Rendered Speechless

Monday 23 May 2016

Having finished all but three square metres of wall in the teeth of a threatened thunderstorm on Friday, we were all ready for the final push on Monday (after all-day rain on Saturday and a day at work on Sunday).

We'd covered up Friday's work with sailcloth, which, luckily we'd left half-rigged and easily hauled up, so that the plaster (which apparently I should be calling 'render' when it's outside) wouldn't wash off.  So, Monday morning we dropped the tarp, Dave made the final two mixes, and I slapped it on.

 Lowering the rain cover

 The pale patch around the small upper window is the bit to finish, as well as a strip along the bottom

 Working from the top down ...

 ... to the very, very last handful of render on the main wall

 Then we peeled back the masking sheets over the stem wall - thick with inches of dropped plaster ...

 ... and made a neat finish onto the stonework.

 Finally, as with all the top coats, the starting-to-dry render is sponged down with lots of water to give a uniform finish and good weatherproofing.  And that's it - hopefully the last external plaster we ever need to apply to this building!  (Although lots more to do inside, of course, and loads of limewashing still to do)

 And there she is - rendered all round - not tidied up for the photo due to exhaustion and the urge to  walk down to Nidri for a couple of steaming pints of cider to celebrate