Thursday, April 8, 2010

Beauty in bad construction...

We fell in love with this. What is it, really? Charming but, terribly bad construction... 
Since beginning our little adventure in reconstructing the many parts of Il Poggiolo... La Casetta, La Casa Grande & l'Esseccatoio et al... we have continually been assaulted... well, our ingenuity & fantasies have been... by the poor, cheap or ill-conceived construction of the previous owners. 800 years of ad hoc building. And, we are now paying for it.
For instance...
...the lack of a proper overhang to the roof, on all sides, allowed water to infiltrate through the old mortar holding the stones in place. Thank Goodness, after so many years nestled together and by the art of stone masonry, le pietre have locked together to keep put the hut.
...the post-war roofing tiles... a cheap industrial French import called le marseillesi... were laid down on rough hewed wood planking without any water-proofing underneath. The water... an insidiously powerful force of possible or eventual destruction... sought its way easily through the fissures of the tiles to not only ruin the planking & beams, but also, the wood flooring of the apartment below. It rained for years inside the Upstairs Apartment, the very reason the inhabitants eventually fled first to La Stanzetta, and then, alla Casetta fitted out with an indoor bathroom & kitchen in the 70's.
...no gutters meant what water ran-off seeped directly into the foundations. Well, foundation is a bit of a joke. No excavation dug & lined with wood to form a mould for a poured reinforced-concrete base.  No. The largest stones found were placed right on the ground and the house was built up stone by stone and with little mortar. Too costly an item to use much of. They relied upon Gravity. 
So, the aesthetic of the house has been altered to save it from its former self. It is not quite the lovely beast it once was. However, it won't rain inside for years to come!!! I guess, we must be thankful for this basic convenience.

The new roof now...
...has restored chestnut wood beams resting on a reinforced concrete cordolo holding-up a water-proof, fire-retardant & isolated wood under-roofing laced with horizontal metal runners to lock the new roofing tiles in order without placing stones on top them.
...the spanking new copper gutters now serve as an enlarged cornice to keep rain water from lacerating the cordolo and the untouched stonework below. We are resisting this modification to the facade, much to the horror of yet, respected by Our Geometra.
...the new down spouts now carry the rain-water through conduits connected to the local sewer system.
It now smacks of a Swiss chalet but, it is all very practical, is done to code and is also guaranteed to last a life-time!!! Gads. 

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