- Joined
- 19 Nov 2012
- Messages
- 255
- Reaction score
- 25
- Country
Reconstruction of a Moravian miners cottage about 30 mins from Brno, Czech Rep's second city. First built around 1890 with graphite mines nearby as a place where they cleaned and sorted the graphite, then reconstructed in 1924 by a miner who ended up owning the property. The miners family died out in the late 70's. Great location right in the forest set about half a mile from the village and with a stream running by.
The place was bought by somebody who didnt look after it and made a p**s poor reconstruction of the place in the 80's. He basically added a square roof extension with lots of lovely cement and asbestos. Then set about concreting the floors and cement rendering the walls. There isnt much conservation culture over here only on castles and Unesco buildings, plus from the communist era and people being more self sufficient due to lack of services many people do their own diy and building which results in some hit and miss or botch jobs.
The place looked okay when we bought it, just thought it needed a re-paint and new slates on the roof and re-wire the electrics and slowly convert the loft. Its our second house and we learnt a few diy skills and house knowledge from the previous or so we thought. We mostly bought it on the beauty of the location and looked past any problems with the house. Probably should of really read up and researched into old houses before buyng it as we have found many problems like the damp coming out when the house is lived in(previous owner stopped visiting regularly in the 90's). As we know now the concrete floors and cement rendering should never have been done, also the owner leathered the outside paths in concrete as well. He worked in construction in commie times and was some sort of blackmarketeer lifting a load of concrete, cement and material and set about selling it and trying to shoehorn the rest into this and another property he owns in the village. He also left us two skip's worth of old ****e around the place which were still getting rid of, at least we can ofset the cost with loads of rusty old scrap metal and we were able to find loads of antiques amongst the place.
I agree with the advice about living in a property for a while before making any major changes, we've been here over a year now. As the damp gradually got worse we were able to use measures like destroying the concrete paths which were outside built up against the house trapping the moisture into the walls and not allowing the foundations to breathe. This stopped the damp creeping up the wall and that horrible damp feeling in the air in the rooms. A French drain and a drying period when we got our old wood burning stove going again has stopped it altogether. Also after looking into and receiving advice on using lime as the main material I rendered some outbuildings and the garage using hydrated lime as a test with good results. Although new advice says non hydraulic or naturally hydraulic limes are the best choice long term, these are a bugger to get hold of here and I might have to go to AUstria, Germany or even the UK for it.
This summer with our jobs secure we'll be getting a few major jobs done like new roof battens and slates, getting a statics man in(guess this will be some sort of surveyor in the UK, a man who checks and advises on the walls, roof and load bearing stuff, beams, joists etc), new chimney and demolition of the flat roof monstrosity, reconstruction project is being drawn up by a local engineer architect.
Due to the low quality and availability in conservation minded builders and labour Ill be doing the flooring, rendering and putting in the ventilation.
So if its not too much trouble Ill be looking for advice in the next few months on:
Chipping cement off the walls, its peeling off on it own in many places but some gentle removal techniques would be appreciated. I spent months destroying concrete outside with a hammer and chisel to be gentle on the house and foundations then with a big jackhammer so it doesnt matter how long winded it may be.
Limework rendering inside and possibly outside, whether or not to use wooden lathes. Whether to render inside or apply limewash directly to bricks. Breathability. Advice on the best sand and aggregates and mixing large quantities.
Advice on laying wooden floors. Damp proof measures, airbricks, ventilation etc. Whether or not to lay a limecrete floor or just wooden floor system over beaten earth.
Any old house advice. Ive got a few books; Old House Handbook, Clay and Lime Natural finishes, Lime in Building and a couple of others but any hands on experiences would be good to know.
Pictures to follow.
Cheers.
The place was bought by somebody who didnt look after it and made a p**s poor reconstruction of the place in the 80's. He basically added a square roof extension with lots of lovely cement and asbestos. Then set about concreting the floors and cement rendering the walls. There isnt much conservation culture over here only on castles and Unesco buildings, plus from the communist era and people being more self sufficient due to lack of services many people do their own diy and building which results in some hit and miss or botch jobs.
The place looked okay when we bought it, just thought it needed a re-paint and new slates on the roof and re-wire the electrics and slowly convert the loft. Its our second house and we learnt a few diy skills and house knowledge from the previous or so we thought. We mostly bought it on the beauty of the location and looked past any problems with the house. Probably should of really read up and researched into old houses before buyng it as we have found many problems like the damp coming out when the house is lived in(previous owner stopped visiting regularly in the 90's). As we know now the concrete floors and cement rendering should never have been done, also the owner leathered the outside paths in concrete as well. He worked in construction in commie times and was some sort of blackmarketeer lifting a load of concrete, cement and material and set about selling it and trying to shoehorn the rest into this and another property he owns in the village. He also left us two skip's worth of old ****e around the place which were still getting rid of, at least we can ofset the cost with loads of rusty old scrap metal and we were able to find loads of antiques amongst the place.
I agree with the advice about living in a property for a while before making any major changes, we've been here over a year now. As the damp gradually got worse we were able to use measures like destroying the concrete paths which were outside built up against the house trapping the moisture into the walls and not allowing the foundations to breathe. This stopped the damp creeping up the wall and that horrible damp feeling in the air in the rooms. A French drain and a drying period when we got our old wood burning stove going again has stopped it altogether. Also after looking into and receiving advice on using lime as the main material I rendered some outbuildings and the garage using hydrated lime as a test with good results. Although new advice says non hydraulic or naturally hydraulic limes are the best choice long term, these are a bugger to get hold of here and I might have to go to AUstria, Germany or even the UK for it.
This summer with our jobs secure we'll be getting a few major jobs done like new roof battens and slates, getting a statics man in(guess this will be some sort of surveyor in the UK, a man who checks and advises on the walls, roof and load bearing stuff, beams, joists etc), new chimney and demolition of the flat roof monstrosity, reconstruction project is being drawn up by a local engineer architect.
Due to the low quality and availability in conservation minded builders and labour Ill be doing the flooring, rendering and putting in the ventilation.
So if its not too much trouble Ill be looking for advice in the next few months on:
Chipping cement off the walls, its peeling off on it own in many places but some gentle removal techniques would be appreciated. I spent months destroying concrete outside with a hammer and chisel to be gentle on the house and foundations then with a big jackhammer so it doesnt matter how long winded it may be.
Limework rendering inside and possibly outside, whether or not to use wooden lathes. Whether to render inside or apply limewash directly to bricks. Breathability. Advice on the best sand and aggregates and mixing large quantities.
Advice on laying wooden floors. Damp proof measures, airbricks, ventilation etc. Whether or not to lay a limecrete floor or just wooden floor system over beaten earth.
Any old house advice. Ive got a few books; Old House Handbook, Clay and Lime Natural finishes, Lime in Building and a couple of others but any hands on experiences would be good to know.
Pictures to follow.
Cheers.
