Original Lockwood home renovations?

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#1426811 12-Nov-2015 11:45

The tightening is about them creaking, and the old ones do tend to creak, but believe they have fixed that in the newer ones. I have owned an early one, and wouldn't buy one if I was to do structural work to it. Mine also never had the bolt tightened, don't know how it is even possible after the roof is on. I do recall we had a beam in it that sagged, and had to be redone. The old ones are after really yellow inside as they tend to go more yellow with age. The new ones tend to be stained to lighten them up. You can pick them up quite cheaply, as people with like or dislike them. Plumbing and electrics with replacing or installing new, is also not easy without nothing or putting in ugly conduits.

MikeB4

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#1426814 12-Nov-2015 11:46

Our home does not creak much, if it is a cold morning it will creak a bit for the first person to walk through it then quiet again. Occasionally it can give a bang if the sun suddenly goes behind clouds. Earthquakes are cool in it.

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#1426819 12-Nov-2015 12:03

MikeB4: Earthquakes are cool in it.

I agree!

MikeAqua

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#1426854 12-Nov-2015 12:44

The gymnasium at the high school I went to was a Lockwood building with laminated wood portals. The main area was about twice the size of basketball court and two storeys high so quite long spans of timber.

Freezing cold building that really creaked on a cold Waikato morning, when the heaters went on.

Mike

mattwnz

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#1426960 12-Nov-2015 15:06

MikeAqua: The gymnasium at the high school I went to was a Lockwood building with laminated wood portals. The main area was about twice the size of basketball court and two storeys high so quite long spans of timber.

Freezing cold building that really creaked on a cold Waikato morning, when the heaters went on.

I am not sure if the older ones had an insulation layer, although being nearly solid wood does help. I wouldn't buy a second hand one today for myself to live in, because of the lack of insulation, unless I was packing the internal walls, and installing something XPS over the timber, then gibbing. That would possibly make it more sellable int eh future too, as more of the market may prefer gibbed walls. The same thing could be done to the exterior instead, but that would be more extensive work, and the windows would likely need removing and reflashing to sit on the outside of the new cladding. I think the old ones make quite good low maintenance rentals though, as long as you get good tenants of course.

Technofreak

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#1427066 12-Nov-2015 17:31

We have a mid 1970's Modulock which is very similar to a Lockwood. The timber runs vertically instead of horizontally which is the case for a Lockwood.

I would like to refurbish the interior timber walls as the varnish has darkened over the years but am reluctant to make a start on something that may end up looking worse than they are now.

Re varnishing the walls would be a major undertaking. To removed the darkened varnish means sanding them which is a difficult job to get a good finish especially the grooves between each board. Painting them is is an option as that wouldn't need the darkened vanish to be removed, however I'm unsure how this finish would look.

Has anyone done such a job?

We did think about relining with gib but that's not cheap nor simple as the windows would no longer match the wall lining.

Overall like the Lockwood they are not an easy house to renovate. Cathedral ceilings and no wall cavities make it pretty well impossible to install extra lights or hot points without having exposed conduit/trunking.

Also there is next to no insulation in the ceiling or external walls

On the positive side tt has a nice airy feel.

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mattwnz

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#1427080 12-Nov-2015 18:07

Technofreak: We have a mid 1970's Modulock which is very similar to a Lockwood. The timber runs vertically instead of horizontally which is the case for a Lockwood.

I would like to refurbish the interior timber walls as the varnish has darkened over the years but am reluctant to make a start on something that may end up looking worse than they are now.

Re varnishing the walls would be a major undertaking. To removed the darkened varnish means sanding them which is a difficult job to get a good finish especially the grooves between each board. Painting them is is an option as that wouldn't need the darkened vanish to be removed, however I'm unsure how this finish would look.

Has anyone done such a job?

We did think about relining with gib but that's not cheap nor simple as the windows would no longer match the wall lining.

Overall like the Lockwood they are not an easy house to renovate. Cathedral ceilings and no wall cavities make it pretty well impossible to install extra lights or hot points without having exposed conduit/trunking.

Also there is next to no insulation in the ceiling or external walls

On the positive side tt has a nice airy feel.

I have seen quite a few painted white, and they don't look too bad. If I was doing one though, I would probably gib the walls and then paint the ceiling so you can still see the timber joins just int eh ceiling. Also may have a few timber feature walls, and just strip and sand and the light stain them, so you get a nice light pine look to it. That should make it nice and airy without losing all natural timber walls, and allows you to potentially insulate and rewire/plumb the walls . But a lot of work. The old yellowing of the varnish is a problem in the older ones, as it really makes them yellow inside. All the new lockwoods are light and white inside these days, which is the current fashion.
I did grow up in a lockwood, so I do have a soft spot for them. But I do recall that they do get hot in summer and cold in winter, which the new ones would have solved with the insulation layers. The one we had also had a problem with some of the exterior aluminum cladding, which bubbled in areas, not sure what caused that.

