The Elephant in the Room – Part 1

On Saturday, we finally began to tackle the elephant in the room (the rear wall) which has lurked in the background since we began this project and has been the subject of much debate on the best way to repair it. Our original intention was to rebuild the inner skin completely in blockwork to eradicate a bulge in the middle, and a slight lean at one end, but a visit, and some expert advice from our local professional builder, Paul Thompson, indicated that such a drastic measure was not required. Instead, we could undertake the necessary repair by more simple means. Consequently, we have been able to fix the lean on the corner by re-aligning all the stones in their original position, pointing all the joints and, finally, pouring a liquid cement mix into the core which will consolidate all the stonework on this corner. When the building is finished, this corner will form one half of the main doorway into the signal box.
The bulge in the middle of the wall will be the next job and everything else will take a back seat until this is done and the wall has been built up to the correct height to take the wall plate (this is the length of timber fastened to the top of the wall to which the roof is attached). We intend to do this very shortly and will keep you informed of our progress.

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