29-31 Hampton Street. London's East End....Sept. 1940.

spanner570

SALAD DODGER
SMF Supporter
Joined
May 26, 2009
Messages
13,060
Points
113
First Name
Ron
Onwards and upwards...

I've glued the ceiling joists to random bits of card and marked out some basic lath and plaster markings using a pencil....and added a couple of loft hatch openings.
I have also temporarily replaced the four purlins. Luckily the main roof ridge board won't be seen, so I'm excused having to make the spar top cut.

P1310882.JPG

P1310883.JPG


Very basic lath and plaster. not really required, but I thought I'd have a bit of a play.....
P1310884.JPG

Purlins slotted back in for now.
P1310886.JPG

P1310887.JPG



Yet another quick tip courtesy of my late dad...

When cutting multiple thin lengths of timber from balsa sheet, mark one face with a pencil or you could use paint. ( Although this could warp the sheet) Don't use felt tip, Then cut your 'Spars' This method ensures that no matter how inconsistent your cuts, by placing the marked faces upwards, it at least guarantees you will have a flat and consistent spar thickness.
P1310888.JPG

I don't like using balsa on a small scale model, the grain is too 'big and pronounced', but I just didn't fancy cutting up hard coffee stirrers for the thin timbers of the roof etc.

Next, I will add the chimernys, trim the joists where required, fix the purlins, add the hangers etc. and then spar out the roofs leaving spaces for the roof lights.

Cheers.
Ivor S. Traitcutt
 
Last edited:

Jim R

SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 27, 2018
Messages
13,867
Points
113
Location
Shropshire
First Name
Jim
Hi Ron
Definitely building up now. All this talk of purlins, joists, hangers, spars, lathes etc can get very confusing for those of us whose only experience of building and builders is to look one up in Yellow Pages (does that exist any more??). Looking forward to the destruction. I understand bash it, crush it, wreck it and general mayhem.
Jim
 

spanner570

SALAD DODGER
SMF Supporter
Joined
May 26, 2009
Messages
13,060
Points
113
First Name
Ron
Sorry Jim. I was forgetting not all old farts are retired joiners! :upside:

Floor joists are wot the floor boards and ceiling bits are nailed to.

Ceiling joists are wot the top floor ceiling is fastened to and are embedded into the brickwork or fixed to the wall plate, which is a lump of 4"x 3" running along the top course of brickwork. The roof spars are also fixed to the wall plate. To each spar is cut a Bird's mouth' or 'nick' as it was usually called. This was a small wedge shape cut into the lower edge of the spar and sat nice and comfortably on the wall plate's outer top edge.

A 6" or 8" x 1" ridge board runs along the top of the roof line and to these are fixed the top of the spars / rafters.

Lath and plaster, which was and still are, thin wooden 'laths' about 2" x 1/4" nailed across the underside of joists, about 1/4" apart. The ceiling plaster was applied and it worked itself between the gaps in the laths to go hard and give a good grip.

Purlins are those big lumps of timber running from gable to gable (or supporting internal walls) To these are nailed the roof timbers (rafters or spars). Sometimes, and if thought necessary due to too long an unsupported span, the purlins themselves might be supported on their undersides by either timber or brick supports onto a supporting wall.

Hangers are usually 4"x 1" vertical timbers nailed to the face of the purlins and 'tother end hanging down and nailed to runners. These runners are nailed across all the top floor ceiling joists. The hangers are nailed to these at 4ft intervals. When fixed they prevent any sagging of the ceiling.

If the distance from support to support for the spars / rafters is too long, 4"x 1" horizontal spreaders are nailed across the roof spars/rafters, from one side of the roof to the other, usually above the top purlin. This measure prevents any possible 'Sagging' of the finished roof, particularly along the ridge line.

There are loads of other bits, but the above are the basics....

There you go. You is now a woofer of some repuke!
 
Last edited:

Jim R

SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 27, 2018
Messages
13,867
Points
113
Location
Shropshire
First Name
Jim
Thank you Ron. A nice intro to what a chippy does when a house is built. After the festivities, when the decorations go back in the loft, I'll look around with a whole new understanding. Might even be able to throw in some of the technical terms and impress the missus. I find that as the years go by she is harder and harder to impress so a golden opportunity ;) :thumb2: :rolling:
Jim
 

spanner570

SALAD DODGER
SMF Supporter
Joined
May 26, 2009
Messages
13,060
Points
113
First Name
Ron
Way to go Jim!

I've yet to find a way to impress my missus - my wedding night comes to mind......:sleeping:

I'm so glad I've given you a bit of an insight into the dark world of roofing.

You might just find now't but roof trusses. There again Oswestry being an old market town, you could well clout your sweed on a purlin or two!

Ron
 

adt70hk

I know its a bit sad but I like quickbuild kits!!!
SMF Supporter
Joined
Sep 4, 2019
Messages
9,526
Points
113
First Name
Andrew
Ron - quite simply outstanding....wish I had the time to put something like this together!!

