STONED

A pox on the person who dumped all the stones in West Sussex into our front garden! 

Bucket after bucket of rocks, stones and pebbles have been sieved out of the dirt which we’ve used to form a drainage layer almost a foot deep in the bottom of the raised flower bed.  Only Brighton beach has got more stones than we have.  The more you pick, the more you find.   Aahhh!

 

Is there an end to the stones?

Having filled our ‘sarcophagus’ full of stones and displaced earth, the other half has excavated an area below the level of the existing driveway to hold our gravel filled Aco ground grids.  When buying these grids make sure you check that it will take the weight of vehicles as not all grids are created equal.

Topping up the stone layer with the displaced earth

 

Dug out and levelled ready for weed membrane

I’ve acquired a nice roll of thick weed control membrane (Ebay) to lay down before we top this with sand on which to lay our grids on.  The weed control fabric should prevent unwanted plants rising through the gravel but will still allow water to drain into the soil.

 

Get a good thick membrane that allows moisture to soak through

Secure membrane in place with landscaping staples/nails

Drainage is one of the main issues to be aware of if building or re-vamping a driveway.  Our local authority planning dept couldn’t stress it enough in their letter to me – no surface water can be allowed to drain onto the public footpath or highway.  Or else! 

Gravel filled grids will enable us to achieve compliance with this requirement and I’m sure will be more economical than trying to block pave the area to match the existing drive.  The grids will also help keep the gravel under control.  There’s nothing more annoying than gravelly drives that spill their contents out onto a footpath.  How messy!

 

Nothing worse than messy gravel

ACO Ground Grid robust enough for cars

Meanwhile, a lovely flower bed has emerged from the ruins of our old cracked wall adding a splash of interest and some bee fodder to the front garden.

The finished raised flower bed

HE'S BACK

OMG!  He’s back strutting his stuff in his leather trousers, foppish fringe and his ‘it’s MDF darling’ goatee glamour!  Who?  LLB of course (Laurence Llewelyn Bowen). The man who put LUX into Dulux is hosting a new series of that iconic interiors revamp TV show ‘Changing Rooms’.

 

Its war on greige and pale porridge painted rooms

Naturally these imaginative arty farty decorative schemes are not going to be everyone’s cup of tea but they make mine look about as creative as a mouse dropping.  Peacock backed ceiling swing chair in a pink and teal party room, who’d have thought that up?  Not keen on the flamingo pink but I did love all the gorgeous metallic shelving and hints of Deco-ness about the room.

 

Peacock blue & flamingo pink party room

I’ll be glued to the set on Wednesday nights soaking up ideas like a bathroom sponge that I can try out in the Chichester version of this hit show.

Can we watch Gary the tortoise?

MOPSTICK CHOPSTICK

Okay, so whose great idea was it to fit a mopstick handrail along the panelled wall?  Mine, ah righty ho.  The other half is rummaging for his passport as I type in a bid to get as far away as possible before he gets volunteered for any more of these crazy projects.  He, he, he - who said house refurbishment would be easy?

I know what you’re thinking, why bother with a handrail when you can use the dado rail to support yourself on the stairs?  We’ve done this for a couple of reasons; firstly, because our property survey recommended adding a handrail to improve stair safety and secondly, because it just seemed like the right thing to do.  

My advice to anyone thinking of fitting a mopstick handrail is to get the professionals in if you can afford it as this job is a darn sight more technical than it first appears.  No kidding there were a couple of times I thought the other half was going to push me down the stairs and that was before I eventually burst into tears of frustration at the complexity of it all.  Seriously, unless you are bonkers, get an experienced person to do this!!!

 

Getting brackets into position is tricky

Then there’s building regulations to consider.  Yes, unbelievably there are some that apply to stairs specifically to heights for handrails or even the number of handrails you might need so ensure you’ve done your homework before getting started. 

Another load of endless YouTube surfing for tutorials on how to fit handrails to stairs but having finished this task, I can honestly say this is not something I’d ever really want to do again.  Getting your brain round the mechanics of positioning each bracket has given me a large headache so instead of explaining how to do this, I’m just going to show you the fabulous fittings I’ve acquired to give my mopstick a touch of ‘Hollywood’ glamour. 

These beautiful octagonal brackets can be found online at Jackson Woodturners or Ebay. 

 

Richard Burbridge octagonal polished chrome bracket

You can also get matching octagonal end caps that screw onto the end of your mopstick.

 

Screws onto the end of your mopstick

As our mopstick is 3.6 m long, it’s not easy to move it about from place to place making it difficult to cut down to size, drill holes into it or do anything other than slide it up or down the stairs.  Something to bear in mind if embarking on this type of project. 

 

Ends can be easily cut with a hand saw

4 brackets to support a 3.4 m handrail

With little room for manoeuvre, it was a bugger of a job to stain and varnish before fitting I can tell you.  The other half only just managed to move it into the spare bedroom which doubled as a workshop for this next part of the job.

 

Using the spare room as a workshop

Preparing to stain & varnish the mopstick

However, now that the challenges of installation have been overcome the end result is amazing!  

Light oak stain & yacht varnished

HER INDOORS

At last, a lurgi-free carpenter!  

Finally, after almost a month of tripping over doors in the downstairs corridor, I’ve found a disinfected tradesperson who has fitted them.  

Mendes 1930's style oak door

I no longer have to pee in the dark holding a towel over my lady parts to avoid being seen by anyone passing the bathroom.  Not that it matters much since its only me and the other half skulking about the house and he reckons my muff monument has been seen more times than the colosseum.  But hey some standards have to be upheld.

Bathroom privacy restored

I’m really pleased with the overall look of these 1930 style oak doors and even though they have yet to be treated they look amazing. 

 

Even unfinished they look great

Here’s what they look like with our Art Deco style bakelite handles fitted in place.

Bakelite handles purchased from Ebay