A Setback. Nothing Trivial.
It is pouring with rain and therefore there’s no escape.
This June has been a lousy start to summer so far. Today it’s a mere 11C. The sort of day when you’d retreat to the sitting room, if you had a serviceable one, and curl up on the sofa with a good book. Maybe even consider lighting the woodburner. I could perch on one of the kitchen bar stools I suppose, but it’s a bit of a thoroughfare in there. So I have opted for my study, with the door tightly shut and a draught excluder rammed into the gap at the bottom to catch the worst of the dust. Because less than six feet from the other side of the door the builders are taking the corridor ceiling down. Why? Well that’s a very good question.
One recent Friday evening Mike and I were sitting in our respective studies (refer to absence of a sitting room, above) and heard a large CRACKKK which came from the direction of the bathroom. Fearing the worst we both rushed down the corridor to take a look. All appeared as it should be. It wasn’t until later, when Mike was up in the roof space, that he spotted a possible cause. A purlin, one of the roof timbers, has shifted slightly and the cob wall underneath it partially collapsed.
The roofspace is two floors above the sitting room, the current focus of work, so more than likely this was an unrelated event, something just waiting to happen. One of those things. But if it was going to happen at all there is surely no better time than when you have specialists dealing in ancient buildings already set up on site. And we do need to fix it. That’s now THREE separate projects on the go.
The solution is to rebuild the wall underneath the purlin. It could have been worse, much much worse, the purlin itself might have failed. It is, after all, many hundreds of years old. There is usually only one way to replace a purlin. The thatch has to be taken off the roof, the rafters removed, the old beam craned out and a new one lowered in from above. So it seems we got away lightly. But as the builder said in his lovely deep West Country accent: “The biggest problem be to get at ‘er.” And indeed that is a risk. The floor of this section of the roofspace is extremely fragile. What’s underneath? The worst it could be. The new bathroom which cost a small fortune and took the best part of a year to build.
And is that the only obstacle? Of course not.
The roof hatch is a minuscule 10 inches wide. Before they can even think about boarding and strengthening the floor of the roofspace the hatch will need to be enlarged. “Eeeee.. you couldn’t even get a bucket up through there..”
And so it is that once again this afternoon my teeth are pulsating in tune with the multicutter, the tool of choice, as ubiquitous in the trade as builders’ tea and the Makita boombox radio. It’s not so much the decibels, it’s the tormenting whine of it, like the biggest, angriest and most tenacious insect you could ever not wish to meet. Wish me luck.
Oh dear, I am sorry. I’m sure you’re not as stoic as you sound.
We’ve had our moments!
Oh Jessica,…..and so it goes on. You must be feeling very stretched at the moment, but at least you will have a lovely home, properly renovated, within a lovely garden in a beautiful setting. It will be worth it, and I am reminding you of that, because there are times when we urgently need someone to remind us of what we have when things are going through a tough patch. Vx
Thanks for the reminder Vera, as you say, it is often much needed!
I hope we are doing a proper renovation, certainly it is what we are trying to do. For the building, for us and whoever follows us into this place.
Well, this is a revolting development but as you said, the silver lining is that the builders are already on site. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well and smoothly with no hiccups in the repairs.
Thanks Barbara. It’s going to be a challenging one, so please keep your fingers crossed!
Gosh. I can’t get beyond the size of your loft access! I actually don’t think I’d get through a gap that small. I’ve been sat here worrying about it, which is quite ridiculous. Two things are for sure ….. old houses are a trial, and they are never finished. Good Luck!
Thanks Dan.
The loft hatch is tiny isn’t it. Mike has developed the knack of getting through it: arms first up in the air, a sort of dive in reverse. My heart is in my mouth every time he does it for fear of a Winnie The Pooh moment. I have never even attempted it, it’s far too claustrophobic for me. I am resisting all attempts by the builders to have me play a part, being the smallest and lightest member of ‘the team’ by some margin.
Oh, Jessica, I’m so sorry. With all the challenges you’ve already faced, I’m sure you could have done without this one. We got our construction permits (at last!) yesterday and the asbestos removal team is scheduled to arrive bright and early on Thursday. Fingers are crossed we elude challenges of the gravity of yours.
Oh that’s great news Kris! I wish you well with your own monumental project and will be following your progress with great interest. In my experience most of the things likely to go wrong involve gravity to some extent.