ATB

Andrew
 

adt70hk

I know its a bit sad but I like quickbuild kits!!!
SMF Supporter
Joined
Sep 4, 2019
Messages
9,526
Points
113
First Name
Andrew
I’m sure Ron knows his onions on this stuff Peter, and he’s called them purlins….rafters run vertically on the purlins, and battens horizontally on the rafters….purlins are sometimes propped to the floor of the loft. They are designed to spread the roof load, including a covering of snow. These look just like the roof on my old terrace, which had huge purlins at about 12 x 8 complete with props from the middle onto the load bearing walls underneath ;)

Just like mine.....interestingly my current house doesn't have the props to the load bearing wall(s). We have slate tiles. However, my old house did and that had modern tiles, which are a lot heavier.....or so I'm told....
 

Mini Me

SMF Supporter
Joined
Jun 1, 2018
Messages
10,162
Points
113
First Name
Rick
A fine bit of building there 570 and a nice lesson for the uninitiated as to all the pieces/parts involved in the building trade. The 4X3 you mentioned is uncommon to me, is your lumber dimensional or nominally sized? Rick H.
 
Last edited:

JR

Member of the Rabble and Pyromania Consultant
SMF Supporter
Joined
May 26, 2015
Messages
17,393
Points
113
Location
lincs
First Name
John
A fine bit of building there 570 and a nice lesson for the uninitiated as to all the pieces/parts involved in the building trade. The 4X3 you mentioned is uncommon to me, is you lumber dimensional or nominally sized? Rick H.

Rick 570 won't mind my joining in.


Causes lots of confusion when a DIY er go into a builders merchants and think the sizes they have on their list will be stocked .
All adds to the fun of building !
the size (ex. 2x4) is nominal, meaning that it's only the approximate size. For example, a 2x4 is actually 1.5" x 3.5" (38mm x 89mm) in cross-section. There are various rules depending on the size of the timber .
 
Last edited:

adt70hk

I know its a bit sad but I like quickbuild kits!!!
SMF Supporter
Joined
Sep 4, 2019
Messages
9,526
Points
113
First Name
Andrew
Rick 570 won't mind my joining in.


Causes lots of confusion when a DIY er go into a builders merchants and think the sizes they have on their list will be stocked .
All adds to the fun of building !
the size (ex. 2x4) is nominal, meaning that it's only the approximate size. For example, a 2x4 is actually 1.5" x 3.5" (38mm x 89mm) in cross-section. There are various rules depending on the size of the timber .
Did not know that..... Just look at the sizes in the B&Q racks.....
 

Tim Marlow

Little blokes aficionado
SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 27, 2018
Messages
16,907
Points
113
Location
Somerset
First Name
Tim
The only one I think I understand properly is the PAR rating, where the planning action removes material from each face but the timber size is the mill size quoted before planing. The timber therefore looses an eighth from each face. 2” x 1” being actually 1 3/4” by 3/4” when finished, for example.
 

boatman

SMF Supporter
Joined
Nov 8, 2018
Messages
13,036
Points
113
Location
NORFOLK UK
First Name
christopher
Is coming along really well Ron, will wait impatiently to see the outcome (working panto shifts means that I can't watch as it unfolds)
HI Gerry jen would like to know what panto you was in ?
jen
 

boatman

SMF Supporter
Joined
Nov 8, 2018
Messages
13,036
Points
113
Location
NORFOLK UK
First Name
christopher
AN 570 im a bit confused when i look at the row of houses to me i see 4 houses yet you say there is a no' 29 which dave is gonna move into lol an a no' 33 well in my maths that 5 houses where am i goin wrong ?
chris
 

JayCee

SMF Supporter
Joined
Aug 13, 2019
Messages
1,010
Points
113
First Name
John
Chris, I think you will find that most streets have even numbers on one side and odds on the other, so Ron's houses are 27, 29, 31 and 33.
Cheers,
John.
 

boatman

SMF Supporter
Joined
Nov 8, 2018
Messages
13,036
Points
113
Location
NORFOLK UK
First Name
christopher
Chris, I think you will find that most streets have even numbers on one side and odds on the other, so Ron's houses are 27, 29, 31 and 33.
Cheers,
John.
AHA John well that exsplains it then cheers for putting me right as around here we dont have them type of houses all in a row
ATB chris
 

spanner570

SALAD DODGER
SMF Supporter
Joined
May 26, 2009
Messages
13,060
Points
113
First Name
Ron
Nice bit of clarification chaps.... :thumb2:

Yesterday, as a short break from the roof construction, I've made me a rather knocked about 'Anderson Shelter' out of scrap foam board and part of a bog roll.
I'm might make another, but I think one will suffice. There should possibly be one per household - St**f that!

Bruised and battered, but defiant!
P1310889.JPG

P1310895.JPG

P1310896.JPG

P1310897.JPG



...and for a bit of unashamed, and nothing what so ever to do with the build, bit of fun.

P1310891.JPG

P1310892.JPG


Cheers all.
Ron
 

Tim Marlow

Little blokes aficionado
SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 27, 2018
Messages
16,907
Points
113
Location
Somerset
First Name
Tim
AHA John well that exsplains it then cheers for putting me right as around here we dont have them type of houses all in a row
ATB chris
You think that’s confusing Chris….have a look at Whitby in Yorkshire. The Victorian railway developer George Hudson was a scammer that was paid per street rather than per house when he developed the west cliff area of the town….each side of the street was given a different name….and worse than that, he also named each end of the street differently. What in most towns would be one street is therefore sometimes four streets in Whitby…
 
Top