The Hole In The Wall Gang
Previously, on Sitting Room News..
The main beam was supported by an acrow prop because the cob wall beneath it appeared to be crumbling.
These builders never do anything by halves.
Through lounge diner anyone?
Fortunately it didn’t stay that way for long.
In times of olde the builders would simply have dug up some earth from the garden, tossed in some straw and used the resultant mix to pack in the hole. Of course these days that’s going to far too much trouble, if nothing compared to the trouble they’d have been in had they trampled a single fat shoot of my prize hedychium which as we speak is pushing heartily up through the soil right outside the sitting room door. It doesn’t bear thinking about does it.
Much the easier solution is to drop by the specialist builders’ merchant on the way to work and pick up a pile of cob blocks. These are larger than regular bricks but used to reconstruct the wall in much the same way. Cob is very soft. Once built it can easily be chipped away and sculpted to form the rounded corners usually associated with a house built of mud.
Any cracks in the stonework are stitched together with HeliBars.
Reforming an area above the fireplace in the dining room where the cob was falling away.
And underneath a window in the sitting room where a radiator had concealed a large indentation in the wall. One of the disadvantages of cob in the modern age is that it’s very difficult to fix anything to it. Drill directly into cob and it simply falls apart. The radiator was fixed via a series of Devon pegs, lengths of wooden stake driven into the wall to provide something solid to screw into. One of these pegs remains in the wall below the new blocks (bottom right). The replacement radiators will be anchored in much the same way.
Some holes are more welcome.
The theory goes that there’s a well underneath what will become a window seat. Food for thought when perched there in the future methinks. We did wonder if the work in the dining room might have revealed it but it’s clear that the entrance, concreted over, could now only be accessed from outside the building.
Could these niches in the side walls have possibly supported the winch mechanism, the windlass, that enabled water to be hauled up from the well?
We’re now waiting for the scat coat to set, the first of four layers of plaster. The builders used a compressor to fire lime slurry on to the walls which, by working its way into the natural fissures in the old cob, helps form a key for the subsequent coats. This is all very well until the compressor breaks down. At one point they were forced to revert to the old fashioned method of picking up a trowel load of slurry and literally hurling it at the wall. Perhaps we should have helped. It must be cathartic.
It’s been a difficult couple of weeks. Clearly I was overly optimistic in believing that all we’d need to do here was patch up a few areas of plaster. And my hope that this could be a relatively self contained job went out of the window several days ago too. There’s absolutely no chance of shutting the door on these two rooms and forgetting about the mess. The bedroom is directly above the sitting room and there are large gaps between the floorboards. The other day I opened a kitchen drawer, at the opposite end of the house, to get out a baking tray and had to wash the tray before I could use it. And all this before we get to the dirtiest operation of them all. But let’s leave that one for another time shall we?
Welcome to the duck cave.
Onwards. It’s the only direction left to go.
Onwards and upwards indeed.. no going back now as they say… its going to be soooo gorgeous when its done…
I do hope so. It needs to be after all this!
That’s some serious repair work. Also fascinating to see how a house like this is repaired now, using a mix of new and old techniques. Wishing you luck that there are no more surprises and the mess is soon gone,
Thanks Julieanne. It’s comforting to know that the people doing this have experience in all the techniques, new and old. They seem unphased by things that look very scary to me!
Bravery award.x
Accepted!
Turmoil now – but when it’s completed it’ll be fabulous! Love the idea of the windlass over the well – you are unearthing so many fascinating things. On the other hand it could be the long gone occupants version of a garde robe with a beam to rest against after a night out on the cider! Our well is in the garden, long filled in – I gather a dispute between neighbours, one of which sucked up all available water for themselves and leaving nothing for the people further down the hill – bore hole maybe? With all this rain today, I wonder if it’s back up and running if it could be cleared up. Seeing as HRH has injured his shoulder, it’s down to me to shift compost – tons of it – so I’m drawing a halt to any excavating there because I know who will be doing it!
Wells scare me a bit I have to say. Maybe best to keep it filled in. I was partly looking forward to exposing ours and partly not because I don’t think I’d have slept until it was covered over again. Best wishes to HRH for a speedy recovery. Not the best time of year to be injured!
Thank you on behalf of HRH! But on another front – we have found an architect so that we can start the ball rolling for joining you with the dust and turmoil further along the line! Although it definitely won’t be on the large scale as yours! Hope your place wasn’t too drafty! Lots of trees and branches down in the lanes (and one big branch in the garden) here, so hope your garden fared better!
Congratulations on starting your project!
The wind came from the north west this time and we’re sheltered from that direction to some extent. It was a breezy night though. And I now have to traipse around the garden with all the pots I’d taken back into the greenhouse for safe keeping. The previous storm, from the south east, was far more destructive. It brought down an enormous honeysuckle and its support. Another task for last week, to finish off the job.
So do those holes and places needing repair indicate possible future structural mayhem had they not been uncovered and repaired? If so, the mess may well be worth it. Good luck surviving it, though.
The walls will certainly be stronger as a result of the repairs. There’s an argument that if nothing has fallen down in 400 or so years it’s probably solid enough but you never know do you. The disadvantage of living in an ancient structure is the constant maintenance. If we uncover something we have a responsibility to fix it. For me the character of the building makes up for it, more of which we hope to restore as a result of the work.
