Preliminary Plastering On Ground Floor

With a view to retaining as much original plaster as possible and at the same time achieving a fresher, clean finish, much of the ground floor walls will receive a skim coat of St. Astier Ecomortar R100. This is a ready-mixed lime based plaster, which is specifically designed to adhere to a variety of surfaces, including lime or cement mortar, lime plaster, gypsum plaster, timber and even painted surfaces. It has high vapour exchange qualities, allowing vapour to evaporate outwards from within the wall, maintaining the breathability of the structure as originally intended.

The only original lime plaster to be removed from the walls is unsound or cracked plaster, which is replaced with lime mortar. Damaging cement mortar which lines some of the hallway walls may also be removed to an extent, depending on how fragile the internal brick walls are.

Patching of damaged plaster began in the hall with regular lime mortar:

Routed sections for wiring was also filled in (any gaps are now fully completed):

The fireplace in the kitchen-to-be has been bricked up and since been plastered also. Note the large amount of modern gypsum plaster in this room:

Front room:

The all-important archway joining the front room and kitchen:

I also scrapped 144kg of lead, which was made up of the pipework in the old bathroom and the pipework leading from the back-boiler in the fireplace downstairs yo the hot water tank. The copper tank itself was also scrapped, netting a total of €132. Certainly worth holding on to!