trims to cover the gaps. Hmm, that vent through to the kitchen was a desperate attempt to air the always cold and wet previous bathroom. Maybe I can cover it with a wall cabinet if I get a big enough one. IMG_20231125_165002905.jpg

    Slowly inching forwards. The radiator and new insulation have made it so much nicer in there compared to when it was unheated walkthrough with a side hatch. Really happy I bit the bullet with the radiator pipes under the floor thing, it works so well and takes the barest heat to keep the chill out of there - something connected to heating went as planned!
    Just got to...
    Shove concrete under the tray and cover it/ply edge below the tray.
    Get a mirrored cabinet and install above sink.
    Last few bits of trim.
    Flooring.
    Shelf in the pump cupboard/latch for it's door.
    Porthole liner.
    Think that's it. Pretty cool as I was expecting to leave the bathroom for next year - I'm ahead!

    Then of course back into the the rear room for trims, clothing storage etc. I'll do the top half at least and secondary glaze the roof window (removeable)
    Oh bum, haven't finished trimming the corridor either.
    All in all though, I'm down to fiddly time consuming but lightweight jobs now - a bit here and a bit there - pottering. :)
     
    Last edited: Nov 25, 2023
    Zed, Nov 25, 2023
    #387
    Meltman, Jean-François, Poptop2 and 6 others like this.
  8. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    Eventually got around to ramming the second tub of concrete under the tray. I was a bit surprised when it all disappeared under there but that just makes me happier I knuckled down and did it + I don't like waste. :D
    IMG_20231129_183329908.jpg
    There's been a pause lately as the marina office staff have been on holiday making deliveries a bit risky - fine if things turn up via one of the couriers with accurate tracking but you never know who suppliers will use. They're back so I ordered a mirror cabinet and guess what? They took another day off! Lucky it was DHL this time so I didn't have to hang around for hours in the car park. This managing couple will shut the office all day for a hospital appointment 10 miles away - they both drive, one could stay here and man the office, but in any case - all day? I foresee their days are numbered. The owner was here the other day asking questions, there are a fair few moorers who've been here since it opened and are on very good terms with said owners. I reckon there's been some complaints. Me? I keep my head down, it is what it is - we have zero rights on the water and some people forget it's easier to chuck out the moaners than sort out the problem they complain about which is almost always an "extra" they've assumed is some sort of right. :)
     
    Last edited: Nov 29, 2023
    Zed, Nov 29, 2023
    #388
    iblaze likes this.
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