Window

Here it is, the almost finished window:

It may not look like much but putting holes in stone walls is hard

Lintel in 300 year old oak recycled from the upstairs fireplace

And the facade with all the windows in place (-) Libby's balcony; a project for next summer.

The end of the summer - catchup

Well its been a great summer, but blogging has has taken a bit of a hit, so here is a bit of a catchup of the events of the last few weeks / months....

In no particular order:

Libby's bedroom: now finished but as it was a week or two ago..

The new attic

Holding it all up

Kitchen toys

Solid oak with a beech top, all hand made by yours truly (except the beech top which I bought as a piece of worktop counter).

The working kitchen

Raw materials

To finished product

Window seat complete with cupboard, all in brown oak.

For information: Brown oak as sold by the saw mill up the road is exactly the same species and grade as French white oak. The only difference is the soil in which it grows. The soil gives it the dark brown streaks. Practically though its about one hundred euros a cubic metre cheaper than white oak and so as far as I'm concerned that makes it "rustic chic".

Window

And finally, making the window for the bathroom. Originally this was on the list for the builders to do but was one of the things we dropped on the grounds of cost (or rather the cost was fine and reasonable, we just didn't have the cash). Nine years on I've finally got a "round to-it". The window itself is now actually finished now but as its dark outside and I don't as yet  have pictures; its going to have to wait till the next post to see the lintel and window installed

Well, that's just a taste of what I've been doing!

On one last slightly (that means VERY) boring note. The granite lintel I had was a bit too long and so needed a bit of cutting. This may sound easy and the principal is simple; Score all the way round with an angle grinder, then hammer evenly along the line with a cold chisel until it splits. If the lintel is 10" square as this is, it's a big old piece of granite and will take some hammering. Added to this when I cut this it was 36 deg and full sun on the back of the house. I knew it was hot when my safety glasses filled up with water (sweat) and I had to empty them so I could see again. But eventually it did split, and right down the line: Result