Earlier on, I rescued quite a few intact quarry tiles (1950's) from a floor:

http://photos.dionic.net/v/public/bu..._0003.jpg.html

They're about 9x9" and 1.5" thick, clay.

I'm thinking of cleaning them up and using them as a new back doorstep.

One layer will sit across the inner and outer leaves of the cavity wall in
the doorway, becoming the door threshold step.

I don't see much point in putting a DPC below them as it will hinder me
trying to get them to stay down - better in this respect to mortar them
directly to the bricks so they don't fall off.

Being solid clay I don't see a problem with them tracking damp from one side
to the other, especially as they will be installed at the normal DPC
height, not above any existing DPC.

Anyone see why this would be a bad idea?

If so, anyone got a method of fixing them with a DPC so they won't fall off?

Ta

Tim

Tim S wrote:
Earlier on, I rescued quite a few intact quarry tiles (1950's) from a floor:

http://photos.dionic.net/v/public/bu..._0003.jpg.html

They're about 9x9" and 1.5" thick, clay.

I'm thinking of cleaning them up and using them as a new back doorstep.

One layer will sit across the inner and outer leaves of the cavity wall in
the doorway, becoming the door threshold step.

I don't see much point in putting a DPC below them as it will hinder me
trying to get them to stay down - better in this respect to mortar them
directly to the bricks so they don't fall off.

Being solid clay I don't see a problem with them tracking damp from one side
to the other, especially as they will be installed at the normal DPC
height, not above any existing DPC.

Anyone see why this would be a bad idea?

If so, anyone got a method of fixing them with a DPC so they won't fall off?


Well if they are glazed, OK, but unglazed quarries are deeply hyrgoscopic..

Nothing says uyou have to use plastic as a DPPC..what about some slates,
and some mortarloaded with whatever it is..PVA?? to make it waterproof?

Because concrete is waterproof, if made right. By and large the lack of
waterproofness in mortars is down to low cement content, leading to
porosity. Increase cement content and add something to sit in the
micropores, and it should be juts fine by itself. But a BCO would like
to see some slates as well I think.





Ta

Tim

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Tim S wrote:
Earlier on, I rescued quite a few intact quarry tiles (1950's) from a
floor:

http://photos.dionic.net/v/public/bu..._0003.jpg.html

They're about 9x9" and 1.5" thick, clay.

I'm thinking of cleaning them up and using them as a new back doorstep.

One layer will sit across the inner and outer leaves of the cavity
wall in
the doorway, becoming the door threshold step.

I don't see much point in putting a DPC below them as it will hinder me
trying to get them to stay down - better in this respect to mortar them
directly to the bricks so they don't fall off.

Being solid clay I don't see a problem with them tracking damp from
one side
to the other, especially as they will be installed at the normal DPC
height, not above any existing DPC.

Anyone see why this would be a bad idea?

If so, anyone got a method of fixing them with a DPC so they won't
fall off?


Well if they are glazed, OK, but unglazed quarries are deeply hyrgoscopic..

Nothing says uyou have to use plastic as a DPPC..what about some slates,
and some mortarloaded with whatever it is..PVA?? to make it waterproof?

Because concrete is waterproof, if made right. By and large the lack of
waterproofness in mortars is down to low cement content, leading to
porosity. Increase cement content and add something to sit in the
micropores, and it should be juts fine by itself. But a BCO would like
to see some slates as well I think.





Ta
Tim


If these tiles are the door threshold, how to you propose to stop rain
being driven under the door?
You could set a weather bar into the tiles but keeping that securely in
place might be a problem.
I thought it was normal to have the interior floor covering the inner
skin , any steps on the outer skin and an proper sill bridging the
cavity. The lst few external doors I've put in, I've built the frame
myself and router a 1/4" groove in the sill and set in a strip of
stainless steel to form the weather bar.

In your case maybe a length of SS angle screwed into the base and quarry
tiles either side?

Bob

Bob Minchin coughed up some electrons that declared:

If these tiles are the door threshold, how to you propose to stop rain
being driven under the door?

That's a very good question...


