Category Archives: Renovation Diary

As promised in last month’s post here are some of the things that unfortunately managed to avoid the camera to appear on time – the false door on rex, the summer house with an almost complete front, the path by the … Continue reading →

May was by far the busiest month Hallyards has ever seen with an army of (mainly willing) volunteers co-opted by Mike all working tirelessly to get everything looking wonderful for Mike and Meg’s garden wedding at the end of the … Continue reading →

We’ve had the keys for 2 years.  Massive amounts of progress but still a frustratingly long way off officially moving in! Let’s start with the Glasshouse – completing the wooden structure, doing the leadwork and making a start on the … Continue reading →

With the longer days came much work.  For starters, a mad few weeks preparing for the installation of the glasshouse, including cleaning off over 1,000 bricks (thanks to Sue & Tony), building a new brick base (Dave with pot and … Continue reading →

Robert’s digger got another workout this month, helping to clear the rest of the old tennis court, creating a new driveway and also lamb proofing the fence line to ensure our new plants survive the spring. With the weather slightly … Continue reading →

The new year started as the last finished… busy making the most of many willing workers (and Jasper) and the digger (thanks to Robert for the loan and David behind the controls).  We were making great progress, having cleared along … Continue reading →

The main job in December was to dismantle the original but very rotten MacKenzie & Moncur glasshouse.  With Sue having cleared around the glasshouse last month, we had to remove the glass in between the storms to give Simon & … Continue reading →

After a well earned rest for everybody the workers returned eager to crack on.  With the weather holding up remarkably well Tony’s main job was to lime wash the new harling. This is a painstaking process of brushing the walls … Continue reading →

October saw all hands to the pump to get as much of the harling done as possible.  A four man crew – Tony, Liam and Hans & Scott from Masonry & Lime – was drafted in to really give the … Continue reading →

Just under a month until the harlers arrive, so all hands to the pump to get everything in order – removing more render, flushing out, resetting the cast iron pipework, installing the extractor fan vents, moving the scaffolding and endless … Continue reading →

Preparation for the harling was the main job in August (and will be in September) ahead of Hans & Co from Masonry & Lime returning in October to complete the top coat.  This involves painstakingly chipping off the old render, … Continue reading →

One of the main tasks over the summer – making full use of the better weather – is to try and get as much of the harling done as possible.  Lime washing of the first two elevations kept Tony busy, … Continue reading →

Into summer and the harling started to come to life.  The hessian sheeting was removed to reveal the traditional finish and Tony spent many hours building up the lime wash coating. Mike was hard at work getting the next section … Continue reading →

There was almost too much going on this month to write about – over 180 photos to sift through.   With the good weather arriving (and condensation on the outside of the windows!) we abandoned doing almost anything inside and focussed all … Continue reading →

Preparing the first elevation for the new harling was top of the list this month.  This involved painstaking chipping off of the old cement harling, filling any large voids with lime mortar and small stones (so called ‘pinning out’), pointing … Continue reading →

One of the main jobs this month, despite the cold weather, was removing the old cement render from the first elevation of the main house – a tedious but very necessary job.  Old buildings such as Hallyards were designed to … Continue reading →