Charles Church Owners Club

Subscribers, subscribers, subcribers!

It is most gratifying to see that the number of subscribers to this site has doubled in the last three weeks.  Given that the number of people who could even possibly be interested in this subject numbers only a few thousand at most, I'm delighted that this site is proving useful.

Please tell your neighbours the site exists and prompt them to add a comment about their own experiences.

Two neighbours - at least one of whom happens to be a subscriber - have just had their drives bricked and seem pleased with the result.  I'll try to tempt them into giving us their story.

Also, the Pyestock development between Farnborough and Fleet is relevant to at least one of our estates so I may post more on that.

Meanwhile, thanks for the comments and for the encouragement they provide.

Roof cleaning

To clean or not to clean?  All our roofs, whether they are Roman tiles (the big curvy ones) or normal tiles (the small flat ones) collect moss and lichen like a small child collects head lice.  Unlike head lice, moss and lichen can be cleared with a power washer.  Actually, I can't say for sure that head lice can't be cleared with a power washer but I can't get either of my kids to volunteer.

Three houses in our close decided to try having the roof cleared and the results are mixed.  The two houses with flat tiles have come up quite well but the one roof with Roman tiles has come up quite pale.  I'll publish accounts of all three shortly plus prices and photos. 

Boilers

A quick and unscientific survey reveals that most still have the original 20-year-old heating boiler, typically a Glow-worm Fuelsaver 55F, and most of those have been warned by their local friendly plumber that it can't last much longer.  Or can it?  British Gas service engineers express few concerns about the boilers and, unless it's starting to make a noise, you should have little reason for concern.  Those that are being serviced annually are showing very few problems.  Even ones that are now heating an extension are doing fine.

What are your experiences of those ageing boilers?  Are we being pushed towards replacement when there's actually no need?  And if you have replaced, what have been your experiences?  What boiler have you used and how much have you ended up paying?

Charles Church designs

In the mid to late 1980s, when most of these estates were built, Charles Church used a relatively small number of designs.  Some of the larger 3 Bed and 4 Bed detached designs are listed below but can you help us complete this list?  We need to know more about the link-detached and maisonette designs.

• Campbell
• Elizabethan (and Elizabethan II)
• Hatfield
• Lyndhurst
• Tudor

Other designs that are sometimes mentioned include Gresham, Frensham, Warwick and Sinclaire but are these more recent designs?

What can you add?

Knobs

Many Charles Church homes still have the original internal door knobs and fittings. The rose (i.e. the backing plate) unscrews easily and if you look on the inside of the rose it says 'Gainsborough Hardware'. The ones we've seen so far are porcelain doorknobs with brass roses and and, although they seem very hardwearing, may now need to be replaced.

The good news is that Gainsborough still manufacture the same range and replacement doorknobs screw straight onto the existing fittings.  This is massively simpler than replacing the whole doorknob fitting. The porcelain doorknob itself is largely indestructable and it may only be the brass rose that needs replacing. 

The really good news is that there is a Gainsborough Hardware stockist in Sandhurst:

The Knob Shop 
92 High Street,
Sandhurst,
GU47 8EE
01252 875109

They keep some doorknobs in stock but can also order in replacement roses and will even fit them to your existing doorknobs if you ask nicely.

And no, I'm not on commission.

Charles Church estates

This web site is designed for all Charles Church estates that were built around the late 1980s and use Charles Church's designs such as Elizabethan II, Tudor, Lyndhurst, Hatfield and Campbell.

Can you help us compile a list of these estates in the Fleet, Woking, Bracknell area?  So far we have:

1. 'Barningley Park' centred on Broadhurst, Farnborough (post codes GU14 9)
2. 'Connaught Park', centred on Whitmoor Road, Bagshot (GU19 5)
3. 'Flowers Estate', Bisley (GU24 9)
4. Haig Lane, Church Crookham, Fleet (GU52 8)
5. 'Hawley Hill' centred on Waldorf Heights, Blackwater (GU17 9)
6. 'Moorlands', Lightwater (GU18 5)
7. Netherhouse Moor, Church Crookham, Fleet (GU51 5)
8. Snows Ride, Windlesham (GU20 6)
9. Yateley, around Throgmorton Road (GU46 6)
10. Yateley, centred on Mayflower Drive (GU46 7)

Can you fill in the gaps on some of these estates: for example the name of the one around Throgmorton Road?  Also, there must be more estates - how many can you add to our list?

Exterior woodwork

One of the bigger but less frequent jobs on most Charles Church properties is to maintain the wooden beams, facias and soffits.  Two painters with experience of this work have suggested it should be done every five years but they're biased so let's call it five to seven years.

The correct treatment appears to be Sadolin (http://www.sadolin.co.uk/) Classic with Sadolin Extra being used for window frames and doors.  There is more information on Sadolin's 'Professional' websiste.

The best approach may be to have all the exterior paintwork done as a single job and this seems to be the approach taken by the experienced painters.  This would then include the beams, facias (the bit behind the gutter), soffits (the underside below the gutter), gables, window frames, doors and all the other woodwork around the front door, garage doors and even the gas and electric meter doors.  Expect a bill of £600-800 depending on the model of house.  Any less and you may not be getting someone who knows what they're doing. 

If you have had this job done recently and could share information with us, please add a comment below.  It would be useful to know who you used, whether you'd recommend them, how they approached the job, how much they charged you and what products and colours they used.