Before I started, this former shop window was rotten in several places. I had to cut out and replace several mullions and do extensive repairs to the corner post, the old shop sign and the ceiling above the door.

One of the first jobs after lock-down was to paint the exterior, including window, soffits, fascias, doors and the porch of a three story end terrace at Hillhead. The masonry had to be washed with a fungicidal wash to remove the green mould and sea gull mess.

Quite a few of the windows had blown double glazed units that I had to replace before they could be painted. Quite often when double glazed units are blown moisture soaks into the wood of the window sashes so I had to cut out and replace the glazing bead on several windows as well as large sections of rotten wood.

One of the last jobs completed before lockdown.

Prepare and paint a large commercial building in Brixham town centre. The building was magnolia but was covered in green algae and the result of many years of seagull bombing.

The first thing to do was to wash the walls with a fungicidal wash and rinse off. All loose paint was removed and any porous areas were treated with masonry stabiliser.

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Finally two coats of paint were applied to all areas using Dulux Weathershield Jasmine White.

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The kitchen worktop at this property was badly stained and had rotted through in several places. The kitchen units are all handmade and hand painted however, the worktop was constructed from softwood which needs to be treated regularly to maintain a good finish. The worktop at this property had not been touched for many years so areas around the sink were badly stained and the drainage grooves were rotten beyond repair.

Once the old worktop removed the new solid oak worktop was cut to size, here there were two lengths. The first length required a cutout for the Belfast sink, drainage grooves and a hole drilled for the taps.The second length needed a cutout for a freestanding cooker. On the underside of both sections, cutouts are routed for the clamps that will hold the two sections together. The two sections were then placed into position, glued and clamped together and fixed to the base units.

I then fitted an oak upstand and applied 3 coats of worktop oil over three separate days. The worktop will need to be re-oiled approximately every three months to maintain its finish.

Now that I can’t do any work and even if I could I wouldn’t be able to get materials as all my suppliers are closed. So I figured that I should do some admin along with a few jobs around the house. I haven’t posted anything on here for a while so I’ll add some details of recent projects over the coming days.

Anyway, Brixham isn’t a bad place to be locked down in, especially when the sun is shining like today. The dogs are certainly enjoying the extra attention.