We hadn’t intended to put windows in the sides of the old building… But life has a way of changing plans. I was at a market and some guy was selling three small windows, ex-display models. Too small for anyone’s use, apparently, they had been thrown in a skip by the company, and scavenged for sale. One of the disadvantages of an old house is the lack of light. Each room has only one window, on the south side, and the rooms can seem gloomy. So, I brought these back to Robin who said something a little stronger than, Oh, darn, then proceeded to get quite excited about the thought of knocking more holes in the walls. In the image below, he has marked out the necessary recess in the bedroom, and knocked off the plaster to check out the stones underneath.
It’s a bit scary, when you take out old stones. I have a vivid imagination, and see the whole lot hanging for a second, before the wall collapses in slow motion… But, in fact, what is truly amazing is how well these walls hang together, considering they are made from undressed field stones and packed with earth. Because of the width of the walls, we put three reinforced concrete lintels in each gap.
The living room window has been installed, and a hole is being knocked through for the upstairs one on the garden side of the house.
The view of our garden, and the scenery beyond provide an excellent reason for doing this extra work.
Friends from England came over for a holiday… and were seconded.
The bedroom window is in, and the surrounding blockwork is backfilled and pointed.
The walls on the inside are also pointed and repaired.
As you can see, no single job is tackled at any one time. This bedroom had an old cast iron fireplace when we bought the property, but we ripped it out, and sealed the wall after lining the chimney from downstairs floor to roof with ceramic chimney liners.
And finally, a makeshift internal window sill is created, and the wall plastered.
This image is of the living room below, with its dark corner and repaired chimney. We have taken out the fireplace, and left a hole above to take the metal flue for a wood burning stove.
Daylight in the back of this room makes a huge difference to the ambience.
Here, the two east windows are in. As you can see, there used to be another building attached to this end of the house. We’re told it was a mill for the farm, operated by belts from a tractor, outside. This was pulled down by the last owner, who knocked at least three buildings on this property, a fact to which large piles of rubble will attest.
One of the ‘show case’ windows was fitted with a heavy weather surround on the outside, which was ideal for the west bedroom, as this side of the house is battered by winter gales driving in from the Atlantic. We are contemplating rendering this whole wall in waterproof concrete, both to stop water being blasted in during the gales, and also to stop the tar-staining from the old chimney wicking through to the outside.
