Here We Go Again..
The Dining Room chez duck.. barely a week ago. It is almost unrecognisable now.
The plan here, as with every other room in the house so far, is to strip back to the original features (where they still exist) and then refresh the fixtures and fittings to give a more contemporary feel. In this room, and the Sitting Room next door, one of the first priorities will be to renew our acquaintance with the beam stripping man. I can never understand why beams were painted black. Even less so with a fireplace. To me it looks so very oppressive and sucks away the light. So much does it resemble a Black Hole the fireplace is probably more than capable of bending time itself. Well no more. It too is going to have a blast. Thankfully these days there are gentler methods of stripping than the old fashioned sand blasting but the principle remains the same. And it’s going to make a mess.
Already there have been exciting finds.
Many times over the years I have tentatively picked at a corner of the old carpet to see what’s underneath. In some places there were bricks. But until last week, when the carpet made its way ceremoniously down to the local tip, we’d never seen the whole floor. Miraculously, given that so much has been changed in this house, we are indeed the proud owners of an old brick floor. In less good news, at some point in time a large portion of it has been covered over with a concrete screed.
For the last three days Mike has been chip-chipping away. Slowly but surely the cement is coming off, revealing more and more of the lovely old bricks. It’s a soul destroying job but what a difference it has made. The bricks would have been made locally and have a pale honey colour.
At some point in time the floor was painted red, all round the outside of the room with presumably a rug over the centre. The red paint can be scratched off with a fingernail but given that gardening has already claimed most of mine we shall leave the task of removal to the blasting man. On one of his gentler settings, of course.
As a break from chip-chipping Mike has been doing some stripping of his own. Woodchip wallpaper. There is even woodchip on the ceiling. Dreadful stuff. Up to three layers of it in places. I know this because for one afternoon Mike had an assistant. I wouldn’t want you thinking that I’ve been just sitting with my feet up while all this is going on. Not that I could if I wanted to. There’s no place left to sit!
For those new to the blog, the walls of the cottage are made of cob. This is basically subsoil dug up from the land surrounding the building, bound together with straw. I wonder how old that straw actually is. Wouldn’t it be great to know?
The walls would then have been finished with lime plaster. To make lime, limestone, chalks or seashells formed of calcium carbonate are burned to form quick lime. Evidence of this process dates back to prehistoric times and lime kilns were once a common sight in most villages. The quick lime is then mixed with water, or slaked, and left to mature. Lime putty, with a consistency of cottage cheese, can be extracted from the mix three months later. Combine the putty with sand, maybe throw in some horse hair to bind it, and you have lime plaster.
Inevitably lime plaster will weaken over the hundreds of years it has remained on the walls. However carefully one tries to remove the woodchip paper some of the old plaster beneath it is going to come off. As ever, we’ll be repairing the plaster with the same traditional materials and employing craftsmen skilled in the restoration of ancient buildings to do the work.
The Sitting Room chez duck… only a week ago!
The furniture is now all in store. The sofas have moved houses with us for 20 years, bought in the days when William Morris was enjoying something of a revival. But the upholstery is still sound so the plan, when the sofas come back, is to get them recovered in a plainer fabric more aligned to the New England style I have stuck in the back of my mind.
The fireplace in this room somehow escaped the dreaded black paint treatment but it has its own cross to bear.
The beam across the top of the fireplace is fake.. it’s actually an old railway sleeper! Stripping back the wallpaper has revealed a tantalising glimpse of the original beam still in situ just above it, albeit plastered over now apart from the chamfered lower edge.
Sideways on we can see the cut end of the original fireplace beam, the entire trunk of a tree!
This may be more of a challenge to restore because the fireplace itself has been so altered. The metal plate, or register plate, which separates the chimney from the fireplace below was fitted at a level more in keeping with the fake beam and would therefore need to be raised. I don’t know at this point how practical a proposition that is. But we shall try.
More replastering for the builders.
I am at a loss to know why Mike has the box from the new bathroom loo roll holder in here.. there will be a logical reason I have no doubt. He is a logical sort of person.
We had hoped there might be something interesting to discover on this wall too and there still might be, if we delve deeper. See the shape of the wall and what could be the protrusion of an old window sill, about 18ins up from the floor?
An alternative and intriguing explanation for the strange shape of the wall was suggested by one of the builders. In days of olde it would not have been unusual to have animals sheltering in one of the ‘rooms’ of a rustic country cottage and concave walls such as the above can often be found as a result. Cob walls and their lime plaster render are relatively soft, so if a hay trough were to be placed up against the wall the heads of the animals constantly pushing against it while feeding could easily, over time, be enough to wear away the wall. Note that the wall on the other side of the doorway has the same shape.
