The Turning Point??
Previously, in the sitting room
It did look quite tidy for a bit. In a cave-channelling sort of way. Assuming your preference is to live in a house with ‘muck’ smeared across the walls. I should point out that ‘muck’ is a technical term in artisan builder speak. It is a mixture of sand, lime putty and hair. Once upon a time the hair came from a horse. For a period roughly coinciding with the renovation of our last house the fashion had shifted to goat. Then yak. Not that there were many yaks wandering the byways of south Oxfordshire. And even if there had been you might anticipate an animal’s consternation on spying an approaching builder armed with a pair of scissors. And the consequences which might then follow.
By the time we tackled the first room here, my study, the wheel had turned again and it was back to horse. Possibly because, generally speaking, horses don’t retaliate with large and pointy horns. So you can imagine my disappointment to find that even in this most sacred of olde English building practices, modern technology has been brought to bear. Fibre. Plastic. It really isn’t the same is it? I can only hope it is recycled.
But I digress. As usual.
The old ceilings in the dining and sitting rooms were comprised of board covered with woodchip paper. Gaping holes in the ceiling created by first fix plumbing and electrical works we had covered with new board, temporarily, to protect the upstairs rooms from the worst of the sand blasting. All of this, old and new, has now come down. Unusually the builders turned up out of the blue to do this task, leaving us scrambling around laying protective sheets on the bedroom floor while dust and the remnants of the blasting sand rose up around our ears.
The traditional method of constructing a ceiling was to use lath and plaster.
The wooden laths are fixed to batons running alongside each beam. It took the builders several days to get them up there and it was seriously tempting just to leave it like this, I rather liked the effect. Given the quality of the wood in the laths it seemed almost criminal to smother them in plaster. But a perforated ceiling does not for easy cleaning make and in the end common sense prevailed.
The plasterer’s wheelbarrow.
Not an everyday adornment in a dining room. Note the overturned beer crate (empty), used as a step.
As it is applied the lime plaster is forced up through the gaps between the laths, the latter providing a ‘key’ to hold the plaster in place. This is the scratch coat. The surface is scored using a large metal comb producing, in its turn, the key for the next coat.
It does now feel as if a corner has been turned. With the sand blasting of the beams and the plastering of the ceiling real progress is being made. The destructive phase should have reached its end and from this point on it is all about rebuilding. The question marks in the post title are staying though. Both of them. Anything approaching certainty seems like tempting fate.
Alongside the fireplace in the sitting room there is an odd alcove which looks for all the world as though it used to be a door. The wall is certainly much thinner at this point prompting the builder to suggest that it needed more insulation. Between us we hatched a plan to turn an awkward space into something of a feature..
The laths will be plastered over and blended into the surrounding walls but the builder has found a lovely piece of cherry wood for the seat.
And finally.
Imagine my surprise yesterday morning to wander into the sitting room and come across this arresting sight..
Weird English country traditions no. 293
A charm to ward off evil spirits? Bird scarer? Wind chimes? The artisan builder’s special celebration of a turning point? The possibilities are endless.
Methinks the tape used to protect the beams has lost its stick!
Onwards.
By Christmas it will be wonderful!! x
It’s what we’re working to now. Amazing to think we started this back in March. And I joked that we were starting early for Christmas..
I love the seating nook. The room is really coming together but I won’t tempt fate. Simply hope that drooping tape is as bad as it gets from now on. Fingers crossed. Toes, too–and that isn’t easy.
Yes, I can cope with drooping tape. Even in my now fragile state. Taking a good book to the seating nook is something I’m looking forward to greatly.
It’s looking really good! Which direction does the little alcove face, and what is the view from that window?
Hi Su and thanks.
The alcove faces east, so a good morning spot. It overlooks part of the garden and the woodland beyond. I’ve seen deer here before now. And rabbits. But as both have designs on my plants I suppose something of a mixed blessing!
Nice to see that English builders appreciate Grolsch beer. Comes from Enschede, Netherlands. Whenever I visit my son I pass that huge Grolsch brewery.
They used to have TV commercials featuring artisans grunting at each other, pointing to the beer and exclaiming: master craftsmen! Or something like that, in Dutch of course, with a lot of throaty ggg sounds.
Yes, Grolsch is very popular over here. Something else which will perhaps stand in sharp focus after Brexit..
Even though it isn’t finished – what a super transformation! Am loving the window seat – the perfect little nook to squash into with a good book. Had to laugh at the strips – early Christmas decorations! I’m hoping it’s masking tape and not duct tape because that’s supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread – they even made a boat out of that and sailed it on the sea! That was the Mythbusters proving that you should never go anywhere without a roll just in case!
Architect coming this afternoon – plans to take the kitchen out further by another metre – fingers crossed this is the one!
Early Christmas decorations! Now there’s an idea. It’s definitely not duct tape. If it were the beams would come off with it. Good luck with the kitchen extension, that all sounds very exciting.
That seat is going to be a lovely feature and I am guessing that any extra insulation is not a bad thing. My husband says he read somewhere that horsehair in old plaster was not a good thing as it harbored some disease. So maybe that’s why the plastic.
Renovating an old building is fraught with hazards from the past. Lead paint. Arsenic paint. Asbestos. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to learn that these natural organic building materials harboured some disease. We each have a high spec face mask for use when working with dust. It’s all we can do.
You’re getting closer! To me it seems like you can finally go in there and dream of what it will become instead of dreading what you will find next. Plus a clean floor is always a good thing… in between plastering episodes 😉
There seems to be so much light now. I think this will be one of the coziest places in the house come wintertime!
