Saturday 2 May 2015

Hickory Dickory Dock A Hole Dug For A Clock

Tricia's father's mother's grandfather clock, which belonged to Tricia's mother and before that her father's mother's grandmother who originally got it from her mother in 1881 and is now passed down to Tricia from her mother -you got that?- has been causing me a few problems recently. It is very tall you see. Grandfather clocks always are. Must have had high ceilings in it's original home. The clock is about eight foot high and the ceilings are seven foot. Even lower if you take the beams into account.
Tricia loves this clock. She remembers it from her childhood and so it has great sentimental value to her.
What to do? I suggested jokingly that we should dig a hole in the floor. Tricia thought it was a good idea! So I dug a hole. It wasn't that simple though.


First I had to cut through the floorboards and then break through four inches of concrete. That was hard work. Then I came across the water pipes. What a pain! Moving the water pipes would mean digging up the whole floor. That was a non-starter. The solution was to make some cut outs in the base of the clock. A bit drastic but as Tricia said once the clock was in place it wasn't likely to be moved again for many years.
Once the hole was deep enough I rendered it inside with cement. I covered the bottom of the clock with some leftover pond liner and several bin liners to keep the damp out and put the clock in the hole.
Actually Tricia and I both think the clock looks better with half the bottom section hidden from view. We think it looks better proportioned.


It seems happy enough in it's new home. Tick tocking and chiming the hour.


I still have to tidy the base up.
 There are a few more clocks in Tricia's house too. Here are some pics.







Extremely Handsome Son George's room.





I'm clocking off now. Be back soon if there is time. A couple of puns there.




5 comments:

  1. Tricia's clocks are all lovely but the grandfather clock is truly the masterpiece. How lucky is she to have you and your ingenuity handy to help her fit it to her house.

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  2. Very ingenious and thoughtful of you to do that for her. I quite like her tea cup collection.

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  3. An elegant solution, but hard work! If only grandfather clocks had legs like the Elvis Presley clock, you could just bend its knees a bit. Nicely done, John.

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  4. I like the photos and I'm glad you found a solution for the tall grandfather clock. Eight feet seems extremely tall for a clock. I wonder if it has been secretly growing all these years.
    My grandfather clock is only six feet tall.

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  5. I always wanted a grandfather clock... never got one though. They are fascinating pieces of furniture as well as being a timepiece. You did well to fit it in.

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