Appearances can deceptive !!

Ey up my faithful blogworms, bit of a tale of woe this week, I'm afraid, but a cautionary tale also. Regarding bathrooms, they can be the biggest source of water damage problems in any house if not looked after and checked properly from time to time.

The resulting damage can be a major headache, not only affecting that room but often the kitchen too as it's usually below the bathroom. Our project last week and just into next week is one such instance.

"We need our shower room sorting out, we think it leaks" they said. Massive understatement, once we got the old stuff out, it was clearly rotten as the pics will show.
This has created so much more work than would have been necessary had we got to it sooner and it had obviously been leaking for a long time time. The walls had gone soft, the grouting falling out, the silicone seals were black and the whole thing had a musty, damp smell about it. 

My advice would be to check any of the above and get someone to look at it if you feel something is awry. It could save you a lot of pain and money further down the line.

Might look ok but hiding a right bunch of problems

The wall with the shower valve on was in a disgusting state and wet through

The timber framework was also totally rotten and falling to bits

Which means taking the whole wall section out and starting with almost a full sheet of 18mm ply screwed directly onto the wall studs

And creating a completely new stud wall frame to support the side wall of the enclosure.

Looks ok you might think but flexing like mad as all this weight was only fixed by screwing it to 8mm matchboard wall cladding. You have got to be joking !!

That's better a decent new pedestal now taking the weight of the new basin and holding it sturdy.

Using Showerwall panels to cut out the grout joints altogether, easier to give a good seal and easier to clean !

Recycling all the old woodwork that was still decent to clad to new stud wall to match in with the rest of the room, nightmare ! but it worked.


Sorting all this out has doubled the amount of time we though it would take for what seemed like a straightforward job.

Appearances are often deceptive, now where have I heard that before ??

Don't take chances with showers folks, they are wonderful but can ruin your day if they start leaking and that's from our viewpoint aswell as yours.

Think smart .... it costs nothing to get it checked if you're in any doubt

Looking after your world .... Jules

Milestone gets well oiled !!

Ey up my faithful blogworms, been away for a bit, have you missed me ?

What do you mean No ??

Anyway this weeks entertainment is a particularly Eco kitchen installed into a straw bale build extension to a house and we can prove it.

This is a follow up to our earlier blog on August 5th, putting into practice the things I talked about at that time. You see, there is a plan !!

With the ongoing developments we keep trying in the eco world, this particular kitchen is from our Eco Elite range in solid FSC oak with a hand oiled finish using Osmo environmentally friendly wax oils with solid Iroko tops finished the same way.

An idea we had some time ago, the first one being in a passive house up in Leyburn in North Yorkshire, although there was a lot less oiling involved with that one compared to this one !!

A kitchen of two sides with a central island / work station built using our Eco2 range of cabinets. This side for the fridge a mainly dry goods storage.

A very tricky island unit layout that took some designing, I can tell you ! The hob, sink and dishwasher going in here.

This side holds the built in oven and a free standing microwave / cookery books in the open wall to the left.

Let the oiling commence !

And keep going, with 28 parcels containing the doors and panels etc, this oiling bench saw a lot of service, it was like painting the Forth Bridge. 

As you can tell by all  the unit internal fittings, this kitchen was thought about in great detail as to the purpose for each unit 

FSC character oak doors and panels with solid iroko worktops, all hand oiled, a mammoth task but very worth while ! Note the little window on the right above the worktops, more about that below.

Iroko worktops to both sides.

The island showing a lower section for bread dough and pastry preparation and a sneaky pull out corner unit to maximise the use of space.

Same pic showing it all tucked away

AND, last but not least, here's that little window again ! Apparently, in straw build circles, it's known as a "truth window" showing the straw bale build to show people that you're not joking when you say your room is built from straw, good eh !
Is this a good time to mention that you don't, under any circumstances, keep 3 little pigs !!


The beauty of finishing a kitchen in this way is that it can be refreshed yourself over time using the same oil and a brush and so should last for years and years and always look as good as when it was installed.

As the more observant among you may have noticed, the island does not yet have it's worktop fitted, we are waiting for this to be fabricated as we speak. It will be a couple of weeks before we see that fitted due to demand on the material chosen, so you can guarantee I'll slot the finished pictures into a future blog for you all to see.