Day 128 - More Scaffolding Removed

Week 27 - Day 128
The upper levels of scaffolding were dismantled today. The roof and gutters can now be seen easily from the street.

Day 120 - Decorative Touch to Gutter and Downspout

Week 25 - Day 120
A decorative feature has been added to the

Day 106 - Holes Drilled, Flashing Being Prepared tfor Gutters

Week 22 - Day 106
The hole in the end of one run of guttering has been completed. A stainless steel band will help to keep water from spilling over the edge of the stonework.

Day 105 - Linking Stone Rainwater Gutters to Downspouts

Week 22 - Day 105
The stone gutters are being worked on this week to drill out where the down spouts will be attached.

Day 103 - Tilt Fillet

Week 21 - Day 103
Timber arrived today to enable the fitting of a tilt fillet at the end of the rafters. This will help to stop rainwater from running back behind the last slate, and spill water into the gutter.

Day 100 - New Brickwork behind New Stone Gutter

Week 22 - Day 100
The internal brickwork is now being rebuilt behind the new stone gutters.

Day 91 - Fitting New Gutter Around Roof Trusses

Week 20 - Day 91
Certain of the stone gutters have to be fitted around the roof trusses. Just as the original gutters had to be.

Day 90 - Stone Gutters being Lifted into Position

Week 20 - Day 90
The individual stone blocks that will form the gutters to the front and rear elevation are beginning to look as if they will carry away the rain water. The gutter will be lined with a sheet of lead to make it waterproof, but first they have to be lined up accurately. Each is made to fit in the correct place and has been numbered accordingly.
The lewis chains and lewis holes seen being used in the video sequence have been used by stone masons from Roman times to lift heavy pieces of stone into position.

Day 88 - Major Progress on Roof and in Cellar

Week 19 - Day 88
Major progress made at the end of this week to the roof and the cellar.
The newly made stone gutters were delivered and are being fitted along the front and rear walls along Jackson Pit and George Street elevations.
In the cellar the screed has been laid over the under floor heating coils.
Look forward to the return of the original stone flags to the cellar floor soon.

Day 69 - Windows

Week 15 - Day 69
The tops of the windows needed to be reset as the mortar was beginning to fail. The header bricks actually partially support the stone gutter, so need to be well set to support the weight.

Day 67 - Preparing New Stone Gutters

Week 15 - Day 67
The stone gutters on the rear elevation, the Jackson Pit side, have been removed today. These were not adequate to carry the water run off from the roof. Rainwater has been shooting over the present gutter and damaging the rear brick wall.
On the George Street elevation this earlier stone gutter had already been replaced by extending the slate line and adding a cast iron gutter. Our conservation restoration will re-make stone gutters, as per the original construction but made with a different profile. They will be wider and have a deeper trough to carry away the rain water.
On the rear elevation there will be a second downspout and the fall will be split at the centre of the building, so the gutter will only have to carry half the potential volume of rain water falling on the roof. In this way a more original appearance will be returned to the chapel, but it will be better able to carry water away thereby protecting the fabric of the walls.
Two sections of the original stone gutter are to be retained by Age UK as examples of the original construction.

Day 47 - Repairs to Brickwork at the Eaves

Week 10 - Day 47
The brickwork at the top of the walls inside the eaves are being conserved and repaired. The top coarse of bricks are lose and need to be re-laid on mortar.
The ends of the tie beams are being treated with wood preserver to extend their life and prevent decay of future years.
It is possible to see the difference between the gutter arrangements at the front and rear of the chapel.
On the Jackson Pit elevation a stone gutter is still in place. Though this is not able to carry away the rainwater that is caught be the roof and has been dripping water down the rear wall over the years. the stone gutter is being re-made in fresh stone.
On the George Street elevation at the front of the building the stone gutter was replaced by an iron gutter that was carried on a wooden box fascia.
A stone gutter will be replaced here to match the Jackson Pit elevation.

Day 36 - Gutters

Week 8 - Day 36
Today a template was offered up alongside the surviving stone gutter on the rear elevation facing Jackson Pit. On the front elevation, facing George Street the original stone gutter has been removed in the past. To extend the re-roofed slates an extension to the rafters has been nailed on to each one to carry the slates to an iron gutter carried on a timber boxed in sofit.

A timber template between two of the original stone gutters
on rear elevation of George Street Chapel.

The profile of the stone gutter changes along its length. with a downspout only at one end more water drains into the gutter as it is caught by the slate roof. This profile is insufficient to carry all the water and  used to spill water onto the brick wall. So, the new gutter is to be made that can hold more water.

Virtually no gully cut into the gutter at the start of it run.

About the mid-point of the stone gutter.
See how it is cut around one of the roof trusses.

The deep profile at the end of the gutter.
The gutter had a lead sheet covering to carry the rain water - see next image.

The lead lining to the stone gutter on the rear elevation of George Street Chapel.

The next two images show how the front elevation has been changed to hang a more modern gutter from a wooded soffit.

The original rafters have been extended with new timbers to carry new slates
to a modern gutter on the George Street elevation of the chapel.
The original stone gutter would have sat at the end of the rafters.
Viewed from the north.

The new bricks show where the original stone gutter might have spilled water
to a drainpipe.
The new timbers extending the rafters can be seen.
Viewed from the south.