Old cottage renovation- advice on re-pointing stone walls

tony007

I am currently renovating a very old cottage, built using sandstone. I have been removing old plaster and the old pointing, which was weathering away and I'm just looking for some advice on what mix I should use when re-pointing.

The old plaster seems to be made up of lime and sand as it is easy to chip away and is very dusty. The mortar between the stones also seems to be made of the same for a certain depth and after this it seems to be made of clay.

Some of the stonework is good, with other joints being pointed with small stones years ago.

I'm just wondering what kind of mix I should use as a mortar when I'm re-pointing the stone? I have read online that a lime and sand mix should be used to allow the house to breathe, but I am afraid that the walls will move/crack and that the lime/sand mix won't be strong enough. I have been talking to an experienced builder and he thinks I should use a fine sand and cement mix to hold the stones together but am still concerned about water building up.

Also, when removing the plaster, I have noticed a bulge on a part of the wall. This is probably not that recent- it could be there for years- but am just wondering if I should toss this section of the wall and rebuild it?

Any help would be appreciated.

[IMG][/img]

As you can see with the second image, there are a few places where there's a large space between stones.

[IMG][/img]

BryanF

Lime sand mix

I would caution against a cementitious approach

Unless this is to be a cow shed

We cannot give structural advise re 'bulge'

You also need an eng to inspect before installing a land drain

tony007

BryanF wrote: »

Lime sand mix

I would caution against a cementitious approach

Unless this is to be a cow shed

We cannot give structural advise re 'bulge'

You also need an eng to inspect before installing a land drain

Thanks for your advice.
I'm just wondering if a lime and sand mix has sufficient binding properties compared to a cement mix?

BryanF

tony007 wrote: »

Thanks for your advice.
I'm just wondering if a lime and sand mix has sufficient binding properties compared to a cement mix?

Lets ask your question another way: how long has the building been standing perfectly sound, with lime mortar?

Go find a builder/ or architect that is accustomed to traditional building methods

Google 'lime mortar builders' for example.

and ask your concrete happy builder friend will he help you hack of conc render if his approach goes tits up..

tony007

BryanF wrote: »

Lets ask your question another way: how long has the building been standing perfectly sound, with lime mortar?

Go find a builder/ or architect that is accustomed to traditional building methods

Google 'lime mortar builders' for example.

and ask your concrete happy builder friend will he help you hack of conc render if his approach goes tits up..

No need to get tetchy, I am appreciative of help.

wayoutwest

Hi Tony007 - however experienced your builder is, he is very obviously WITHOUT experience of restoring a historic building using materials that are appropriate for the dynamics of the structure.
Yes, lime based mortar/render does not have such (compressive) strength as cement and it is not so good at resisting the migration of damp.......so you might think that cement = 'better built'. To understand the reasons why you should be only using lime materials, you have to look at what you are dealing with.
I would guess that your walls are two foot thick, have no (seperate) foundations and have no damproof detail at the base.This means that unless you underpinned the entire house and installed a d.p.c, the following two things are certain.
1)your house has, is and will continue to settle, even though it might be a millimeter or two over decades.
2)damp will always rise up the middle of the wall.
Correctly applied lime pointing/harling will shed rainwater effectively and, at the same time ,allow this rising moisture to escape and not build up.Lime based mortars are better at 'handling' slight settlement in that they more flexible and, in the case of the odd crack due to the inevitable settling, a lot easier to repair because they are softer.
Your builder will probably suggest cement point/waterproof render/insulated plasterboard/gypsum plaster for the inside.Again these are completely non breathing materials that will cause the rising damp to build up and eventually cause mould buildup behind insulated slab.For the inside the appropriate systems to use would be lime plaster or lime/hemp plaster or breathable board with lime finish.
You have a nice looking cottage with pretty decent 'coursed random rubble' walls and it looks like it has'nt been messed up ie: heavily cement pointed, so you do have the chance to do it right.My advice would be to start talking to builders who are very experienced in lime conservation - they can be found online, and some display before/during/after pictures of past projects so you can get an idea of whats involved.
P.S Lowering the watertable (and therefore the rising damp level) by the the creation of french drains is EXTREMELY necessary and it would be pointless to apply any type of wall coatings before they are sorted out.Like Bryan said get an engineer, he will be able to determine the drains depth and and proximity to the house by inspecting the ground type and depth of your walls below present ground level.
Hope this is of help to yer -all the best with it.