And so we’ve made a start. It’s March. Or at least it was when I started on the post.
Surely, surely, it might be realistic to hope it could all be done by Christmas? It’s just that I know how these projects tend to go…
Hold on to the image in your mind and squint a lot! Good luck, you will do it.
Two rooms at once though. Double the mess!
I am full of admiration for your efforts. It’s a brilliant project and I’m so enjoying watching your progress. All the very best.
Thanks Gillian. Quite excited about this one, I’ve been wanting to do it for a long time.
I am totally fascinated by all this. I admire you both for your bravery. I know this is messy, but exciting. Keep posting.
Very messy. I started cleaning the kitchen this week. By the time I got to the end of it I could see the dust piling up again where I’d started.
I might think this was an April Fools joke but it’s much too serious an undertaking to joke about. I’m recently arrived at your blog – while you were traveling – so I had no idea what I was getting into. Your before pictures are lovely but the thrill of discovery will perhaps see you through this revealing of the past. Glad I’m sitting on the sidelines and I wish you good speed and great success.
Hello Barbara and welcome.
The thrill of discovery is my favourite bit. It really is amazing how peeling back the layers can reveal secrets of the past. Often old features were left in place because it was much easier and cheaper just to cover them up. And all the better for it. When this bit is over though I just want to fast forward to the end!
Your cottage rooms before were lovely so the revamped bits will be gorgeous….. eventually. I noice you are still re-upholstering your chair! Good luck, keep us posted.
Ah yes, the chair! It’s going very slowly and I’m finding it far harder than I ever imagined it would be. I shall do a post on it soon.
All this and the garden, too. Amazing – such an adventure for us all
Yes, it’s going to be a tough year. We decided to speed things up. Wondering how long before I come to regret it..
Fabulous. I love old cottages and all the secrets that you are discovering in yours. Especially the old beam over the fireplace. Animal history too – seems a house cow certainly meant just that! Looking forward to the transformation.
I would quite like a house cow. But I would draw the line at IN the house!
So exciting! I admire your industry, especially as I continue to sit and my computer and work while there are three dozen new shrubs and perennials that need planting.
Marian, it takes a far more determined person than me to resist the opportunity to go out and plant 36 new acquisitions. It must be some deadline. Or raining..
I love to watch this process happen (from a distance, of course)! It is like an architectural history lesson with craftsmanship and some high tech thrown in. So fascinating. And we know you aren’t sitting with your feet up unless you are on your bum weeding the garden.
I learn something new each room and it is fascinating. It’s also quite sobering to think about how different, and how hard, life must have been back then. We have it so easy today.
I must get that webcam removed… 😉
We stripped a whole house of woodchip paper once. We call it donkeys breakfast. Your cottage will be amazing. Wish I still had your energy!
Hi Liz and welcome.
I wish I still had the energy! It will be a whole house here too by the time it’s finished. Woodchip is dreadful stuff isn’t it. And usually there for a reason, to cover up something horrible underneath. We have found some cracks, but nothing too bad.. so far.
And here I am feeling a tad overwhelmed just by getting our boxes and furniture to rights! But I must say those cob walls, brick floors, and old beams are mouth-watering. Best of luck with a rapid rate of progress! Somehow I have the feeling you will not be particularly tempted by the obvious course of adding a nice little nanny goat or a couple of woolly sheep to add authenticity to your sitting room!
You know I would really love to have a nanny goat. Or some woolly sheep. But then I think of all the munching they would do in the garden and that perhaps it wouldn’t be such a great idea after all. The deer are bad enough!
J > The reason they were painted black was two fold : in its natural state, all woods first go grey, then they get darker and darker – especially true of hardwoods, and especially true if anything waxy or oily is repeatedly applied. In the past, open fires resulted in a lot of smoke entering the room, and that includes oily aerosols. Soot is more than aerosol – it’s particulates, and they would drift around as well. Everything that these things settled on would in time go black. So painting black is an imitation of ancient beams etc in an ancient house.
That is fascinating and makes a lot of sense, thank you Jonathan!
When we did the bathroom last year we did indeed find blackened beams, and thatch, in the attic. As I understand it, painting beams black goes back to Victorian times when I suppose there was less interest in having light filled rooms.
How you cope with all the excitement, I do not know.
I report the highlights. There are long stretches of boring bits (wallpaper stripping) in between when our heart rate has a chance to return to acceptable levels.