You could set a weather bar into the tiles but keeping that securely in
place might be a problem.
I thought it was normal to have the interior floor covering the inner
skin , any steps on the outer skin and an proper sill bridging the
cavity.

Fiddly - can't see how to do it... The internal floor is level with the
bricks (about 2 courses over the foundation). I don't have a lot of height
to play with. Weather bar on the door would help too...

The lst few external doors I've put in, I've built the frame
myself and router a 1/4" groove in the sill and set in a strip of
stainless steel to form the weather bar.

That's a good idea. I was trying to avoid wood.

Angle grinder! Seriously - I could run a fine slot along the top of the
tiles, about 1/4 deep and do the same - epoxy a strip of SS in... Would
brass strip do (easier to get)?

In your case maybe a length of SS angle screwed into the base and quarry
tiles either side?

I can see how that would work.

Cheers

Tim

The Natural Philosopher coughed up some electrons that declared:


Well if they are glazed, OK, but unglazed quarries are deeply
hyrgoscopic..

OK - not sure, mine do appear to have a satin/shiny surface so I guess they
must be glazed...

Nothing says uyou have to use plastic as a DPPC..what about some slates,
and some mortarloaded with whatever it is..PVA?? to make it waterproof?

Because concrete is waterproof, if made right. By and large the lack of
waterproofness in mortars is down to low cement content, leading to
porosity. Increase cement content and add something to sit in the
micropores, and it should be juts fine by itself. But a BCO would like
to see some slates as well I think.


Thanks - all good ideas. Hadn't thought of slate. Also, I can make a
waterproof SBR mix mortar (still have some left from the screeding).

BCO won't care what I do, so I'm looking for "good enough" ideas

Cheers

Tim

In article ,
Tim S wrote:
You could set a weather bar into the tiles but keeping that securely in
place might be a problem.
I thought it was normal to have the interior floor covering the inner
skin , any steps on the outer skin and an proper sill bridging the
cavity.

Fiddly - can't see how to do it... The internal floor is level with the
bricks (about 2 courses over the foundation). I don't have a lot of
height to play with. Weather bar on the door would help too...

If an exposed position, a plain weather bar may not stop rain being forced
past it by wind. I had this problem on the door to my roof terrace.
Finally fixed by fitting a Stormguard weather bar and seals to the sides
of the door. Of course if it's a solid floor a little water may not
matter. Mine is a suspended one - and the water brought down the ceiling
below.

--
*If at first you don't succeed, try management *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 26/06/2009 11:59 Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

If an exposed position, a plain weather bar may not stop rain being forced
past it by wind. I had this problem on the door to my roof terrace.
Finally fixed by fitting a Stormguard weather bar and seals to the sides
of the door.

Sorry to butt in on this but if the rain comes down hard and from a
particular direction it somehow finds a way past the weather bar and
under one of our doors, or down the sides of the frame and then under.
I'm not sure which. So, could you point me in the direction of the
'seals' you refer to please.

TIA

--
F

Bob Minchin wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Tim S wrote:
Earlier on, I rescued quite a few intact quarry tiles (1950's) from a
floor:

http://photos.dionic.net/v/public/bu..._0003.jpg.html

They're about 9x9" and 1.5" thick, clay.

I'm thinking of cleaning them up and using them as a new back doorstep.

One layer will sit across the inner and outer leaves of the cavity
wall in
the doorway, becoming the door threshold step.

I don't see much point in putting a DPC below them as it will hinder me
trying to get them to stay down - better in this respect to mortar them
directly to the bricks so they don't fall off.

Being solid clay I don't see a problem with them tracking damp from
one side
to the other, especially as they will be installed at the normal DPC
height, not above any existing DPC.

Anyone see why this would be a bad idea?

If so, anyone got a method of fixing them with a DPC so they won't
fall off?


Well if they are glazed, OK, but unglazed quarries are deeply
hyrgoscopic..

Nothing says uyou have to use plastic as a DPPC..what about some
slates, and some mortarloaded with whatever it is..PVA?? to make it
waterproof?

