Most exterior joinery has very robust joints to withstand the elements and rigors of life outdoors. This porch was no exception so we paid our initial attention to the mortise and tenons around the structure. Once they were sound, we were ready to deal with the sill itself.

The sill was made from especially large section of Accoya. A fiddly area, due to the sheer size of the timbers, was the mitre on the corner. We carefully cut this to match perfectly at the corner as it’s the most exposed and vulnerable area of the sill.

Once the repairs were in place and jointed into the original posts and any areas of original sill that were to be kept, it was ready for a few coats of good quality primer.

We were then ready to design the replacement Accoya sill and repairs around the sound areas of original timber in the porch.

All that remained to be done was replace the decorative finishes for the doors which in true Edwardian style consisted of architraves with a fairly wide ogee profile. We gave some very careful consideration to the choice of material for the architraves and after a cup of tea and a head scratch followed by some test cuts, we opted to make them from joinery standard pine and have them pressure treated. Once coated up with a long-life paint and assuming the paintwork is maintained to a reasonable standard, they should have a similar service life to the Accoya linings they are fixed to.

The last job was to install the architraves with nice, tight mitres, using the right weather resistant materials to ensure the most vulnerable areas of the design will last long into the future.

The first stage of repairs here was to focus on the small, simple repairs to part of the door lining, before moving onto the more structural elements of the construction.

We could then turn our attention to the rotten packing inside the web of the steel lintel. This was done the same way it would be done today on a new build, with the timber driven into the web of the steel to provide fixing points for a finish covering. We chose to change the orientation of the packing: firstly, to give more options for fixing but also to avoid the need to forcibly drive the timber into the web and risk disturbing the masonry.

The awkward part of these repairs is getting access behind the brickwork so some creative use of hand tools and the odd jig and fixture help get perfectly square and true surfaces to enable a repair that will last.

For the replacement planks, we used Accoya wood for its rot resistance. With the planks cut and jointed in, we then re-established the pocket so the window can continue to be serviced in the future. Finally, we applied some coats of a good quality primer to help the decorator, and re-pointed between the stiles and brickwork to close the job up.

Belonging to the gatehouse of a former manor, this gate had been incorporated into the driveway of the gatehouse when the manor was divided up and sold off. The gate itself retained its own separate grade 2 listing which might go some way towards explaining the condition the new owners found it in.

The first step was to work out what of the original gate could be retained. Unfortunately, the remaining original timber was in such poor condition that we couldn’t reuse any of it, but with the help of some old photographs, we were able to produce drawings for a new gate. We managed to retain the forged strap hinges, which meant minimum disturbance to the Red Rubber brick piers.

Being made from high quality Baltic pine, most of the panels were in good condition, despite 150 years of standing up to the elements. In the interest of preserving as much of the original door as possible, we only machined away the rotten part of the panels.

Whilst machining, we created a rebate for the repair to join to. At the bottom, we machined a groove into the bottom rail which would take a tongue of the repair.

We were then ready to made the repair sections of the door from Accoya.

This complex repair kept as much of the original door as possible whilst the use of acetylated pine for the repair means the most exposed parts of the door are protected by the best possible materials.