Concrete evidence

29 September 2013

The latest update from France is that the plumber has been and gone and the pipework has been amended as we asked.

Tom and team have put down the steel reinforcement for the concrete floor (no pic, sadly), and the concrete floor has been laid. All went according to plan, apparently.

Check out that sunbeam from the Velux window in the roof!

He has decided to cast a concrete wall plate on the top of the wall overlooking the neighbour's shed, in order to consolidate the wall where the stones were loose and also to give a firm base for filling in the gap on that side. I guess that means we will be able to see a concrete layer when it is finished; perhaps not a bad thing.

Now that the base is in, all the heights can be calculated and they can begin to address the knock-throughs.
First on the agenda is the rotten lintel on the main barn opening.  Apparently, the carpenter (Phil) has  the oak door frame all ready to go in, so there's no reason to delay any further on that.

I don't think any of us is looking forward to that part of the project. When we were on site, it seemed that whenever there was a lull, I'd notice one or two of the guys looking up at the offending lintel, lost in thought. Tom assures us that he has replaced many a lintel in his time, but - not so reassuring - he reckons ours is the most challenging so far and he hopes that 'we don't lose too much stone work'.

Ulp.