This year winter will be here, even with creative accounting we’ve spent the budget for anything else, so I sincerely hope you are right! It’s amazing how much more light there is now the black beams are gone. Thankfully the builders are good at cleaning up.
Although none of this tedious process will ever be forgotten, once it’s completed you will thank yourselves for being so meticulous in your efforts. It’s so lovely, by the way – I cannot wait to see how you decorate it, especially for the holidays. I only wish you were doing this so I could move into it when you’re done!
It’s like childbirth (so I’m told). It’s scary how quickly you can forget the process. Perhaps that’s the only way house renovations ever get done. If you did remember you’d never go on to do the next bit.
For one terrible moment I thought they were enormous fly papers to catch enormous flies. Quite turned my stomach.
Actually that’s not a bad idea. Have you noticed how many more flies there are about this year? Global warming has a lot to answer for.
I hope you have indeed turned the corner!! Your little window seat alcove is charming already. I’ve reached the point that a tidied debris pile makes me happy but your challenges keep mine in perspective. Thanks for that!
A tidied debris pile is a wonderful thing. It makes such a difference to life if your contractors are tidy.
Slow and steady always wins the race me thinks (not that this is a race), however slow the pace the end will be there somewhere even if you can’t see it now. At least you can see things changing and it will look amazing when it is finished even if that doesn’t seem the case whilst you are living through it!
It always seems SO much slower when you are living through it. Every so often something happens which makes you feel that actually, there has been progress. There are spurts of high activity and then there are lulls. But the lulls are useful too because they give you thinking time. Maybe too much thinking time. As in “I’ve been thinking, can we just….”
It’s all so exciting to see and watch the progress!!! (I’m only glad I don’t have to deal with this every morning!!) Really, it’s going to be just spectacular.
Seeing it coming together at last does boost the spirit a lot. We’d got to the point where we just wanted it over, whatever. Especially with the landscaping work as well. It is too much to take on all at once. But I’m sure by the end we’ll see the benefit of doing it this way, assuming everything works out as it should!
Looking good – the not too sticky sticky papers look like giant fly papers hanging down – reminds me of our time in France. Don’t be too disappointed by the plastic fibre – horse hair was found to have anthrax in it!! x
Golly. Perhaps I should treat the walls with more respect. Although I guess as it’s a bacteria it won’t be viable after all these years. You never know though.
Wow. I grew up in an old, old house and we never had laths as pretty as those. What a lovely job you and your tradespeople are doing.
The old laths here aren’t as pretty either. The quality of the new wood is amazing, far too good to be covered up with plaster. I am guessing it needs to be strong enough to hold up the weight.
The piece of cherry wood looks wonderful, what s great builder to have working with you on this project .
We do have a great builder, we’re very lucky. They did the bedroom for us a couple of years back so there are no qualms about the quality of the work.
Oh wow it is really starting to look like the dirty work is over. So looking forward to seeing the furnishings going back in. Are you going for new or existing?
Existing, although my plan is to have the sofas recovered with a more contemporary fabric. Which reminds me, I must find both the fabric and the upholsterer before the sofas come out of store!
Good to have been seeing all the innards as the renovation progesses. Love the window seat – what a great use of the space!
I love window seats. There’s one in the other room too. I shall need to find lots of lovely cushions to make them cosy places to sit.
Definitely looking up! Can’t wait to see the next stage completed.
FYI last 2 photos have refused to load so I am still in a state of anticipation. Comments have been OK though. Probably our broadband speed or lack of again.
That does sound like a broadband speed issue.
The indoor project is moving along well now. It needs to.. the plaster won’t dry nearly as quickly once we get into autumn.
It seems to be taking shape…
Slowly but surely. But that’s the best way. The plaster needs to dry out completely between coats and that is two weeks each time!
What a fascinating transformation. You are really making progress now!
Thanks Beth. It’s starting to feel that way. And not before time!
Looking Goooood! Even if it does take til Christmas it will have been worth it Jessica. You encounter problems we certainly don’t in a house built only twenty years ago – but I bet ours won’t be half as durable as yours is!
Christmas doesn’t feel so far away, it’s frightening how quickly this year has gone by.
It’s looking good, That’s a lovely piece of cherry wood.
It is. They have removed it again temporarily to avoid getting plaster over it. And then it will be sanded, very lightly, to smooth off the hard edge.
Reaching a turning point is the best part.
What we need now is a sprint to the finish. The nights are drawing in and it’s time to get the radiators up!
It looks beautiful beautiful beautiful even unfinished. The re-work of the once-a-door area to a window/built in bench is an excellent idea. You are right, best not to jinx it with optimism at this point. I blogged about enjoying the so-far mild summer and the weather immediately heated up. Fate reads blogs, it seems.
It certainly does and I’m taking nothing for granted. They say a week is a long time in politics but it’s an even longer time in house renovation.
That reading nook will be a magical place
It will be an incentive to get the area of garden beyond the window tidied up!
At least you got through most of the work with open windows doors etc through the summer, which was nice and warm. As you say you do need to get weather proof and warm before Autumn, which in Devon starts now…..
It is going to look fantastic when finished. Will the greenhouse and terraces be finished in time for next season?
The greenhouse hopefully. The terraces possibly not. We’ve diverted everything into the greenhouse over the last couple of weeks because there’s a deadline for that (manufacturer’s installation schedule and my need for winter protection for tender plants). But in practice I wasn’t going to plant up the new terraces until next Spring anyway. Hopefully work can continue through autumn, until it becomes weather dependent!
It is looking just beautiful. What a lovely house you will have when it is said and done.
Thanks Christina. We’ve needed reminding of that on the many days when it has looked nothing like a habitable dwelling!