The Restoration - Week Twelve

This week was a very busy week at Old Lawns Farmhouse (or OLF to those of you not familiar with this Blog).

• The last four triple glazed windows were fitted.
• The new timber back door with sidelight was fitted.
• Grouting of the west stone wall was completed
• Work began on repairs to the door jambs and reinstating the arch over the front door.
• Much of the remaining brickwork repairs on the walls were completed.
• Re-pointing continued and the scaffold was extended to reach higher areas.
• The new boiler installation was completed.
• The second fix on the electrical work to install extra kitchen sockets, extractors, lights and upgrades to some old wiring was started.

All these jobs meant that OLF was a congested place with 9 tradesmen working on the property at times this week but all these people played their part on accelerating the pace of our restoration.

So lets start with the windows. Four were fitted to complete the fitting of all the windows this week. The biggest change was on the North Gable where the bathroom window was fitted into the original opening opened up last week.

The last two windows were fitted in the North gable, including the bathroom (top left) reinstated to its original size.

Next came the replacement of the old UPVC back door. This door had a top light above it and always looked out of proportion with the building, so it was decided to replace it with something we felt to be more in keeping with the property. The door opening is very wide and had been infilled with UPVC side panels. Having come across a recent, very tasteful barn conversion during a summer walk in south Shropshire I loved the style of the door and sidelight which had been fitted to it and thought something similar might look good on our house. So, not being one who believes in "reinventing the wheel" I took a photograph and gave this to Wiiliams Homes of Bala who manufactured our new door and sidelight to an identical design..

First of all the old door had to be removed, along with a hefty door frame which was found lurking behind those UPVC side panels.

The door is almost ready to be removed and the brickwork above will be repaired and a new brick arch installed.

The door is out! 

Now to install the new door and sidelight, brick up the space above the door where the old top light was located and build the brick arch above the new door.

The new frame is in place and the brickwork repair can begin.

A few hours work and the brickwork and arch are complete and the door is glazed.

A nice feature of this door opening is the quirky, curvy brickwork on the left side. Although its not plumb, its all been repaired and repointed over the past few weeks. Of course we could have straightened this out by taking the wall down and rebuilding but we love the look of it and believe its yet another feature which tells the story of  the building.

Another curve which we think sits nicely against our new door.

Part of the work in replacing the door also involved rebuilding the brickwork above the door and below the bedroom window above. This was in a terrible state, most of the mortar having dissolved to dust below the cement render. The remedy was to strip the outer skin of bricks and rebuild.

The old  brickwork above the door was in a terrible state.

The brickwork is repaired, transforming the appearance of this area.

The removal of the old door, repairs to the jambs, rebuilding of the brickwork above, installing the brick  arch and fitting and glazing the new door took about 2 and a half days in total. We feel that this has immensely improved the appearance of the building, bringing the door much more in proportion with the rest of the house. 

The new door and sidelight,  installed and glazed.

As you will have seen in Blog posts over the past few weeks, there has been a LOT of work done to repair the west stone wall which was in a very poor state of repair when the render was removed. We didn't know what we would find when this wall was revealed although we suspected that it would need significant repairs. In fact this has turned into the largest single piece of work on the entire project. First it was completely raked out and repointed in lime mortar. Next, around 40 stainless steel Spiroties were inserted horizontally through the wall to tie together the stonework. Finally holes were drilled through the mortar at various heights up the wall into which a lime grout slurry was poured, starting at the base and gradually working upwards over the course of a couple of weeks. This week that work was finally completed with the last grout poured into the top of the wall.

John, the skilled mason who has been a big part of repairing this wall pours the last of the lime grout into this big wall.

The total amount of lime grout used was 4.8 tons, so allowing for the fact that the mix has been about two parts grout to one part water, this means that over 7 tons of material has been poured into the wall, filling all the voids and immensely increasing the strength of this wall. I have no doubt that it has NEVER been as strong as it is today and its good for another 400 years!  

What's been amazing at times is how the grout has "traveled" across the wall, leaking out a long way from where it is being poured. Even as John was pouring the last few hundred kilos, we had a few leaks inside and outside the house. Let's just say that if you are doing this kind of work in a house where you are living, as we are, then don't be too precious about your carpets!! 