tony007

wayoutwest wrote: »

Hi Tony007 - however experienced your builder is, he is very obviously WITHOUT experience of restoring a historic building using materials that are appropriate for the dynamics of the structure.
Yes, lime based mortar/render does not have such (compressive) strength as cement and it is not so good at resisting the migration of damp.......so you might think that cement = 'better built'. To understand the reasons why you should be only using lime materials, you have to look at what you are dealing with.
I would guess that your walls are two foot thick, have no (seperate) foundations and have no damproof detail at the base.This means that unless you underpinned the entire house and installed a d.p.c, the following two things are certain.
1)your house has, is and will continue to settle, even though it might be a millimeter or two over decades.
2)damp will always rise up the middle of the wall.
Correctly applied lime pointing/harling will shed rainwater effectively and, at the same time ,allow this rising moisture to escape and not build up.Lime based mortars are better at 'handling' slight settlement in that they more flexible and, in the case of the odd crack due to the inevitable settling, a lot easier to repair because they are softer.
Your builder will probably suggest cement point/waterproof render/insulated plasterboard/gypsum plaster for the inside.Again these are completely non breathing materials that will cause the rising damp to build up and eventually cause mould buildup behind insulated slab.For the inside the appropriate systems to use would be lime plaster or lime/hemp plaster or breathable board with lime finish.
You have a nice looking cottage with pretty decent 'coursed random rubble' walls and it looks like it has'nt been messed up ie: heavily cement pointed, so you do have the chance to do it right.My advice would be to start talking to builders who are very experienced in lime conservation - they can be found online, and some display before/during/after pictures of past projects so you can get an idea of whats involved.
P.S Lowering the watertable (and therefore the rising damp level) by the the creation of french drains is EXTREMELY necessary and it would be pointless to apply any type of wall coatings before they are sorted out.Like Bryan said get an engineer, he will be able to determine the drains depth and and proximity to the house by inspecting the ground type and depth of your walls below present ground level.
Hope this is of help to yer -all the best with it.

I greatly appreciate your advice and help and I am taking the approach of being very cautious before carrying out work- once I did some research online I knew that cement would be a bad route to go down. I have looked into getting hydraulic lime as I believe conventional lime cannot be used.

A French drain was installed at the back of the cottage and has worked wonders- the area outside is much drier and the walls inside are too.

There seems to be a lime plaster on the inside walls, which are particularly dry now after the drain was put in place.

We dug out the ''floor'' (which was a constant source of damp- was made of stone mixed with a tiny amount of cement) about 4-5 inches and layed down plastic sheeting and poured a layer of concrete on top of this. This seems to also have helped greatly in keeping out the damp.

I have added some more photos of the cottage. I can upload more of the interior soon.

[IMG][/img]

[IMG][/img]

wayoutwest

Hi Tony007.
Yep, hydraulic lime is the way to go - it has a different chemical composition than ordinary bagged lime plus clay to give it setting qualities.Ordinary 'builders' lime is only fit for adding to a cement mix to give it better workability and for limewashing rough farm buildings and walls.Although a lot of builders merchants won't stock it, there are a few companies that can get a pallet out to you no problem.
From the (nice)pics I can see that you've already done some drainwork but have left a crust of organic matter around the base of the wall.I would advise scraping out any dark earth and plants from around all the walls - don't go too deep or you might disturb foundation course - a few inches will do, enough to remove the roots of grasses etc.
Do you intend to replace roof ?
Are you going to restore/replace sliding sash windows ?
What is your proposed finish on outside walls?
(point/limewash or point/harl or point/render ?)

