Semi Restoration - Here we go.

[mykul]

Well my partner and I have taken the plunge and acquired a pleasant 2 bed cottage that is in the process of modernization.
My partner loves the Tudor period and it seems she has fell on her feet here, structural survey indicates some beams to be over 500 years old, now we have the task of turning back time in certain places of the house while bringing other parts into the 21st century. For me I have only ever watched TV restoration programs, how did i get here
First thing to say is that plastic thing on the front is going.

Hopefully by coming here there will be some good advice, one area we would love to explore is the history of the cottage, it sits on a quiet country lane about 1/5 mile away from the nearest village. My thoughts are why was it built all that time ago in the middle of nowhere on what would have been a muddy lane.

Other pictures to follow and I hope to map the progress in pictures.

 

[mykul]

 

[JoceAndChris]

That looks a very pretty cottage and I wish you all the best. I also live on a muddy lane in the middle of nowhere; my nearest neighbour a mile off. My house is an estate cottage, built here for the view and the gamekeeper/ estate manager in all likeliness, and at one time it would have had a fair number of "friends", but His Lordship sold off and knocked down, and the others were ravaged by time and fell down. It might be that yours also had the function of an estate cottage - perhaps for a farmworker? Is there, or was there, a hall, manor or grange nearby? There might have been a dairy alongside, or a mill, or a stable, or a noisy foundry, or any number of businesses that made use of the topography and required a cottage built so the chief worker was close at hand.


The deeds, the electoral role, the county archives, the library or local history group, can all prove useful in researching your house's history. But it is very hard to get definitive answers - English Heritage researched mine in the process of listing it and really just came up with "best guesses" for its original function. Good luck though, it is great fun and I hope you find something.

 

[tobydog]

Mykul - that's a nice looking cottage. Where abouts are you?

I see one of your lounge beams has got plenty of 'character'. We have timbers like that in our walls. When these lowly cottages were built, if they ran out of straight bits, anything from the nearest tree was used. At least that seemed to be the case here in our place :roll: .

 

[vicky whitworth]

It's lovely. Where is it?

What's now a muddy lane may once have been a 'main road'. We went on a walk last week and as we strolled along a country lane one car width the walk guide said it had been the main road from Exeter to London and Catherine of Aragon had passed that way on route to her first wedding having arrived at Plymouth from Spain. It was the early version of the A30 but about five miles from where the A30 now goes.

And we live on a muddy track which is just a footpath but once was the main road from our village across to the old Roman road, the Fosse Way. There's a manorial document from 1101 describing the road. How times change!

I hope you have great fun researching your new home. Vicky

 

[Penners]

Congratulations, Mykul. That looks like a little gem. Like others, I'm interested to know where it is (East Anglia perhaps?).

You don't have to be too specific if you don't want to, but maybe give us the county and/or nearby town/village. It's a good idea to add this information to your forum profile too - the correct answers to a lot of period property questions can be considerably affected by where you live.

My only comment on your opening post is a recommendation not to put too much faith in what you've seen on TV restoration programmes. I've seen a lot of horrors perpetrated on such shows. Much better to make a step-by-step plan of action and then discuss each step on this forum before you start the work. There are lots of experts here - amateur and professional - on may aspects of restoration work, and they can be of immense help in avoiding pitfalls.

 

[worms]

Pretty cottage! And welcome to the forum!

it sits on a quiet country lane about 1/5 mile away from the nearest village. My thoughts are why was it built all that time ago in the middle of nowhere on what would have been a muddy lane.

Back then all lanes would have been muddy and mud might not have been the worst of the problems! And I'm not sure I would have described 1/5 mile away from a village as "in the middle of nowhere"!

 

[Zebra]

Ooh, very nice looking house! As much of an amateur as I am to all this, I would advise, based on personal experience, not to make too many decisions too hastily. You learn a lot as you go along, especially when you spend time on this forum! So your decisions and perspective changes as you go along. I know I did things early on that I would not have done if I'd had more knowledge and experience....