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#1427083 12-Nov-2015 18:11

mattwnz:
Technofreak: We have a mid 1970's Modulock which is very similar to a Lockwood. The timber runs vertically instead of horizontally which is the case for a Lockwood.

I would like to refurbish the interior timber walls as the varnish has darkened over the years but am reluctant to make a start on something that may end up looking worse than they are now.

Re varnishing the walls would be a major undertaking. To removed the darkened varnish means sanding them which is a difficult job to get a good finish especially the grooves between each board. Painting them is is an option as that wouldn't need the darkened vanish to be removed, however I'm unsure how this finish would look.

Has anyone done such a job?

We did think about relining with gib but that's not cheap nor simple as the windows would no longer match the wall lining.

Overall like the Lockwood they are not an easy house to renovate. Cathedral ceilings and no wall cavities make it pretty well impossible to install extra lights or hot points without having exposed conduit/trunking.

Also there is next to no insulation in the ceiling or external walls

On the positive side tt has a nice airy feel.

I have seen quite a few painted white, and they don't look too bad. If I was doing one though, I would probably gib the walls and then paint the ceiling so you can still see the timber joins just int eh ceiling. Also may have a few timber feature walls, and just strip and sand and the light stain them, so you get a nice light pine look to it. That should make it nice and airy without losing all natural timber walls, and allows you to potentially insulate and rewire/plumb the walls . But a lot of work. The old yellowing of the varnish is a problem in the older ones, as it really makes them yellow inside. All the new lockwoods are light and white inside these days, which is the current fashion.

Over Gibing a high chapel ceiling house would cost a lot of money, I have seen a few painted and we are considering painting ours in a tinted off white. We are also painting the outside in a grey.

mattwnz

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#1427084 12-Nov-2015 18:14

MikeB4:

Over Gibing a high chapel ceiling house would cost a lot of money, I have seen a few painted and we are considering painting ours in a tinted off white. We are also painting the outside in a grey.

I would only gib the walls, not the ceiling, and only paint the ceiling. That way you also get a bit of contrast with the walls and ceilings.

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#1427085 12-Nov-2015 18:15

mattwnz:
MikeB4:

Over Gibing a high chapel ceiling house would cost a lot of money, I have seen a few painted and we are considering painting ours in a tinted off white. We are also painting the outside in a grey.

I would only gib the walls, not the ceiling, and only paint the ceiling. That way you also get a bit of contrast with the walls and ceilings.

We are thinking keeping the ceilings unpainted

Technofreak

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#1427099 12-Nov-2015 18:34

MikeB4: Over Gibing a high chapel ceiling house would cost a lot of money, I have seen a few painted and we are considering painting ours in a tinted off white. We are also painting the outside in a grey.

I agree. I did a quick calculation for our place, it's expensive, plus there's still no insulation.

Unless you could guarantee the wall has no curves or bulges I think you would need to put thin battens between the current wall and the gib. This plus the thickness of the gib means the windows and doors would need to be re framed to get a presentable finish around the window and door frames.

I think painting is an option though I'd like to see what it looks like first.

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#1427100 12-Nov-2015 18:37

Technofreak:
MikeB4: Over Gibing a high chapel ceiling house would cost a lot of money, I have seen a few painted and we are considering painting ours in a tinted off white. We are also painting the outside in a grey.

I agree. I did a quick calculation for our place, it's expensive, plus there's still no insulation.

Unless you could guarantee the wall has no curves or bulges I think you would need to put thin battens between the current wall and the gib. This plus the thickness of the gib means the windows and doors would need to be re framed to get a presentable finish around the window and door frames.

I think painting is an option though I'd like to see what it looks like first.

There was one featured in a NZ House and Garden Mag a while back, we may still have it here I will look and see if I can find it. Done well it can look really good. I think Off White would be better then white. Lighting would work better with a level of reflective surface, wood seem to absorb the light.

Technofreak

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#1427108 12-Nov-2015 19:13

MikeB4: There was one featured in a NZ House and Garden Mag a while back, we may still have it here I will look and see if I can find it. Done well it can look really good. I think Off White would be better then white. Lighting would work better with a level of reflective surface, wood seem to absorb the light.

Let me know if your find it. If you were able to scan and email that would be handy too.

I agree with the lighting, the natural finish on the wood does absorb the light, white certainly lightens things up.

Our ceilings are painted particle board with wooden bearers joining the sheets, unlike the natural finish of the Lockwood.

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#1427109 12-Nov-2015 19:15

If you would like the maintenance advice direct from Lockwood for houses built prior to 1990 then you can download it here.

It outlines the general recommendations and is where I will start in regards to general upkeep.

Technofreak

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#1427127 12-Nov-2015 19:29

Disrespective: If you would like the maintenance advice direct from Lockwood for houses built prior to 1990 then you can download it here.

It outlines the general recommendations and is where I will start in regards to general upkeep.

The only link in that document that's any use to me is the Timbercote one and that's broken. :(

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