The last weekend in February

Progress feels slow, but there is lots of lugging about. John and Sue were down this weekend, so extra help for both me and Sarah. Plans went out the window when, after taking the sleeping bags from on top of the wardrobe, I discovered a very extensive mould patch on the roof (of the 'new' house). The ceilings are not flat here, in order to get extra height, the ceilings are raised in to the attic space. This means there is very little room up there. The damp patch was at the furthest point from the hatch and it was clear noone had been up there for 30 years (except the mice and spiders). It was like an indiana jones film - shuffling along using two thin planks for support being attacked by all manner of nasties.

When I go to the end, the felt was badly damaged in two places. Too big for mice - it must have been birds, but I couldn't see where they had got in. It took a further two 'shuffles' with various tools, replacement felt and wood braces to get the job finished. The plaster in the roof had to be cut out as it was losing structure and had really bad mould. There is a square of ply up there for the time being.

Whilst I was doing that, John was clearing the rubble and dust from bedroom 2 (the dodgy chimney stack). We also both tackled the downstairs back room. Here we removed the wood paneling and all the plaster (which was shot). We also managed to get the carpet out to see the floor. Luckily John did not say his joke out loud as we heaved the rolled up carpet into the recycling hopper (she didn't seem to be this heavy before lunch!).

So, to the pics. Not a very clear one first due to all the dust, but you can see the cleared back room...

Although the plaster was damp in a number of places, the walls seemed dry. There was a lot of concrete render on the insides which caused problems with damp. We took off the ceiling and found some very interesting beams - basically each was half a tree which had been crudely cut. We will have to find a way of keeping these exposed in the final job.

Another image showing the beams (which need a but of tidying up)...

Here you can see the exposed window. I may convert this to a door to the new sun room...

And looking back to the main room - we will probably be keeping all these walls exposed.

The next picture is the same doorway, but from the oposite direction. I cleared off some of the plaster and render too see what it looked like. Again, the walls look really nice so we may end up leaving them exposed. This area was completely covered in a concrete render and finishing plaster, then vinyl wallpaper. It is no wonder there were damp problems.

I finally removed all the debris from the main chimney. It is a monster! You can just see a small square of sky right at the top.

Finally, some of the plaster was loose on the stairs, so I gave it a pull to have a look. It seems that there used to be a door - the wall section on the left is bordered by a block in-fill section. But, this is still very old as it was covered in the original lime plaster. The wood lintel has lost all structure due to worm and will have to be replaced no matter what.

And finally, finally, look at all the rubble that John shifted - this room was full. Two trips to recycling and it is all gone! Well done John.

I get my SDS chisel tomorrow - no more aching elbows weilding a hammer and chisel. Hurrah!!

No pictures this time, just clearing up

A number of trips to the recycling centre with rubble today, clearing up the bedroom 2 chimney remains.

The stack is definitely going to have to be supported, but it is not clear how. I will need to get someone who knows to have a look. Too risky to remove any further bricks for the time being.

We had a look at paint today - the Dulux heritage collection and F&B. We are looking for the green colour that is used in conservation properties. It isn't quite as dark as ochre - it is a light blueish green colour, kind of a green oxide. Our plan it to track down the colour and use it on our window frames. Our problem is that the doors are plastic imitation wood so it may look odd with green windows and brown doors. We could replace the doors but funds probably wouldn't stretch that far.

More rubble clearance to do and then it is on to plaster removal. I also need to sort out the damp in the back house. There is definitely something up there as the back yard always stays very wet. It could be a leaking main or drain, or just water naturally rising. I will dig some test pits and see what happens. We may have to replace the floor in the back house.

Hey-ho

Still taking out chimneys

Firstly, the grate that I found behind a storage heater...

Okay, it has a nest in it, but it will look good once it is cleaned up. This chimney has already been capped, so it can't be used. Just needs blocking at the bottom and a suitable surround.

 

Here was where I started with the fireplace in the front room. Half was out, half was left.

After lots and lots of rubble, plaster, nest and bricks, I ended up with this...

There are still stones, bricks and rubble stuck in the flues, but this will have to be tackled from above as it is too dangerous to do it from below. I can't take any further walls down until the chimney is removed from the room above, so that was the next task.

Before I started, a picture of the lino square in this room. Again, it is not possible to lift it as it is too brittle.

This chimney was made of breeze-block and was covering the original flue behind. The blocks were very solid and it was hard to break through. This was before I started...

After I had been able to remove some of the blocks, it was clear the chimney behind had collapsed. You can see where the stack has separated from the wall.

Further excavation revealed the two flues - the large one on the left and a collapsed one on the right...

On the next picture, you can see how the original plaster was moulded around the chimney. There is a patch at the top left and also an area in the centre.

However, this will all have to come out as it is too unstable. I will remove the remaining block and then take out the stone. The chimney is actually supported on bricks so there is no problem with the stack itself. If we are to remove the chimney, we will have to come up with a way of supporting the stack in the roof. There are no obvious means of doing this as it is separate from the walls.

Inside the chimney were these hooks - one on the side, one on the rear. I don't know what they were for...

I also found 3 dusty butterflies which were still alive. I have no idea what they were doing in there, but they seemed quite happy!!

