This, believe it or not, is destined to be a gite for 2 people. First the ivy had to be cleared off the walls… and water, drains, sewage, electricity and telephone had to be laid at the same time!
then the real work began. The beams were washed using a high pressure washer, having discovered that a sponge was not very effective. They were then painstakingly adzed - cleaned up by hacking off all the rotten bits. Finally, it was time to remove the tiles - individually sent down a conveyor (piece of drain pipe mounted on 2 blocks of wood) and stacked on palettes outside, and also all the lats.
Next step was to build up the front and back end walls. A seemingly trivial task to add 30-50 cm of stonework but time consuming. Also the effect it had was surprising - suddenly the building made a transition from an animal dwelling to a potential house.
Once all the beams were levelled and walls were built up, the painted boarding, insulation and sheets of flexotuile finally went up. The tiles went back up and now there is a dry storage space awaiting the next transformation into a house.
