Wow, these guys really get on with it when they get going!
Day 1...7am they emptied out the summer kitchen pig pens...which I should have, but forgot to do.
8am they started pulling off the roof tiles...12 mid-day the tiles were all gone.
By 4 pm it was all over!
Once you start these things, it is always sad for me as I just wish they could stay as they were, but once they start deteriorating it's a fast slide to a big mud pile on the ground!
Day 2... was to pull out the door, window and knock down the crumbled front and a bit of the south end (in OZ, it would be the north wall, facing the sun all day) wall and cart away and smash up the mud bricks to fill hollows in the yard.
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| 7am and the guys have emptied the pig pens of all the pipes, timber and other stuff and were well into it by 8am. This pic is out of sequence, but it is a bright feature pic for the blog! |
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| The lean-to had to come off/down first. |
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| You can see the wall on this side is very bad and has to go. |
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| The tiles from both the Summer Kitchen and lean-to are too brittle to salvage...sighhh... |
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| Shaping up for a hot day ahead. |
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| They work so fast... |
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| Now to pull down the thing! |
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| Almost got it all. |
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| Going, going... |
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| Gone... |
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| I made them tidy up as they went along...wood in one pile, tiles in another, old bricks in another and rubble in another! |
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| Now to move all the wood over near the wood shed so Imre can cut it all up for me for Winter...Getting the hang of this season thing here now! |
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| OK...a peep inside the kitchen area where many a fun family time was had for almost a century. That's the chimney in the right...the top of it collapsed a few months ago, into the roof, making that mess you see. |
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| Where the chimney crashed through the roof...up stairs in the attic. |
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| It's all in pretty good nick really, but a shame it's only 5.6ins ft high underneath! OK for me to stand up in, but not for other humans! In here it is a good 8 foot high at the peak, so it will be perfect on the rebuild. |
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| Here we go with the big remove! |
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| 5 mins later! |
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| Due to the front wall collapsing a few years ago, I piled up some blocks underneath the beams to hold it all together. |
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| Owhhh, he's kicking out the top attic end walls now to make it cooler inside...eek! |
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| OK... |
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| Measuring the stand up height, head room up top for guests. It is perfect! |
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| What my neighbours can't see, thankfully! Will try and save the little window and see if it can be duplicated for the bathroom. You need double glazing for windows here... |
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| Back roof all de-tiled and half the front... |
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| Almost completed before lunch time...and tidy! |
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| Just a bit on this end to go... |
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| After lunch, they are back into it again...Door comes off... |
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| Batterns being knocked off so the rafters can be removed. |
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| Poor little thing...This is major surgery! |
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| OMiGosh...I went in to make lunch and came out a few mins later and the rafters were all gone! |
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| Sigh...So much for my big deck! I didn't worry about keeping up the care of it as I knew it would take a beating with the rebuild. It will be really compounded and firm after this clean up! |
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| OK...my nice clean service yard for all 3 buildings, was under this! |
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| 15 mins later, only a few reeds remain...and it's 4pm so the guys go home! |
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| Job well done! |
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| Day 2 dawns at 6am and the guys get into knocking down the cracked wall, removing the door jams and trying to save the little window on the other side. This front window here died before I came. |
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| Carting away and chopping up the mud bricks was one man's job, while the other kept on piling them up again! A really dusty job... |
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| Break through. |
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| Check out how the ceiling was made...this was also the floor above for the attic. Reeds and mud...and underneath, for the interior of the kitchen, it was plastered with gypsum (or the like) and painted with whitewash. The beams were still solid and it was still able to be walked upon. Amazing hey? |
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| Ka-boom...and down came the front. I saved that smaller white pillar block to make a seat out of... |
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| OK...that's enough along there guys...Get rid of this mess first before doing any more... |
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| Will get Imre to put a wooden bottom on this, tidy it up and paint it then we'll take it somewhere permanent, as it is as heavy as lead and will not be stolen, that's for sure!! |
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| Down in the hollows of the paddock, Volante is smashing up the mud bricks for fill... |
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| See the thickness of the bottom part of the wall. |
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| Almost done... |
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| Out comes the door jamb... |
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| The ladder is under the entrance hole up to the attic. Next they'll try and remove the ancient window. Don't know if it will be any good though, but we'll try and save it, to use as a model for Imre to make a new one, (ones)for the Bathroom. |
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| Check out that wall! |
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| Now, before we take down some of the ceilings and beams, a bit of a clean up... |
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| Chop, chop, chop, cutting away the mud bricks from around the window. |
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| Job done...all in one piece too. The windows come off their special cute little fancy hinges really easily over here...love it! |
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| They could hardly wait to get back into knocking things down again! |
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| Another big Ka-Booomphh and 1/3 of the ceilings came down after some beams had been loosened and one removed. |
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| It rained at 8am, so the guys went home at 9am as it looked as though it was set in for the day...But by 11am, it stopped, the sun shone again, making it really a sticky and humid day for them when they returned at 11am to complete the day's work. |
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| The base of the walls inside...It was just a dirt floor, so it was hard to tell where the walls and floors met! |
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| Day 3...An expert looked at this early this morning and it isn't as bad as it looks, once the mess was cleaned away. Thankfully the guys got called into their real jobs and we don't have to knock the back and south end walls down, as they are quite stable it seems. Just some underpinning and they are good to go! Yaaahhhy. |
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| Ferenc Guba, this pic is for you as a memory of your childhood days spent in this room. The spices are even still there, awaiting your return! So, this wall remains, along with the entire back wall. Just a bit around the corner needs to go, so they can butt the new bricks in to form a stable join. So happy. |
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| This end from where the new cement work is, all has to come down too, as it is beyond repair, as you can see. It is 6 inches out of alignment and has a bad degree lean on it. |
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| Saturday morning and all is well. My nice tidy yard, isn't too bad after all that mess there the last 2 days. Very pleased indeed. |
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| This was it Thursday morning after the lean to on the side was demolished.... |
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| Next week, the ceilings and beams come out and this middle wall and the bad end wall get taken down. Then the 2 pig pens you see in the bad wall photo, will become the bathroom and a nice open space for the stairs up to the mez floor above, which will only contain a very romantically draped bed!! This area here that is open will be the kitchen, living room combo. Once work begins on the rebuild, it will be called "The Honeymoon Cottage"..."The Romantic Cottage" and "A Family Getaway Cottage"...Depending on the market I'm targeting with each ad! |
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| Imre has a stack of sawing to do on Monday! Just as well he has a buzz saw or whatever it is they use. |
So...that's it folks!
We headed off to Eger today, Saturday, to get the glue for the floors, only to discover the shop was no longer there, even though the website gave directions to it!
So, it's off to Buda for another try to get this elusive glue, next week!
This coming week, Imre will cut up most of the wood for me, make a new door for the bathroom from an authentic door which is too high, take down the temporary 2 mtr long bathroom wall, do the entry walls and ceiling, like the rest of the house (baby bottom smooooth)and then re-position the wall to make it a more fitting shape for the house, so he has plenty of work to go on with while waiting for the glue!
I wasn't going to do all that until I had at least one room completely finished... just so hanging out for a finished result...but it was not to be, it seems!
I'm just getting too excited I think.
See you next week with some different pics for sure.
Cheers and hope you all are well.
Love to all,
M
xxxx
