Ty-Mawr Lime Case Studies - Welsh longhouse

CEFNMACHLLYS FARM This 17th century Welsh longhouse has been brought back to life with materials from T天-Mawr Lime.

REINVIGORATION OF A WELSH FARMHOUSE Cefnmachllys Farm, dating back to the early 1600s, has been conserved by owner and historic building consultant at Tŷ-Mawr Lime, Sam Hale with Jones & Fraser Traditional Building Ltd. Untouched since being ‘modernised’ in two stages in the 1950s and 60s the house had seen years of neglect. It was in a bad way, the roof, doors and windows were completely rotten. The floors were partially concreted, the chimney was falling down and the walls were soaking wet. Original features, hidden and partially damaged by past interventions, were discovered including a great inglenook fireplace with bread oven and pot crane still in place, a flagstone kitchen and an oak first floor.

The conservation project involved installing limecrete floors with underfloor heating, sheep’s wool insulation and woodwool boards, hemp plaster, limewash and clay paints.

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CONSERVATION The project to bring this farmhouse back into use has been based on a detailed programme of research to understand the building’s architecture and construction. The approach has been one of ‘minimal intervention’, retaining as much of the original fabric of the building in-situ, while being honest about necessary repairs and interventions.

The oak first floor has been patch repaired with new oak boards and joists. The chamfered carrier beams, previously painted with a ubiquitous black stain, have simply been cleaned and painted with white casein paint. Rugs upstairs will provide sound deadening.

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LIMECRETE FLOORS ‘SUBLIME’ Ty-Mawr's ‘sublime’ limecrete floor system was installed across the ground floor with a wet underfloor heating system. The floor, comprising recycled foamed glass insulating hardcore and a hydraulic lime slab, was finished with local flagstones grouted with Ty-Mawr’s Cumbrian mortar

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INTERNAL PLASTER HEMP LIME After the thick layer of cement was removed from the internal walls and the walls allowed to dry for 12 months they were re-plastered with fat lime hemp plaster. A medium hemp was used for backing coats finished with a fine hemp topcoat.

The hemp has followed the contours of the curving walls. Wet edge corners for windows and doors have been formed and the hemp has also been used for patch repairs around original lime plaster. The result is a resilient finish which makes the walls warm to the touch.

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PATCH REPAIRS INTERNAL PLASTER The hemp lime plaster has been used to patch around existing original lime plaster which survived in small areas downstairs and on most of the walls upstairs. The hemp has also been ideal for covering electrical ducting installed during the re-wiring.

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WOODWOOL NEW CEILINGS AND STUD WALLS Ceilings and dividing walls upstairs have been insulated with Thermafleece sheep’s wool insulation and clad with woodwool boards.

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WOODWOOL SOUND INSULATION The use of woodwool boards, in combination with sheep’s wool, has not only provided great thermal insulation but fantastic sound insulation too.

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TIMBER & JOINERY DOORS & WINDOWS New oak has been treated with a combination of raw linseed oil and Surfapore W on the door and a wash of lime water onto new oak on the mullion windows. Hardwood sash windows have been treated with Aglaia primer, precoater and stand oil paints. Interior wood on window sills and the scrub-top farmhouse table have been treated with Earthborn furniture wax.

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KITCHEN & DAIRY ‘BAGGING’ & LIMEWASHING The 19th century lean-to kitchen and dairy on the rear of the house has been given a more simple finish befitting its status - instead of plaster the walls have been finished by scouring lime mortar across the face of the walls, known as bagging, and the walls have been limewashed to give a clean, light finish.

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PAINTS EGGSHELL & CLAY Earthborn eggshell paints have been used on woodwork in the bathroom while the walls, woodwool boards plastered with Secil adherevit, have been finished with claypaint. The new oak floor in the bathroom has been treated with Aglaia wood primer.

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Unit 12 Brecon Enterprise Park, Brecon, Powys. LD3 8BT 01874 611350 tymawr@lime.org.uk

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