Demolition begins!

So, it's been a couple of weeks since we last visited our shipwreck and I have to say it wasn't looking great when we arrived!  I think the saying 'It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better!' has never been more true.

This was what confronted us when we opened the door.

 

 As you can see the fireplace has completely vanished (thank Goodness) but so has my lovely old stove which is now in the garden in pieces.  My intention is to see if I can get it refurbished but at the moment it's not at the top of my priority list as you can imagine.

 

Now all the cladding has been taken off, and the stone wall has been exposed I'm quite sad that we are going to have to take it down.  It's so lovely to look at, but unfortunately it's not doing what it should which is keep the building upright and the roof in place (a minor detail I know).

We then ventured up 'those' stairs to see what was going on at first floor level.

 

 This is the back of the house which is approx. 20 years old and as you can see is a very different construction to the original but thankfully is in good condition.

The front bedroom and landing have been knocked into one and when we put up the new dividing walls and turn the staircase around this will become a good sized room, especially with the additional space we'll create by replacing the old stone wall with the new one. 

Just to show you how bad the wall and roof are, here are some photos of the cracks, holes and collapsed timbers that we've uncovered.

 

I'm not sure this photo really shows how bowed the wall is but the snapped timber is an indicator of the extent to which it has moved, and the light coming in is one of many holes in the roof.

 

This is a close up of the actual cracks in the gable end wall and shows how this meter thick wall has moved. 

 

And here is the old roof which when we visited the next day when it was raining was letting in a good stream of water.  Surprising the roof timbers are in good condition in the main and once we re-tile it using the original tiles that are already there it should be fit for purpose once more.

 

To finish on a positive we have now received the planning consent we needed and can therefore start to take down the offending wall and begin the process of making the cottage safer, secure and water tight. 

 

I'd just like to make a call out to our lovely new neighbours to say thank you for your patience and please bear with us!