 

[Keith Bowman]

That look a bit loik suffuk pink agin bor.
I'm working on a theory all of my own that they knew limewash needed something organic in it to act as a binder and found themselves lumbered with all those red juicy mulberries which you can't do much with after King James ordered the wrong sort to feed his silkworm industry.....

 

[worms]

As much of an amateur as I am to all this,

I think, from what we have all seen, you are now way past amateur!

 

[Zebra]

As much of an amateur as I am to all this,

I think, from what we have all seen, you are now way past amateur!

Ooh no, I'm still clueless and guessing at everything, losing sleep and making mistakes I regret!

 

[Penners]

That look a bit loik suffuk pink agin bor.
I'm working on a theory all of my own that they knew limewash needed something organic in it to act as a binder and found themselves lumbered with all those red juicy mulberries which you can't do much with after King James ordered the wrong sort to feed his silkworm industry.....

Received wisdom suggests that it was actually animal blood that was added to the wash. The richer you were the more blood you could afford, hence the deeper pink your residence was painted.


I have generously omitted mention of your cultural faux pas in substituting the Norfolk "bor" for the Suffolk "booy"! :wink:

 

[worms]

Received wisdom suggests that it was actually animal blood that was added to the wash.

It may, of course, also have been added to the mortar in the belief that it helped as a waterproofing agent, so a fresher, deeper pink might have given the impression of a newer house...

 

[Penners]

Indeed - in fact I wonder whether they built entire houses with the stuff. Thoroughly congealed I imagine it would be fairly weatherproof.

I'd name mine "Black Pudding Cottage".

 

[worms]

Some interesting research here, although I think some of the author's basic premises are a bit off.

I'm not sure if B&Q sells phlogisticated air...but it might be fun to ask!

 

[Penners]

Hmmm - I was going to read that tome right through, but I fuddenly found myfelf falling afleep. Poffibly fomething to do with the fact that I was fitting at the firefide and became overcome by all the phlogifton in the atmofphere.

 

[Keith Bowman]

Poor Mykul. We seem to have completely hijacked this thread and I plead guilty for starting the Suffolk pink diversion. Come back, we still want to know more about your home!

 

[mykul]

No worries Keith, i always thought the pink came from blood. Although fruit sounds a much better option as on a hot summers day one could lick the walls
Just to clarify a few points, the cottage is in North Warwickshire just south of the A5. The lane is tarmac, i was just wondering why 500 years ago when it would have been a muddy lane someone built a house. Also a typing error said 1/5 mile it should have 1/2 a mile, which is the closest village. It does feel like the middle of nowhere though.

The previous owner has said it was not a cottage originally, but a workshop for a wheelwright. This does fit with my findings from the information i found. In 1887 the was a wheelwright and his family on the same lane.
The lintel over the fireplace is not from the cottage but reclaimed, although age is of the period.

First major problem, Structural engineer says floor has been lowered to gain head room, but walls are not tanked. This is needed because level outside is higher than internal floor, one option is to lower outer groundwork.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Welcome Mykul.

In your shoes I would be looking to lower external ground levels, not tank internally. The rule of thumb seems to be you can't beat physics long term, and removing sources of damp is more effective than trying to combat them.

My house breathed a remarkable sigh of relief when I removed the acres of plasterboard and polythene tanking. I would never consider putting any back. Lime plastered inside it is as dry as anything. Except for the room that is built into the side of a mountain on two and a half sides. But even this is fine and the plaster acts as it should.

Good luck and looking forward to more pictures!

 

[Penners]

In your shoes I would be looking to lower external ground levels, not tank internally. The rule of thumb seems to be you can't beat physics long term, and removing sources of damp is more effective than trying to combat them.

I wholeheartedly agree, provided you can get the outside ground lower than the internal floor without excavating down to the very bottom of (or below) the plinth. Whatever you do, you must avoid this.