Tony and John cracked on with installing doors. The first pair was the East side.
A fiddely job positioning the door frame accurately in the opening,
then hanging the doors, then sorting out why they do not close, why they cannot be locked,
and why the handles cannot be fixed because ...
... of the six bolts, (3 for each pair of doors), only one is long enough!
The lower of the two here reaches the inside of the outside handle plate through the inside handle plate.
(There must be a simpler way of explaining that.)
So off I set to try to find 5mm brass bolts long enough.
Additionally I have measured for window sills, thirteen of them, and will try to find wood for them.
(We are absolutely stowed out with wood, but nothing 200mm wide, 25-30mm thick, and hard enough.)
First stop is my favourite hardware store, (also the closest), Armstrongs in Wide Open.
They do not have 5mm brass bolts long enough, but do have dome headed steel ones long enough, I buy six for one pound.
If all else fails today they will do until I can get the real thing.
No suitable wood for window sills there so they send me off to John of Storey Joinery on the Brunswick Industrial Estate.
I will not tell you how to contact him because he has too much work in hand for clients in Darras Hall,
plus my order for sills. (He made our reproduction Victorian greenhouse.)
Whilst I was away Tony and John moved on to the fixed panel and two door opening on the South side.
That piece of wood to the right of John over the fixed panel is to stop the door handle of the door
breaking the glass. (We will find a better solution.)
Margie and I moved three pieces of railway sleeper to make steps to the front door.
It is A Significant Day because we can lock secure Brookside Lodge.
I did not show you yesterday, but I have started on the plinth for the wood burning stove.
We do not need it for warmth, but it is better watching it with a book than the TV.
And if electricity should fail we can always burn the furniture to keep warm when the Gulf Stream fails.
In search of the 5mm brass bolts I went to the centre in the North East for nuts and bolts
Thomas Potter (Newcastle) Ltd.
They are really tucked away, you would not see them except when go to find them when you are told where to look.
I told the lad at the trade counter what I wanted and showed him the too short bolt.
His mouth turned down, not much chance, will go and look.
Came back, sorry, no go, best can do is this. I looked at it, it was the right length but in steel,
not a raised head but a countersunk head and not a Phillips head but a Slotted head.
He said there was little chance of finding what I wanted in the North East of England.
I said "OK, how much for six?" He said, "Have the six for nothing, as samples."
What a lovely place Thomas Potter (Newcastle) Ltd is.
Anyway, this is how they look. As John says, "They match the lock, which is not brass."
21:35 Thursday, must upload and install this lot. Other people are reading it.
I know not who, would like to. Send email to roger.broughton@ncl.ac.uk saying "reading blog", please.
Just to keep me going.