Quick update on the story so far regarding the bathroom floor.  The floor was unsupported at one side and had sagged. The wall that could have been supporting it had bowed away. Past cover ups of the continually sagging and sinking floor had been to add another layer of boards over the top. All this got stripped away, I added a new beam and joists to properly support the floor.

More on the hand hewn beam making here

How the floor was here

One of the previous floors was pine board about 10 inches wide and still in reasonable condition. I had removed these as carefully as I could but a couple of them were / did split. Having no spare pieces these needed repairing before relaying.

Ratchet Straps alternative to sash clamps / cramps

If I’d been in the workshop back home this would have been a doddle with the cramps and clamps I have there. As I was on site with limited tools, I improvised.  Ratchet Tie down straps come in handy on many occasions especially when you’re working on your own. (I used then when  fitting the beam) This time they made an excellent job of clamping the floor boards back together as the glue set.

Ratchet straps used to clamp timber together

 Whilst these where drying I also mortared up the groove where the even earlier floor was set in to the wall that bowed away many years ago.

Mortared groove in bowed wall