Our little man has gone on holidays with his Nana and Grandad to West Cork so we've been at the house Thursday-Sunday! Making lots of progress and reinforcements arrived on Saturday in the form of my sister and a friend.
On Thursday myself and Éanna tackled the upstairs starting with un-boarding the little window. The room was flooded with light as was the room downstairs. This window is west facing and goes to show that a window in the right place can make a huge impact.
As you can see for Fig.4 the ceiling upstairs was panelled and then covered over with more panelling. (A few layers of paint and wallpaper too of course!) So taking all this down was our next job. Lots of dust, cobwebs and displaced spiders. Our dust masks were essential the past few days and are now black, showing how much they're saving from our lungs!
We also took down some of the plaster on the gable wall as it was very loose.
We found that the roof timbers are going into a wallplate and not into the wall. This would explain why the roof is quite straight which can be unusual on a house of this age. The house must have been re-roofed in the early 20th century.
Another major discovery we made is that the parlour seems to have been a later addition. We have concluded this due to several factors: the floor is a good inch/inch and a half higher than the centre room. The mortar in the parlour is lime mortar but the rest of the house appears to be earth mortar and lime plastered. This would also explain the patched up parts of the wall in the parlour. It must have been where the original gable was and had to be filled in after the extension was built.
We also took down some of the plaster on the gable wall as it was very loose.
We found that the roof timbers are going into a wallplate and not into the wall. This would explain why the roof is quite straight which can be unusual on a house of this age. The house must have been re-roofed in the early 20th century.
Another major discovery we made is that the parlour seems to have been a later addition. We have concluded this due to several factors: the floor is a good inch/inch and a half higher than the centre room. The mortar in the parlour is lime mortar but the rest of the house appears to be earth mortar and lime plastered. This would also explain the patched up parts of the wall in the parlour. It must have been where the original gable was and had to be filled in after the extension was built.
Once we remove the 40 or so pieces of carpet, mat, rugs and lino from the floor upstairs we were finally able to inspect the floorboards and the joists underneath. The floor felt fairly bouncy in places (Maybe I shouldn't have been up there!) but overall wasn't too rotten. We reckon the floor joists are probably rotten where they are going into the wall but haven't managed to see that part yet. I rather like the wide floor boards but Éanna thinks they are probably unusable. (And also that they are not really floorboards!) I hope to replace them with something very similar. (This will be our bedroom at the start at least.)
As you can see from Fig.14 below we also took down the partition in the bedroom. (The room behind the main chimney) (I have a floor plan coming soon, I promise) Our fabulous helpers did all the work on the partition for us and it makes the room so much bigger and leaves us with lots of firewood! This room will hopefully be the kids room.
I was doing some plaster removal around the fireplace in this room (back to back with the main fireplace in the centre room) and found a great example of the layers that can be found in an old house that has had lots of redecorating, renovating and additions made to it such as the newer fireplace. I think we have layers of lime plaster, lime wash, paint, more paint and cement and more paint! It really pays to take your time with the work and learn about the history of your building so you can figure out how best to treat and repair it. Take your time, try not to remove what doesn't need to be removed. In lots of places the plaster wasn't loose and didn't want to come off so we are hoping to just remove the paint and any loose render and only re-plaster or re-point where it's actually needed. If it's been OK for 200 years then it can last us another 50/60 at least.
Next job was to remove the kitchen units from the centre room. They consisted of a gas cooker, a sink unit and an under counter fridge. I had cleaned up the sink and we had been using it along with a gas camping stove, for making cups of tea etc. We figured if would be handy to have on site so moved it out to one of the sheds. There are numerous water pipes all over the site so we're hoping to redirect one to the kitchen's new location tomorrow.
Behind the kitchen units was what can only be described as disgusting. If anyone has seen the new series Stranger Things then the horrible mould creeping it's way across the wall may remind you of what lived in the other dimension! It even managed to find a crack and get in behind the plaster and creep across the stone wall! This is what can happen if you dry line a house of this sort....damp breeds scary mould monsters!
Behind the kitchen units was what can only be described as disgusting. If anyone has seen the new series Stranger Things then the horrible mould creeping it's way across the wall may remind you of what lived in the other dimension! It even managed to find a crack and get in behind the plaster and creep across the stone wall! This is what can happen if you dry line a house of this sort....damp breeds scary mould monsters!
Fig.20 above shows the centre room with the kitchen units and the mould monster removed. We would definitely advise clearing as you go. Remove rubble, timber etc. as you finish each job. Ours is outside in different areas at the moment but we will be getting a skip at some point soon when we feel we have enough to fill it. Clearing as you go means you have more room to move around, less things to trip over and gives a change of pace from a perhaps more strenuous job. Going out for fresh air breaks and plenty of water breaks are good too. (I also like to take a banana break around 11:30 but that could just be me!) I found the dust masks hard going at the start and today in the heat I struggled a bit too but I must be getting used to them as I tried to drink with one on earlier!
Also in Fig.20 you can see the wall where the plaster was removed looks quite dark and damp. This is mainly due to the fact that the earth/grass etc. outside the wall (have a look out the window) is at least a foot up the wall. This will all have to be dug away (anyone have the loan of a digger??) to form french drains around the house. I will get Éanna to write a post explaining these and the more technical side of the mortars and plasters etc. soon....I hope!
Also in Fig.20 you can see the wall where the plaster was removed looks quite dark and damp. This is mainly due to the fact that the earth/grass etc. outside the wall (have a look out the window) is at least a foot up the wall. This will all have to be dug away (anyone have the loan of a digger??) to form french drains around the house. I will get Éanna to write a post explaining these and the more technical side of the mortars and plasters etc. soon....I hope!