Because concrete is waterproof, if made right. By and large the lack
of waterproofness in mortars is down to low cement content, leading to
porosity. Increase cement content and add something to sit in the
micropores, and it should be juts fine by itself. But a BCO would like
to see some slates as well I think.





Ta
Tim


If these tiles are the door threshold, how to you propose to stop rain
being driven under the door?
You could set a weather bar into the tiles but keeping that securely in
place might be a problem.
I thought it was normal to have the interior floor covering the inner
skin , any steps on the outer skin and an proper sill bridging the
cavity. The lst few external doors I've put in, I've built the frame
myself and router a 1/4" groove in the sill and set in a strip of
stainless steel to form the weather bar.

In your case maybe a length of SS angle screwed into the base and quarry
tiles either side?

Bob

There seems to be some innovative thresholds around now to cope with
wheelchair access. Might be possible to set this into the tiles somehow.

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Hard.../sd2802/p97070

What I can't find is a pvc or white aluminium weather bar (the type that
is just fixed to the door).

In article ,
F news@nowhere wrote:
If an exposed position, a plain weather bar may not stop rain being
forced past it by wind. I had this problem on the door to my roof
terrace. Finally fixed by fitting a Stormguard weather bar and seals
to the sides of the door.

Sorry to butt in on this but if the rain comes down hard and from a
particular direction it somehow finds a way past the weather bar and
under one of our doors, or down the sides of the frame and then under.
I'm not sure which. So, could you point me in the direction of the
'seals' you refer to please.

I got them in a large B&Q. They are aluminium with a rubber blade. Fitted
to the side of the frame so the door presses on the rubber when closed.
100% effective, in conjunction with the StormGuard - also from B&Q.

--
*People want trepanners like they want a hole in the head*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Tim S wrote:
Bob Minchin coughed up some electrons that declared:

If these tiles are the door threshold, how to you propose to stop rain
being driven under the door?

That's a very good question...


You could set a weather bar into the tiles but keeping that securely in
place might be a problem.
I thought it was normal to have the interior floor covering the inner
skin , any steps on the outer skin and an proper sill bridging the
cavity.

Fiddly - can't see how to do it... The internal floor is level with the
bricks (about 2 courses over the foundation). I don't have a lot of height
to play with. Weather bar on the door would help too...

The lst few external doors I've put in, I've built the frame
myself and router a 1/4" groove in the sill and set in a strip of
stainless steel to form the weather bar.

That's a good idea. I was trying to avoid wood.

Angle grinder! Seriously - I could run a fine slot along the top of the
tiles, about 1/4 deep and do the same - epoxy a strip of SS in... Would
brass strip do (easier to get)?

In your case maybe a length of SS angle screwed into the base and quarry
tiles either side?

I can see how that would work.

Cheers

Tim
Brass might go a bit greenish in time but would work. I get my
stainless strip from Metalsupermarket - just depends if you have one
near you or otherwise a sympathetic non ferrous metal stock holder who
will cut you a bit off a 4-6m length.

For some reason metalsupermarket.com is misbehaving at the moment and
re-directing to UK2 web hosting???

Bob

Dave Plowman (News) coughed up some electrons that declared:

I got them in a large B&Q. They are aluminium with a rubber blade. Fitted
to the side of the frame so the door presses on the rubber when closed.
100% effective, in conjunction with the StormGuard - also from B&Q.


Oooh - these look nice:

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Hard.../sd2802/p97070


I can see that working quite well and no angle grinder (shame).

Thanks for the tipoff.

Tim

In article ,
Tim S wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) coughed up some electrons that declared:

I got them in a large B&Q. They are aluminium with a rubber blade.
Fitted to the side of the frame so the door presses on the rubber when
closed. 100% effective, in conjunction with the StormGuard - also from
B&Q.


Oooh - these look nice:

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Hard.../sd2802/p97070


I can see that working quite well and no angle grinder (shame).

How are you going to cut it to length? ;-)

I have a cheap Lidl angle grinder left in a cheap Lidl angle grinder stand
which is ideal for cutoff jobs like that. Since my hack sawing is only
rivalled by dribble.