Every time I curse our remodel project, I’m going to remind myself that at least it doesn’t have the complexity of yours. I too am hoping to have our various projects done by Christmas and, although the contractor assures me that this should be no problem, I’m not comforted – it’s taken us 8 months to get as far as we have and we still don’t have our permits from the city yet. There’s a check for asbestos in the kitchen wall and sign off from the Air Quality Management District to be obtained before demo starts. And here I’d been wondering why it took a good 3 years to add an upper floor to the house up the hill from us…
It’s crazy isn’t it. Here I am tripling the time I think the project might realistically take and I’m still worried we won’t be done on time. When authorities are involved the time taken rises exponentially. It will be worth the wait Kris, honestly. I keep telling myself it’s better done right, even if that means it takes longer.
Why not have the straw carbon dated? You could also go all Tony Robinson and get the beam dated using dendrochronology, which is not spelled with confidence. I agree with you, black painted beams are a horror. My wife refused to look at any houses with black exposed beams, luckily ours are just old wood. I have an appointment with my paint brushes the week after next, the exterior woodwork needs sorting out.
I’ve thought about carbon dating many a time but assumed it would be cost prohibitive.
It will rain the week after next. Guaranteed. This is the West Country.
I’m sure you were doing something to the dining room the first time I visited Rusty Duck. Are you never satisfied? Or just a glutton for punishment? I do admire your determination.
Whenever we renovate or make alterations I worry that in fifty years time someone will throw up their hands in horror at our taste and put back all the woodchip paper, formica …
Good luck 🙂
We have been talking about doing something with the dining room for many a year and it’s taken this long to get round to it!
What goes around comes around. But I sincerely hope woodchip and formica are gone forever.
Formica is in fact close to gone forever. Advances in environmental and worker protection have had the result that newly manufactured F. is nowhere near as tough or durable as the old stuff. The kitchen here has old skool Formica that has held up remarkably for 55+ years of heavy use, but the next owner probably won’t have the sentimental attachment I have (grew up here and the kitchen was my mother’s big demo in 1963).
My era too. My father built a huge round breakfast bar in my childhood home, covered in formica. It took everything we threw at it.
I do love reading what you’re up to in the house – that tree trunk fireplace beam is certainly a find! And those bricks! Oh my gosh, fabulous. I’m hoping to retile the bathroom next week. By myself. Gin will be needed.
Wow, that’s an ambitious project! I did try it once and found I quite enjoyed it but it was just a panel above a bath and all square, so no tricky cuts.
I hope all goes well!
Thank you Brian. Sod’s Law must surely give me a break sometime.
Isn’t it fascinating peeling back layers? Two houses ago we lived in an old house in inner Sydney and whilst renovating found an old pair of stays up in the roof. I imagine they could tell an interesting tale! We live in a modern house now, so I’m slightly envious of the aged appearance of your cottage. The room you’re restoring already looked beautiful so I’m keen to see the results when you’ve finished.
It is fascinating. I live in hope that we’ll find some interesting old relics like that one day! Every time my fork hits something in the garden I imagine treasure.. but it’s only ever a rock!
This is so cool…we have done a lot of remodeling .. its a challenge as you know.. can’t wait to see the sofas in their
“New England” colors
It’s a style that’s really caught on over here and perfect for a cottage.
Oh My Goodness! That is some project you’ve undertaken! I do hope you use top quality breathing apparatus while you are working …. and actually, 24/7. I have a lung disease and so I started coughing just looking at the pictures! I’m with you on the terrible black beams. A friend bought a 1970s unit with black beans everywhere (for a song I might add) and improved it a thousand percent just by painting them off white.
Painting the beams white, or lime-washing them probably, is our plan B if the stripping reveals something we’d rather not see. Anything that isn’t black! We’ve been wearing proper vapour masks, or at least Mike has when I’ve nagged.
Exciting!! Do hope this goes a little more smoothly (and quickly) than the bathroom. So lovely to explore all the history.
So far it doesn’t seem too bad, but the builder hasn’t looked at it yet.. ! I would love to think this one will go smoothly and I can spend the rest of the summer in the garden. Not holding my breath though.
You certainly like to punish yourselves don’t you?
Short(ish) term pain for long term gain. Get it all done and then we can relax and enjoy it. That was the theory!
You two have nerves of steel (not to mention bleeding fingers), but I am all admiration of your efforts to marry the old with the new in your beautiful (patchwork, at the moment) home. Hope the weather the next months makes it easier for you to sit outside for relaxation and al fresco dining. When all else fails, go have a soak in your lovely new tub. Looking forward to next steps–bon courage!
That’s one of the reasons I prefer doing projects in summer.. being able to escape to the garden. That and not having workmen leave the door open constantly when the temperature is below zero!
