Priest's House Museum & Garden

Mid February

2012-03-01T01:24:00.000-08:00

Preparations have been underway for the floor screed on the ground floor. This is a mix of sand and cement reinforced with fibre. Finally a vinyl covering will be added on top of the screed, for example, in the tearoom and entrance foyer.

The glazing has been completed in the entrance foyer. These windows have a self cleaning film so could only be cleaned with water once installed so as not to damage the film.

The majority of the plasterboard is in place and the high level areas in the tearoom have now been plastered (this required a bird cage scaffold).

A big change has been the removal of most of the scaffolding. For the first time the appearance and detail of the building’s construction is revealed to the passer by.

The carpenters are installing the window frames and the final section of cladding will then be fitted to the windows. The doors should be in by the end of the week.

The ‘first fix’ is completed before the plasterers move in. It includes all of the bits that are never seen, buried in the walls. The ‘second fix’, including plug sockets and the like, should be underway by the end of the month, allowing enough time for the plaster to dry.

The groundworkers will be back on site soon to commence external works, preparing for paving and landscaping and finishing the drainage.

Early February

2012-02-23T02:24:00.000-08:00

The roofing is almost complete, with a few adaptations being made around the glazed area. The carpenters have finished the oak cladding and are now cladding the east side of the building.

Plasterboard is going up on the first floor, screwed to the timber walls. A very fine layer of plaster will then be skimmed on top. Wet plaster is used directly on any light weight block walls.

This is carried out by a plasterer. It is highly skilled and hard work, plasterers having to use their arms continuously to get a smooth finish. The colder it is the longer it takes for the plaster to set.

A plasterer first undergoes a three year apprenticeship, which is a standard length for most building trades, finishing with an NVQ.

The central section of glazing is almost in. It is made up of bespoke parts, for example the glazing channel, the seal between the channel and the glass and the glass itself. Modern glass is often hermetically sealed with a gas added in the middle to give it a higher insulation value.

Oak cladding and Welsh slates

2012-01-26T11:52:00.000-08:00

The carpenters have finished the oak cladding on the north side of the new building and have moved on to the west side. Wooden battens are first fixed to the wall and then the cladding is nailed on.

The oak cladding is fitted by Matrod Frampton’s carpenters. It comes direct from the sawmill already cut to size. They are fitting horizontal and vertical cladding. With the horizontal cladding they begin at the bottom and work upwards, each layer partially overlapping the one below. The vertical cladding involves fixing alternate boards on the back before the facing boards are added on top.

Reclaimed Welsh slates have been used to roof the tearoom and the roofers are now continuing over the storage area. With reclaimed tiles they have to make sure that the original holes are not reused when they are nailed on to the wooden battens. The tiles are formed off site; they only have to cut the tiles to size for the ends of the roof.

The roofers and carpenters usually work in teams of two.

Building work progress on the Open Learning Centre

2012-01-20T07:20:00.000-08:00

We will take a moment to look back at the major milestones of the building work so far.

Matrod Frampton commenced work on our new Open Learning Centre at the end of September 2011. The first stage was the groundworks, which included the laying of the foundations for the building. This was followed by the putting up of the steel frame in the second half of October. Each section had been made off-site; the sections were then lifted in to place with the help of a crane and bolted together. The final part of the building is oak framed and these beautifully crafted sections arrived in mid November. This area of the building will include the new tearoom.

Up next were the walls. They are a mix of masonry (light weight blocks and reclaimed brickwork) and studwork (timber frames). The builders are now fixing on the oak cladding to the outside of the building.

An important stage in any building project is the construction of the roof and at the time of writing this is almost complete. The roof is made up of timber rafters, facias (the flat band under the roof edge), soffits (the under-surface), felt and battens (which go on top of the rafters), and finally the roof coverings (both slates and tiles are being used). When completed the building will be watertight.

Some of the work understandably relies on the weather, not least concrete and mortar. For both to set properly the temperature has to be 3°C and rising. Concrete has been used for the ground floor and first floor, while lime mortar joins the bricks together.

Latest pictures of the Open Learning Centre

2011-12-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

Below is a small selection of pictures from the building site as Matrod Frampton continue to work on the new facility.

Welcome to the Priest's House Museum & Garden Blog!

2011-11-30T09:25:00.001-08:00

This is a first posting on what we hope will become a fantastic resource for the museum.