Having spent a fair amount of time over the last few years staring at a wall with trowel in hand pointing I’ve built up some opinions on mortar, pointing and stonework and how the three should mesh together (tragic I know!). I’m no fan of overly fussy, decorative pointing and neither is my new favorite source of heritage building information – the Maintenance Matters webite:

In contrast, there is little historic precedent for the use of ‘ribbon’
pointing, which is so commonly seen nowadays in cement. In this, the
joints stand proud of the wall face to become the dominant visual
feature. It is both ugly and poor practice as the technique slows down
the run off of rainwater, which can increase the amount of moisture
held in the masonry. The cycle of freezing and thawing, and the
movement of dissolved salts can cause rapid erosion, particularly in
soft brick and stone.

Repointing in Lime @ maintenancematterswales.org

‘It is both ugly and poor practice’ - I love that statement and thoroughly agree – ugly!

I discovered a great source of information on the maintenance and restoration of old buildings on the new Maintenance Matters website. The site has been produced by Cadw, the ‘official guardian of the built heritage of Wales’. Short publications on such subjects as lime-washing, repointing and replacing sash cords are freely available and well worth a read if you’re looking for heritage building advice.

Oh dear … the June update passed me by, so here in brief and from some distance (19th July) is a summary of progress…

I have completed under-coating all the windows twice with ‘eco friendly’ Farrow and Ball paint.

Floor laying was slowed by my inflamed knee. My right knee stopped working altogether at one point and kept me from work for a couple of days – bit of a worry when I couldn’t lift my foot off the floor for, but thankfully all better now.

Doors are bought and due to be installed shortly.

We’ve also started planning what to do in the back ‘garden’. Currently a bramble and nettle overgrown lump of ground rising behind the barn – hopefully it can be transformed into a useable and enjoyable garden. There’ll be more on this in coming weeks.

I keep mislaying these so I thought I’d put them on the site. With hindsight (wonderful thing that it is) I would have put all these types of things – room sizes, dimensions, plans and diagrams on the site way-back-when and kept them all in one place. Next time!

Room sizes in square metres are:

Downstairs
1.5 cart door
1.5 cart door
41.9 main room
1 steps / doorway to kitchen
0.6 back door alcove
12.8 kitchen
3.5 utility room
62.8 DOWN
Upstairs
14.4 bedroom 2
8 bathroom
3.8 ensuite
3.4 dressing area
0.4 opening to bedroom
18 bedroom 1
0.4 hayloft door
7.6 landing
56 UP
118.8 TOTAL Square Metres

A strong yet light insulator, foamed glass is suitable for load bearing applications especially those demanding water and vapour resistance.

Description
Foamed glass insulation is made from (usually) recycled glass that is mixed with carbon and then heated to very high temperatures. Upon heating the carbon oxidises and forms bubbles in the resultant stone-like material. It is usually supplied as a gravel, but is also available in (very expensive) batts.

Features

• High embodied energy. In the glass from which it is produced.
• Renewable . In that it is produced from recycled glass.
• Durable, hard-wearing and able to bear weight. Suitable for roofing in high-load situations such as structural walls, above ground level car parks and green roofs. Ty Mawr lime use it as an insulating moisture barrier in their limecrete floors
• Water and vapour impermeable..

Performance
Typically in the range 0.037 – 0.048 W/m.K. (Watts per meter Kelvin ~ a lower value is a better result)

Cost
With strength comes cost …for gravel at a depth of 100mm, cost is around £15 per square metre or around £150 for a cubic metre bag.