"Mike" wrote in message
...
"brugnospamsia" wrote

Dear group,

My home improvement programme is in danger of being held up due to
conflicting advice I have received regarding how to attach
insulated plaster
boards to 9 inch solid brick walls built with lime mortar.

Brent borough council insist on battening and hence a generous air
gap over
brickwork with no waterproofing treatment applied directly to the
wall :-


http://www.brent.gov.uk/bccs.nsf/248...944/bda0a799ca
60698c80256c1d0047621d/$FILE/BCCS%20Dry%20lining%20Solid%20Blockwork%20info%
20sheet%20No.7.doc

A video made 10 years ago by a local university shows waterproof
sand/cement
render being applied then the insulating boards attached with
adhesive dabs,
the boards then being skimmed.

The outside of the wall is rendered and I don't appear to have
problems with
penetrating damp


If your wall had been unrendered life would be much easier. You could
simply use a vapour barrier, PB and rockwool.

Unfortunately unDPCed solid walls should not be rendered on both
sides, nor vapour barriered on both sides, since damp will slowly
accumulate in the wall, and have nowhere to go. Injection DPCs do not
solve the problem.

Since youre already cement rendered on one side, you dont want to be
attaching any form of vapour barrier to he inside.

Yet if you use PB and glass wool, a vapour barrier you would need.


The possible solutions?

A. Remove external render, with real care to avoid damage, then
proceed with vapour barrier internally. Dont cement render these old
buildings, it can damage them.

B. Apply expanded clay in lime plaster to the interior. This gives
insulation with no vapour barrier, retaining wall breathability, and
without the damage cement sometimes causes.

C. Do nothing.


Your idea of venting to the loft might work, I dont know. It would
make damp worse in winter, but then dry it in summer. But if you do
that you will lose out on insulation value, and I didnt see where in
your sketch the rockwool is going.

In principle I imagine you could install PB with vapour barrier and
pipe the trapped air to a micropower drying unit, never heard it
tried.


Knowledge on old houses has come on a lot in the last ten years.
Look at www.periodproperty.co.uk for a variety of articles on the subject.

hear hear


NT

The message
from (N. Thornton) contains these words:

B. Apply expanded clay in lime plaster to the interior. This gives
insulation with no vapour barrier, retaining wall breathability, and
without the damage cement sometimes causes.

Not a solution I have previously heard of. How effective is that plaster
mix as insulation?

I am in a similar position to the op other than I have 2' thick rubble
filled stone walls and no external render.

--
Roger

"N. Thornton" wrote in message
om...
"Mike" wrote in message
...
"brugnospamsia" wrote

Dear group,

My home improvement programme is in danger of being held up due to
conflicting advice I have received regarding how to attach
insulated plaster
boards to 9 inch solid brick walls built with lime mortar.

Brent borough council insist on battening and hence a generous air
gap over
brickwork with no waterproofing treatment applied directly to the
wall :-



http://www.brent.gov.uk/bccs.nsf/248...944/bda0a799ca

60698c80256c1d0047621d/$FILE/BCCS%20Dry%20lining%20Solid%20Blockwork%20info%
20sheet%20No.7.doc

A video made 10 years ago by a local university shows waterproof
sand/cement
render being applied then the insulating boards attached with
adhesive dabs,
the boards then being skimmed.

The outside of the wall is rendered and I don't appear to have
problems with
penetrating damp


If your wall had been unrendered life would be much easier. You could
simply use a vapour barrier, PB and rockwool.

Unfortunately unDPCed solid walls should not be rendered on both
sides, nor vapour barriered on both sides, since damp will slowly
accumulate in the wall, and have nowhere to go. Injection DPCs do not
solve the problem.

Since youre already cement rendered on one side, you dont want to be
attaching any form of vapour barrier to he inside.

Yet if you use PB and glass wool, a vapour barrier you would need.


I was planning to use foam-backed plasterboard, though perhaps I would be
better using thicker battens and seperate insulation
(spaced from wall with netting ?) and foil-backed plasterboard - thus making
the decorative layer "serviceable" ?
would I be better off using soft insulation ?

I've just amended my diagram :-
http://uk.geocities.com/gentlegreengiant/walldetail.JPG

----------------------------



The possible solutions?

A. Remove external render, with real care to avoid damage, then
proceed with vapour barrier internally. Dont cement render these old
buildings, it can damage them.

B. Apply expanded clay in lime plaster to the interior. This gives
insulation with no vapour barrier, retaining wall breathability, and
without the damage cement sometimes causes.

