Need help datin g a chest of drawers.

[mart]

"Like jacking-up an old house to get it level, ya gotta do it nice n' slow like"

Maybe if it was built proper in the first place...there would be no need for .."jacking it up"...Don,t you guys put in stone/concrete foundations....this house that we,re in has stone foundations..to a depth of 7ft...then the outside walls 20in thick stone....and apart from settlement cracks when it was first built, in 1890..it has,nt moved ......the walls are still plumb..and the floors/ceilings are still level....

Do you have no experience with clayey soils laddie??

Our house has 18 inch thick lower story walls, made of concrete, with 12 inches on the second story. Solid! And yet we get cracking. Why? Because the soils underneath are "clayey," which means they expand, heave, and contract according to temperature and moisture. Given enough time and years they'd bring a castle down, through no fault of the builders.

We are on pier and beam sitting on top of sugar sand first two feet and red clay and coal under that !!  Not perfect but not bad either !!  Built in the 50`s !!

[robgil]

Luck would have it our cottage isnt listed. Its built on an Oak timber frame with wattle and daub infills and mud and stud on some walls. One half of it has a Georgian fireplace, the other an inglenook built out of Tudor bricks, it's thatched. Its basically a two bay cottage with a cross entrance. One half had burned down in 1760 and was rebuilt in Elm although the corner studs are original. It has a clay lump lean-to on the back.
I know what you mean by us being the custodians and this means it is our duty to preserve rather than renovate or restore, so many people seem to think restoration means renewal. I have seen too many old houses ''restored'' and basically destroyed as a result. Its usually down to a mixture of building regs and conservation, I always lean towards conservation and will always side with the conservation officer. What BC dont know wont hurt them.
There is nothing wrong with buying a listed building so long as you are aware of what listing means and why buildings are listed in the first place, too many people buy them then think they can do what they want with them.
Our cottage is undergoing a lot of work but I am doing it myself and although not listed I am treating it as so. Even the daub panels, if bad are being repaired properly with the least amount of disturbance possible. Sometimes it is necessary to remove the daub to repair the frame but this gets re-mixed and reapplied when the repairs are complete. Everything gets documented and photographed before and after repair.
I really dont like old houses that state they are old but when you look in through the front door you are met with comparatively modern materials, paints and construction techniques. Lavenham is a good example of a medieval village that has had a Victorian make over, very few houses and buildings in Lavenham can boast originality dating before the 1800's.
What is really grinding my gears at the moment is the use of kitchen and bathroom paint on daub panels and modern dark stain on timbers, because this is a nightmare to remove without doing any damage and sometimes its best to leave it be.

[bigwull]

Well if you are ever needing any wood slabs let me know...we,ve recently moved into an oldish house...1890, and when it came to doing the kitchen..it was on to ebay...where we picked up a bargain..oak doored kitchen and stoves range for £266 and then up to my local sawmill, for the worktops,...2 x 3.9m x 62cm x 6cm slabs of American Cedar...all cut and delivered..for under £250...then just last week, we were in a cafe/gallery and they had a wood slab small coffee table for sale ..@£299...it measured  70cm x 75cm sitting on two slab legs,..it was made of spalted beech...i,m busy making 2 x small side tables from Sycamore 1 x 65cm x 40cm x 6cm on slab legs, and the other is 75cm x 83cm x 6cm again on slab legs...total cost for the wood.£50....this sawmill has tones of wood slabs, average price for 1.5m x 60cm x 5cm £40 with no vat....

[robgil]

Thats a good price, my kitchen we have decided will be of brick supports with Oak shelves and ledge and brace doors, or maybee just ledge doors depending on how busy I am. I was watching a nice slab of Elm on the bay a while back that would have been lovely as a work top but unfortunately it came at the wrong time as we wont be doing the kitchen for a long while yet. Slabs wont be too hard to find, dried and seasoned slabs might be a different story.

[robgil]

Anyhow, back to my chest.
The drawer runners are pretty screwed, normally I would live with them however the drawer stops are cutting into the drawer bottoms.
Replacing the runners looks like a horrendous job. Are there any tricks to do this without too much disturbance?
I was thinking of cutting them in half in situ where the groove for the dust panel has been cut then replacing the top half with soft pine.
Any thoughts?
Here are some more pics.

