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THE
SECOND COTTAGE - Living Room
 The
most serious problem to overcome in the cottage was
the damp penetrating the rear wall. As with many older
properties in this region, the cottage is built on a
slope, so the ground floor at the rear of the house
is underground. This design is common here because in
the summer it keeps the room remarkably cool, yet in
the winter retains the heat. The downside is that the
wall was pemanently damp during the winter months. Despite
all of the modern methods of damp-proofing available
ultimately it would not be possible to stop it completely.
My local supplier came up with the eventual solution
- to build a concrete drainage channel at the base of
the wall, with an agricultural pipe sitting on it and
taking any excess moisture away through the wall on
the right. Next a sheet of heavy duty damp proof dimpled
membrane across the entire wall, then a plaster block
wall to provide the final finish. It worked perfectly!
The whole cottage is now bone dry. |
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 The
completed plaster block wall and new staircase installed.
The plaster blocks are tongue and grooved and cut easily
with a hand saw. They are an excellent way of producing
a partition wall very quickly. When building with plaster
blocks it is essential to use the correct plaster-based
mortar (Pregycolle, Brocolle etc. are some of the trade
names) Do not, under any circumstances, use ordinary
plaster - it's too weak and there is a danger of the
wall collapsing! The blocks and mortar, once dry, can
be sanded smooth and painted directly, or finished with
a skim coat of plaster. One final point, when using
plaster block (carreau de platre) in damp or humid areas,
choose the green water resistant type., same with plasterboard.
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 My
wife has become something of an expert at mortaring
- all through practise. We always use a lime / sand
mix for mortaring except in extreme situations where
its needed for structural purposes. After all this type
of mix has kept the properties up for the last 200 years
so it must work. Cement mixes can cause damage to exterior
stonework because of the hardness of the cement. Extremes
of temperature can prevent the stone from expanding
and the hardness of the cement damages the stonework.
For interior mortar we use a 3:1 or 4:1 mix of white
lime to sand. White lime or Chaux Blanche gives an off
white finish. Ordinary hydraulic lime can also be used
but gives more of an sandy coloured finish. It all depends
on your taste.
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 Fireplace
and chimney remortared. We had left the old stone floor
until last because we couldn't decide what to do with
it. Although we would have liked to retain it, it was
just too old and in very poor condition - we finally
opted for tiling it. Even in reasonable condition it
would have been difficult to keep clean. Having a floor
like this in a rented cottage is a very different prospect
to having it in your own home. Not everyone appreciates
cold feet in the morning. |
 We
kept the original oak door, but both of the windows
were replaced with double glazed units. Once again,
although the cottage was 150 years old, the sizes still
exist today as standard and are a modern equivalent
of the old units. The ceiling of the living room was
treated and given a coat of the ever present Brou de
Noix, but otherwise left in its natural condition with
the exposed oak floorboards. Apart from retaining authenticity
and charm it helps the heat from the woodburning stove
to permeate to the upper floors. Originally there had
been a small doorway between this room and the adjoining
one. We widened this to make the cottage more open plan
and to let in more light. In this case widening the
opening was easily achieved. The wall was topped by
a beam which ran from the front to the rear of the house,
so a further section of wall was removed and framed
bv two oak uprights cut from old beams. |
Finished
staircase area in living room. |
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