DAMSON TREE BARN, Little Langdale

We are hoping to get some pictures of Damson Tree to you in a few weeks time as the internal work is complete but we are just awaiting the arrival of the flamed kirkstone green slate for the patio areas which are all but complete apart from the patio covering and wall tops.

The barn is looking fantastic in the spring sunshine with views to die for. The barn already has a good few bookings and should prove very popular with holidaymakers.

We look forward to bringing you some pictures.

MOUNTAIN FACTOR, Ambleside

We managed to get all our works completed on time for the Easter opening with brisk trading I believe.

The extension to the shop looks great and should prove popular with the walkers and climbers offering fantastic quality outdoor clothing and specialist equipment for the outdoor person.

With both my sisters Joy and Kathy working there part time throught the summer months you should get a warm welcome and (maybe even a cuppa if you're lucky:)

With an official opening this Saturday I should be able to get some pictures of the completed project for you. For now, here are some of the old pictures from the refurbishing work.

CAPTURED ELEMENTS Ltd

is the formation of a new exciting sister company formed by myself and Ben Fife electrical.

The aim of the company is to provide a professional design and installation service of Photo Voltanic units, Solar panel and Air source heat pumps either retro fitted to your house or incorporated into a new built house or extension.

Moving with the times and living in a more sustainable environment I think has a lot of benefits. With a system installed correctly and care taken as to its visual impact to its surroundings is a good sound investment and can add value to your home and become a great asset to the property should you decide to sell.

If you would like more information on the above, please don't hesitate to contact me.

VIOLET BANK, Hawkshead

Since our last blog on Violet bank things are moving along nicely.

The new oak trusses have been constructed on the floor and erected with the oak purlins, which now form the roof. John Martin, our local joiner/craftsman, I think you will agree, has done a fine job.

The roof spars are now also in place with a procters breathable felt covering. Much of the stonework immediately around the new timbers had to be rebuilt, as it was unsound and all carefully put back to match what was there. All the roof areas are now ready to take the carefully sorted and re-dress original slates, as much of the slate will be reused and a quantity of new slate to match the existing will be used to make up for short fall.

The stone facing work on the kitchen/bedroom is taking shape and this will also receive a new chimney stack as near to the original as possible, with a lead tray at roof level, slate tabling between the lead and stonework forming a drip and break.

The out house has now also been stripped of its slate and roof timbers, a new concrete floor was laid, in readiness for the hot water tanks and a bio mass boiler, all have to go in before the roof is installed.

In the mean time internal floors in the barn will be replaced with new timbers and steel floor beams, areas of walls will be rendered prior to tanking.

A new purpose built timber building will also be erected in the next few weeks to give us a little onsite storage and long term timber storage for the bio mass heating system.

RAVENSBARROW LODGE, Cartmel Fell

It is all but finished for us internally where all second fix work is now well underway.

Externally the underground oil tank has been installed behind the garage retaining wall, the boiler and plant room now has a soil roof covering which can now be grassed over to bring the woodland back to the building line.

A higher level walkway has also been constructed next to the old barn to provide access to the lower lean-to building and a small stone arch has also been constructed over the stream to form a feature, the stream water will then flow into an old limestone trough salvaged from the original demoliton works.

The front lawn is also being transformed with a new covering of top soil and stone retaining wall to the driveway and steps down onto the front lawn.

The garage has also been plastered out on the first floor to give the owner a nice studio area for painting and office work. And with a good size garage at ground level lots of room for cars etc.

The next job is building of the stone steps to the rear garden area and lots of nice feature seats built into the stone walls and dotted around the garden with reclaimed oak incorporated onto the seats to soft the stonework.

RAVENSBARROW LODGE, Cartmel Fell

Ravensbarrow Lodge is now stripped of scaffolding and can shine in its full beauty as the external work is mainly finished.

The guttering is being completed with the down pipes in smart black.

Plasterboarding continues on the ground floor of the house and is now almost finished.

Here are a few pictures of the glass well lid we mentioned in our previous blog on Ravensbarrow Lodge.

The garage doors are now fitted and is free of scaffolding and complete externally, pictures of which will follow in a later blog.

MOUNTAIN FACTOR, Ambleside

We also started a new job at the Mountain Factor outdoor shop on Lake Rd, Ambleside (http://www.themountainfactor.com/), which has a great selection of quality clothing, footwear and accessories for leisure and professional walking. Due for completion before Easter we better get our skates on.

The next door area is an extension of an existing shop which will house Paramo brand products and will allow to expand other brands upstairs in the existing shop.

A knock through has been made from the main shop into the new room with a shop refurbishment in progress.

Here the new door opening goes in,through a 600mm masonry wall its all in a days work! Well, several actually. We did find an old fire place and flue which added to the dust and muck element, mmm not nice! But a temporary screen was set up next door to keep the fabric of the existing shop clean and tidy.

















We will let you know how we got on in a later blog.

VIOLET BANK, Hawkshead

Thanks to the mild weather we had in the last few weeks the work on Violet Bank is progressing nicely.

The roof frame on the small barn is now completed.

The original crooked beams are blending well with the new ones made of green oak and with all the timber work complete the construction is ready for slating.

In the pool room, the underpinning has been completed as well as the pool pre structure, but, as you can see, there is still a lot of work ahead.

The garage is starting to look smart thanks to the slate stone facing and two green oak heads above the doors. A two coarse slate tabling has been added above the oak lintels to protect them from the harsh weather. The roof is now felted and ready for slating.

At the back of the house, foundations are going in for the sun room.

The roof on the main building is coming off soon and as the original oak trusses are not savable, they will be replaced with new ones made of green oak.

This little structure next to the barn will become a biomass boiler housing that will also accommodate hot water storage tanks and solar panels.