Tag: old building renovation

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Applying Lime Plaster to Mixed Masonry

Eine teils verputzte historische Wand aus Bruchstein und Feldbrandziegeln, die zeigt, wie man fachgerecht Kalkputz auf Mischmauerwerk auftragen kann, mit einer Maurerkelle im Vordergrund.

When I bought my old farmhouse from 1888 in Romania in 2016, I knew there would be a lot of work ahead of me. But only when I started knocking the layers of plaster off the walls did the true structural challenge of this project reveal itself. Beneath the crumbling plaster emerged a fascinating, yet building-physics-wise highly demanding structure: a solid mixed masonry consisting of hard, cool Saxon rubble stones and relatively soft, extremely absorbent field-fired bricks. Continue reading “Applying Lime Plaster to Mixed Masonry”

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Supporting Ceiling Beams in an Old Building: How to Safely Prop Up a Wooden Beam Ceiling

Temporäres Abfangen alter Deckenbalken aus Eiche im Altbau mit lotrecht aufgestellten Stahl-Baustützen auf lastverteilenden Bohlen.

Supporting Ceiling Beams in an Old Building: How to Safely Prop Up a Wooden Beam Ceiling

Imagine standing in a room that has survived almost unchanged for well over a hundred years. The air smells of fine dust, dry wood, and the history of generations. That is exactly how I felt when I took over my house from 1888 and grasped the full dimensions of the ground floor for the first time. Continue reading “Supporting Ceiling Beams in an Old Building: How to Safely Prop Up a Wooden Beam Ceiling”