Listed Cottage  - With Artist Studios

An exciting project with lots of potential for some modernisation alongside careful restoration of this unusual site. Previously use for vehicle repairs the outbuildings will be transformed into a peaceful blank canvas for creativity to blossom.

It's always a highlight to come across something unusual. This is 'pugging' that we came across whilst repairing damaged render of a house built in 1907. The word was used to describe a variety of materials placed into voids to prevent sound or draughts travelling between spaces. In this case horse hair has been made into sheets of felt and placed in the gaps between the wattle and daub and the rendered panels of the timber framed elements. The original specification document and hand painted plans were all intact and gave us a delightful insight into the way the house was originally designed and built.

Bee Holes

We come across a variety of unusual things with old buildings and it wasn't obvious what these tiny holes were to begin with. The whole south elevation of the cottage was peppered with them and at around 2mm in diameter, we thought that they might be too small for bees. After a little research we found that of the 250 or so varieties of bee found in the UK some are as small as 5mm in length, making this the most likely explanation. The holes themselves are not always a problem but if you want to fill them, make sure the nest is empty first otherwise the newly hatched bee will burrow out and reopen the hole or even find its way into the house. If you want to know more about how they affect old buildings, have a look at he SPAB website.