We live in an old barn, converted in 2000. Moved in a year ago.

The plaster between the beams has shrunk, leaving gaps that the wind
just loves to blow through. The narrow straight gaps are no problem, and
SWMBO is a dab hand with the sealant gun and does a neat job.

Where we are having trouble is the larger gaps, mostly irregular, around
and almost behind the older misshapen/damaged beams. They're too wide
for sealant, and I don't want to use rigid stuff like Polyfilla because
there still has to be a degree of flexibility because of the building
moving in the wind.

Is there a suitable foam for this job, one that doesn't expand like mad
and fill the whole room in a nanosecond? Or something else?
--
Peter

Ying tong iddle-i po!

Peter Twydell wrote:
We live in an old barn, converted in 2000. Moved in a year ago.

The plaster between the beams has shrunk, leaving gaps that the wind
just loves to blow through. The narrow straight gaps are no problem, and
SWMBO is a dab hand with the sealant gun and does a neat job.

Where we are having trouble is the larger gaps, mostly irregular, around
and almost behind the older misshapen/damaged beams. They're too wide
for sealant, and I don't want to use rigid stuff like Polyfilla because
there still has to be a degree of flexibility because of the building
moving in the wind.

Is there a suitable foam for this job, one that doesn't expand like mad
and fill the whole room in a nanosecond? Or something else?

Use standard filler for most of it, then a large helping of decorators
caulk.

Its not the plaster shrinking BTW, its the wood.

In message , The Natural
Philosopher writes
Peter Twydell wrote:
We live in an old barn, converted in 2000. Moved in a year ago.
The plaster between the beams has shrunk, leaving gaps that the wind
just loves to blow through. The narrow straight gaps are no problem,
and SWMBO is a dab hand with the sealant gun and does a neat job.
Where we are having trouble is the larger gaps, mostly irregular,
around and almost behind the older misshapen/damaged beams. They're
too wide for sealant, and I don't want to use rigid stuff like
Polyfilla because there still has to be a degree of flexibility
because of the building moving in the wind.
Is there a suitable foam for this job, one that doesn't expand like
mad and fill the whole room in a nanosecond? Or something else?

Use standard filler for most of it, then a large helping of decorators
caulk.

Thanks, hadn't thought of that. Never used decorator's caulk before. Do
the various brands differ much, or can I just get the Screwfix cheapo
stuff?

Its not the plaster shrinking BTW, its the wood.

All the wood? From 400-year-old-beams to 7-year-old window frames?

--
Peter

Ying tong iddle-i po!

On Mon, 11 Dec 2006 08:48:46 +0000, Peter Twydell
wrote:

|We live in an old barn, converted in 2000. Moved in a year ago.
|
|The plaster between the beams has shrunk, leaving gaps that the wind
|just loves to blow through. The narrow straight gaps are no problem, and
|SWMBO is a dab hand with the sealant gun and does a neat job.
|
|Where we are having trouble is the larger gaps, mostly irregular, around
|and almost behind the older misshapen/damaged beams. They're too wide
|for sealant, and I don't want to use rigid stuff like Polyfilla because
|there still has to be a degree of flexibility because of the building
|moving in the wind.
|
|Is there a suitable foam for this job, one that doesn't expand like mad
|and fill the whole room in a nanosecond? Or something else?

Shove paper into the hole, to about 1/4 inch below eventual surface, then
set it as a challenge to SWMBO.
--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk Google Groups is IME the *worst*
method of accessing usenet. GG subscribers would be well advised get a
newsreader, say Agent, and a newsserver, say news.individual.net. These
will allow them: to see only *new* posts, a killfile, and other goodies.

Peter Twydell wrote:
In message , The Natural
Philosopher writes
Peter Twydell wrote:
We live in an old barn, converted in 2000. Moved in a year ago.
The plaster between the beams has shrunk, leaving gaps that the wind
just loves to blow through. The narrow straight gaps are no problem,
and SWMBO is a dab hand with the sealant gun and does a neat job.
Where we are having trouble is the larger gaps, mostly irregular,
around and almost behind the older misshapen/damaged beams. They're
too wide for sealant, and I don't want to use rigid stuff like
Polyfilla because there still has to be a degree of flexibility
because of the building moving in the wind.
Is there a suitable foam for this job, one that doesn't expand like
mad and fill the whole room in a nanosecond? Or something else?

Use standard filler for most of it, then a large helping of decorators
caulk.

Thanks, hadn't thought of that. Never used decorator's caulk before. Do
the various brands differ much, or can I just get the Screwfix cheapo
stuff?

Its not the plaster shrinking BTW, its the wood.

All the wood? From 400-year-old-beams to 7-year-old window frames?


Especially the 400 year old beams. They've probably never experienced
central heating before.
This kind of shrinkage is usually a one off event as the wood adjusts to
the new ambient conditions, but in larger sections that can take a
long time. I'd fill a couple of sample areas and see when the wood
finally stops shrinking before you do the whole lot.