[ghopper1924]

"Concrete foundations? Thats sacrilege!"

Not sacrilege if your house was built in the 1940s, as mine was. Solid as a rock, with lots of oak woodwork inside...

[robgil]

Indeed, although I would still not rule out the use of lime in 1940, however cement does seem more likely. The only problem with 'solid as a rock' is 'easily cracked' when it does move, especially render on an old shrinking timber frame. Why people put cement render around timber framed buildings is beyond me.

[mart]

I see some space below the runner !!  Have you checked it for square ?? Could be the crack in the top is the cause of the drawers not hitting the runners properly !! If so they will wear unevenly and be difficult !! 

[bigwull]

Indeed, although I would still not rule out the use of lime in 1940, however cement does seem more likely. The only problem with 'solid as a rock' is 'easily cracked' when it does move, especially render on an old shrinking timber frame. Why people put cement render around timber framed buildings is beyond me.

Cement & concrete....if it was good enough for the Romans...its good enough for me....and as for conservationists... Ha, let them put their money where their mouth is  and you would,nt hear a peep out of them....

[robgil]

They could put their money where my wallet is if they like.

The runners could have moved, but a good 90 percent in places above the dust panel has gone.

Here are some better photos.

This one shows the wear on the runner right down to the dust panel and the wear on the drawer stop as it rubs on the bottom of the drawer, preventing this will mean preventing any further damage to the drawer bottom.



Its difficult to see the wear as the batteries on my camera have had it and it is taking pants photos.



The runner has worn so thin in places it is like paper.



You can see here how the side of the drawer has polished (with the help of some wax I suspect) the side of the runner as it wore down through it, you can see the level the drawer should be at above the polished part.

Just looked again , in the photo it doesnt look polished at all, best get some batteries in that camera.

[bigwull]

They could put their money where my wallet is if they like.

The runners could have moved, but a good 90 percent in places above the dust panel has gone.

Here are some better photos.

This one shows the wear on the runner right down to the dust panel and the wear on the drawer stop as it rubs on the bottom of the drawer, preventing this will mean preventing any further damage to the drawer bottom.

Batteries failing.....Ha....i ts a poor man that blames his tools....

Its difficult to see the wear as the batteries on my camera have had it and it is taking pants photos.



The runner has worn so thin in places it is like paper.



You can see here how the side of the drawer has polished (with the help of some wax I suspect) the side of the runner as it wore down through it, you can see the level the drawer should be at above the polished part.

Just looked again , in the photo it doesnt look polished at all, best get some batteries in that camera.

[bigwull]

From what i,ve heard Suffolk.is a wealthy county,.and its ..folk have got deep pockets and short arms... .

[bigwull]

Its a handsome looking chest from the front...those sides look to be solid mahogany...the back is pine,as for  getting the drawers to run free...if their anything like the drawers in our chest...part of the problem is over loading and the other is knowing how to pull..i know it sounds stupid but you,d be amazed at how many times my wife has a problem opening the drawers...."there stuck again"comes the cry...then i go up and pull and they run free....

[robgil]

Suffolk may be wealthy, but I'm not from suffolk. Irish , so I have both empty pockets and short arms.

The drawers do run freely although my other half wont ever close them properly. My main concern is stopping them from wearing any further and causing more damage.
The runner seems to be all one piece, a groove cut out to accommodate the dust panel and it notches on two corners to fit inside the outer uprights in the cabinet frame, in other words I wont be trying to replace the runners.
Is it plausible to chisel the runner flat where the drawer has worn it then glue in some new wood? It wouldnt take much, probably 1/4 inch x 1/2 inch.

[mart]

You would have better luck adding a shim along the low place and sanding down to the original !!  Or could add it along the entire runner if its really worn !! A thin piece of pine can be sanded easily where needed !!  Glue and small brads to attach it !!  Just takes a lot of putting the drawers in and out till you see if they move as they should and the front is in line with the case !! Then a few coats of parafin along the runner and drawer bottom to keep them moving smoothly !!