La Studio - Beam Repairs

In advance of cutting the Rear Door opening into the breeze block wall section, I have taken down the damaged last cross beam and created a repair opening, as shown here:

I realised this cross beam was fire damaged, as can also be seen on the wall and upper roof beams.  There must have been  stove of some sort in the corner of the room with a chimney up the back wall and roof at some time that damaged the centre of the beam.

I cut the centre of the beam and removed it from the support holes either side.  I then installed two supported from the back wall to the second beam and this allowed me to cut the old cross beam to size either side and secure with bolts, that will eventually be largely hidden but the insulated plasterboard.

Once the old beams have been sand blasted and the new sections stained, they should blend in. The 1,000 x 700mm opening in the ceiling in front of the rear door will have a reinforced glazed light well installed to let some natural light to the upper attic room if all works out!

La Studio - Ceiling Support Beams

I had planned a day in the garden, but lots of early morning rain led to a revision and I decided to work inside.  

The ceiling and beams above the entrance door we missing, to allow for access to the Left West Side room attic and as I will install stairs in the to access both rooms upstairs, the space above the main door will be boarded.  However, beams need to be replaced. Having removed the damaged beam at the rear of the Right East side room, I have been able to reuse this broken beam to support the floor above the main door.

I have realised that that there is no beams running along the front and back walls, but the old Lathe & Mud floors were supported by small indents in the wall.  I have decided to install support demi chevrons along the walls, level with the other support beams and upon which the chipboard upper floor base will rest. These will eventually be hidden behind the Insulated Plasterboard that will be secured to the outer walls

Having drilled into the walls and secured them, there were gaps as the stone is uneven.  So, I have used ExpandIT Foam to act as a filler and gripper to fully secure to the wall and provide extra support, which I have found useful before.

Once I have cut the back wall hole in the breeze blocks for the rear patio door, I will need to fix the beams on that wall.

 La Studio - Oil Base Floor Levelling

Having hired and collected a 28KG Pneumatic Jack Hammer from LOXAM in Limoges yesterday, work started on the removal of the old concrete Oil Tank Base in the left hand/west side of La Studio.  It very soon became clear that I could not have succeeded in the task without hiring this piece of vital equipment.

This was the floor taken when I arrived and shows the Oil Tank Base on the left hand side that needed to be removed to enable a flat floor based to be created.

Started work at 9:00am and finished the destruction using the invaluable Jack Hammer by 12 noon.  Hard work and a little concerning at first, but soon realised how to best use the hammer to break up the concrete.

Having removed the debris I was somewhat relieved to find the two rooms had a reasonably level floor, although there is a drop from back to front in both rooms, that hopefully will be largely resolved by a sand base.

A little more work to do, but overall the result is satisfactory and I started to work on removing the back breeze block wall section, but will defer any further work until 2022.

 La Studio - Ceiling Levelling

Had a good day yesterday that resulted in the levelling of the ceiling on the right side East Room.  the original beam were just laid and not fixed from the side walls onto the large central beam.  This made the task much easier and using wooden blocks to lift the centre of each has result a a nearly level based.  Once the interlocking chipboard  is laid, I will be able to fill the gaps to ensure a supported base onto which to lay the Insulated Boards, Heat Mat and then Livyn, like I laid in La Maison.

The ceiling on the left side West Room have newer fixed beams and is level, so needs little adjustment fortunately other than the repair to the damaged back beam.

Both rooms will need new back and front wall beams to properly support the floors, before the chipboard is laid.

Having levelled the ceiling I is clear that gaps will be exposed, so I have applied a blanking strip to hide the gap and will stain these once the beams are Sand Blasted and Insulation has been applied.

Gave the floor yet another sweep and filled another wheelbarrow, to reveal the original stone floor that must have been down for circa 100 years!  This will provide a firm based to lay the floor foundation, rather than rubble.  I will get is level from back to front with sand before applying the DPC and Polystrene, topped with reinforced concrete.

La Studio - Mud Ceiling Removal

Removal of the Mud Ceiling was completed by Friday last week in both downstairs rooms and proved easier than expected. These ceiling were a traditional wooden lather and mud construction laid upon the horizontal beams across the voids.  Once the first sections of each were removed the rest were very straight forward, albeit a bit messy & dusty as I let the debris fall to the ground floor.