As the saying goes you are definitely a glutton for punishment!! I love the fact you uncover back to the original – we did that in our old house, stripped the beams and uncovered some beautiful stone walls that we restored then had the black paint removed from our range opening. Our neighbour came round as we had finished all the major works and remarked how well we had done and that it shouldn’t take us long now to paint the beams and replaster the walls – he had completely missed the point of what we were doing!
If an old house could laugh at us it would find plenty of amusement in the number of times things are put in only to be taken out again several years later. Hopefully the current trend for going back to the original will stand the test of time. And thank goodness it was easier just to cover up original features rather than remove them entirely. It makes things a whole lot easier.
Oh, boy, here we go again! The rooms look lovely already but having seen the amazing improvement made to your bathroom I can’t wait to see the transformation here. OK, I know I am going to have to be patient.
Looking forward to the journey 🙂
Renovate in haste, repent at leisure.
Oh my . . . I remember many years ago you saying the black would have to come off the fire surround. If anyone can rescue the original lintel from the other fireplace, I guess it is you two. Just hope you don’t have any other unplanned or unexpected essential rescues along the way.
What has happened to those lovely bookcases Mike made?
I confess to very much looking forward to all the updates you can bear to share with the vicarious pleasure that comes from all the mess, dust, dirt and disruption being in someone else’s house, not mine {{sorry 😊 }}
The bookcases have been carefully dismantled and all the bits labelled so we know exactly how to fit them back together. And they’re safely in store. They’ll be returning as soon as the place is fit and ready!
Yes, the dust is getting bad already. It is following me round the house in my increasingly futile efforts at keeping the place clean.
Good luck!!!
Thanks, we’ll need it!
Oh my goodness, you don’t do things by halves do you? It is fun to watch your progress but I couldn’t bear to do it myself. All the mess and the dust; you’ll have to go and live in your bathroom.
When we finally get to the end of all this I can’t help thinking something will be missing from my life. I’m sure it’s nothing that can’t be filled with plants.
OK…. you have definitely started on this phase! Your living room fireplace is very similar in construction to our kitchen fireplace, stonework and bessumer look quite familiar. It is 1.7m from floor level to the underside of the beam, is that anything like yours?
Slightly above my head so yes, that’s probably about right.
This lovely house is lucky to have you and Mike!
It is probably longing for the day when all the banging and crashing ceases, a bit like me.
Oh my!!! You are a gluten for punishment. Where will you both sit? It will be wonderful when finished though.xxx
As a write I am sitting in my study and Himself in his. Occasionally we email each other, reminders to go get the wine bottle, coffee etc. A couple of nights ago we watched the same TV programme, at the same time, on our respective computers using the iPlayer!
Wow, the tales your house must be able to tell! Do you know about how old it is? That looks like quite the job, but, yes, the black on the fireplace has to go. It can be quite funny to see how past owners have decorated. When I was younger, my family bought a house that had been seized from drug dealers. The previous owners had painted all the walls pink, and the house had green shag carpet and metallic gold blinds. They must have been on drugs themselves…
The oldest part of the house goes back hundreds of years, maybe even to medieval times. But it has been added to and altered so many times since then, and of course there are no records going back that far, so it is very difficult to tell. It sounds like your family’s house had some tales to tell as well! There were some very strange fashions back then but it does bear the mark of a magic mushroom or two!
Another huge undertaking by both of you, and it will be so sorth it when all finished. So glad you are sharing the updates on your website.
Already it feels as if it will be a much longer project than I had hoped. So it had better be worth it!
Looking wonderful already and the best is yet to come ! I love the way you are renovating your cottage Jessica ….. retaining all of the wonderful charm but putting a very modern twist on it. XXXX
Above all I want to keep the decor simple and uncluttered, to show off the features of the cottage to their best advantage. And make it as easy as possible to clean!
After all this hard work your house is going to be very special, I agree, black beams are ugly but when painted a light colour, what a difference.
Getting back to the natural wood would be the best solution of all. But if that is not possible then a light coat of limewash is the Plan B. Anything other than black will make a huge difference to the light.
Best wishes for an entirely uneventful, smooth, no complications project. We can hope, right? The curves in the walls possibly from livestock–how many years would that have taken? A century or two?
I finally got the faucet in the remodel fixed yesterday. It only took them 2 months. Now it is officially done. No plans to remodel anything else for a long, long time.
Hurrah for a finished bathroom! I am already thinking that if we ever take on a house like this again it will be a caravan in the garden and we’ll do the whole lot at once. I am really getting fed up with the constant moving of stuff around, living in clutter and the perpetual layer of dust.