Blood On The Walls
My fingers are raw.
I’ve been trying to remove the plaster residue left by the builders on the dining room beams. Lime plaster is, by its nature, extremely gritty. It means that if someone should happen to be scrubbing away at a beam with her wire toothbrush and her knuckles should accidentally scrape across the ceiling or one of the adjacent walls.. well, it’ll take the skin off and more. Ouch, ouch, ouch. There’s also the problem of having your neck constantly bent backwards and the aforementioned grit from the lime plaster falling straight into your eyes. When I encountered a particularly wormy bit of beam there were clouds of dust to contend with as well and on more than one occasion I was driven to wearing my respirator mask. Such things are really designed for big burly builders. Not petite young ladies. Or even petite not-so-young ladies. So it isn’t the most comfortable to wear. It’s been worth it though. The true colour of the wood is finally revealed.
It feels a very long time since Christmas and (oh so briefly) reclining comfortably in this room. Because no sooner had the fairy lights been packed away the dust sheets reappeared.
If you recall there used to be a bookcase taking up the entirety of the wall to the left of the fireplace. We’ve loved it as a feature and always intended to put it back. So much so that when the sofas were recovered, just before Christmas, we matched the fabric to the colour of the bookcase.
For almost a year now the three main sections of the bookcase have been stored in the garage. It kept them dry and out of harm’s way but restricted access to the front passenger seat of the car and, even worse, rendered it a virtual impossibility to open the rear door far enough to safely extract any cargo of plants that may have (perchance) fallen into the footwell during a horticultural excursion. But as the time drew near to reconstruct the bookcase back in the sitting room we began to have our doubts. The builders had cautioned against it. Stone and cob walls need to breathe. There is no damp proof course in a house of this age and the moisture which invariably draws up from the earth needs to evaporate freely. Fitted cupboards or pieces of heavy furniture which impede the free flow of air around the walls are likely to cause problems in the long run.
Given all the time, effort and grief that Mike had put into building the bookcase from scratch far be it from me to suggest that it didn’t go back. And yet, as it turned out, Mike had quietly been thinking the same. We’d found damp in the wall when we took the bookcase down. Since then it’s been replastered using the correct materials and as of today it’s as dry as this type of wall is probably ever going to be. Do we want to risk it getting damp again? No.
We had to find a compromise. I retreated back to the trusty CAD program and played around with some options. First I reduced the whole bookcase down to around a third of its previous height. But it looked too busy with the chairs in front of it finishing up at about the same height. So then I tried shortening the bookcase to 2/5 of its original width and just reducing the height slightly:
Better. This one almost got built. It got as far as the sides and the top being cut down and balanced in place. But for me at any rate it still didn’t work. A bookcase filling a wall reads as a wall. If you’ll excuse the pun. But now I’d created a monster of a stand alone piece of furniture which, even though it was now considerably smaller, seemed heavier, overly dominant in the low ceiling room and out of place. Especially with it being the first thing you encountered on coming in through the door. And in trying to provide the required air circulation it needed to stand slightly away from the wall, leaving an unsightly gap.
In this room, we decided, the bookcase was an all or nothing thing. And if we couldn’t have it all…
With two very heavy hearts we’ve now opted to leave out the bookcase entirely. It certainly gives a more spacious feel, if lacking some of the cosiness the room had before. I’m toying with the idea of painting this wall the same duck egg blue as the sofas, to make it more of a feature wall and perhaps bring a little more continuity. Too much blue? Should we stick with the light and airy white? Any thoughts?
Whichever way we go at least this new scheme will make the job of completing the room easier.. right?
Well, maybe.
Of course if you have a bookcase that covers a whole wall it really doesn’t matter where the plug sockets are. Even if they happen to be positioned half way up the wall. In a bare wall scenario it might perhaps be better if the sockets are located a little further down. Which means a new hole in the wall. And a longer electrical cable. And the bedroom floorboards up. Again.
As Mike hauled on the wire from above my job, described as “not arduous, but vital”, is to play out the new cable. With strict instructions that it was on no account to twist. Sounds so easy doesn’t it? And, as ever, supplementary directions hollered through the medium of a solid plaster ceiling can sometimes be misheard. Or not heard at all. Blood pressure rises on both sides. There could be more body fluid on the wall before the day is out. And this time some of it may not be mine.
With so much blood, sweat and tears invested in this project, it is understandable that the devil is in the details–every last one of them. Here’s hoping neither of you has to lose anymore blood for the cause–self-inflicted or otherwise.
It’s especially frustrating that we’re digging holes in newly plastered walls but needs must. However carefully you try to plan something a project on an old house is a journey into the unknown.
I really feel for you. We blocked up our garage doors and converted that to a library. A humidifier has kept the books dry. Would it be naive to suggest dividing up the bookcase and having an air gap between these sections and the wall?
