East Anglian Odyssey

Apologies again for my tardiness in sticking up a post, but its got a lot to do with that stuff on the right - East Anglian clay lump. It's what our barn is made from and it has to be treated right - its the law, at least it's what English Heritage have decreed  a `Grade 2 listed building` ie of some historic significance. I suppose the closest thing to this from the perspective of my occassional American visitor is Adobe.

You can read a bit more about clay lump here. 

We didn't need listed building permission to do the work we did because it was all repair work that left the external structure pretty much unchanged. We wanted to remove the original straw lining in the rafters which was pretty sodden, replace the rafters, add some insulating board (celotex) and replace the original clay tiles. What we did have to do, after consulting with our local council's conservation officer, was to ensure that we used sympathetic materials. Clay lump absorbs moisture and `breathes` so the use of cement is verboten.This was important to know, as the barn had a rather uneven earth floor and I wanted a home for the motorbikes. With concrete being a no-no, we used the recommended `limecrete` mix. This takes a lot longer to set hard but has the necessary `breathing` qualities to prevent the clay lump from getting permanently damp and weakened. The pic on the right shows the loft half finished, with the new to the left and the daylight coming through the old on the right.

This is what the barn looks like. It is pretty much as big as the cottage, but although it sits almost entirely in our garden, 60% of it is owned by next door. They have access to it from their own property and we have one door on our side of the neighbourly dividing fence. These properties were often divvied up by their previous owners, some even won or lost over a game of cards. I know that my great grandfather lost several properties, one of which was a pub in the East End of London, way back in the late 19th Century due to his gambling habits.

To the right is a snap of our excellent builder cutting out a previous owners handiwork at the base of the barn door. It was a mish mash brick, hardcore and concrete mix, most definitely not in sympathy with the original building. Thankfully, our builder and his wife had considerable experience in these structures, having first started his career working almost exclusively on listed structures.

You can see where the bitumen painted wall has been damaged by a huge growth of Ivy, which I cut off at the root before work started. It was partly removed when the roof work started. It had got into the rafters and was starting to lift them up so I think we got going just in time. The rest of it came away fairly easily but you can see how it pulled the clay away with it. It has since been repaired by using bits of original clay lump mixed with limecrete. I re-painted it using a special barn paint that is micro porous - got to keep it breathing. Good job I am current in resus/CPR

The inside walls needed to be sealed. They were pretty much like the top photograph, raw clay lump. You don't paint this stuff, you don't whitewash it either, you use a lime wash. A bucket of this stuff costs £25. It is lime putty and looks and feels a bit like buffalo mozzarella cheese. You mix it with water, 50/50 and paint, allowing it to dry between coats. It goes on like water and you wonder if anything has happened, but once dry the white gradually starts to appear. 4,5 or 6 coats/days later and its snowy white. This shit is not very nice and the smallest splash in the eye is as good as a dose of CS gas. I stumbled down a ladder and into the kitchen, half blind and cussing on several occasions before getting clever and wearing goggles. This stuff smarts. Love those health and safety know-it-alls.

The 5th coat looks really white. My former firearms tac team flame retardent coveralls still fitted my athletic frame. A week's painting later and I'd have been hard to spot in an Arctic blizzard. The earth floor had yet to be dug out and limecreted.

Closer view of the rafters before the repair

Finally, the dear old Harley, below, has a roof over it's head instead of a bike cover. There was already power laid on, so the optimate is hooked up and tickling the battery. It was minus 6 outside when I took this photo, but it was pretty comfy in the barn. There is a first floor (floor replaced also) which will make a nice little storeroom/office/ancillary accomodation. During the removal of the old floorboards this piece of wood (above) was found patching up a big hole. It is stamped "Bomb Incendiary 100LBS NP M47 Without Bursters", was 1943 vintage in excellent condition and was originally from the airbase a mile or so up the road that used to be the home of American B17 Flying Fortresses and B24 Liberators during World War 2. It will remain part of the barn somehow, someplace.

 

So, that's why I've not been posting much lately. Hope to kick off with some police related anecdotes in a day or three. In the meantime, be careful out there.