This is purely a visual repair to a cast iron air brick to the outside toilet.  A combination of a leaky roof and zero maintenance had left the top part to rust away.  This was one of little jobs that was holding up another one, this time fitting guttering to wash house.  I could have knocked it out and bought a replacement (£40+)  or a modern vent.  But it’s all the little details that add to charm of the place so wherever possible I’m repairing rather than replacing.

1. The rust was chipped and wire brushed away then given a good coating of hammerite type paint.

Rusted away decorative cast iron air vent

2. To replicate the missing pattern I made a mould from the bottom section using plastacine. As the design is symmetrical it flips over to match the top of the vent.

Plastacine pressed on to make a mould

3. Car body filler can then be pressed  in to effect the repair.  It needed a bit of tidying up with sand paper before painting.

View from the inside

Job done, it won’t have a deal of structural strength but it looks just fine especially in silhouette  from the inside.