October/November 2007

The scaffolding arrived unexpectedly - 6 weeks early!  We really hope that this is a sign of things to come.  We paid the tax owing to the Comune at the beginning of the month so that we could get our planning permission.  One of the acro’s holding up part of the front of the house had fallen in the bad weather and some masonry had collapsed.  However, the beam above the opening held the rest of the building secure.  The builders prepared the area for the crane and they have removed the remains of the external staircase in preparation for the scaffolding. 

December/January 2008

Due to the early snow fall the builders have not been able to start but have got the crane and base in place and the scaffolding up.  One the weather improved the builders started in earnest.  The crane is up and running and all the equipment is now on site.  The project office has been set up in the animal stalls where the geometra will visit 3 times a week to meet with the builders.  The old roof tiles have been removed and cleaned and stored ready to be re-used.  There was a delivery of 2000 new bricks.  By the end of January, one area of the house had been demolished and new foundations had been laid. 

February/ March 2008

The builders had already rebuilt the ground floor of the house with the reclaimed stone and had positioned the new doorways and windows.  A new floor with enforced foundations had been laid with the necessary damp proofing membrane and aeration cells.  Steel netting and rods were laid on top of the cells and then concrete was poured onto it.  The building of the walls continued to the first floor ready for the oak beams.  Some of the old beams have been cleaned up and reused as lintels above the internal doors.  The new internal terracotta tiles that sit between the joists and the beams were put in place.  On top of the tiles, honeycomb bricks were laid with more steel netting and rods.  This will form the base of the first floor.  

At roof level a metal cage was constructed around the building on top of the brickwork and filled with concrete.  This gives the roof a sturdy concrete ring to sit on and also complies with seismic building regulations.  The 5 new beams arrived and were put in place and the original internal terracotta tiles were sandblasted and cemented onto the beams.  Concrete was then poured onto the tiles and the insulation was laid on top.  The copper brackets that will hold the guttering were also added.  Bitumen felt was then rolled over this to provide a membrane for further protection.  It is now ready for the old reclaimed roof tiles to be cemented into place.  A hole has been left in the roof for the chimney and a section of the first floor has been prepared for a wooden staircase.

April/May 2008

The builders have now moved onto the middle section of the house which is built over 3 floors.  The roof was removed and the entire second floor was taken out.  The first floor tiles were removed, cleaned and put back in place and then a light cement was laid on top to provide a stable floor for the builders to stand on.  The stone at the bottom of the walls of the first floor were partially removed and the gaps in the walls were supported with mini acro props.  The gaps were then filled with concrete and iron.  This will give the walls the necessary strength at the base to hold up the second floor and the new roof when these are added.  Another layer of stronger concrete with metal rods and netting was laid to form the first floor.  The old wooden fireplace had to be totally removed and the space bricked up to strengthen the walls.  The new floor and ceiling have been laid to form the base of the second floor.  Again, concrete, metal rods and netting has been laid to give the floor the appropriate strength.  This has been built with long concrete beams and terracotta honeycombed brickwork.  There are now metal rods sticking out of the first floor that will join onto the external stone staircase.  The gable ends have now been built up and a window put in place.  The gable ends have been prepared to take the metal cage and the concrete ring that the oak beams will sit on to form the roof.

June/July/August 2008

The roof was put on the middle section of the building and the rest of the roof was removed.  The entire second floor was taken out and replaced.  The ground floor was dug out and concreted and the first floor was prepared and also concreted.  Some of the oldest beams were reset to make them structurally sound on the ceiling of the ground floor.  The preparation was done for the internal staircase and then this was put in place through the central section of the building.  The hole was made for the internal spiral staircase and the necessary metal work around it was concreted into place.  Metal cages were put into the external walls and then the second floor was laid.  The external walls at the top left hand side of the building were demolished and rebuilt with the resized windows in the correct places.  Once the walls were at the correct height, the beams were put in place, the reclaimed tiles were sandblasted and the roof completed with insulation and bitumen.

September/October/November/December 2008

Work continued to resize all the openings for the future windows and doors.  The 3 chimneys were constructed and built onto the new roof.  New copper guttering and drainpipes were put in place.  The digger got to work and a large section of the bank at the back of the house was dug away and the concrete path and drains were laid and the ironwork for the retaining wall that will eventually be built to support the roadside was put in place.  The scaffolding was taken away and the stonework of the building was pointed up.  Work was started to construct the walls of the utility room at the back of the house and the foundations were dug out in preparation for the external staircase at the front of the house.  Internally, some of the old door openings were bricked up and made secure.  We are now getting a real sense of what the house will eventually be like!