P.S You could be a little late in the year for doing ouside limework as the minimum working temperature should be over 12 degrees + any freezing weather that descends after application could destroy it during its slow (slower than cement/sand) set.

tony007

wayoutwest wrote: »

Hi Tony007.
Yep, hydraulic lime is the way to go - it has a different chemical composition than ordinary bagged lime plus clay to give it setting qualities.Ordinary 'builders' lime is only fit for adding to a cement mix to give it better workability and for limewashing rough farm buildings and walls.Although a lot of builders merchants won't stock it, there are a few companies that can get a pallet out to you no problem.
From the (nice)pics I can see that you've already done some drainwork but have left a crust of organic matter around the base of the wall.I would advise scraping out any dark earth and plants from around all the walls - don't go too deep or you might disturb foundation course - a few inches will do, enough to remove the roots of grasses etc.
Do you intend to replace roof ?
Are you going to restore/replace sliding sash windows ?
What is your proposed finish on outside walls?
(point/limewash or point/harl or point/render ?)

P.S You could be a little late in the year for doing ouside limework as the minimum working temperature should be over 12 degrees + any freezing weather that descends after application could destroy it during its slow (slower than cement/sand) set.

I'm thinking of going with a Sand to Lime ratio of 2 or 3 to 1, depending on the grade of hydraulic lime I eventually get.

I will remove that organic material- thanks for the advice.

I'm thinking of getting the roof replaced alright- and I know the trouble that this entails!

I'm also hoping to replace the windows in the medium to long term- some of them could be restored but others are too far gone.

I was hoping to just point it and leave the stone exposed.

Would the setting time for it be around 1-2 weeks?

Do you know of any builder in the North-West area that would have experience with this?

Chisler2

tony007 wrote: »

I'm thinking of going with a Sand to Lime ratio of 2 or 3 to 1, depending on the grade of hydraulic lime I eventually get.

I will remove that organic material- thanks for the advice.

I'm thinking of getting the roof replaced alright- and I know the trouble that this entails!

I'm also hoping to replace the windows in the medium to long term- some of them could be restored but others are too far gone.

I was hoping to just point it and leave the stone exposed.

Would the setting time for it be around 1-2 weeks?

Do you know of any builder in the North-West area that would have experience with this?

Beautiful stonework! You are fortunate to have a pristine vernacular cottage to coax back to life and WayoutWest and BryanF's comments are spot-on. Have you investigated the composition of the roof yet?

The general "rule-of-thumb" is to try to avoid mixing traditional technology (limes, muds etc) with modern cements and plastic/polymer based products.

Your best option for the exterior depends on how exposed your site is. "Harling" with lime-plaster after repointing peserves and helps it dry off quickly and as WayOutWest observed, that work will be successful only with the right weather and temperature and "take as long as it takes".

Yes there are people in the north-west with experience and I shall PM you contact details.

Meanwhile you may find the article linked here useful (and Moderator will snip if posting this contravenes Forum rules). http://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/hydraulic/hydraulic.htm

BryanF

If you plan on living in this I would render over the stones externally and hemp-lime maybe 150mm internally