I’ve tried just about every combination I can think of and that was one of the first so, no, not at all naive. I suppose part of the problem is that we both so liked the continuity offered by the wall to wall, floor to ceiling version. Splitting up the sections seemed to break up the room somehow, we’d lost the flow.
I have always hated this phase of remodeling or reconstruction. You think you have it and then something changes and you have to redo stuff. It does seem to work out in the end but the getting there just stinks… bigtime.
Absolutely. The whole thing just seems to be dragging on now. So near and yet so far..
Ouch! Don’t envy you that task. On the brighter side – you aren’t missing anything outdoors! We also have a nice little bookcase that we had in our last home and now is too big to fit in the cubby hole by the stairs so it sits in the living room and doesn’t look right wherever we put it! So we wait for planning permission. Having a bat survey done next week. Any bats residing in the workshop/garage will be having involuntary colonic irrigation with this weather – the roof leaks!
Nice to see your progress of the shifting tarps! I await the TADAAAA moment when you whisk them away!
Reminds me of my old greenhouse roof although thankfully I didn’t have to suffer the drips while hanging upside down!
As a voracious reader and owner of too many books, I have to ask, where will the books go??? Where are the books NOW? What a problem.
They’re currently in a storage warehouse, where they’ve been for the best part of a year! When we get them back there will have to be a serious cull. We’ll hold on to the ones which are particularly precious. I have a smaller bookcase in my study where some of them can go. What eases the pain somewhat is that it was becoming a rather dated collection. We too do a lot of reading but lately that’s tended to be downloaded ebooks, so the bookcase stash wasn’t getting refreshed as perhaps it once was. It’s a habit that started as a convenience while travelling and has stuck.
Ouch – both for your hands/eyes and the problem of the bookcases. They did look so good, too! Can parts of them be remade to sit directly behind the sofas, or would that block pathways?
We have walked the room several times trying to find alternative places, indeed, all around the house. But it isn’t a huge house by any means and we appear to have reached its capacity when it comes to finding spaces for furniture. There’s always a window or a radiator in the way, or an odd shaped wall!
Being a book lover, I wouldn’t want to give up the shelves, but if it isn’t going to work and might cause damp, then they have to go. Perhaps they can be reused somewhere else with the same purpose.
I wouldn’t want the prospect of damp returning. There was sometimes a musty smell in the sitting room, especially if the house had been shut up for a while. When we took the bookcase down at the start of this project we found out why!
Your remodel is a roller-coaster ride. Now roller-coasters are fun for awhile but I can’t imagine what one’s stomach – and head – must feel like after a very, very, very long ride. I suppose a backless bookcase with inches of air flow left between the books and the wall and just the shelf frame attached to the wall is still problematic? Whatever the solution, I’m sure you’ll come to love it, at least once you find a place to store all those books! Take care of those knuckles.
We did think about reconstructing the bookcase to have open slats rather than a solid back. The trouble is the books pretty much filled the shelves so I doubt we would have managed to increase the circulation significantly.
It certainly feels like a long old haul. I definitely need at least one summer off before contemplating another project like this one!
Ah, we have one of those lovely plug sockets halfway up the wall. Mark uses it for the recharger for something. Not sure that look is an improvement. I would hate to give up a wall of bookcases but not as much as making my wall damp and problematic — not after all your work. How about a darker blue paint for the wall: deep teal or navy for a bit of drama; a color that will work with art and will read as a neutral.
The new look definitely isn’t an improvement, it’s a compromise. So now we have to find a way to capitalise on the extra space and I think trying to consolidate the wall again with a feature colour might go some way. I like the idea of a darker blue, in fact we went out and bought a tester pot this afternoon to try it out. There may need to be more experimentation.. one of the other drawbacks of lime plastered walls is the need to use special breathable paint and the colour range isn’t as extensive as one might like!
Is there a space where you can put the bookshelves back to back as a room divider? My first priority would be the shelves for the books, somehow!
Sadly no, cottage rooms are traditionally quite small. They are fabulous for character and cosiness but very low on flexibility. I love the modern open plan look but knocking down walls just isn’t feasible when they’re 2-3 feet thick. We will keep some of the books, as many as we can.
It’s looking fabulous! my youngest daughter is looking at a cottage with beams and I’m taking in all your renovation advice and experience. it will be worth it in the end. good luck Jessica. karen x
I have always loved the character that comes with a cottage but it can be a huge amount of work and the maintenance costs are high if the house is very old. It has to be a labour of love because the journey rarely ends, there’s always something that needs doing!
Can the bookshelves be repurposed for another room perhaps? Such a shame to lose them after all the effort of building them, but there are always hard decisions to make in any renovation/remodeling project I suppose.
We tried very hard to find an alternative place for the bookshelves, precisely because of all the effort that went into building them, but we’ve just run out of space.