C. Do nothing.


Your idea of venting to the loft might work, I dont know. It would
make damp worse in winter, but then dry it in summer. But if you do
that you will lose out on insulation value, and I didnt see where in
your sketch the rockwool is going.

In principle I imagine you could install PB with vapour barrier and
pipe the trapped air to a micropower drying unit, never heard it
tried.


Knowledge on old houses has come on a lot in the last ten years.
Look at www.periodproperty.co.uk for a variety of articles on the
subject.

hear hear


NT

"brugnospamsia" wrote in message
k...

"N. Thornton" wrote in message
om...
"Mike" wrote in message
...
"brugnospamsia" wrote

Dear group,

My home improvement programme is in danger of being held up due to
conflicting advice I have received regarding how to attach
insulated plaster
boards to 9 inch solid brick walls built with lime mortar.

Brent borough council insist on battening and hence a generous air
gap over
brickwork with no waterproofing treatment applied directly to the
wall :-




http://www.brent.gov.uk/bccs.nsf/248...944/bda0a799ca


60698c80256c1d0047621d/$FILE/BCCS%20Dry%20lining%20Solid%20Blockwork%20info%
20sheet%20No.7.doc

A video made 10 years ago by a local university shows waterproof
sand/cement
render being applied then the insulating boards attached with
adhesive dabs,
the boards then being skimmed.

The outside of the wall is rendered and I don't appear to have
problems with
penetrating damp


If your wall had been unrendered life would be much easier. You could
simply use a vapour barrier, PB and rockwool.

Unfortunately unDPCed solid walls should not be rendered on both
sides, nor vapour barriered on both sides, since damp will slowly
accumulate in the wall, and have nowhere to go. Injection DPCs do not
solve the problem.

Since youre already cement rendered on one side, you dont want to be
attaching any form of vapour barrier to he inside.

Yet if you use PB and glass wool, a vapour barrier you would need.


I was planning to use foam-backed plasterboard, though perhaps I would be
better using thicker battens and seperate insulation
(spaced from wall with netting ?) and foil-backed plasterboard - thus
making
the decorative layer "serviceable" ?
would I be better off using soft insulation ?

I've just amended my diagram :-
http://uk.geocities.com/gentlegreengiant/walldetail.JPG

----------------------------

I just realised I need to treat the upstairs and downstairs as one system


http://uk.geocities.com/gentlegreengiant/wallsystem.jpg

not yet sure how I will achieve it .......

I'm beginning to wish I never started this !





The possible solutions?

A. Remove external render, with real care to avoid damage, then
proceed with vapour barrier internally. Dont cement render these old
buildings, it can damage them.

B. Apply expanded clay in lime plaster to the interior. This gives
insulation with no vapour barrier, retaining wall breathability, and
without the damage cement sometimes causes.

C. Do nothing.


Your idea of venting to the loft might work, I dont know. It would
make damp worse in winter, but then dry it in summer. But if you do
that you will lose out on insulation value, and I didnt see where in
your sketch the rockwool is going.

In principle I imagine you could install PB with vapour barrier and
pipe the trapped air to a micropower drying unit, never heard it
tried.


Knowledge on old houses has come on a lot in the last ten years.
Look at www.periodproperty.co.uk for a variety of articles on the
subject.

hear hear


NT

"Roger" wrote in message
k...
The message
from (N. Thornton) contains these words:

B. Apply expanded clay in lime plaster to the interior. This gives
insulation with no vapour barrier, retaining wall breathability, and
without the damage cement sometimes causes.

Not a solution I have previously heard of. How effective is that plaster
mix as insulation?

I use it for floors as it needs to be a lot thicker than Kingspan/Celotex or
even Rockwool. LECA (Optiroc) in a lime/sand mix to a foot or so depth
definitely does lower heat loss through the floor though. A friend did put
a thin layer of it as an outside render but this was on a 'best attempt'
basis rather than trying to meet part L.



I am in a similar position to the op other than I have 2' thick rubble
filled stone walls and no external render.

Same here.

"brugnospamsia" wrote in message
k...


I was planning to use foam-backed plasterboard, though perhaps I would be
better using thicker battens and seperate insulation

Yes. The insulation is a lot cheaper that way as well.

"brugnospamsia" wrote in message
...
----------------------------

I just realised I need to treat the upstairs and downstairs as one system



http://uk.geocities.com/gentlegreengiant/wallsystem.jpg

Ah - now I've seen what you've got it's a lot clearer. But you'll never get
air to move effectively all the way from the underfloor to the roof. I
would separate these out. Most damp is downstairs and needs more effective
dealing with by inserting air bricks in the wall.