Lime grout oozing through the newly pointed wall, clay was used to temporarily plug these weep holes.

Having fitted the new back door and sidelight, work got underway to repair the jambs on our front door. Once all the remaining render had been removed it was obvious that the existing door frame was too narrow for the opening and the gaps on each side had been packed with cement. So the solution is to rebuild the jamb on one side and fit a new larger door frame but reuse the existing timber door within the new frame. We also decided that we will eventually sand the existing door back so that it can be painted in Linseed oil paint from Allback in the same Lichen colour as our new windows.  

Ben gets to grips with removing brickwork on one of the door jambs, ready to rebuild it to the new frame size.

Next on the list were repairs to the outer skin of bricks below the north kitchen window. This looked like an area which had been poorly rebuilt at some time in the past. The cement render in this area was VERY hard and when Stuart the bricklayer started to remove the outer skin of bricks it was clear that extremely hard cement had been used. 

Removing the old brickwork was a tough job due to the very hard cement mortar which had been used.

Once the old brickwork had been removed, it wasn't long before this section was fully repaired.

Stuart completes the rebuild and has matched the pattern on the adjacent section of wall

This repair is one of the last significant areas of wall in need of repair and leaves only one section on the north gable still to be done. The weather remains on our side even in late October and temperatures are still OK for the use of lime mortar so we're crossing our fingers for a mild start to November! 

Two areas of brickwork which also need attention are the chimney stacks which will have the top 6 courses rebuilt. The scaffolders returned this week to provide access to higher areas of the south gable and they will eventually scaffold the chimneys sometime in the next couple of weeks once the bricklyers are ready to start work on the stacks.

Another level was added to the scaffold on the south gable. 

One reason for the higher level of scaffold is the amount of repointing still to be done on OLF. A lot of the lime mortar has been damaged or even dissolved away by years spent wet under cement render.

Gareth starts repointing the top of the south gable

Last but not least, as the autumn arrives we got our boiler installed and the heating system was up and running again. Having use an ageing, oil burning Stanley cooker to provide heating and an electric immersion heater for hot water, we are very impressed so far by the performance of the new 97% efficient oil burning, condensing system boiler which has been installed. We have our fingers crossed for lower energy bills at a time when most people are seeing an increase.

Still a "work in progress" but our kitchen is getting slowly back to normal and its cosy again thanks to our new boiler!

Next weeks work will include continuing repointing, replacement of some individual bricks, work on the front door jambs and arch and repairs on the remaining brickwork.

The Restoration - Week Eleven

The main progress this week has been:

• Four window openings have been repaired ready for their new windows, 3 with newly built brick arches.

• Our bathroom window opening has also been restored to its original size using its original brick arch.

• The new oil fired boiler installation was started.

        

The first of the smaller windows was fitted after minor repairs to the jambs.

I don't think I've posted shots showing the rebuild and reinstatement of a window arch so here are a few shots to show the process on one of the windows rebuilt by Stuart this week:

Having hacked out the modern outer skin of brick and removed the lintel, the brickwork above is supported by Acroprops while the jambs are repaired. 

With the lintel replaced and a wooden former in place, the arch is restored.

Finally, thin sections of brick are cut and laid over the arch to complete the job.

One part of the project we were looking forward to was restoring the bathroom window to its original size which was revealed when an old arch was discovered under the cement render. This will let a lot more light into the room which is on the darker north side of the house.

This was the old bathroom window and its original arch which had been hidden under the render.

Work starts on the removal of the brick infill, improving the view from the bathroom 

We found old soggy plasterboard on the left side of the reveal and a nice big oak beam over the top of the opening which, although it had been hidden beneath plasterboard for decades, seems to be sound and will be left in place to eventually be a feature in the room.

The new opening is much more in proportion with the other windows on this gable.

Other windows were fitted and glazed leaving only 4 more to go as well as our new door, all of which we hope will be fitted next week, although its looking like the weather may be turning wetter.

Another window goes into its newly repaired opening. 

