Jan Ford's World: Brewood Hall Maintenance

Tuesday 30 December 2014

Brewood Hall Maintenance

Of course, trying to look after an old, listed building is a bit like the saying about painting the Forth Bridge - as soon as you finish, you need to start again (although Network Rail claim to now use a special long-life paint - we shall see). A lot of people seem to believe that if you have a listed building, there is Government support to preserve it for future generations. Sadly, not so. Listing brings obligations but no benefits. What many owners find particularly irksome is that when an individual spends money on the maintenance of a listed building, not only do those funds come from taxed income but that all repairs also carry the standard rate of VAT - a "double-whammy" which can be a significant additional burden.

A few fairly recent examples of maintenance work are outlined below.

External Repainting

When I came to the Hall, lead-based primer offering excellent performance was still in use. Health and Safety legislation then banned the use of lead in paints, leaving zinc-based primers as the best alternative. After a few years, the use of zinc, too, was banned. Modern water-based primers have very poor performance compared with the earlier options. In September 2013, external repainting as necessary was carried out. The view below shows an upper window with flaking paint removed prior to re-painting.

Window awaiting repainting.

Whilst a ladder was in position on the rear elevation, I took a few pictures, included in the Brewood Hall Roof album, linked below.

This picture was taken from a ladder on the rear elevation, during repainting in 2013. John Keay foots the ladder for the photographer. Note the telecommunications 'drop wire' L to R in the foreground

Manhole Cover

The cost of this little job was actually covered by insurance. In connection with some ongoing maintenance work, we had a skip delivered. When the lorry came to collect the loaded skip, the front wheel cracked a cast iron manhole cover in the yard. This was a bit surprising - the manhole cover had been replaced a few years earlier in connection with renovation of the Small Barn and a heavy-duty cover had been specified. The skip firm's insurance covered the damage so, in November 2013, Pete and Jim cut out the old frame and fitted an 'extra heavy duty' manhole cover.

Jim cutting out the old manhole cover frame.

Soil Pipe

Most of the rain water pipes and soil pipes at Brewood Hall are cast iron. In severe weather, this raises the risk of cracking and in November 2013 Pete and Jim replaced a cracked soil pipe at the rear of the Hall. Modern Health and Safety practice required the use of an access tower to get to the broken pipe so the relatively simple job of exchanging the cracked pipe for a new one was compounded by the need to hire a suitable self-assembly tower, bring it to site, erect it and, on completion of the work, disassemble the tower and transport it back to the hire company.

Jim and Pete assembling the access tower.

Before the access tower was taken down, I ascended with a camera to take a few record shots. My pictures of the garden are on page 2 of my May-December 2013 album, linked below.

Jim, Pete, Anne and Dean pictured from the access tower.

Roof Maintenance

The Hall roof has clay tiles, with some lead work. The Small Barn has clay tiles. The Big Barn was re-roofed (possibly as late as 1930) with slate. As far as possible, these roofs and the associated guttering and rain water pipes have an annual inspection before the worst of the winter weather sets in. In 2014, my roofers managed all the work from a triple extension ladder apart from one area. They promised to return when they had a 'Cherry Picker' on hire and on 29th September 2014, they were back. In case you're wondering, yes, I did manage to get a 'lift' to see the less-accessible areas of the roof. I was very impressed with the capabilities of the truck-mounted 'Cherry Picker'.