How To

01/15/09

How To...

Welcome to our attempt to enlighten or at least assist other people in their attempts to refurbish old houses using traditional techniques such as the use of lime and horsehair or lime pointing etc.

We ourselves have no history, trades or skills other than those that we have read about or picked up along the way during our own bumbling attempt to make our house safe and habitable again.

One great source of information for all skills to date has been the Internet and www.google.com this led us (somewhat fortunately) to the St. Astier web site www.stastier.com look at the UK section and then read some of the PDF's about lime and it's application. Any knowledge that I may attempt to impart will have come indirectly from this source of knowledge.

Other useful sites include www.spab.org.uk - www.buildingconservation.com - www.oldhousestore.com - www.salvo.co.uk

I have included some real, common sense tips, below, just so you don't kill yourself or your friends whilst playing silly buggers with a sledge hammer!

Links below:

Lime Pointing Heritage Grout Lime Rendering

1 - Before doing anything, near anything electrical, make sure the power is switched off, or disconnected - otherwise it will hurt

2 - If you are demolishing anything, whether it be a wall, timber supports, even timber panelling - make sure you check out what it is supporting. I tried to pull out a timber fireplace surround only to discover it was supporting the ceiling above - no joke - John Wayne lived and worked here in a previous life me thinks!

3 - If you are working upstairs or down, whatever you are doing, ensure the floor is sound and can support your weight. Our stairs have dry rot so nothing gets done there at all other than gently walking up and down them.

4 - If you have a historically sensitive property, show it the respect that it deserves and liaise with your historical planning officer. We have throughout and all they want is to assist people using traditional techniques and to ensure that architectural elements are not destroyed such as our rare wattle and daub wall.

This site was last updated 03/28/05