I’ve developed the deepest respect for stonemasons. After another few hours working on the shed, I ache pretty much everywhere.
Rebuilding a stone wall isn’t easy. There’s a lot of walking backwards and forwards with heavy pieces of stone and lifting and rearranging to get the right fit.
It’s extremely slow progress and I’m going through a ridiculous amount of sand and cement. But I’m sure it’ll be worth the effort.
And at least the rock pile in the garden is now smaller.
Since I’ll never see the outer side wall of the shed again, I’ve spent a couple of hours going over the pointing, making sure there were no gaps or obvious weak points.
I’ve also made a start on the inner wall.
I’d have done more, but the lure of food and beer on a sunny day was too great.
The rock pile was temporarily reduced, since I’d used some of it on the wall. But adding damp stone from inside the shed increased its size again.
I think that the shed would look good with a wall in front.
Well, not really. But I have finally rebuilt the outer side wall of the shed. I’d intended only to point it, but almost all had to be rebuilt. The hole left over from last weekend had to be expanded because the blocks of stone were all loose, exposing more of my neighbour’s garden.
Thankfully, it’s no longer visible.
There’s some finishing off to do tomorrow, then I may begin rebuilding the inner layer.
A larger area of wall was tackled today. As with previous sections, the outer wall was in a terrible state.
So some rebuilding was necessary.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to complete the job. The heavens opened just as I was running low on cement. The rain was so heavy, mixing more was out of the question.
This presented a problem in that I’d removed a very large piece of stone, exposing the garden of the house behind ours.
Yes, the black stuff is compacted soil. While I fear that our neighbour’s garden may fall into our shed, I shall try to leave work early enough one day to complete the job.
While on the subject, the large stone was too heavy to lift.
And the pile of stone in the garden has grown a little.
You’ll have noticed that I seldom mention work here. However, I shall now briefly do so. Various IT releases (for example 1.5 and 403, or 4.03) have recently dominated my working life and I’ve realised that I should adopt a more formal project approach to my home life.
I’m thinking specifically of the shed. While obviously not an IT project, a release approach may enhance the organisation of the work going forward.
So, thinking retrospectively, my shed project has to date progressed as follows:
R1.0 Chimney
R2.0 Exterior pointing – end wall
R2.1 Exterior pointing/rebuilding – side wall
R3.0 Interior rebuilding – rear side outer wall (in development)
I may shortly produce a Gantt chart.
Earlier today, I feared disaster in the shed.
But all is now well.
The inner wall is now in the garden. Divided into:
Big stones
And little stones
I forced myself to cut the grass.
I now have a beer.
Not wanting to delay too long after finishing the outside walls of the shed, I’ve made a start on the inside.
I thought it prudent to begin with the part-buried wall. My intention was to remove the inner layer of stone, in sections (to reduce the risk of collapse), then rebuild it. I knew that the outer layer would be in a pretty bad state, but I had to revise my plan when I encountered daylight.
This section is now repaired, but there’s clearly some work to be done before I can rebuild the inner wall.
While working on the shed, I’ve started to wonder whether it’s actually older than the house. I’d always assumed that they would have been built at the same time. But my project has walls build from very large blocks of stone.
Of course, I’ll never know for certain either way. The only known face is that the shed existed in 1865, since it appears on a map from that time. It’s very likely to be older though, because the house dates back to the 1830s.
Regardless of its age, the ‘s a cool little thing. I do acknowledge that I need to take care to avoid it becoming an obsession.
I had a pleasant day with gentlemen in Ouseburn yesterday. We began in Gateshead in Station East, crossing over the river to the Bridge Hotel. Then we called off at the Bridge Tavern and the Tyne Bar, before walking to the Cumberland Arms. And the Cluny, of course. And Arch 2. Afterwards, there were cabs back to town and the newly opened Newcastle Tap.
Incapable of my usual, local nightcap, I retired early.
Waking early this morning, I fitted the last piece of stove pipe, so I now have a working chimney.
This afternoon, we’re off to Chase Park festival, which isn’what I’d really call a festival, and isn’t actually in Chase Park. This year, it’s just down the road in Saltwell Park.
I’ve spent the best part of today in the garden again. But the outside (or the 50% which is accessible) of the shed is now finished.
The door numbers (137) just need to go back on when the paint’s dry. The new shed is also now appropriately numbered.
The sledgehammer in the stove pipe is temporary, I should say; it’s holding the pipe at the right angle (I didn’t want to cut away part of the roof) until the cement sets. Then I just need to add another section of pipe and I’ll be able to test the stove.