Miles and miles of concrete and cement 'plaster'

Attention switched to the main family room, but this soon turned out to be a much bigger job than first though. Before I started, it looked like this...

You can see the tide mark in the first picture. The question is, what is the source of the damp? When it rains the paper on the walls gets physically wet. It isn't coming from above as the rooms upstairs are dry. Is it really coming from below? There isn't a source of condensation.

So, the plaster removal began. The internal wall had a cement plaster that came off the wall easily. The outside wall around the window had a concrete render that was welded to the stonework. It was particularly evil along the base of the wall, which had 2 inches thick solid concrete from the floor up about 1 foot. The SDS+ drill came into its own and saved a huge amount of time. By hand, it would have taken days.

Another interesting discovery, as can be seen in the above pic. The window used to come down another 2 feet and there used to be a door immediately to the right. You can see the newer stone and brick work. If this place did indeed use to be a bakery, you can imagine that this was a shopfront with a large display window and door beside. The other side of the window is the original stone.

Taking out the plaster in the passage that connects the two wings led to a problematic area of unsupported wall. The inadequate lintel fell out and now the wall is held up by some very small sticks. Something else to add to the list of things to fix. The door and frame has been removed at this point.

In this picture, you can see the sticks supporting the gable end. There was a piece of metal under these, but it fell out when the wood block it was attached too also fell.

I took off the plaster in the hallway. Near the floor it just fell away but further up it was still really good quality. Adhering well to the wall and solid. I figured it all had to come off though. Surprisingly hard work considering it was just lime here.

Looking up the stairs (which will eventually be removed)

This wall also had a skirt of solid concrete (this time backed by slate). It was again welded to the stone and I had to give up. You can see in the pic below where the chisel had chipped the concrete. Hard work!

I need to finish off this last corner then clear out the kitchen cabinets. Once done, it will be a shift to upstairs. More plaster removal and taking out walls.

The roof downstairs is the original lathe and plaster and I am in two minds about whether to leave it. It is mostly intact and I like the idea of an original roof. however, it may all fall down soon after so it may be better to replace it now. Alternatively, I can remove the lime and get it replastered in lime which should probably last another couple of hundred years.

Decisions decisions.

A weekend off for a change

A combination of a broken Land Rover and Mothers Day meant no work on the house this weekend. Twice as much will have to be done next time in order to catch up.

Still no sign of the planning application online yet. I hope it shows up soon as we would like to see progress.

Finally, still considering options for heating and hot water. The idea of a wood-burning range is probably out as it does not fit with a working lifestyle. We would need a back-up electric cooker for preparing meals quickly which defeats the purpose of using renewables. There are other options, but costs will probably be prohibitive.

I like the idea of underfloor heating as it is at the junction of the floor and the walls where the most damp appears. Gentle warmth in this are will dry it out nicely. We will have to think about ventilation though, as this could lead to excessive condensation. The other problem is that the rooms are not particularly high, so raising the floor may cause other problems.

Our planning application includes solar panels for heating water, but again the cost may be too much for these. I am sure all these technologies will get cheaper, but just not yet.

Another weekend over

This weekend was spent downstairs removing plaster from the main room. The first step was to clear the plaster from between the two doors. The top was okay but around the base of the wall there is a solid concrete render. As you can see from the picture, this is trapping water and was a cause of damp. They have included slate as a damp-proof measure, but it clearly hasn't worked.

There was also a patch towards the left that could not be removed. It turns out that there used to be a window there and not a door. Part of the window has been blocked up, the rest was converted into the door on the right. You can see the wooden lintel in the wall - the wallpaper area is the newer blockwork to block the window.

Moving across to the other side of the wall, I removed the old hot water tank and the surrounding cupboard and found a much larger void. This has an original window that has been blocked up. Much of the plaster is loose and so will have to come off.

Whilst mucking about in this corner, I uncovered a gap between the step and the floor of the back room. The floor is only about an inch thick and sits on a layer of gravel/hard core. There is no damp-proofing on this floor.

Moving back to the void, the plaster was removed and the floor cleared. As you can see from the picture, there is a row of floor tiles and then two large flagstones. These flags are probably the original flooring, with the tiles being later.

Lifting one of the flags, it is sitting on a gravel layer about 1 inch thick. Under the gravel is soil. Not a whole lot of Foundation. This will need fixing to prevent water ingress through the floor (not to mention wildlife ingress).

Moving back to the mail wall, to the left of the door a concrete base has also been added. You can see that the door uses the left hand side of the original window opening. The door is very narrow, so will probably make it larger.

The next image shows more clearly where the window used to be. The wood lintel for the window has been cut, but both sides are still visible.

Finally, I took a look at the wall to the left of the picture above. This wall divides the living room from the old entrance hallway. The plan is to block up this entrance and make it into a study. The stairs will also be removed.

The wall had been skimmed in cement also and the whole lot came off in large sheets. Underneath, a brick wall rather than a partition. The wall uses wooden beams 1/3 and 2/3 of the way up. This looks like a taditional building method and, whilst not being part of the original house, it was added quite some time ago.

That was all the work - another full load to the recycling centre. We also received the documents from the solicitor. The oldest one we have is from 1880, which talks about the owner of the property going bankrupt and his sons selling up. At that time, it is recorded as a 'cottage bakehouse'. There is also some information in the document mentioning a brewhouse.

I have been in touch with the Local Authority about house names and hopefully we can change the name from Waters Edge to The Old Bakehouse. It would make a nice story as we have an original oven.

The premises was  a going concern up to 1880, so there is still more history to uncover. This will require a trip to the LA archives in Chippenham.