Gite renovation so far.

The surveyor found some problems with the gite when we bought it, which amounted to a bit of death watch beetle (DWB from now on) and a bulging wall, both easily remedied.  We then discovered that the DWB had in fact eaten everything and all the wood was as hollow as a sponge, so we decided to rip the lot out, olde worlde beams included, and start again, then let it commercially to recoup costs.  The walls have turned out to be made from loose rubble, full of gaps so not at all stable.  To save money, I am cutting grooves for the new electric cables (the whole thing is being re-wired as it was done by a proper bodge-jobber originally) and rebuilding the wall.  Below are some photos for y'all:

This is the corner, at the front of the gite.  The rainwater from the road and the downpipe have washed the soil out from the bottom of the wall in the corner, and now it needs underpinning.  I am going to dig under it, and someone with a bit more knowledge is going to pour a concrete slab in the hole, and make a proper drain.

This is the gable end, where water from the adjoining barn has been pouring down our wall for centuries, causing a wee damp problem.  I fixed it by digging out the soil along the bottom of the wall (which now needs underpinning - see above) and making a gutter.

Here is a bulging wall, full of cracks, needing underpinning at the bottom left.  See below for what happened next.

Cracks all over...

Cracking and sagging above rotten lintels at the front.

More cracks, due to end wall wanting to fall down and sagging lintels.

Inside, with the window to the left just out of photo.

..."I want to break free-ee, I want too breeaaak freeee...."

Bulging wall gone!  It's on the floor, and I am now putting it back (reasonably) straight.

That soggy corner is at the bottom of this wall, which is made from loose soil and bits of brittle stone.  Someone has made a bodged repair at the top - see the cement?  I reckon the roof has been replaced at some point - by Steven Hawking.

 The wall is made from two skins, with sh-te in the middle, and not tied in.  You can see the outside skin on the left parting company with the inside - there's a dark line down the centre of the photo, which is a biiiiig hole.








Inside we have:

A big space upstairs...

No upstairs!

Top quality floor levelling - the wedges are not attached.  Hmm... those beams look a bit erm, semi-composted...

Bit rotten, like.  This was in the wall and we would have found out that it's rotten when a guest fell through it if we had left it.

"No presence of infestation" said the seller's surveyor.

Illegal wiring, buried in the wall.

The bottom of the A-frame holding the roof up is balancing on it's end (actually the strongboy, which shouldn't take the load anyway) on this wee bit of wood stretched across two rotten beams.

The other end of the A-frame, above the door.  There's a theory that it was moved so a Velux could be put in above the stairs, when the roof was re-done.

I want a drink.

Got one.

And finally... not a crack - my chasing!  By hand!  Through granite!
I'm also mixing the cement by hand, wheelbarrowing it to site and carrying it up the scaffold in wee buckets.  I must be thick.

Top tip: DO NOT BUY A CONVERSION!  Buy a ruin and start with a clean slate!