I wasn't going to do much today other than mix up a bit of soil and grass seed and apply it on a couple of small patches on the edge of the lawn.
As it was sunny, I thought I'd give the tea-house a bit of a wash down. But before I started I checked the bottoms of the "skirts" around the base of the building for any sign of rot. Unfortunately I found a bit where it was just starting to go. So I cut a 1/2" bit off part of the bottom with my jigsaw. As the bottom of the skirt is about three inches above the path it wan't difficult. Then I treated it with some Cuprinol and glued a new bit of wood in the gap I'd cut out.
It's jammed up hard against the skirt and wedged with "stuff" to keep it in place for a couple of days. I've also spread some wood filler over the join which would otherwise be noticeable, to be rubbed down on Tuesday. I also sanded the rest of the skirt, ready for a coat or two of Dulux Mahogany Woodsheen, when the repair is complete.
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I checked the other skirts, but they were fine. It's this one that is the "weather side" that was affected. But I gave the undersides of the others a coat of Cuprinol, as a precautionary measure.
Despite it being built of softwood in 1987, it's still wearing well.
I'm always concerned about these plywood panels I made freehand with a jigsaw, as plywood out in the weather can start to delaminate, but these are fine.
The whole frame of the building is only screwed together, though the side panels are glued and screwed. There's 1" dowl plugs inserted over the recessed screws to give the appearance of wooden "pinjoints." Being only screwed together, allows for a bit of flexibilty, when there's changes in temperature. Although it's still "rock solid."
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The windows which are also on the weather side, are still perfect. They are just one sheet of opaque plastic (recycled suspended ceiling panels) with applied bits of hardwood. I risked cutting those to a more rectangular size with my jigsaw, the stuff's quite brittle and could have shattered. The "frames" are recycled hardwood slats from one of those self assembly garden benches which were popular at the time. There's a gutter and downpipe on the back of the roof to stop rainwater running off onto the back fence.
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I'm even more impressed with the doors made of "2 X 1" softwood. They are still in perfect condition. I got a woodyard to cut all the pieces to size. Sawing a groove down the inside of some bits and down both of others to take the plastic panels. Then all I had to do was make them up like a DIY kit. Fortunately three of the opaque plastic windows in a row in their frames, were near as dammit the correct width to fit the building without me having to cut them. More applied strips of hardwood to form the individual panes. I made small plywood panels for the bottom of each door. Windows that size would have looked silly.
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I made this opaque plastic window for the side of the verandah, just to stop cats that get into the garden, using the rail on that side to jump up onto and over the fence. I knew it wouldn't stop them completely, but I wasn't going to make it easy for them.
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The right-hand side of building is quite boring. No point putting matching windows in there as no one would see them and being so close to the fence wouldn't let much light in.
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The back of the building is even more boring.