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This article can be also found at this Hub Pages link, Fixing the landing.
Welcome to our article, Fixing the landing.
Dear readers, in this article,
we are going to talk about how to maintain and fix those outside patios or
landings. But first, let us explain to those that are not familiar with these
types of old timber buildings, and the reasons why we have those landings
outside the main building.
The reason that in Australia we have stairs and
patios or landings outside the main building, is to save space under the roof
of the building itself; we do that, because it is cheaper and also easier to
build, the Australian climate is hot and in most places dry, so, people like to
live in the open, therefore, they don’t mind if the stairs and the landings are
outside, therefore, a lot of the cheaper houses have these stairs and landings
outside.
Now, because they are outside, they need more maintenance. Here we need to add that even though in Australia the climate is hot, and in most places dry, it is not so everywhere, so, those buildings that happen to be near the sea-side tend to receive too much rain, so, they need more maintenance that those building that are in a dry place.
Anyhow, we know
that timber building need more maintenance than concrete buildings, especially
those parts of the building that are exposed to the weather, because the timber
rots away easily when it becomes wet, so, those timber landing outside need
more maintenance, they need to be painted every second year or there about,
they need to be looked after and those nails that every now and then pop-up
need to be driven and punched down, but that is not all, the worst part of it
all, is that they rot easily and they need to be fixed.
This type of work must be done often, and it is
better if we do them as soon as it is obvious that they need to be done,
whether they require fixing or painting or both. Because when we don’t paint
often enough, some flooring boards may start to rot away to the point where you
need to replace them, sometimes this can be a few pieces of flooring boards, at
other times most of them; anyhow today I have to fix this long landing, in this
block of flats, which is like an open long balcony.
Today fixing this landing problem.
Anyhow, today I have this problem to solve; the
edge of this long landing that was fixed about fifteen years ago with hardwood
timber, that was supposed to last a long time is again rotten, so, I
need to fix it. I believe that the timber that I bought was not properly
treated. I believe that this is the sign of the time, because of some shortage
of good mature trees, the timber mills use any timber and some of this timber
does not last as long as it used to last in the past.
Now if you look at the photo, this is not going to be an easy job, because there is
this long steel hand rail on top of it and cannot be removed easily, as it
would cost a lot to remove it and then replace it again; so, I have to try to
remove the rotten timber from underneath a short section at a time, while at
the same time I prop up that section of hand rail. As I have said this landing
was renewed about fifteen years ago, and at the edge we used a larger piece of
hardwood timber instead of the simple flooring boards, because we needed good
grounds to attach the hand rail to it, anyhow, it has worked out all right for
fifteen years, but now it needs replacing.
Today because the grounds have rotten a bit more, I
have decided to use a larger piece of timber, so that it can bridge better the
outside edge of the landing to the timber joists, the timber joists come from
the building itself and in this case work as a cantilever, like a very long
balcony in a concrete building. Now because the hardwood has rotten in a very
short time, I am going to replace them with treated pine slipper, because they
are cheaper, lighter and easier to nail, I know it is a new approach and most
builders may not approve what I am going to do, but I am going to try, I
believe that the sleepers will last at least as long as the hardwood did.
Anyhow, we will see how it works out soon; and then we will see if they are
going to last in a few years.
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Replacing the timber edge.
I have started to work to replace the old hardwood
landing edge, with these new pine slippers, it is going to be harder than I
thought it would be; to remove the old edge is very hard because there is the
hand rail in the way, but in any other way is going to be more costly, I know
it is going to be a real struggle for me but I am stuck with it. You see, we
don’t want to spend a lot of money on these landings of this old block of
flats, because the building itself is becoming old and in fifteen to twenty years
is going to be demolished and a brand-new building will be build. We are saying
this because this is how these timber building usually last in Brisbane
Australia, old timber building reach a stage when it becomes necessary to
replace the existing building with a new one; very likely the new building will
be a concrete building, nobody really knows, what it would be the right thing
to build, in fifteen to twenty years’ time, because the local by laws may
change and also the way we build changes continually.
Anyhow, the other day I have pulled up some of the
old edging and I have set the first sleeper in place, but I still have to
replace about another three of them, and also remove and replace any other
timber that needs replacing and then paint at least what I have replaced; but
really I am going to paint the entire landing and also the steel hand rail that
is rusting, it is going to be a long job, since I am doing it a bit each time,
when I have some times to spare. Anyhow, I believe that it is going to turn out
all right.
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Other building things.
Dear readers, I believe that I have written several DIY buildings articles, so, let us go back to see what we have done. In our last articles, D.I.W. house repairs, we have talked about stairs repairs, and other things that we are going to review here. We have also written about, House renovating, where an entire house was renovated; and fixing old timber landing, of course, there other things that need to be done on timber building, if the owners feel like doing it, anyhow try to do some D.I.Y, you will be proud you did, you see, I did and every time I see what I have done, I am proud about it.
Anyhow, here I want to add another thing that can be done in these timber houses. For instance here in Queensland most houses have a roof over their patio (veranda) most houses have large verandas, (since these are spaces that have a roof on them but they are open and have a hand rail around for safety reasons, if the building if off the ground) so, if an owner feels like that he is short of space in the house, and he needs a small room for the kids or a study, he can enclose some of the veranda space and have an additional room at this house, because there is no structural alterations and the roof is already there, this can be a D.I.Y. job, as long as you know enough how to do it.
I believe that I have said enough in this article, so, see you in our next article, where we are going to talk about how to buy and own a house, in our article, Friends are there to help.
To see more click on this link, Fixing the landing.
See you soon.
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