wayoutwest

+1 for covering the outside with either render or harling coats.Although it can look pleasingly rustic, an old cottage like this would not originally have had exposed stonework - that is a modern interpretation that lowers the walls' ability to shed rainwater effectively. In areas that experience wet and windy weather (West coast of Ireland and Scotland) the preferred finish would have been a harled one, as this is the strongest and most weather resistant type of covering (it is also requires less skill to apply than render and uses less materials).Imagine that the harling or render coats as first line of defence and the pointing as the second. When it comes to windblown rain sheeting across the wall surface, the harled finish (due to its' irregular sharp profile) is good at projecting the water away, rather than just down or across.Another benefit of harling is that the contours of the stonework are more visable than than if it were rendered - which might suit you if you are wanting a more rustic, rather than a more 'squared off' look
Ideally, I would do roof/chimneys/gutters, then windows , then remove present render, then drains , then pointing, then harl.
Whether you render or harl - your lime covering will go around the window reveals and up to the window frame, and up to your soffit detail (under the roof over hang),and down to ground.....so I would say that you really want those things sorted out first if you can.
P.S The cottage was either thatched or slated originally- it would look sweet if done in blue bangors with the sheds' keeping their corregated profile - real traditional,, unlike the modern common fibre slates that create a flat featureless surface that does not fit in with the irregularity of the structure below.
After observing the destruction of scores of vernacular buildings over the last 20 years ( grey cement pointed, fibre slates,white plastic windows dripping with condensation and pretty valueless) ,its great to see that you are interested in the 'old ways' of building.The use of appropriate, historic materials will make the house look 'right' and ensure that the building performs as it was meant to before the introduction of cement and,subsequently, the loss of lime technological understanding.If you go down the route of conservation rather than renovation it could cost you more, but your house will 'work' properly and be more valueble plus you become a worthy curator as well as just an owner.

tony007

Chisler2 wrote: »

Beautiful stonework! You are fortunate to have a pristine vernacular cottage to coax back to life and WayoutWest and BryanF's comments are spot-on. Have you investigated the composition of the roof yet?

The general "rule-of-thumb" is to try to avoid mixing traditional technology (limes, muds etc) with modern cements and plastic/polymer based products.

Your best option for the exterior depends on how exposed your site is. "Harling" with lime-plaster after repointing peserves and helps it dry off quickly and as WayOutWest observed, that work will be successful only with the right weather and temperature and "take as long as it takes".

Yes there are people in the north-west with experience and I shall PM you contact details.

Meanwhile you may find the article linked here useful (and Moderator will snip if posting this contravenes Forum rules). http://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/hydraulic/hydraulic.htm

A very useful link, thanks very much. Those details would be great.

Regarding the roof, I believe it might be made from the "A" word, so I will have to go down the safe route! Is it possible to find out for sure? I presume if I get the specialists in anyway to remove it they will say it is, as it makes them money to do so.

The cottage is nestled into the base of a hill. The drain that we both in to the back of it improved drainage greatly for that reason.

DSCF1302.JPG

tony007

wayoutwest wrote: »

+1 for covering the outside with either render or harling coats.Although it can look pleasingly rustic, an old cottage like this would not originally have had exposed stonework - that is a modern interpretation that lowers the walls' ability to shed rainwater effectively. In areas that experience wet and windy weather (West coast of Ireland and Scotland) the preferred finish would have been a harled one, as this is the strongest and most weather resistant type of covering (it is also requires less skill to apply than render and uses less materials).Imagine that the harling or render coats as first line of defence and the pointing as the second. When it comes to windblown rain sheeting across the wall surface, the harled finish (due to its' irregular sharp profile) is good at projecting the water away, rather than just down or across.Another benefit of harling is that the contours of the stonework are more visable than than if it were rendered - which might suit you if you are wanting a more rustic, rather than a more 'squared off' look
Ideally, I would do roof/chimneys/gutters, then windows , then remove present render, then drains , then pointing, then harl.
Whether you render or harl - your lime covering will go around the window reveals and up to the window frame, and up to your soffit detail (under the roof over hang),and down to ground.....so I would say that you really want those things sorted out first if you can.
P.S The cottage was either thatched or slated originally- it would look sweet if done in blue bangors with the sheds' keeping their corregated profile - real traditional,, unlike the modern common fibre slates that create a flat featureless surface that does not fit in with the irregularity of the structure below.
After observing the destruction of scores of vernacular buildings over the last 20 years ( grey cement pointed, fibre slates,white plastic windows dripping with condensation and pretty valueless) ,its great to see that you are interested in the 'old ways' of building.The use of appropriate, historic materials will make the house look 'right' and ensure that the building performs as it was meant to before the introduction of cement and,subsequently, the loss of lime technological understanding.If you go down the route of conservation rather than renovation it could cost you more, but your house will 'work' properly and be more valueble plus you become a worthy curator as well as just an owner.