Because of their weight, the windows were fitted without glass and the triple glazed units installed once the windows were in place.

The brick corbelling  on OLF has been painted red and we want to remove this so that these bricks can be limewashed. This week a paint stripper was tried with some success but it thinned and smeared, rather than removing the paint. Blasting is probably an option but we would rather not go to the expense of doing that and now that the new windows are fitted, sand blasting at this stage runs a high risk of damaging the glass. The plan is to try brick acid next but if that proves ineffective we may eventually have to use a masonry paint which will match the limewash on the rest of the brickwork. Before doing that however, we will test limewash on the stripped bricks to see if it will cover them and adhere to the treated surfaces.

Removing masonry paint from brick is proving difficult without blasting.

Finally on Thursday, we had the welcome sight of our oil boiler being installed. In an ideal world with no financial restrictions it would have been nice to install a wood pellet boiler but those installations would cost about £10k, excluding the cost of a building to house the boiler, fuel hopper and heat storage tank. While not the greenest choice, our new  condensing oil boiler is 95% efficient and so at least it will make better use of the oil than our old, thirsty range!

At last! By this time next week, we will be ready for winter.

The weather next week is not forecast to be too good - wet and windy. Nevertheless the hope is that we can continue to make progress on :

• Fitting the last four windows
• Installing the new door
• Finish grouting the west wall
• Start repointing brickwork in lime mortar and...
• Start internal work on making good around the new windows

The Restoration - Week Ten

Another week goes by and further progress has been made on our project:

• More windows have been fitted and glazed.

• The new kitchen wall has been lime plastered and the temporary  plywood wall in our kitchen has finally been removed after almost 10 weeks.

• Grouting of the stone wall has continued and about 3 tons of grout has now been used.

Having windows back in the house instead of sheets of plastic seems like a luxury after so many weeks. All the windows on the south elevations are now in and only the new door needs to be installed on this side, once the brickwork is prepared.

Five windows fitted on the south side with just the door to go.

On these south elevations we opted to install storm casement windows which are a more modern design, intended to withstand the worst weather. This will be a help on this very exposed side of the house although not entirely in keeping with a house of this age. So they're a bit of a compromise but since the approach to the house and the main gardens are on the other side, these windows are seldom seen from the outside. On all the other elevations the windows are flush casements, which had to be hand finished but are much more in keeping with the building.

Ben finishes glazing the French door which is a flush casement design, like the windows on all elevations apart from the south side.

The French door and one of the bedroom windows are fitted on the North gable

In last weeks blog we showed the internal kitchen wall ready for the plasterer. A base coat of lime plaster with a mesh was completed on Monday and the top coat applied on Wednesday. This lime plaster has a lovely texture and the edges of the window reveals have been nicely rounded.

The plywood partition is removed revealing the beautifully lime plastered wall and the new window.

While the plasterer was with us he also applied a scratch coat of lime render to the south side of the lean-to where we wanted to cover some ugly modern block work. This will get its top coat later on when the plasterer will return to do some internal work.

The scratch coat of lime render is applied to the lean-to

Grouting continued on the west wall this week and by Friday, the total dry weight of lime grout poured into the wall came to 3 tons - that doesn't include the water, so the total tonnage poured into this wall so far is considerably more!! By Friday, the grout was around first floor level.

By the end of the week, John and Stuart have worked their way up to first floor level where they are pouring yet more grout into the wall. 

Pouring grout into an old stone wall also has a side effect, the grout can pour out of the wall on the inside of the house! With this in mind we had already removed some internal dry lining to expose stone work inside the house. Despite pointing the more obvious holes, the grout still found its way through in places and fast work to plug holes with lumps of clay was needed from time to time.

Lime grout leaks through small holes inside the house

Other jobs this week were to stitch some brickwork between the south gable and the south wall as well as starting to point with lime mortar below the newly installed windows. 

Brickwork is stitched at the join where the south wall meets the gable wall

Nice to see some finishing touches around the new windows!

Next week we hope to continue reinstating brick arches above the remaining window openings and fitting more windows. As well as that our boiler should hopefully installed by the end of next week before the night get too cool! We've been lucky so far with the weather but its got to get colder soon!