Oh my goodness, my teeth are pulsating just reading this! I am so sorry for the setback(s), but the finished product will no doubt be all the sweeter for them. Mostly I admire your persistence in carrying on.
Thanks Dorothy. There comes a point, which we’ve long since passed, where the only way is onwards.
What rotten bad luck and a setback and more expense I wouldn’t wish on anyone. You sound very calm and matter of fact in your telling of the incident, but I guess there’s inward turmoil. And you can’t even go out and have a restorative G&T in the sunshine!
It stopped raining today so, while there was no G&T I did manage some weeding. That is restorative in itself.
Jessica you should buy yourself some good noise cancelling headphones. They are amazing. I can stand right next to my very loud extractor fan and equally loud old dishwasher and not hear a thing. And you can listen to music or a podcast at the same time if you want.
Hi Miranda.
I have some, bought for me by Mike for noisy flights on our last trip to Australia. They are in-ear ones though and perhaps rather less effective. But then I did have not one but two screeching children in the row directly behind me at the time. I should give the earphones another chance perhaps and builders’ noise might not be a bad place to start. Thank you for the reminder!
I wish you some good gardening weather to help your sanity!
Thank you Brian. It’s a bit mixed isn’t it. One day dry the next a deluge. Hardly flaming June.
oh dear, oh dear. i shall have to find more pretty pictures to send you. i wish i lived nearby so you could hang out at my house for awhile and escape the noise. thinking of you and sending sunshine.
Pretty pictures and sunshine are always welcome. This was the reason for my comment on your blog about picking the perfect moment!
Wishing you all the luck in the world!
Thank you Jackie!
Oh crikey! What a shock to you both!
Measured rainfall – this weekend was a total of one and a half inches of rain thereabouts – and we didn’t get the full force – we were surrounded until later in the afternoon before the deluge. Then Monday, after a beautiful day the heavens opened in the afternoon and, in less than one whole day, the rain matched the whole of the weekend – over 3 inches of rain in less than a week! Thankfully not enough to register anything yesterday or this morning. I wonder if it was the weather conditions that aided the unfortunate event? I do hope it can be fixed pronto – without pulling more plaster down to get at it!
The rain tends to roll down the roof rather than soak into it, the pitch is steep to help that happen. And of course because there are no gutters much of it ends up in my borders! But the rain really has been something and more again tomorrow if the forecast is right. The weeds are growing almost as I watch!
Good to know the thatch stands firm – at least that’s not on the agenda as it has had a jolly good testing recently! A new friend was going to come and cut the field, bale and take home – but he can’t with all this! I have been asked to do a sun dance. I need to find one of the big chicken feathers, tuck it in my hair and have a bash – but hey ho, it is what it is and it seems country-wide unfortunately.
It looks brighter for next week. I do hope so. There is so much to do outside. Sitting and looking at it through the window doesn’t help the current level of frustration at all. Maybe the sun dance worked??
Well I guess I won’t need a bath or shower by dashing in and out to sort out the chickens – drenched all the way through! Still, rainy days = trips to the stove shops and a range oven shop near Exeter for planning ahead. The rest is playing patchwork on the treadle – sort of exercise! Other than that it’s stir crazy. The only plus is that I planted out the celeriac (of which there are far too many and something we haven’t really eaten much before) and that has had a jolly good soaking that it needs so I won’t need to water them for a while!!!!
Celeriac.. gosh, that’s exotic. I haven’t even tried. But as it clearly grows well in a wet climate then perhaps I should. I have had a full day outside today (19,000 steps!) and only a couple of drops of rain. Things are getting better.
Your resilience is amazing
Cracks are beginning to show. Not only in the walls.
Oh my. I’m so sorry. Guessing it must be like sitting in the dentist office all day long, but instead of opening your mouth, it’s your purse that will have to be opened wide. Fingers crossed the solution doesn’t involve doing anything with the bathroom. That would be too cruel.
There will be much preparatory work before we tackle the roof, much of it aimed at protecting the bathroom. I just hope it turns out to be a straightforward job and they don’t find anything else while they’re up there.
We renovated a cottage 15 years ago and vowed never to do it again. You have my sympathies and I’m sure it will all be spectacular when its finished and then no douibt you’ll be mad enough to move onto another renovation project. Keep smiling that’s all you can do.
