K6 Restoration

Concrete knocked out of K6 telephone kiosk base; handle, glazing frames, Pull/Push sign, glass, Telephone signs, shelves, poster frames and backboard removed; door closer detached; bare shell media blasted.

































Cracks in cast iron repaired; unnecessary bolt holes in back filled; shell primed, undercoated and sprayed in Post Office red, inside and out. Ceiling hand painted with primer, undercoat and three coats of gloss white.

Back and roof top-coated in red, by hand. Telephone signs stripped of putty and silicone, and reinstated using clear mould-proof silicone.

Kiosk lifted onto scaffold poles using levers and car jack, and rolled into place. Time capsule placed in base; base half-filled with hardcore and near-filled with ready-made concrete; base finished with sand and cement screed.

Box fitted with earth strap, connected to ground, and cabled for lighting and telephone. Externally-switched power cable carried through 'hockey stick' pipe and ceiling channel; fluorescent light cleaned, rewired and installed; hockey stick painted in.

Two sides and opening front top-coated by hand in red, inside and out. 72 panes of glass stripped of paint, putty and silicone, scrubbed, and run through dishwasher. 72 glazing frames cleaned and hand-painted in red.

Backboard washed, cleaned with industrial thinners, sanded with fine wet-and-dry paper, polished with black T-Cut, and refitted, with cabling ducted behind.

Glass and Pull/Push sign reinstated, using clear mould-proof silicone; glazing frames reinstated; new brass glazing pins inserted, with crimping tool used to affix washers.

Shelves and poster frames cleaned and sanded, twice sprayed in black, and affixed to backboard, positioned to cover as many old holes as possible. Handle re-affixed; door closer re-attached; plinth painted with two coats of black.

GPO 706 telephone connected to ring when house telephone rings. Appropriate posters printed on photographic paper and inserted. (Note: Public Telephone sign was of the National Telephone Company, 1881 to 1911, incorporated into the General Post Office when telephony was largely nationalised in 1912.)