Property viewing - timber frame repair

[JamesG]

Hi everyone,

I viewed a grade 2 listed property today, overall very tidy and in good condition. One thing that jumped out at me was a repair made over the upstairs bedroom window. I would very much value your opinion on this. There is some blackening to the wood and what appears to be mortar over it.

 

[Cubist]

Photos can always be deceiving but that appears to be lime plaster or render used to make good a cavity in the lintel/timber. This is not an unusual approach as the same technique is often used in old timber frame houses but usually for fairly small areas and never where the structural integrity of the timber may have been compromised by the original damage. The plaster will of course provide no structural strength and any significant movement of the proximal timbers will cause it to crack and fall out. If its just a very shallow plaster filling its probably nothing to be too concerned about but its important to verify that it is not a very deep cavity as that may imply that the beam/lintel is weak and should perhaps be replaced.

Curiously the wood immediately above the plaster appears to be very old and has lost much of its original softer grain elements whilst the wood immediately to the right of the repair looks to be much younger and is therefore making me think it is not part of the same beam/lintel and is perhaps a later addition. This could then be a different timber scribed and cut to fit directly beneath the original beam to 'square off' the aperture to receive the window frame below.

Is this a timber frame house? Can you see this timber from outdoors?