I found it easiest to mount the batterning to the ceiling and floor. The
only point it touches the wall is a couple of spacers into the wooden
lintels above the windows for some extra stability.

The seals you show would be top and bottom I assume. Using glued on coving
and skirting is one option.

Don't you have eaves in the roof ? If so the air should turn right and feed
out there. If not you've got a problem as the damp will accumulate there.






I'm beginning to wish I never started this !

Yep - know exactly how you feel. But our old farmhouse now takes about a
quarter of the heat it took to heat before I started and the damp feel to
the air has gone.

"Mike" wrote in message
...

"brugnospamsia" wrote in message
...
----------------------------

I just realised I need to treat the upstairs and downstairs as one system



http://uk.geocities.com/gentlegreengiant/wallsystem.jpg

Ah - now I've seen what you've got it's a lot clearer. But you'll never
get
air to move effectively all the way from the underfloor to the roof. I
would separate these out. Most damp is downstairs and needs more
effective
dealing with by inserting air bricks in the wall.

I found it easiest to mount the batterning to the ceiling and floor. The
only point it touches the wall is a couple of spacers into the wooden
lintels above the windows for some extra stability.

The seals you show would be top and bottom I assume. Using glued on
coving
and skirting is one option.


Don't you have eaves in the roof ? If so the air should turn right and
feed
out there. If not you've got a problem as the damp will accumulate there.

unfortunately not - it's a centre-valley :

http://uk.geocities.com/gentlegreengiant/ruinbig.jpg








I'm beginning to wish I never started this !

Yep - know exactly how you feel. But our old farmhouse now takes about a
quarter of the heat it took to heat before I started and the damp feel to
the air has gone.

The message
from "Mike" contains these words:

B. Apply expanded clay in lime plaster to the interior. This gives
insulation with no vapour barrier, retaining wall breathability, and
without the damage cement sometimes causes.

Not a solution I have previously heard of. How effective is that plaster
mix as insulation?

I use it for floors as it needs to be a lot thicker than Kingspan/Celotex or
even Rockwool. LECA (Optiroc) in a lime/sand mix to a foot or so depth
definitely does lower heat loss through the floor though. A friend did put
a thin layer of it as an outside render but this was on a 'best attempt'
basis rather than trying to meet part L.

I had a google but couldn't find any reference to its use as wall
insulation. One of my round tuits near the top of the pile is to dig up
and re lay my solid ground floor but I think I will avoid the expanded
clay route as I would probably have to dig out to below my shallow
foundations. I can't afford to raise the floor level at all as headroom
is aleady minimal.

I am in a similar position to the op other than I have 2' thick rubble
filled stone walls and no external render.

Same here.

I note you have gone the batten out route but I have small rooms and
particularly in the kitchen, smallest bedroom and bathroom no space for
more than the thinest of insulation. One of my earlier jobs (still not
plastered out because of the insulation dilemma) was to increase the
size of the bedroom at the expense of the bathroom so space is really
tight in there now.

--
Roger

"brugnospamsia" wrote in message
k...

http://uk.geocities.com/gentlegreengiant/wallsystem.jpg


Don't you have eaves in the roof ? If so the air should turn right and
feed
out there. If not you've got a problem as the damp will accumulate
there.

unfortunately not - it's a centre-valley :

http://uk.geocities.com/gentlegreengiant/ruinbig.jpg


Perhaps an airbrick or two at the top of the upstairs level as well might be
a good ideal if it is possible. Would help vent the roof better as well as
the area behind the insulation.

Remember cold is bad but damp is always far far worse, hot or cold !!

"Roger" wrote in message
k...
The message
from "Mike" contains these words:

B. Apply expanded clay in lime plaster to the interior. This gives
insulation with no vapour barrier, retaining wall breathability, and
without the damage cement sometimes causes.

Not a solution I have previously heard of. How effective is that
plaster
mix as insulation?

I use it for floors as it needs to be a lot thicker than
Kingspan/Celotex or
even Rockwool. LECA (Optiroc) in a lime/sand mix to a foot or so depth
definitely does lower heat loss through the floor though. A friend did
put
a thin layer of it as an outside render but this was on a 'best attempt'
basis rather than trying to meet part L.