The Restoration - Week Nine

This week has seen the most visible signs of progress since the beginning of this project.

• The inside of the new kitchen wall was insulated and fully prepared for lime plastering, including the electrics required for new sockets and wiring for the new boiler. 
• The long awaited windows arrived and the first of these were fitted in the renovated, arched openings. 
• The last unstable section of the big west stone wall was repaired and pointed.  
• Stainless steel Spiro Ties were fixed into the stone wall to tie it together, further strengthening the repairs.
• Grouting began on the stone wall with about 400kg of ready mixed grout being poured into the first section.

The new wall on the inside of the kitchen was battened out to straighten the curve on the inside, packed with mineral wool, then Celenit wood fibre boards were fixed onto the battens providing a nice breathable surface for the lime plaster which will be applied next week.

The kitchen wall ready for lime plastering.

A major part of our renovation are the new triple glazed timber windows which we've chosen to paint with linseed oil paint, since this is a natural material with a very long life and minimal maintenance compared to modern solvent based paints. 

The solid walls of our house are still of course a significant source of heat loss since not all external walls are insulated internally. However we hope the new argon filled, triple glazing with an inner pane of heat reflective Pilkington K glass will help keep the indoor climate more comfortable.

Because of the weight of these windows they were delivered unglazed and will be glazed once fitted.

They're here! Our windows arrive and we can start to fill the holes in our house!

Within an hour the first frame is being fitted into the new kitchen wall

Ben makes a check on the levels which are not easy to set in a curvy wall!

The timber infills in the brick arches will be fitted once the windows are in place and will of course be painted to match.

By the end of the week our living room window is also fitted and glazed. Finally it feels like things are improving and that we're making real progress.

After 9 weeks living with a plastic sheet, we have a window back in our living room.

This week there has been a huge amount of skilled work done onthe west wall. In particular, one small section between two brick buttresses has been the focus of a lot of attention. This part of the wall has had the render carefully removed, allowing repairs and infilling by John the mason, since this section was seriously bulging, hollow and full of holes requiring new stone.

There are some big holes and hollow areas in need of careful repair

John starts the job of filling the voids and replacing missing or damaged stone.

Render removed. Next step is to replace damaged and missing stone and then use a gun to squirt lime mortar in between the stones as deep as possible. 

Pointing the repaired sections in lime mortar.

By mid week the repairs and repointing are done.

Having now completed the rebuild and repointing of this big wall which is about 50m2, the next task is to insert Spiro Ties to connect the inner and outer skins before grouting. This will increase the strength of the wall enormously. The first step is to drill a hole through the wall to the inner skin, about 1 per m2.

Jack starts drilling holes through the wall for the Spiro Ties

These stainless steel rods will add lateral strength to this old wall

The Spiro Ties are inserted into the holes using a special tool to inject a resin to surround and seal the tie in the stonework.

Drilled stone ready for a Spiro Tie

Inserting a tie and resin

Spiro Tie and resin fixed into the stonework

So now that this wall has been repaired, repointed and tied together with steel rods, the grouting can begin. If you've read some other posts in this Blog you'll know that this involves pouring a lime mortar slurry into the wall. The aim is to fill remaining voids and bind the structure of the entire wall, resulting in a strong, solid and breathable wall. Grouting was started on what we knew was one of the more hollow sections, the bulge between the brick buttresses.

Stuart pours lime grout into the first section of wall

This first section was about 1 metre up the wall and around 400kg of grout (dry weight) was poured into this hole before any sign of it filling was seen. Hopefully this will prove to be one of the worst places as this grout is not cheap and the material costs are significant on such a large wall.

As well as all these major jobs this week, there have also been a number of other things going on. The crumbling brick work on the south west corner was rebuilt and repointing of some of the repaired arches was finished off.

Stuart has nicely rebuilt this corner with a stepped section at the top.

Repointing is finished off above one of the restored arches

So, it's been a massive week in the restoration of OLF and we hope that next week will see more big changes - more windows going in and our kitchen wall plastered.