Thanks for the tipoff.

The StormGuard includes a rubber seal on its face that the door closes
onto as well as draining away any water that gets past it.

But it would be nice to have a method of sealing an outside door while
leaving a flat floor. Some form of movable seals, I suppose. Like they
have on TV studio scene dock doors. Operated by compressed air on some.

My front door is set back into the house by about 3 ft which helps protect
it from driving rain. And the back door I changed to sliding patio doors
(from Screwfix) and they're very well sealed

--
*When the going gets tough, the tough take a coffee break *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

F wrote:
On 26/06/2009 11:59 Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

If an exposed position, a plain weather bar may not stop rain being
forced
past it by wind. I had this problem on the door to my roof terrace.
Finally fixed by fitting a Stormguard weather bar and seals to the sides
of the door.

Sorry to butt in on this but if the rain comes down hard and from a
particular direction it somehow finds a way past the weather bar and
under one of our doors, or down the sides of the frame and then under.
I'm not sure which. So, could you point me in the direction of the
'seals' you refer to please.

Porch is what you want then.

OR a really good anti-draught door seal with the equvalent of car door
rubbber seals.



TIA

Tim S wrote:
Earlier on, I rescued quite a few intact quarry tiles (1950's) from a
floor:

http://photos.dionic.net/v/public/bu..._0003.jpg.html

They're about 9x9" and 1.5" thick, clay.

I'm thinking of cleaning them up and using them as a new back
doorstep.

One layer will sit across the inner and outer leaves of the cavity
wall in the doorway, becoming the door threshold step.

I don't see much point in putting a DPC below them as it will hinder
me trying to get them to stay down - better in this respect to mortar
them directly to the bricks so they don't fall off.

Being solid clay I don't see a problem with them tracking damp from
one side to the other, especially as they will be installed at the
normal DPC height, not above any existing DPC.

Anyone see why this would be a bad idea?

If so, anyone got a method of fixing them with a DPC so they won't
fall off?

Firstly, they will look terrible as a doorstep as they have square edges -
proper quarry tiles for steps are readilly available and they have rounded
edged ones and also double rounded edged ones for the sides, they are
available from any decent tile outlet and they are quite cheap.

Secondly, I can't imagine what possible use a DPC would be under tiles -
what's the worst that could happen? - yes, that's right - the tiles get wet,
but considering they are open to the elelments on top, it's irrelevant.

Neat PVA the entire area to be covered, then mix sand/cement @ 2:1 and use
as tile adhesive and grout.
You can dab a blob of neat PVA to the back of each tile prior to
laying....when all done and grouted, wash over with damp sponge so that no
visible chunks of mortar are present.
The following day it will dry white, so give a light wipe over with boiled
linseed oil on a rag.


HTH


--
Phil L
RSRL Tipster Of The Year 2008

Phil L coughed up some electrons that declared:

Firstly, they will look terrible as a doorstep as they have square edges -
proper quarry tiles for steps are readilly available and they have rounded
edged ones and also double rounded edged ones for the sides, they are
available from any decent tile outlet and they are quite cheap.

This is valid. Just trying to be green and reuse some materials... It's is
true that the tiles on the front step are faced off with a soldier course
in brick.

Secondly, I can't imagine what possible use a DPC would be under tiles -
what's the worst that could happen? - yes, that's right - the tiles get
wet, but considering they are open to the elelments on top, it's
irrelevant.

I was worried in the reverse direction - taking damp into the inner leaf.

Neat PVA the entire area to be covered, then mix sand/cement @ 2:1 and use
as tile adhesive and grout.
You can dab a blob of neat PVA to the back of each tile prior to
laying....when all done and grouted, wash over with damp sponge so that no
visible chunks of mortar are present.
The following day it will dry white, so give a light wipe over with boiled
linseed oil on a rag.


That's very useful - I didn't know about the linseed oil trick. Thanks!

HTH

On 26/06/2009 13:13 Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

I got them in a large B&Q.

Thanks. Looks like an outing to b&Q then.

--
F