I had a google but couldn't find any reference to its use as wall
insulation.

www.periodproperty.co.uk appear to have cleared their back files but google
has some cached. Start with

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cac...property.co.uk
/cgi-bin/discuss/forum.pl%3Fread%3D3966+LECA+render+site:www.periodproperty.
co.uk&hl=en%20target=nw

and work from there. But you will have to search the google cache, not the
web site itself.


One of my round tuits near the top of the pile is to dig up
and re lay my solid ground floor but I think I will avoid the expanded
clay route as I would probably have to dig out to below my shallow
foundations. I can't afford to raise the floor level at all as headroom
is aleady minimal.

Same here. Remember there is still a lot of sand and lime in the mix so use
very little clay in the mix near the wall (or none even - just leave it as
is) but a lot in the centre of the room. A couple of feet of this stuff is
definitely noticeable.


I am in a similar position to the op other than I have 2' thick rubble
filled stone walls and no external render.

Same here.

I note you have gone the batten out route but I have small rooms and
particularly in the kitchen, smallest bedroom and bathroom no space for
more than the thinest of insulation. One of my earlier jobs (still not
plastered out because of the insulation dilemma) was to increase the
size of the bedroom at the expense of the bathroom so space is really
tight in there now.

Fully understand. Ours is a very long 16'8" wide farmhouse internally with
2' walls each side so we decided to sacrifice the 8" for insulation, 4" on
each side - 35mm typical ventilated space, 50mm insulation and 12mm
plasterboard+skim. The alternative was heating bills of over £5k per annum
so it wasn't too hard to sacrifice the space. In your case I would
superinsulate the loft and the floor, plus work on draughts and suchlike.
Are you allowed to double glaze ? (but not with PVC please :-)

The message
from "Mike" contains these words:

{ Apply expanded clay in lime plaster }

I had a google but couldn't find any reference to its use as wall
insulation.

www.periodproperty.co.uk appear to have cleared their back files but google
has some cached. Start with

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cac...property.co.uk
/cgi-bin/discuss/forum.pl%3Fread%3D3966+LECA+render+site:www.periodproperty.
co.uk&hl=en%20target=nw

and work from there. But you will have to search the google cache, not the
web site itself.

Thanks. I will try that tomorrow. I wasn't previously aware google had a
cache.

One of my round tuits near the top of the pile is to dig up
and re lay my solid ground floor but I think I will avoid the expanded
clay route as I would probably have to dig out to below my shallow
foundations. I can't afford to raise the floor level at all as headroom
is already minimal.

Same here. Remember there is still a lot of sand and lime in the mix so use
very little clay in the mix near the wall (or none even - just leave it as
is) but a lot in the centre of the room. A couple of feet of this stuff is
definitely noticeable.

2 feet would definitely get below what little foundations I have. ISTR
that most heat through the floor leaves close to the walls so insulation
is more important there. Someone in the past replaced most of my
(presumably stone flagged) floor with poor quality concrete with a
dubious dpm. I am inclined to just go the modern route for the
replacement.

I am in a similar position to the op other than I have 2' thick rubble
filled stone walls and no external render.

Same here.

I note you have gone the batten out route but I have small rooms and
particularly in the kitchen, smallest bedroom and bathroom no space for
more than the thinnest of insulation. One of my earlier jobs (still not
plastered out because of the insulation dilemma) was to increase the
size of the bedroom at the expense of the bathroom so space is really
tight in there now.

Fully understand. Ours is a very long 16'8" wide farmhouse internally with
2' walls each side so we decided to sacrifice the 8" for insulation, 4" on
each side - 35mm typical ventilated space, 50mm insulation and 12mm
plasterboard+skim. The alternative was heating bills of over £5k per annum
so it wasn't too hard to sacrifice the space. In your case I would
superinsulate the loft and the floor, plus work on draughts and suchlike.
Are you allowed to double glaze ? (but not with PVC please :-)

Double glazing is one of the few jobs I have got a builder in for so
far. Double glazed with hardwood frames to replace the rotting single
glazed softwood. Some of the window openings showed evidence of long
departed stone mullions but I decided not to attempt to reinstate those,
the windows are very small by modern standards already. I didn't enquire
about the type of glass. :-)

As to loft, only in one small section do I have a loft, the remainder of
the upstairs is open to the pitch of the roof. Luckily this place is not
listed. Nothing worth listing in the first place I suspect, it is only a
humble cottage attached to a larger field barn. My heating bills aren't
too bad but I could do with something on the walls that makes a
significant difference without eating space. I can't afford more than 2"
on most of the external walls and in some places more than an inch would
be an embarrassment.

