Here are
the pictures I have showing the rendering taking place. This section marks
a major milestone in the renovation of Bridge Cottage, because it is probably
the most important part of the renovation to have been completed since the roof
was sealed. The house is now fully watertight, and it means that I can finally start in earnest on the inside.
Hopefully this is the end of me being hindered by the
elements...!
This is the south gable
being prepped. Currently the wall is being flattened as it is quite uneven. Then
the scratch coat will being applied, and finally the rough casting takes
place.
And
from the front. It will be nice to have the chimney stacks rendered as this will
seal both the block's (which are like a sieve) and the flashings. There is also
a lead flashing to be fitted where the front wall meets the flat roof, which is
being retained as it is,
unfortunately.
The
back wall is block, and so already has half of the scratch coat applied. Block walls are far simpler and
quicker to work on, in comparison to stone walls.
The south elevation looking
North East...
Five days later and the scratch coat is applied on the whole house.
Neil and his colleague have been working hard, and we are lucky to have had a
few days of dry sunny weather, which has help speed up the
process.
Here is the north elevation
with the scratch coat applied. Looks pretty good, and at last makes the building
watertight.
The back wall
completed.
I also needed a new lead flashing
to be applied along the front of the building, where the flat roof abuts
the new front wall. At last the old torn bit of felt has been replaced. Neil
has also created a drip rail, but again the flashing means this roof / wall joint
is weather tight at last, and it gets some hammer being south-west
facing!
Probably the most important
bit of all - the flashings around the chimneys are now sealed. This will make the
roof watertight, and finally allows me to get started on the inside. All in all
the house is beginning to look good.
These pics were taken on
Saturday 3rd April. Neil has now applied the roughcasting to both gable ends and
the small porch. This finally should make the building watertight, once the
chimneys are completed. It provided a durable finish which will then be painted
white to seal it totally.
A view of the south gable
end.
And the north gable. The back wall and front have
yet to be roughcasted, but I expect Neil to be finished by the end of the week, weather permitting. Once the roughcasting is
completed I have asked Neil to seal the chimneys to make them watertight as
well.
Finally, 10 days after
starting, Neil and his colleague have finished the external rendering. And, he
has done a great job. After a very long wait, which has been demoralising at
times, I finally have a water tight house.
The
dust from the cement will wash away given a bit of time. The only other really
pressing outside job now is to fit the down pipes for the gutters. But I'm now
hoping to get started inside.
The south gable - this gets
the most hammer from the weather. The render currently is cement coloured, but
it will be painted white at some point. However, that is a low priority job for
now, and can wait until summer. Inside work now...