Thatching would be ideal alright, I'll see how it works out expense-wise. If I do thatch, will the overhang from the thatch make it difficult to point the upper portion of the walls?

The Chimneys (outside portion) may have to be rebuilt also.
I'm going to get an experienced builder (if I can find one!) to assess it and lay out what needs to be done. Any more advice would be great.

I've attached what the inside chimney looks like. I do not have an exact age for the house (it is at least 100 years old), but I thought features like this chimney may help me in finding out.

2015-08-24 13.35.10.jpg

tony007

BryanF wrote: »

If you plan on living in this I would render over the stones externally and hemp-lime maybe 150mm internally

Thanks. I'm also going to consult an experienced builder in this area and going to try and do the job right.

wayoutwest

Your pic of fireplace is excellent - you are so lucky to have so much of the internal plasterwork still intact. I would guess that the house is older than 100 years....have you looked at the old maps to establish when built. If you go onto www.archaeology.ie, enter their database and you will find your house (along with all the listed archaeological sites around you) - you can then switch to different edition maps.I can't remember their dates exactly, but there are maps from early 19th /late19th and early 20th century to look at. I bet your house shows up on the 1870's (?)one at least.
It looks like the spacings between ceiling joists are very wide, and would not support plasterboard (which you would have to install if you want t +g in order to adhere to fire regs).Pop your head up into attic and see if the spacings of the rafters are the same as the joists.Looking at pic they are over a metre wide and not the 400mm centres that would be required to support a slate roof. Corregated sheeting is lighter and is fixed on heavier battons and so the builder has got away with skimping on the rafters - this is better suited to an agricultural building that does not need ceiling coverings and insulation.
I don't know much about thatching, but I would guess that modern standards would require a heavier rafter construction and the use of sheet materials ( to lessen fire risk?). Because the thatch is thicker than your A sheeting, you might have to extend the chimney and install a flashing detail that is suitable. If you were to thatch, then you could attend to (re-pointing and pinning) the wall plate/ overhang area first because you work top- down when pointing anyway.
From what I can remember, the lifespan of different coverings are roughly:
Oat straw 10-15 years
Reeds 30 - 50 years
slate 100 -120 years
With our wet 'summers' causing excessive mould and moss growth everywhere, I wouldn't want to own a thatch, regardless of the fact that it looks the best and was most probably the original covering on your house.When the trains began bringing slates from Wales, people living in these high maintainance (especially oat straw) thatched cabins spent their time dreaming of affording to get a slate roof. If you look at the old houses in the U.K ,most of the remaining thatches are in the South and South East, where they have warm dryish summers that prevent roof from rotting.Even in these areas, most of the historic vernacular buildings that would have been thatched, have been (over the last couple of hundred years) replaced with pegged clay tiles.
Fair play to you if you do thatch, they look beautifull - hopefully forum members who have knowledge of thatch contruction, the costs involved (compared to slate) and maintainance issues will be able to give you a more positive and informative view of thatching than mine.

Qualitymark

Maybe give An Taisce and the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland a ring and ask them for recommendations on books about the care of traditional cottages (which you can then request in the library if you can't buy them), and for recommendations on specialist builders in case you need to call one in.