--
Roger

"Roger" wrote in message
k...
One of my round tuits near the top of the pile is to dig up
and re lay my solid ground floor but I think I will avoid the expanded
clay route as I would probably have to dig out to below my shallow
foundations. I can't afford to raise the floor level at all as
headroom
is already minimal.

Same here. Remember there is still a lot of sand and lime in the mix so
use
very little clay in the mix near the wall (or none even - just leave it
as
is) but a lot in the centre of the room. A couple of feet of this stuff
is
definitely noticeable.

2 feet would definitely get below what little foundations I have. ISTR
that most heat through the floor leaves close to the walls so insulation
is more important there.

Foundations are probably six inches so don't do anything near them. But all
the ground is fairly cold. Anything helps.


Someone in the past replaced most of my
(presumably stone flagged) floor with poor quality concrete with a
dubious dpm. I am inclined to just go the modern route for the
replacement.

Always a difficult choice. A concrete floor pushes the damp into the walls
as these have no DPC. But if that is what you have now and the walls can
cope then I'd pull the soil back two or three inches and lay plastic,
Kingpan then wood as a new floor.



As to loft, only in one small section do I have a loft, the remainder of
the upstairs is open to the pitch of the roof.

How good is the roof underside ? Kingspan pressed between the roof timbers
and plastered over is effective and looks fairly original except the timbers
appear not so deep.


My heating bills aren't
too bad but I could do with something on the walls that makes a
significant difference without eating space. I can't afford more than 2"
on most of the external walls and in some places more than an inch would
be an embarrassment.

Thick lined curtains the size of the wall. Expensive but can look superb.
Also consider improving the outside. Adding a porch, lean-to or even a
cloche can keep cold away from the outsides of the wall. Also make sure the
exterior pointing is up to scratch and no wind is entering the rubble cavity
in the middle. Some stone appears second only to metal in conducting heat
but at least if it has to escape through the whole 2 feet you're making it
more difficult for it to do so.

The message
from "Mike" contains these words:

As to loft, only in one small section do I have a loft, the remainder of
the upstairs is open to the pitch of the roof.

How good is the roof underside ? Kingspan pressed between the roof timbers
and plastered over is effective and looks fairly original except the timbers
appear not so deep.

The spars ar lathe and plastered over. Only the purlins (debarked tree
trunks) and the ridge pole are visible. I could tear down the l&p but it
would be a long and messy job and in the centre tricky. My scaffording
tower will reach but that sways alarmingly when working on it at
anything that requires an effort.


My heating bills aren't
too bad but I could do with something on the walls that makes a
significant difference without eating space. I can't afford more than 2"
on most of the external walls and in some places more than an inch would
be an embarrassment.

Thick lined curtains the size of the wall. Expensive but can look superb.
Also consider improving the outside. Adding a porch, lean-to or even a
cloche can keep cold away from the outsides of the wall. Also make sure the
exterior pointing is up to scratch and no wind is entering the rubble cavity
in the middle. Some stone appears second only to metal in conducting heat
but at least if it has to escape through the whole 2 feet you're making it
more difficult for it to do so.

Tapestries? My pension doesn't really run to things like that and I have
some complications to take into account. Namely one side of the doorways
into the kitchen and 2nd bedrooms are flush with the outside wall and
the stairs exit straight from the living room (headroom a modest 5 feet)
and again flush with the outside wall at the intermediate landing.

The South side of the house (where both doors are) is reasonably
sheltered from the worst of the weather but the North side and West
(gable end) aren't and with a restricted vehicle entry past the NW
corner much of that area can't be extended although I do have a pipe
dream about a stair turret further along to get the stairs out of the
living room but the planners may have something to say about that as
they are more than a little snooty about any development within their
extended green belt. (It wasn't green belt when I moved here).

The outer skin of the house is reasonably intact unlike the barn where
the wind blows right through in places.

--
Roger

"Roger" wrote in message
k...

Tapestries? My pension doesn't really run to things like that

Plenty of classes on such things :-)


and I have
some complications to take into account. Namely one side of the doorways
into the kitchen and 2nd bedrooms are flush with the outside wall

Don't want to alarm you then but do keep an eye out for movement in this
area. Large loads transferred into the outer random stone wall like this
can cause the wall to move, albeit very slowly. Un


the stairs exit straight from the living room (headroom a modest 5 feet)
and again flush with the outside wall at the intermediate landing.