The words ‘cob blocks’ made me laugh out loud. Just saying…
It has a certain ring to it. Perhaps I should use it to replace other words that may be uttered when I have tripped over, yet again, a trailing cable or still uneven floor.
It’s fascinating to see this, but it’s a big job! My hat’s off to you in salute of your efforts to lovingly preserve it.
It’s a much bigger job than I thought it would be! But perhaps I should have learned that lesson by now. You never know what you will find until you start digging.
Well they seem to be doing a very good job. Makes you wonder how on earth the floors above were still standing!
They’re very skilled in what they do. I don’t think there’s a level floor in the house. Perhaps now we know why!
Does it help at all that your remodel helps put others – like my own – in perspective? I’m reeling from the impact mine will have on my day-to-day life even though demolition is still a little over a month away. Yet our event pales in comparison to yours (I think, I hope).
It is the things you don’t initially think of that seem to bug you the most. Our central heating boiler, in the dining room, puts out so much heat I can use its hidey hole as a drying cupboard. Except now of course I don’t have it and realise just how much I had come to rely on it.
At least you now have a date.. the sooner it starts the sooner it will be over and you can benefit from the work.
The other problem for us gardeners of course is that workmen tend to have big feet and no knowledge. Today I found three baby agapanthus I have been nurturing for two years smothered in the dregs from the lime bucket.. I hope they aren’t the acid loving ones.
I remember you saying many years ago that this was not your first major refurbishment of an old property . . . either you are a glutton for punishment or the previous house did not need nearly as much TLC. If I wore a hat it would be taken off in deep respect to you both. ☺️
On many occasions in the past I have idly fantasised about “renovating a really old place’. Thank you so much for ensuring I never put so much as a split whisker in the direction of making that idea a reality. xx
If anything the previous house was worse. But we did that one the right way.. all at the same time (pretty much). It is definitely wrong to undertake refurbishments of this scale on a room by room basis, the ongoing disruption is just too much. The main reason we have upped the pace this year, I really just want it over with now.
If you do decide to do it.. gut the place in one go and live in the van for the duration!
I am learning so much from your posts. I lived in a “construction zone” for 28 months. This brings back the memories. Good luck with those amazing walls.
The last house we did was a 54 week project and I thought that was bad enough! The saving grace was that it had a reasonably new extension which we camped out in while the old house was completely stripped back to its bare structure.
Such an amazing building! I’m finding your posts about all your renovations fascinating.
Thanks Beth. I too find the discovery phase fascinating. It’s when it gets to the weeks and weeks with the smell of wet plaster that I just want to push the fast forward button and get to the end!
It will all be worth it – you just have to keep repeating that quietly to yourself!!
I hope so Viv. It needs saying a lot doesn’t it. Perhaps I need it as a screen saver..
You might have them sling some of that slurry on your nerves for some ‘insulation’ from all that chaos. Better yet, stock up on wine–by the case. Wishing you some bright warm days to sit/spend in the garden.
We had some lovely bright days over Easter but it’s back to the usual grey wet stuff now. But that is better for actually getting some work done in the garden so perhaps no bad thing. My resolve to cut down on wine is getting challenged! There are some days when only a glass (or two) will do.
Feel bad for you having to live in and through the chaos. But watching from a distance it is endlessly fascinating and instructive. I learn something new each time I visit.
The last week has been particularly bad. But I’m told that now they’ve finished the scatting the dust will be less. There are also plenty of intervals where things have to be left to dry, which helps to bring the blood pressure down!
Such skilled work
It is. Good to know that the old methods and materials still exist.
What a complicated job.
Lots of stages with lots of gaps in between. At least we’re coming into summer so (hopefully!) the temperature will start to rise and plaster will dry quicker.
And so you march on! And I do love a window seat. 🙂
It’s a complicated bit of structure to accommodate the well on the other side of the wall but it makes a perfect window seat! At some point I shall need to wrestle with foam and make an odd shaped cushion.
Oh what a relief, it is starting to look so much better with the repairs and a few wall layers going back up. It’s going to be fantastic!
I do hope so Frank. This project has aged me ten years in a couple of weeks!
Wow, it is so fascinating to see how they used to build houses back when. The involved construction process is probably much more interesting from afar, as opposed to living in it!
I do find it fascinating. There is a real movement here now to respect old buildings and use the traditional methods and materials where possible. So much has been done in the past which now needs to be undone, frustrating because of course it all adds to the complexity and the cost.
Goodness, I have to reach for my inhaler just reading this. I am sure it will be worth it, but it must be difficult living with it at the moment. I do hope when you eventually finish it that you will stay and enjoy it.
Thankfully we have weekends to allow the dust to settle a bit! We’d certainly like to stay and enjoy it. I guess it depends on how long ‘eventually’ turns out to be.
Cue the jaw drop. Building a house made out of dirt in such a rainy climate as Devon shows an optimism beyond my comprehension. Then it gets multiplied by one hundred to see it being restored 400 some years later.
The cob needs to be properly protected from the weather if it is to survive. Once significant water gets into it, it is doomed. There are plenty of old cob barns littering the countryside in a very sorry state.
I think it looks very promising for the stage you are at. The builders clearly know their trade.
They do, we’re very fortunate to have found them. They take great pride in their work which I think makes all the difference.
Cob blocks? One learns sonething new every day. I trust you will be staying on when (?!) all the work on the property is finished and not moving on to another one…!
I think this one has done me for life! 😉