Before/After

[Sow's Ear Mal]

There are examples of rendered stone houses in this area, but in removing mine I found it to be very hard and consistent, and grey. The original stone pointing is a very soft lime mortar, almost white, and crude in texture: full of lime chunks and a very coarse sand. The stucco here is so different from the original that I have to conclude it was done later and with a portland-based formula.

[CS in Low Hud]

Chris, Mal. I just had to look up flat arches (I'm a little smarter now). Found this. The images did not show unfortunately But the link did post.

That was interesting reading, Gothic! It's a bit different then the pages on Flat Arches in Ian's book. He suggests that you should give the arch a small rise to the center for structural and visual reasons - he says a truly flat arch will appear to dip inward at the center. This rise is very slight - 1/2". He gives construction instructions and details including, the type of mortar, how it should be applied, detailed measured schematics, and construction tips. In his technique, the stones are wedge shaped, and can be further wedged by inserting small slivers of stone into the joints. He recommends the second "relieving arch" built into the wall above the Flat Arch if the span is greater then 3'. he then goes on to say "Do not use any metal bars, enclosed or exposed, or any strong cement mortars or concrete within or near any stone arches." The "do not use" part is in all caps, so I guess he felt pretty strongly about that point.

Anyway, it's all pretty interesting and makes me want to build a castle.

Chris

[Sow's Ear Mal]

Just a follow up on the stucco age discussion: When I removed the stucco from the back of the house I found many patches of very dark, hard cement in areas that had obviously had some movement. Kind of scary to see, but it did prove that the stucco wasn't original. And that people don't cover things unless they're covering a problem, lol

[Sow's Ear Mal]

Hi old house folks. Here's an update on our little stone house. Got the siding up on the addition. It'll be trimmed in pine later, in off white. The lower section will have a stone skin, taken from another old stone ruin. Thanks for looking, have a great week in the sun! (finally!!!)

siding on addition smaller.JPG (220.13 KiB) Viewed 607 times

[Don M]

iT'S COMING ALONG NICELY!

[Casey]

Use hearing protection and vibration-resistant gloves with an air chisel; unless they have significantly upgraded them they tear you up after a few hours.
Casey

[Sow's Ear Mal]

Use hearing protection and vibration-resistant gloves with an air chisel; unless they have significantly upgraded them they tear you up after a few hours.
Casey

WHAT??? i CAN'T HEAR YOU! (typing with shaking hands....)

[Powermuffin]

I would love to see some inside pictures!!! Please.
Diane

[lisascenic]

Oooooh la la!