I thought I could use the wooden lathe and mud to repair some of the platform in the Barn, but discovered that the lathes are too small and longer lengths will be required.  In clearing the debris today, I realised it would have been useful to lay some tarpaulin before to make shovelling easier!

Once exposed it was clear that the last ceiling bean at the rear above the breeze block section was rotten, if fact upon inspection it is clear that there was a wood burner in the middle wall corner at some point with a chimney through the old roof here and the beam is burnt, requiring a new beam or central section to be replaced.  Over the weekend I realised that once blocks are removed and a new rear Glazed Door is installed it will not only allow light in downstairs, but in the upper floor if I installed a glass floor section 70x100cm in this area and i have found a company who will provide the tempered glass to do the job, once everything is prepared and final measurement are available.

Props have been installed to support the damaged last beam and the roof section above the breeze blocks that will be removed to make the new door opening, once the old oil tank support base is removed.. Hopefully with a pneumatic jack hammer I will hire this weekend.

I was able to take some initial measurements of the existing floor levels once the debris was removed and concluded that whilst the floor drops down slightly towards the front the level can be adjusted when I install the Sand Base, before laying the DPC and Polystyrene to create the new 17cm floor on top of the firm stone foundation that has been there for circa 100years.This picture also shows the ladders where the stairs to the loft rooms will be.  This is at the rear against the middle wall in a void created by removal of a broken floor beam, that is the right space ad avoid have to install a replacement beam. I have found some cheap wooden stairs 60cm wide that will fit fine in the space and all clearances seem fine.

La Studio - Masion Grise Work Begins

 Removal Preparation  Work

So Day 1 of the removal started with a test attempt using my Impact Chisel Hammer to remove the old Concrete Oil Tank Base and whilst some patience could have result in success it would be very time consuming, so I have decided to hire a Pneumatic Hammer from LOXAM next week for 2 days which should do the job!

Here are some pics before work starts:

This is the East Side Upper Door to what looks like a Hay Loft

This is the left side, inside the Hay Loft.  The Central Dividing Wall will allow me to knock through to the East Side Loft and install a door between both sides, with internal stairs up to the rear corner of the Hay Loft from downstairs and make good of the space into the ceiling where a rear corner wooden beam would otherwise need replacing

This is the East Side Upstairs.  This gives a 2.5m head clearance and and indicated it seams the roof is "newish" and should allow insulation and plasterboard to be installed, which exposing the original main wood beams 

This is the North East Rear Side Upstairs

This is the East Side Room Downstairs looking towards the West and through the existing door opening 

This is the East Side Room Downstairs looking towards the North East Corner from the existing door opening 

This is the West Side Room Downstairs looking towards the South Door  and shows the internal door opening to the East Side Room

This is the Rear of the East Side Room Downstairs looking from the South Door to the North. It shows where the rear stone wall was removed to allow the Oil Tank to be inserted.

I will remove the Breeze Blocks and install double French Doors to a rear patio area 

I decided to started by removing the floor ceilings in both side and it is proving a lot easier than expected, as the mud floor is simple laid on  some Wooden Lathe Strips across the main support beams, without any fixings and then mud applied about 30mm thick and left to dry.  I managed to remove all of the Left West Side and about 1/4 of the Right East Side today.

It has proved useful as this material will be saved and can then be used to repair the platform floor in the main barn in an original manner in the damaged areas.  RESULT!!

Autumn Visit October-November 2021

La Studio Renovation

I am just about to start a 4 week visit that will see the commencement of work to renovate the stone building at the rear of La Maison Grise. This is a small 22sqm building with two downstairs rooms and loft areas.  Not sure what it was originally for, but when we acquired the property in 2012 it housed the Heating Oil Tank.  One of the very first tasks was to get a local welder to dismantle the tank and remove it with the boiler and all the radiators in the house, but since 2012 it has not been used.

The plan is to Insulate the floors downstairs and tile and install stairs to the attic and knock through the central wall to create two accessible rooms upstairs. Seal and apply Insulated Plasterboard to the exterior walls and ceilings.  I will have windows installed internally to the openings and and new main door at the front with French Doors to to rear.  I will also render the exterior walls and finish with guttering to the rear and front.

Once complete, with the underfloor heating, it should be a nice usable space for a Studio/Playrooms in the future and for a modest cost will hopefully add future appeal to the property.

Here below is an outline of the work plan that will hopefully see all completed by Summer 2022.