Timber Framed Farmhouse in Staffordshire

This lovely oak timber framed farmhouse has suffered terribly over the years from poor maintenance. Luckily, the new owners have seen the potential, and with the help of the local Conservation Officer, we’ve commenced a fairly ambitious program of repairs. Various financial approaches have been looked at, including a series of staged smaller projects,but in the end, it worked out far cheaper to tackle the whole restoration in one hit.

The photos below show the place before we started to unlock the frame – taking cement off, and probing into the rot beneath.. water drips into the house from many parts of the frame at the moment, so its fairly urgent that repairs start soon. Listed Building Consent is required, given the size of the project – two of the frames require almost total replacement, and other fairly major internal problems have been found. The good thing about it all is that despite the amount of work, its all relatively simple to sort out, and there’s plenty of help available from the local Conservation Department.

These are a really useful addition to any library – if you own a timber framed building. Brunskill is the leading expert on these things, and really knows his stuff…

badly weathered medieval oak framed house in need of repair

Rotting oak framed house with cement patching causing rotting

badly damaged and weathered medieval oak frame

In the photos above, you can clearly see that the central tie beam doesnt exist – its just painted onto the agglomeration of bricks, tiles, bits of plywood and hardboard that are stuffed into the hole and cemented over. The actual timber uprights have nothing holding them together. The concrete sill along the base is being stripped out, and the original sill beam being exposed. Frames rarely get into as bad a state as this one – it’s typical of farmers back in the sixties, who just used to keep bodging and fixing..!

Repaired medieval oak frame with lime rendered infill panels

Completed repairs to oak frame — This is the same frame, with completed repairs – lime rendered infill panels and new oak posts pegged into the frame over a new oak sill beam.

The first Week…

This was an exciting week, because we have already started to unravel some of the history of the place, and show that it is a far more significant building than was perhaps originally thought.. these photos show how 1940 / 50’s cladding has covered very significant features, which can be restored to their former appearance.

Front Day One — The front of the building on the first day – we suspected that the concrete cladding might hold a few surprises, so some gentle probing was called for..

Full Timber Frame — And this was the result: Beautiful full timber frame, still with wattle and daub panels in place, some with lime render over them, and below them, a superbly crafted beam with the remains of dentil carvings, with jettied beams. This is indicative of a very high class building indeed.

Plinth — Lots of action for the first day – render stripped, rotten brickwork exposed, and a beautiful stone plinth below the brick, covered by soil which was heaped against it. This will be repaired and the new frame will sit on top of the plinth.

Rear — The render being stripped back from panels – revealing a myriad of changes and repairs from over the years – old doorways, windows and strange openings. The sill beam has rotted, but a lovely stone plinth remains

finished front elevation - medieval oak framed farmhouse — finished front elevation – medieval oak framed farmhouse

Week 2 …

Well – it was spectacular! Its not often we uncover an entire Medieval jettied frontage to a building – this was a high class property, and as the evidence unfolds, we are revealing more of what was undoubtedly quite an important building for the area.

March – and work slowly gathers pace…

Corner — As you’ll see from the photos further down the page, this was just manky brick – we’ve re-instated the corner, together with carved sill beam and decoration. Infill panels are lightweight woodwool panels. To the right, original daub, with lime render and topcoat, and further to the right, you can see original oak staves and withies in the panel which is awaiting infilling again.

The main front gable was in a dreadful state…

timber framed farmhouse before oak frame repairs

Medieval timber framed farmhouse after repairs completed

Brick plinth in dreadful state. Bricks were rotting, timber sill beam almost totally rotted away. The plinth was largely rebuilt in hydraulic lime mortar and a new sill beam added above it to carry the repaired frame.

new stone and timber plinth built with lime mortar under medieval oak frame

Do’s and Don’ts of timber framed houses…

Don’ts:

Dont’ use any cement!
Don’t use modern silicone sealants!
Don’t paint the timber with anything!
Dont put anything impermeable against the timber
Dont let plants grow near the walls

Do:

Caulk joints with marine caulking – hemp/stockholm tar
Use lime render on the panels
Check all your gutters and downpipes work
Keep the walls clear of vegetation

The only way to ensure that an oak frame has the best chance of survival is to get EVERYTHING off the oak – it should be cleaned down to bare wood, and allowed to weather to the old silver colour of ancient oak. The infill panels should be able to breathe, they should be lightweight construction (which can include modern materials) with lime render faces, and breathable caulking around the edges to allow for movement of the frame, and prevent water from penetrating around the edges of the panels. NEVER use modern materials which are impervious to seal anything – the frame should be open, allowed to flex and move, clean of paints and varnishes, and only use lime for panel finishes.

Oak frame repairs should only be carried out by people who know what they are doing – always ask to see examples and talk to the people who own the house – it might look pretty from the outside, but you may find the owners are almost suicidal with the water and damp that pours into the building from badly sealed joints and panels installed by builders who THINK they know how to do it.

Here’s a typical ‘New’ frame – only replaced by local builders about 5 years ago, caulked with modern sealants, and what it looks like now – more rotten than some 400 year old ones! Notice its painted with gloss black – another no-no, which will only encourage rotting..

relatively new oak frame repair sealed with silicone and already rotting

new oak frame repair sealed with silicone which has been removed to show rot caused by it — Same frame – along the base of the sill – Notice how we’ve left the silicone at the right hand of the photo to show you what caused it. They didnt even put in the mandatory lead dpm under the beam. People who did this shouldnt be allowed to work in the industry!:

Wattle and Daub - covered with cement — This is an external frame, with daub panels, which has been completely covered with cement – result – total destruction from rot…

Rotted oak sill beam — This is another frame – very big and impressive, but unfortunately not a lot left of the main sill beam after someone went and threw tons of cement at it in the 1970’s to make a pretty cement sill ! Note the cement plinth on the right of picture. The panels are still wattle and daub – mercifully in good condition, although coated with cement.