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Heritage Roofing
Heritage roofing - maintaining our iconic buildings
The UK is home to some of the most iconic buildings in the world, from stunning churches and cathedrals to historic stately homes. Each and every one of these remarkable feats of architecture requires regular maintenance to ensure they remain in the very best condition, allowing them to be enjoyed for generations.
Traditional Lime
Lime: it’s better for buildings – and for the environment
It is now fairly well known that cement is not good for old buildings and that lime mortar should be used. But why? What are the advantages and what are the disadvantages? In order to begin to answer those questions it is necessary to understand the nature of traditional building, the process by which buildings used to be built, and how it differs from modern construction, the process by which we build today.
Audio Visual
Audio visual equipment in church buildings
This guidance is issued by the Church Buildings Council under section 55(1)(d) of the Dioceses, Mission and Pastoral Measure 2007. As it is statutory guidance, it must be considered with great care. The standards of good practice set out in the guidance should not be departed from unless the departure is justified by reasons that are spelled out clearly, logically and convincingly.
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CRE Events
Exhibitors enthuse over the CRE experience
By 4pm on the first day of CRE 24 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, exhibitors Chris and Kim Dunphy had already had so many helpful and detailed conversations with visitors that they were “completely talked out”.
Insurance
You need to ensure that reasonable precautions are in place at your church to keep it safe for those who use it. To do this, you need to think about what might cause harm to people.
You will then need to decide if the precautions already in place are adequate. If they are not, you may need to identify further action to prevent any danger. When done formally, this is known as a risk assessment.
Lead Roofing
Lead is one of the oldest materials in the roofing industry and is still commonly used throughout the world today.
Lead roofing is a traditional roofing method which has been used in the industry for hundreds of years, and is therefore proven to be extremely reliable. Lead roofing, and sand-cast lead, in particular is ideal for old buildings such as churches or historical renovations, whereas milled lead roofing is a mass-produced alternative, used for precision and accuracy in homes and commercial buildings alike.
Lightning Protection
When lightning strikes are you protected against this act of God?
The issue of lightning protection in churches is one that has exercised this publication for many years. In this four-part series of spotlights on the issue we will be revisiting various aspects of the subject, beginning with an overview of current thinking.
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The Secret Millionaire and Queen Victoria
Carpenters House – Crisis Centre Ministries Bristol.Trac-access Ltd Building Services.
Over the past 5 months Trac-access Ltd have been helping a Bristol based charity called Crisis Centre Ministries with a project located in Stapleton Road, Bristol.
www.crisiscentre.org
Background.
It had been made possible to buy up an old public house called The Queen Victoria that had been run down and eventually closed due to local troubles.
Due to ‘The Secret Millionaire’ programme broadcast on channel 4 on the 1st March 2010 Dawn Gibbins the secret millionaire donated £100,000 towards the £450,000 project to renovate and refit the Queen Vic.
This meant that the Wild Goose coffee shop could move to bigger more suitable premises.
Trac-access was asked to take a look at the property to see what they could do to help. We priced to overhaul the roofs (of which there were 6) all different and in total need of renovation along with the rebuilding of 2 chimney stacks. The parapet walls were rebuilt and new coping laid. A new Sealoflex single membrane valley was laid on plywood decking and all walls were re-rendered. A new access skylight was fitted to give access to this area to aid maintenance. The roof took a lot longer to complete than expected due to many rotten timbers that needed replacing and the many ‘bodge ups’ that had been carried out in the past to keep the building water tight. Once all this had been sorted out we were able to start work inside.
This entailed a new stairwell, bespoke staircase, levelling floors, forming new doorways and second fixing fire doors and generally helping out where needed.
We were able to work alongside other tradesmen who carried all the plastering, decorating and electrical work.
This has been a very big job for us and has taken some 5 months to complete the ground floor to enable the ‘Wild Goose’ coffee house to open on 27th November 2010.
Work has already started on phase 2 renovating the first floor turning in to offices and counselling suites due to open in February 2011.
Trac-access Ltd spider access platform have also assisted in the carrying out of regular window cleaning contracts in and around the Bristol and Exeter areas.
We have also been able to carry out inspection works for local schools for their annual insurance property checkups.
This included –
• Checking the condition of high level stonework walls for flaking or loose stone.
• Clearing of leaf debris from guttering and rainwater hoppers.
• High level steam cleaning of single membrane flat roofs of algae growth and checking for signs of damage.
• Replacing of loose or missing roof tiles.
• Removal of high level plant growth from walls, ledges reducing the danger of damage that can be caused if the plants were left to grow too big.
• Redressing of loose lead flashing.
• High level painting of cast iron rain water pipes.
• Replacing of broken panes of glass.
• Plus many other jobs that needed fixing whilst up in the machine.
We are able to write reports on the conditions of buildings if needed detailing a list of jobs that need to be carried out. This enables schools governors to work out a scheme of works and budget accordingly.
These works can be carried out by ourselves quickly and efficiently if requested or we can provide the access for works to be carried out by the school maintenance team.
If this area of our business is something that you would like to know more about please do not hesitate to contact us via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call
John Phillips on 07804 320 646
Trac-access Ltd reaching out to help you!!
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