Hello everyone
I’m starting this new thread as THE place on the NLMC chat forum to report anything that needs repairing/maintenance attention at our lovely Cottage, Barn, Shed and surrounding grounds.
Thank you very much,
Manchi
Apart from broken switch and missing washing up bottle mentioned before.
We have woodworm holes
- Above the showers
- In the shelves for members food.
- Near the window in the members dormitory
No way for me to tell if they are fresh or old. Maybe we have photos?
I went to look at the barn in the way out. Pretty good state (think it was a member in there last). The vents on the windows were left shut and that’s probably due to the notices being illegible. They need reprinted.
The other thing I noticed is that the mosquito screen on the Velux window closest to the door to the dorm upstairs is broken.
Wood worm is a bit of a pain, unless you see sawdust from new bore holes you can’t tell if it’s active. I did notice a few bits in the cottage kitchen table.
Normally in houses most people would get it sprayed anyway, quite common in new timber i.e. the IKEA shelves for members food and pine cladding before the moisture drops.
Maybe give it a year, keep an eye on it during spring/summer for dust and if it’s on any joist work?
Probably also worth a think on how to drop the humidity in both those areas and increase ventilation, fans on a timer or something? A bit tricky as the buildings lie empty for quite a bit. The larvae can’t live easily in wood if the water content drops below a certain point.
Thank you for posting about the woodworm, @mikedlr and @Mark_W. The committee already know about this issue and have been monitoring the situation.
We shall add the broken mosquito screen to our list of things to fix.
Cheers
Manchi
As Manchi says, woodworm is everywhere in both huts.
The shower is now working. The old switch showed some heat damage and had two wood lice inside. One of the conductors had a few wire stands missing at the contract. These have now been cut back so that there is a full conductor going into the switch.
Next electrical inspection should also check the other switch though I don’t know of any sign of a problem so there’s no urgency.
Thank you for the update, @mikedlr.
New Hut Warden
John Wallbank has kindly agreed to take on the role of Hut Warden and will be taking on the responsibilities gradually, starting with a handover with Chiz in the coming months and a visit to the Huts. In the meantime, if you have any hut issues you’d like to report, please report them here or via email to huts@nlmc.co.uk
Suspected bed bug issue at the Cottage
We have had a report come in from 2 members of a potential bed bug issue in the Cottage. The Cottage is only one possible source - there is no confirmed problem yet - so the Committee would like to gather more information. Has anyone else experienced them?
If you’re staying at the Cottage - as a temporary measure until we can confirm either way - we would strongly suggest not taking any bags upstairs, and leaving as many clothes as possible downstairs.
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@Manchi no problem. After new member’s meet the status was:
- shower fixed - all are now working
- coffee pot fixed (I’ve put spare rings in a drawer in the kitchen)
- someone replaced the washing up liquid bottle
last weekend
- “private” painted on the bin
Two of us were at the cottage last weekend along with six other people and had heard talk about bed bugs. This was actively discussed but nobody reported any problem.
well done John!
Can’t see bed bugs being given in Telford cottage. Especially if people are in sleeping bags. Could be other biting insects like midges. Or maybe something attracted onto the cottage by the open waste food bin in the kitchen. Maybe we should have a pedal bin for this?
Hi all, glad to be taking on the hut warden role and glad to be taking on such well maintained huts. Thanks Chiz!
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Welcome to the role John, I am sure that you will do a grand job.
Hi ya. So we just stayed at the barn and have a few issues to report
the boiler in in the toilets in not working - Dale tried replacing a fuse but this did not fix the issue; all the fuse board circuit breakers were on as was the boiler of course.
The fridge is leaking water
The far end toilet needs a bit of help… takes a lot of effort to flush!!
Velux screens upstairs are mostly broken
As already mentioned to Jo the lighter is gone from kitchen, we did not manage to replace it
The electrical test meter is missing from cottage
oh and a final note - the emergency light test switch for the light in the lounge in the cottage had been switched off - this ran down the battery and the light would not have worked in an emergency. Likely someone wanted to sleep in the lounge and did not appreciate the green light…Perhaps the key should be stored separately to stop this happening?
Thanks Yvonne - judging from the sign in sheet + guest logbook, I can have a good guess as to who turned the light off…
I would also add that the mould situation in the kitchen and bathroom areas of the Cottage is quite bad. Mould spray + scrubbing of walls and ceilings should be a top priority at the October working meet methinks.
Thanks Yvonne. Also mould noted Paul. Needs regular spraying.
And there was me worrying that there would not be much to do on the working meet!
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The boiler and fridge I will look into more urgently though so thanks for letting me know.
I have brought home all the dirty tea towels and oven gloves from The Cottage for washing. If anyone is going up from London in the next couple of weeks, please let me know so we can arrange for them to be returned. There are more tea towels in the drawer.
On the same subject, I’m not sure if it exists but may I propose some system for dirty tea towels that is easy for folks to work with i.e. a landry bin for dirty ones to go in (when dry). That would avoid arriving to 10 tea towels hanging by the sink, each with a solid hygiene question mark.