The South side of the house (where both doors are) is reasonably
sheltered from the worst of the weather but the North side and West
(gable end) aren't and with a restricted vehicle entry past the NW
corner much of that area can't be extended although I do have a pipe
dream about a stair turret further along to get the stairs out of the
living room but the planners may have something to say about that as
they are more than a little snooty about any development within their
extended green belt. (It wasn't green belt when I moved here).

Then point this out in the application and say you intended to do it all
along, discretely mentioning that you think your human rights have been
violated by this. Usually works. AFAIK no council has yet won a full blown
human rights planning judgement.


The outer skin of the house is reasonably intact unlike the barn where
the wind blows right through in places.

If the roof does the same then get it fixed or in these gales you soon won't
have a roof.

Good luck.

Mike

"Roger" wrote in message
k...
some complications to take into account. Namely one side of the
doorways
into the kitchen and 2nd bedrooms are flush with the outside wall

Don't want to alarm you then but do keep an eye out for movement in this
area. Large loads transferred into the outer random stone wall like
this
can cause the wall to move, albeit very slowly. Un

I am not so alarmed now as I used to be. The end section of my house was
once a separate one up/one down with its own staircase and before than
just a single storey byre. Whoever broke through to form the downstairs
doorway caused a partial collapse in the wall above leaving a huge bulge
tenuously held together by a cement corset in one of the 2 leaves of the
wall. The bulge was such that the through stones had pulled out by an
alarming amount. One of the scariest things I have every done was to
rebuild that area in sections. Never did get all the throughs completely
back in place but the worst one is only a couple of inches out.

Sounds like good work.


The upstairs breakthrough was much later and done by my predecessor. The
plans he left me called for a horizontal lintel but he was inordinately
proud of the rough roman arch he had constructed instead.

We had something similar but in reverse. All the internal doorways were
also the lintels and some moron in the past decided to block off one doorway
upstairs. Obviously he removed the doorway not realising what it was
supporting and caused a partial roof and upper wall collapse. Locals tell
me he did survive this attempt at the Darwin awards and filled the hole in
with breezeblocks. Of course these compressed over time from the two
purlins just above the old doorway so my first job was to remove part of
floors to get access to solid ground, install six props to support the
purlins and re-install some proper lintels.


The
alterations flowing from the projected stair turret would need that
particular lintel being raised almost to the purlin above

Supporting the purlin directly usually needs a big heacy lintel. At least a
three man job to put it into place.


The outer skin of the house is reasonably intact unlike the barn where
the wind blows right through in places.

If the roof does the same then get it fixed or in these gales you soon
won't
have a roof.

The roof has roofing felt under it but Yorkshire stone slates take some
lifting, particularly the rougher ones that are well over an inch thick.

Hmm. A neighbour is deliberately neglecting a barn in the vain hope of
getting planning permission to convert to a holiday cottage. A similar roof
to yours is now definitely 'on the move' due to the weather.

The message
from "Mike" contains these words:


snip

The upstairs breakthrough was much later and done by my predecessor. The
plans he left me called for a horizontal lintel but he was inordinately
proud of the rough roman arch he had constructed instead.

We had something similar but in reverse. All the internal doorways were
also the lintels and some moron in the past decided to block off one doorway
upstairs. Obviously he removed the doorway not realising what it was
supporting and caused a partial roof and upper wall collapse. Locals tell
me he did survive this attempt at the Darwin awards and filled the hole in
with breezeblocks. Of course these compressed over time from the two
purlins just above the old doorway so my first job was to remove part of
floors to get access to solid ground, install six props to support the
purlins and re-install some proper lintels.

Ha. One of my predecessors took out a doorway between the living room
and what I now use as my office and widened the opening. On one side he
left one end of the original wooden lintel with no support. On the other
leaf he removed the lintel completely (judging by the socket height was
an issue). He made quite a good job of disguising the work with a cement
skim made to look like an over plastered beam but it eventually
developed a rather nasty crack.

snip

The outer skin of the house is reasonably intact unlike the barn where
the wind blows right through in places.

If the roof does the same then get it fixed or in these gales you soon
won't have a roof.

The roof has roofing felt under it but Yorkshire stone slates take some
lifting, particularly the rougher ones that are well over an inch thick.

Hmm. A neighbour is deliberately neglecting a barn in the vain hope of
getting planning permission to convert to a holiday cottage. A similar roof
to yours is now definitely 'on the move' due to the weather.

Both the house and barn roofs have both been 'turned' and are reasonably
secure. The building society wouldn't allow me to do that myself. :-(

--
Roger