Tina Ruffle
Member
- Messages
- 14
- Location
- Norfolk, England
Firstly, i should say a quick thanks for the advice received previously -our insurance issue was resolved and we got the house.
There are two things that i'd like to get help on....
The house info when we purchased the place interestingly suggested that period features might be re-discovered. Well we've been having a lot of fun uncovering them.
One of our finds was a lovely pamment floor running through the dining room and living room. Unfortunately this was covered in layers of carpets, bitumen and all sorts of gunk. We've largely removed this now.
However, we are now faced with the final clean and the "how do we treat this?".
The tiles are laid straight onto sand and soil. There is nothing underneath -fair enough. But do we need to seal them to protect them from stains? And to give them a less porous and cleanable surface? They seem to get very dirty quickly.
I've seen so many suggestions that seem to contradict each other - in magazines and books. What is the best way to go about this?
2.Our other find beneath the 1930s fireplace (dated by a helpful stamp) was a large inglenook fireplace. As we shifted a large skip full of dirt and rubble from the fireplace we "unearthed" :wink: several series of alterations. I was wondering if anyone knows anything and can shed light?
The first was two brick cupboards to either side of a gap (we know there was a cast iron stove here at one point and a copper pot). One had a shelf with a distinct curve cut in...
Second (as these were filled at the bottom by more dirt and very dangerous) came a 2 foot wide groove that extends all the way up - this has two curves knotched at the sides a foot and a half up and two holes a foot up and several inches apart. There are a few other holes too - it basically looks like some sort of inserted stove?
Thirdly, uncovered from clay is a house shape indent with a rectangular indent at the sides (as if a dolls house was there almost! ) with grooves for opening a door with several hinges. This is a couple of feet off the floor.
Lastly, on the opposite side is what appears to have been a bread oven - inset into the side-with a triangular zig zag top.
My questions are - dos anyone have any idea what these things looked like and what they were?
And is there any way to date these alterations? ie by technique?
Looking forward to your comments.
Thank you,
Tina
There are two things that i'd like to get help on....
The house info when we purchased the place interestingly suggested that period features might be re-discovered. Well we've been having a lot of fun uncovering them.
One of our finds was a lovely pamment floor running through the dining room and living room. Unfortunately this was covered in layers of carpets, bitumen and all sorts of gunk. We've largely removed this now.
However, we are now faced with the final clean and the "how do we treat this?".
The tiles are laid straight onto sand and soil. There is nothing underneath -fair enough. But do we need to seal them to protect them from stains? And to give them a less porous and cleanable surface? They seem to get very dirty quickly.
I've seen so many suggestions that seem to contradict each other - in magazines and books. What is the best way to go about this?
2.Our other find beneath the 1930s fireplace (dated by a helpful stamp) was a large inglenook fireplace. As we shifted a large skip full of dirt and rubble from the fireplace we "unearthed" :wink: several series of alterations. I was wondering if anyone knows anything and can shed light?
The first was two brick cupboards to either side of a gap (we know there was a cast iron stove here at one point and a copper pot). One had a shelf with a distinct curve cut in...
Second (as these were filled at the bottom by more dirt and very dangerous) came a 2 foot wide groove that extends all the way up - this has two curves knotched at the sides a foot and a half up and two holes a foot up and several inches apart. There are a few other holes too - it basically looks like some sort of inserted stove?
Thirdly, uncovered from clay is a house shape indent with a rectangular indent at the sides (as if a dolls house was there almost! ) with grooves for opening a door with several hinges. This is a couple of feet off the floor.
Lastly, on the opposite side is what appears to have been a bread oven - inset into the side-with a triangular zig zag top.
My questions are - dos anyone have any idea what these things looked like and what they were?
And is there any way to date these alterations? ie by technique?
Looking forward to your comments.
Thank you,
Tina