I love the room either way but it is always nice to have a wall of books… not necessarily in the main living area. The room looks elegant … and I do love the beams.
The room is so much lighter than it used to be and I do love that. It also feels so much more spacious, that is something we must hold on to.
My husband had bookcases all round his study in our old home, a stone barn. Imagine my horror on moving day when we dismantled them to find all three walls covered in black mould! I used a brush to try and clean it off but just made it worse. So embarrassing to leave it like that for the new owners so I would caution against rebuilding your bookcases.
What a clever computer programme you use to plan the layout. What is it called?
That is exactly the problem and I can imagine the horror only too well!
The software is called Live Home 3D Pro. I have to say I’ve found it totally invaluable. We bought it years ago, for about $30 I think. It’s probably a bit more than that now but still on the market, at least they’re still sending me updates. Being an American program it doesn’t cope happily with all the wonky walls, irregular floor and ceiling levels of an old English cottage, or beams, so I’ve had to come up with some creative solutions from time to time.. Last year I bought a more sophisticated version which does outdoor landscaping as well but that is far more complicated. I am still trying to get my head around it.
Glad to see so many comments that want you to save the bookcase somehow! What is a living room without books? Maybe put the bookcase an inch or two off the wall, well-fixed of course, and have a tiny ventilator behind it that turns on automatically at night.
We won’t go short of books. There is a coffee table so there will be coffee table books! They make a room feel lived in.
I see the problem, but what about the bookcase minus its back? That is, open shelves and thus able to breathe?I’m sure you’ve thought of that…. I’m with you on the respirator problem too. I use a full one whenever I did any dyeing of fabric and I can’t wait to get the darn thing off.
We certainly did look at a backless bookcase. The issue was that a lot of the strength of the unit was initially in the back because it needed to be self supporting. The wall is too wonky to attach the shelves to directly! And then if there was any moisture in the walls it might damage the books.
Where have all the books gone?
They’re in storage currently. When they return there will need to be a cull. We’ll keep the ones we value most highly and find alternative places for them.
I too wondered what would happen to the books. Next project to build a min library in the garden.
I was reading the latest NT magazine this afternoon and somewhere (I forget where) there’s an old shepherd’s hut that has been converted into a library.
I think you’re wise not to put the bookcases back in there original spot. After all the work youve done to have dampness again would really be awful. i like the airiness of the room as it is and a scattering of books on the side table seems like a good option. Sometimes we need to let go of the past…
The airiness of the room is one of its best features and I’d hate to lose that now we’ve got it. We haven’t gained a massive amount of space having removed the bookcase but it certainly feels a lot more spacious, especially as it’s the area right by the door.
You take such pains (literally) to make things in the house just right. Makes for a perfect-as-possible home, but, ouch!
We do suffer for our efforts don’t we. I haven’t broken my arm though (yet) so my ouch pales into insignificance!
Goodness, how I feel for you! What a shame about the bookcase, there’s always something for sure. Good luck getting it all finished.xxx
The room looks very bare without the bookcase, it is a real shame. But a damp problem would be far worse especially, as we know, the country is getting wetter.
Books make a room so I can see your problem. You could either go for free standing in the middle of the room, but you need big rooms for that. Given that you are ingenious why not put is some small electric fans behind the book shelves to move the air and keep the damp at bay?
Books do make a room and we’ll still have plenty of them, just not in a bookcase. Or at least, not in such a huge bookcase!
I laughed out loud at your misfortune of being grated by the rough surface of the beams. I’m sorry, but I can definitely relate! We live in an apartment with very low and slanted ceilings. Why the builders thought popcorn ceilings were a great idea, is beyond me! Thanks for the laugh.
Hi Beloit
Popcorn ceilings – love that description. And so apt! I suppose I should be used to it by now. I will have finger tips like rhino hide before this is done.
It’s my first comment here, so – hello!
Lovely home and I really admire how it’s developing. Big kudos for you though!
As to the bookcase – the room does look bare without it. Those lovely armchairs and other furniture do not do the trick sadly. And no room for the books…
So, how about splitting your bookcases horizontally and ditching the upper half? If you put it away from the wall, perhaps air flow would be enough?
To avoid unsightly gap, maybe Mike could build a new, deeper countertop, with holes in it for ventilation?
Anyway, good luck with your decisions and upcoming works.
Joanna
Hello Joanna!
The room does look bare, I agree, and we’ll need to think hard about how to warm it up. The armchairs are half way through being reupholstered so I think a modern jazzy fabric will help. Dividing the bookcase horizontally was the first thing I tried, I liked that idea too. It didn’t work quite so well when I put it in the plan. The armchairs came up to about the same height and it all looked a bit bottom heavy, even with the pictures above in an attempt to balance it. We’ll find space for books somehow, the room needs them for atmosphere.