Following our three day break as the fumes cleared from the barn after Rolland des Bois had treated the wood, Adam started by securing in the new lintel beam in the wall and then building up the new walls above it. Morbihan had the same hot and sunny weather as the UK last week and we erected a sunshade on the scaffolding as the wall is fully exposed to the sun.
The new window isn't quite the size that the architect has designed - but we are finding lots of M. Palou's design that look good on paper but can't be built within the dual constraints of a 200 year old building and our budget. However, the opening looks very good now, rather like a hayloft door above the main barn door and looks (to our eyes) very in keeping with an agricultural building. Adam's worked hard on getting the new stones courses consistent with the existing ones so that the new stonework will blend in with the old and for the first time in three weeks the scaffold is down and the whole new façade can be seen.
Adam let me do some stonework myself - only knocking out entries for the third steel beam but I have made my own hole in my own stonework without the wall falling out :o)
Today (Monday 3rd) we installed the third steel beam through the hole I had made in the wall. When she wasn't helping with the lifting Barbara was on photography duty:
Either we are getting fitter or smarter (or possibly both) as the beam was installed in just over an hour.
We then put up scaffolding inside the barn and started work on dismantling the existing lucarne:
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| Adam starts work on the roof |
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| Removing the existing stone lintel - this is the one with the date carved in it |
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| lintel and stones removed |
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