2008-12-20

The roof is now finished, complete with gutters, and nice chimneys, and looking really smart. The first layer of rough plastering over the stone is done upstairs too. Inside is now almost completely gutted. That is, the first floor, kitchen and all the wall lining has gone. Downstairs, only the wall between the kitchen and living room remain. In the photo on the right, Susy can be seen on the stairs, most of the floor boards are up, and rainwater can be seen on the ceiling between the joists. On the left, Dan can be seen demolishing the stairs. His chain saw came in handy! Susy and I burned all of the resulting timber today. Monday should see a mini digger being driven into the cottage to dig the floor out. Hopefully this will only take a couple of days. Then we are ready for the underfloor heating to be fitted when the lads return after the Christmas break on the 12th January. The windows arrive and will be fitted on the 8th January. Here's to 2009!

2008-12-13

Well the roof is nearly finished, and would have been on Friday if it had not rained all day! In the webcam you can see that the south side of the roof is nearly finished, and the chimneys look great properly plastered with their fancy tops. The lads spent Friday taking the plaster off the walls inside on the upper floor. The photo on the right can be compared with the one below to show the difference. We rather like the bare stone, so will probably have some of it visible somewhere. Next week should see the slating finished, and more internal destruction, hopefully paving the way for reconstruction after the Christmas Break.

2008-12-06

A great week has seen the roof timbers and felting finished, with the chimneys constructed. Today the chimneys are wrapped up against any rain or frost. In the webcam shot on the left roofing timbers can be seen in the afternoon light propped up against the scaffolding. The roof itself is half finished. Inside the cottage today the extra height is very apparent. Yes I know there is a bit of a mess! However things are moving well. Next week should see the roof slated, the chimneys revealed in all their glory, the plaster coming off, and even the first floor being demolished.

Webcam Image
2008-11-22

After a bit of a pause on progressing the cottage, we have set the scene for rebuilding the roof. The top of the walls have been stabalised with reinforced concrete, here you can see John on the right shoveling concrete into the shuttering, and Dan making sure it is evenly dispersed. In the WebCam shot on the left there is a small truck delivering a load of sand for the mortar. The top of the chimneys have been demolished and rebuilt. In fact the stone of both was in very good condition, so only a little had to be removed. We discovered there was only a half inch difference between the top of the walls, which was quite a surprise to me! The template for the roof is made, so next week should see real progress up top.

2008-11-01

Well what progress this week! The roof and first floor walls have gone, and all in one day! Susy has burnt the rotten wood, you can see the bonfire here on the left in the WebCam shot. How the north side of the roof did not just slide off in a gale is a miracle. The tiles had no nails (all rusted) and only held together by pointing! In the photo on the right you can see Mike knocking the last few rows off the edge, and you can see what a state the timbers were in. The wood has arrived to build the new roof, but the lads have to finish another job next week, so we are hoping for more action the week after.

2008-10-25

The scaffolding is up ready to start after the Bank Holiday next Tuesday. In the Webcam shot on  the left and the overall photo on the right, you can see how much more space there is.

2008-10-23

Things have begun with the garden wall and hedge cleared in no time at all. We have put a gate and fence up across from the join between the house and cottage to the vegetable garden. We will be fencing the area off to the left of the house, so this will keep the sheep off the patio, so less poo to tread in!

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