Hello everybody. I'd like to introduce myself as a semi-skilled house renovator, used to working on a shoestring. I bought an ex-LA 3-bed semi back in September. Built in 1957, it had been lived in by an old boy who had his own ideas about DIY, and didn't spend money unless he had to.
There has been much to do and I've had the advantage, unlike with previous properties, of having a missus with her own home so I can work during the day, lock up on the mess I've made, go home, have a shower.
However the time came this weekend when I felt I had to show off my bower, and having renovated the upstairs rooms to a modest level of comfort I decided to invite my lady over for a meal and to spend the night under my roof.
It came to our attention that the party walls were not as soundproof as those we'd been used to at her house, built circa 1900. The sound of running baths (showers?), voices, and general family noise intruded into our idyll. Never mind, we'll get used to it ...
However worse was to come with the dawn, as we were awoken by what sounded like an army of hobnail-booted animals clattering about on the roof.
When we observed later from the front garden we could see a starling flitting to and from a hole in the soffit on the corner - one of the jobs that was 'on the list' but had been re-prioritised several times.
Birds nesting in the roof. How lovely, and how conducive to a good night's sleep. I don't want to patch up the hole to be greeted one day by the sound of feeble, despairing chirping of sealed-up chicks ... The research indicates, for starlings, 3 day's nest building/egg-laying, 12 days incubation, 23 days fledging. I won't be moving in just yet.
The signs are that replacement of soffits at least are indicated. Heights aren't a problem for me, just working off ladders. I've heard that scaffold towers are not too expensive, so my next step is to ask on the forum about people's experience of these.
Hopefully I'll be posting with more entertaining twaddle and desperate enquiries soon.
There has been much to do and I've had the advantage, unlike with previous properties, of having a missus with her own home so I can work during the day, lock up on the mess I've made, go home, have a shower.
However the time came this weekend when I felt I had to show off my bower, and having renovated the upstairs rooms to a modest level of comfort I decided to invite my lady over for a meal and to spend the night under my roof.
It came to our attention that the party walls were not as soundproof as those we'd been used to at her house, built circa 1900. The sound of running baths (showers?), voices, and general family noise intruded into our idyll. Never mind, we'll get used to it ...
However worse was to come with the dawn, as we were awoken by what sounded like an army of hobnail-booted animals clattering about on the roof.
When we observed later from the front garden we could see a starling flitting to and from a hole in the soffit on the corner - one of the jobs that was 'on the list' but had been re-prioritised several times.
Birds nesting in the roof. How lovely, and how conducive to a good night's sleep. I don't want to patch up the hole to be greeted one day by the sound of feeble, despairing chirping of sealed-up chicks ... The research indicates, for starlings, 3 day's nest building/egg-laying, 12 days incubation, 23 days fledging. I won't be moving in just yet.
The signs are that replacement of soffits at least are indicated. Heights aren't a problem for me, just working off ladders. I've heard that scaffold towers are not too expensive, so my next step is to ask on the forum about people's experience of these.
Hopefully I'll be posting with more entertaining twaddle and desperate enquiries soon.
