tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7566978443523529414.post3981405360280378651..comments2023-11-21T17:40:39.528+00:00Comments on Incubator More - renovating a Victorian gamekeeper's lodge: Six months on - a time to reflectIncubator Morehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17928909719389133280noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7566978443523529414.post-86844597422621737592015-11-12T17:37:49.145+00:002015-11-12T17:37:49.145+00:00Hi James.
My bet is that any regular plasterer yo...Hi James.<br /><br />My bet is that any regular plasterer you find will recommend boarding, skimming or ripping it all down in order to start again with modern materials (gypsum). It is, after all, what they know and it's their livelihood... and they want your cash. Lime plastering is a completely different kettle of frogs and is done by fewer specialists for more money but, as I've explained all over the place in this blog, is much better for the building.<br />What you do with your ceilings really depends on what you feel about the house and its heritage, I suppose. But I've discovered that limed ceilings are much stronger than you'd think - it might look bad but is the damage repairable?<br />Personally I would repair what I can (I uploaded a blog post a day or two ago about doing just that which you may find useful - http://www.incubatormore.co.uk/2015/11/a-new-old-lath-and-plaster-ceiling.html) but if everything had to come down then we would have to bite the bullet and get it re-done in lime. We wouldn't even entertain the thought of gypsum. We'd likely end up re-lathing it all ourselves with salvaged laths from the original ceiling and new ones (have a look at https://www.lime.org.uk/ which is where I think Dawn ordered them from) but we'd have to get someone in to finish off. I plan to do a lime plastering course next year to save money in the long-run but we'll see how it goes.<br /><br />As for your walls, if the top surface below the wallpaper or whatever is pink, then it's probably gypsum and your walls won't be breathing. Before you lop the lot off see if you can flake the skim off and see what's behind it. If the next layer is white(ish) and crumbles to powder (it may even have horse hair in it) then it's lime. And then it all depends on what condition it's in, really. Some of the lime might just fall away but other areas might be stable. Keeping as much of the stable stuff in place will spare you a bit of cash when it comes to getting re-done, obviously.<br /><br />Best of luck, mate!Muzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02471060279727303230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7566978443523529414.post-47709755940064767102015-11-12T13:39:31.131+00:002015-11-12T13:39:31.131+00:00I've just brought a ~100 yr old semi and find ...I've just brought a ~100 yr old semi and find this blog very interesting.<br />Its got lath and plaster ceilings with artex over it, some are damaged, and frankly I'm not sure what to do, all the plasterers want to board it and gypsum skim it or rip it down. <br />Ditto the walls, they have (I think) lime plaster which has been skimmed in the past (its pink or yellow). Tempted to go back to brick and get it lime plastered. <br />Anyway, my question (!), if your lath and plaster ceilings are beyond salvage will you replace / repair the laths and get them replastered with lime plaster?<br />I assume all your wall plastering will be lime?James Grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01287899408633878598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7566978443523529414.post-30969753067447074242015-10-21T20:38:18.832+01:002015-10-21T20:38:18.832+01:00Fair enough, Muz - I withdraw any tendency to envy...Fair enough, Muz - I withdraw any tendency to envy. Your lot is definitely worse than ours, from the sound of it. One day, it will all be good anecdote material! Thanks for the link to your friend's blog - it looks as though they've gone over some of the same ground as us, only with a lot more knowledge. As for our caravan, it will probably end up as guest accommodation for the hardier people of our acquaintance. Now off to drain the water from the pasta ...<br />RH.Seven Acreshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03767688945077306104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7566978443523529414.post-86101081048323697282015-10-21T20:05:17.716+01:002015-10-21T20:05:17.716+01:00Thanks for the kind words, RH. It's nice to fi...Thanks for the kind words, RH. It's nice to finally find out that a real person (other than friends and family under duress) is deliberately choosing to read this drivel. I often feel like I should be more informative but, because I actually know very little about very little, I've got no option but to type nonsense - so thank you for subjecting yourself to it voluntarily.<br /><br />You are hereby forbidden for being envious about us living in a shed. As I type it's quarter to eight in the evening and I've been lying in bed (IN bed, not ON bed) since about half six to get away from the cold and rain. I'm surrounded by wobbly half-done Kingspan walls, piled-up furniture that has nowhere else to live and a cat who keeps headbutting the door to get out only to come back 10 minutes later and headbutt the door to get in. It's not so bad now, but it's a different story at 5am. A couple of weeks ago he caught the thumb-twist lock thing outside and actually locked us in at midnight.<br />I'd rather be in a B&B.<br /><br />Anyway, when we had the choice about our temporary accommodation we decided that although a caravan would be ideal we'd have no use for it afterwards so we'd have to go to the trouble of selling it again, probably at a loss. With a big shed we could keep it and turn it in to a workshop, so at least it would still be useful later on.<br /><br />It's nice to see that you're of a similar mind as us in terms of the appropriateness of the work that needs to be done. I feel like we're in a worryingly-small minority. I'm looking forward to reading through your blog - I had a very quick skim a few minutes ago and had to chuckle to myself when I saw the tyrannosaurus-rex picture and 'unable to connect to internet'. He's an old friend of ours, especially here in the shed where the connection is utterly crap at best.<br />As for blogs, take a gander at our friends' which is linked in the above post. There's lots of useful stuff in there, and they've done the whole limecrete thing too. We've got one concrete floor in the Dining Room that we haven't even looked at yet (it's currently a storage room) but because we suspect there's probably a river running underneath it (or at least a spring) we're trying to put it off as long as possible.<br /><br />Anyway, enough from me. Thanks for your comment and enjoy your continued renovation work. I'll start looking at your blog properly shortly.Muzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02471060279727303230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7566978443523529414.post-83490629323929872092015-10-21T18:11:44.329+01:002015-10-21T18:11:44.329+01:00Very eloquently put. And thanks for all the blog p...Very eloquently put. And thanks for all the blog posts, by the way - I've been following it with interest and enjoyment, since we are also in the position of having bought an old former gate lodge (two years ago, but progress has been painfully slow until recently). <br /><br />If we had to nominate the best few hundred Euros ever spent, it would have to be the consultation fee to the architect who begged us to hold off implementing the surveying engineer's report - all cement floors and dry-lining, which would have caused untold additional damage. With proper advice from the architect about letting the stone walls breathe and laying a limecrete rather than cement floor, our old stone treasure is being saved from falling into the condition that you are currently remedying. More work, but it's worth it, and has really increased our sense of connexion with the house and the building traditions within which it was constructed. <br /><br />Best of luck in the rest of your restoration work; I don't know whether to commiserate with or envy you over living in the shed, though, as I'm not sure whether it is better or worse than living in a caravan while the work goes on!<br /><br />RH<br />inland-ithaka.blogspot.comSeven Acreshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03767688945077306104noreply@blogger.com