Bull's blood used to be used with sand as a mortar long ago, but I'm not sure if this was in houses or part of walls.

wayoutwest

Yep, bulls' blood was used as a binder...which makes the mortar mix more shticky and less likely to crack.When added to limewash it thickens the liquid, makes it adhere better gives it a pink colour at the same time.There are a thousand different binders/additives/pozzolans that can be mixed with lime, depending on local sources and different applications.I have used cow dung mixed with lime plaster to halt the migration of old chimney soot/tar staining (1 part fresh dung ,5 parts lime mortar/plaster). Years ago I helped a guy who was using whey (liquid) as a binder. Horse, Yak or Goat hair are common ingredients in the first ('scratch') coats although synthetic fibres are now available and do not comprimise the plasters breathabilty
P.S - if you want to use bulls' blood, then you might want to excuse any squeemish builders that are present, because it has to be very fresh ie: slaughtered on the spot......the harrowing scene might , however be compensated with a tasty steak dinner later.

Qualitymark

Using a traditional mortar rather than cement may be better because it's able to expand and contract better than cement - I read years ago about people who were reopening part of the ancient canal network in Peru, and found that when they used cement it cracked when it froze and thawed, whereas when they used the clay that had been traditional it expanded and contracted without cracking.

I don't know that this is so - but it would be good to talk to people who are experts in the old methods and the new and how they compare.

tony007

wayoutwest wrote: »

Your pic of fireplace is excellent - you are so lucky to have so much of the internal plasterwork still intact. I would guess that the house is older than 100 years....have you looked at the old maps to establish when built. If you go onto www.archaeology.ie, enter their database and you will find your house (along with all the listed archaeological sites around you) - you can then switch to different edition maps.I can't remember their dates exactly, but there are maps from early 19th /late19th and early 20th century to look at. I bet your house shows up on the 1870's (?)one at least.
It looks like the spacings between ceiling joists are very wide, and would not support plasterboard (which you would have to install if you want t +g in order to adhere to fire regs).Pop your head up into attic and see if the spacings of the rafters are the same as the joists.Looking at pic they are over a metre wide and not the 400mm centres that would be required to support a slate roof. Corregated sheeting is lighter and is fixed on heavier battons and so the builder has got away with skimping on the rafters - this is better suited to an agricultural building that does not need ceiling coverings and insulation.
I don't know much about thatching, but I would guess that modern standards would require a heavier rafter construction and the use of sheet materials ( to lessen fire risk?). Because the thatch is thicker than your A sheeting, you might have to extend the chimney and install a flashing detail that is suitable. If you were to thatch, then you could attend to (re-pointing and pinning) the wall plate/ overhang area first because you work top- down when pointing anyway.
From what I can remember, the lifespan of different coverings are roughly:
Oat straw 10-15 years
Reeds 30 - 50 years
slate 100 -120 years
With our wet 'summers' causing excessive mould and moss growth everywhere, I wouldn't want to own a thatch, regardless of the fact that it looks the best and was most probably the original covering on your house.When the trains began bringing slates from Wales, people living in these high maintainance (especially oat straw) thatched cabins spent their time dreaming of affording to get a slate roof. If you look at the old houses in the U.K ,most of the remaining thatches are in the South and South East, where they have warm dryish summers that prevent roof from rotting.Even in these areas, most of the historic vernacular buildings that would have been thatched, have been (over the last couple of hundred years) replaced with pegged clay tiles.
Fair play to you if you do thatch, they look beautifull - hopefully forum members who have knowledge of thatch contruction, the costs involved (compared to slate) and maintainance issues will be able to give you a more positive and informative view of thatching than mine.

Both the house and shed are showing up in the 1829-41 map alright. Pretty old house! It's in the family as far back as can be traced.

The ceiling joists are spaced quite wide alright, work will have to be done there if I am to replace the roof. The chimneys are quite tall already, but will have to be looked at because they need repair at this stage already.

Thanks for your general overview of thatch- very helpful. It might turn out that I'll go with the slate.

As you can see from the pictures, I have nearly rooted out the old mortar at the back of the cottage. I'm going to point this section and leave the rest when some good weather comes along.

I've also added some photos of the inside of the house.