Mitzi
Hi Mitzi!
If I ever do another one it will not be room by room while trying to live in it at the same time. That’s the nightmare. It really is one step forward and two back when you see the work you’ve already done under threat or at the very least coated regularly in a thick layer of dust. I can quite understand how once might be enough!
OMG! It simply never ends, as fast a one thing is sorted something totally unexpected happens. Thank goodness you have a study each, I’d be locked in there with a bottle of something strong! Hope all goes well.xxx
There have been a few nights when my self imposed wine restriction has been tested!
I guess the good news is that you’ve got the right crew already in place. But this is certainly a shock. Hope you can go forget these construction woes with a little weeding. Or can you get to the garden with that project underway as well? Perhaps climb a tree with a good book.
I can get around most of the garden, thankfully. And days like today which have been relatively dry provide a wonderful tonic. Gardening is so therapeutic, I really don’t know what I would do without it.
Have you torn all your hair out yet?
I had it cut short this week. Less to pull!
So sorry. Indeed gardens are a great comfort. Our garden is so often a refuge from the unbearable that must be borne.
Yes indeed. It’s the only place I ever truly relax.
Oh Goodness – “it never rains but it pours” springs to mind. Thank goodness you have the experts on site already. That’s a small mercy. I agree about the ridiculous size of “manholes” in older houses. Our old by NZ standards 1930 house had what I referred to as a ‘small boy hole’, and when we were doing renovations I insisted on it being trebled in size. Subsequent tradespeople expressed their gratitude! The only thing with a big hole is that it needs to come apart in segments as it’s too darn heavy for one guy, up a ladder, to easily manage if it’s too big.
This loft hatch was put in between two ceiling joists, to avoid cutting into them. To make it bigger we’ve had to do that now, but with the necessary strengthening elsewhere. Builders obviously didn’t have such big buckets in those days! It’s still going to be hard to get up there though, the hatch is under the slope of the roof so it will need someone with the flexibility of an octopus!
When I came visiting today I really hadn’t expected this development. Or had I? I wish I could offer you a refuge from the chaos, but the daily visits to ‘site’ would perhaps be a mile too far. Very best of luck with this third project, you are both so brave!
Thanks Caroline. I wish I felt brave, rather than feeling rather overwhelmed by it all. Perhaps this is the low point and things can only get better!
Yes, ‘it never rains but it pours’ popped into my mind too, appropriate for this wet week
I can truly say we’ve had enough rain for a while. I hope it did not spoil your garden opening. After all the work, that would be a disaster.
Well you have cured me of ever wanting to live in an old house! We do have the best of both worlds here in Somerset, the structure of our barn is 200 years old, but the roof, the inside and the kitchen are about 10 years old. We have the odd leak, I can now get onto the roof in under 30 seconds, the plumbing can still surprise but we have not had too many shocks. Your project reminds of moving a few plants in the garden. Someone has a good idea and suggests moving a plant, it is never me I might add. This means digging up other plants to make room, finding an old wall where the new plant has to go, digging out the old wall with a crowbar, checking with the expert that the hole is in the right place, moving the hole, putting the moved plant in place, find a home for the dispossessed plants and then have a large drink.
What you need are sky hooks, but until someone invents them I suppose you have to go through the attic. What a nightmare. Why not throw caution to the winds and spend one night a week in a comfortable pub?
Your gardening experience is much the same as mine, except I only have myself to blame. Moving a plant is not a straightforward exercise and the knock on effects should never be underestimated. A couple of days ago I was going to move a grass. Looked at it from all angles and quickly decided it was not a 5.00 p.m. job. Just as well. Did it today and it took half a day, along with the three other plants that had to be shifted as part of the process, slithering all the time down a 45 degree rain-soaked clay soil hill.
Oh Jessica that all sounds rather traumatic and this dire weather can’t help matters. I recommend some plant retail therapy to lessen the pain. Sending hugs and good karma in your direction ((()))
Thank you Anna.
Retail therapy sorted. Hardy Plant Society Summer Fair, yesterday. Impeccable timing I thought.
Jessica, your humour and stoicism are an inspiration. Don’t ever lose them! x
I am doing my best. It gets more challenging by the day! x