Finally, a bit of a clear up required. This all has to be carried down stairs, making the job much slower. Lots of trips to the recycling centre also. Fun, fun, fun!!

Although you can't really see it, the rubble is 1 to 2 feet deep in this picture. This room will be completed by the end of the weekend, and I can start on getting the plaster off the walls and roofs. You can just see the original lathe and plaster next the ladders in the picture above. That entire wall has to come out. Another day!

What IS behind that huge chimney breast?

There is an excessively large chimney breast in the front room Taking the plaster off the side allowed a knock on the brickwork to indicate a hollow cavity behind.

You can see the original pale blue and beige paint towards the top of the wall.

So, time to attack the front. Initial excavations revealed a modern concrete lintel. There also appeared to be new brickwork.

However, down the right had side, original brickwork could be seen. Was this an original Victorian kitchen? Further removal of the concrete render showed the extent of the concrete lintel. At the edges and along the top of this wall is original lime plaster.

After a bit of persuasion, a brick was removed. The question is, what is behind? Looks like just lots and lots of rubble peering through the hole...

Taking out further bricks resulted in this...

It is clear that the chimney has collapsed internally - huge amounts of mortar, plaster and stone came out of this cavity. But, behind all the rubbish was a brick face with an opening at the top which had a wrought iron surround. within the frame was a flat section and then a brick oven with a cast iron door.

The door has been removed (luckily intact with no damage, despite it being rusted solid. Thanks WD40).

The oven originally sat out the back of the house, but the actual structure was removed when the extension (new house) was built. Inside the oven now is the brickwork of the wall behind.

There is really nice brickwork surrounding this oven, which will clean up nicely. I am also sure that the door will clean up well - just needs a scrub and some zebo.

What a find! Definitely a feature to keep. The amount of rubbish that came out was astounding. Bags and bags of rubble and mortar. However, after much effort, I was left with this...

Note the original tiles at the base of the void. The brickwork to the left is later and will be removed. There may be additional stuff behind the bit of the chimney breast that remains. That is the next job.

You can see the new brickwork more clearly here. Whilst this can be removed, the lintel will have to stay until the large block-work structure is the room above is removed. It is looking likely that the chimney in this room and the room above will have to be removed as a lot has collapsed anyway. We will need to reinstate something as we wil have a wood burning stove in this room.

Finally, I was removing a storage heater from bedroom 1 for use in another part of the house and pulled a section of wall off. Behind was a quite elaborate grate - pictures to follow.

So far, some nice original features and some clues as to the original structure. The next steps are the continued removal of the fireplace in the front room, then the removal of the block-work in the bedroom above.

Moving down stairs to the back room.

This room sits under bedroom3. This room had really bad damp and water damage due to broken guttering and a badly fitted conservatory (using the term very loosely). The plaster had to come of, but again it had a lot of cement render which was perpetuating the damp problem. The room had also been covered in polystyrene sheeting and vinyl wallpaper, all trapping moisture. It all had to go.

There was a very ugly 50's fireplace which had bad water damage so it had to come out. The brickwork behind was not too good, and the original brickwork within the fireplace collapsed. What was left was just the open surround and flue.

 

Start of the demolition - the 50's surround has gone (thanks Dad) and the infill rubble starts to fall out. Digging a bit deeper, the nest that was in the chimney appears. The next day, we had Jackdaw in the house - clearly, it was their nest. It wasn't in use as we are in winter, but they will have to find somewhere new to nest.

The amount of rubble that come out of these things is amazing!

The cleared fireplace. I can now place our woodburning stove here to start getting some heat into the building structure.

 

During this, I drove over a drain cover in my Landie and it collapsed. So a new cover had to be put on. Quite a tidy job even if I say so myself...

Next, the main front room.

And so the work begins...

The plan was to remove some of the plaster to see what was behind. This began in bedroom 3, which has a lot of water damage due to faulty guttering. After a lot of hacking at plaster, we got to this...

 

Where the lime paster stopped, cement render took over. You can see from the outline that this part of the house used to be single storey - the outline of the pitch of the roof can be seen on the back wall. Bottom left, gaps where wood was used in the structure of the wall. It has completely rotted away. The stonework is in very good condition, although it needs repointing inside and out. The sides of this room are rendered internally with cement which is probably not coming off. Note, no fireplace, reinforcing the idea that this was single storey.

The new brickwork in the loft-space showing where the chimney has been extended...

Looking back towards the house, you can still see the original roof line as a section has not been removed.

 

Decisions have to be made where this part of the house joins the main body - just underneath the roof section shown above.

Further explorations in room 2 revealed the old lathe and plaster. This is the area where the 'old house' joins on to the 'new house'.

You can see the new insulation behind the old plasterwork. This was actually put in from the other side. There is a block chimney breast in this room which needs to come out. I wonder what is behind... for another day.

Finally, interesting old lino square in bedroom 1 - impossible to remove as it is very brittle, so it will be lost unfortunately.

That's it for this post

Before we began

The house...

The front room...

 

The lean-to

 

What will be the 'adult space'...

Looking back down the stairs...

 

Bedroom 1...

Bedroom 2 (not a good pic)...

Bedroom 3...

 

That's the 'as it was', not including the 'new bit' which is for a later stage.