IMG_0752.JPG

IMG_0753.JPG

tony007

wayoutwest wrote: »

Yep, bulls' blood was used as a binder...which makes the mortar mix more shticky and less likely to crack.When added to limewash it thickens the liquid, makes it adhere better gives it a pink colour at the same time.There are a thousand different binders/additives/pozzolans that can be mixed with lime, depending on local sources and different applications.I have used cow dung mixed with lime plaster to halt the migration of old chimney soot/tar staining (1 part fresh dung ,5 parts lime mortar/plaster). Years ago I helped a guy who was using whey (liquid) as a binder. Horse, Yak or Goat hair are common ingredients in the first ('scratch') coats although synthetic fibres are now available and do not comprimise the plasters breathabilty
P.S - if you want to use bulls' blood, then you might want to excuse any squeemish builders that are present, because it has to be very fresh ie: slaughtered on the spot......the harrowing scene might , however be compensated with a tasty steak dinner later.

Interesting info but I don't think I'll go down this route!

tony007

Qualitymark wrote: »

Maybe give An Taisce and the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland a ring and ask them for recommendations on books about the care of traditional cottages (which you can then request in the library if you can't buy them), and for recommendations on specialist builders in case you need to call one in.

Bull's blood used to be used with sand as a mortar long ago, but I'm not sure if this was in houses or part of walls.

I have 2 recommendations for books-
Irish stone walls : history, building, restoring / Patrick McAfee

Stone buildings : conservation, repair, building / Patrick McAfee

Qualitymark

This website (recommended in the Amazon page for one of Bevis Claxton's books) also looks good: http://oldhouse.info

JonathonS

You might find some useful info in this blog:

https://limewindow.wordpress.com/2014/10/01/how-to-apply-lime-render/

tony007

Thought I'd just add a few pictures of the progress-

IMG_0766.JPG

IMG_0765.JPG

Got a good bit of it pointed recently, I brushed off the excess mortar as well so it looks fairly clean and tidy.

I used NHL 3.5 lime, with a ratio of 3 parts sand to one part lime.

I'm doing the very top portion of the wall when I have removed the gutters and addressed the stone under that.

neverfinished

There is some really interesting reading in those posts. Thank you.

tony007

Thought I'd post some updates on how it's going.

The back of the cottage is practically finished in terms of re-pointing. I must say it looks very good and fingers crossed will do the job. The lime- sand mix is surprisingly hard in its set.

IMG_0790.JPG

IMG_0785.JPG

IMG_0784.JPG

Qualitymark

Very nice. A thing architects sometimes do with those deep-walled old houses, if you're interested is to splay the windows on the interior, so you get more light from a smaller space.

tony007

Qualitymark wrote: »

Very nice. A thing architects sometimes do with those deep-walled old houses, if you're interested is to splay the windows on the interior, so you get more light from a smaller space.

I think they might have done this already when building they built it centuries ago, as you can see from the picture below.

IMG_0756.JPG

johnny osbourne

you've a grand job made of it tony,

nice to see the old stonework,

i'm doing a similar bit of work on a cottage my great-grandfather built. its limestone and down in co. mayo.

do you mind me asking what part of the country that is where they were building with sandstone?

keep up the good work

tony007

johnny osbourne wrote: »

you've a grand job made of it tony,

nice to see the old stonework,

i'm doing a similar bit of work on a cottage my great-grandfather built. its limestone and down in co. mayo.

do you mind me asking what part of the country that is where they were building with sandstone?

keep up the good work

Thanks! It's not too far from you- in Leitrim. It'd be nice to see some photos if you have any.

The cottage has been in the family for as long back as we know of. And it came up on maps that are from the early 1800s so it's fairly old! I wonder if someone could estimate its age based on certain features e.g. the mud mortar used or the chimney style.

The ground at the upper back corner of the house seems to be quite raised- about a foot and a half- compared to inside where the floor is much lower. I wonder if they cut some of the ground away when laying the foundation stones or did the outside build up over time.