Old Schoolhouse Exterior Renovation

Table of Contents

Walls

The masonry pointing needs repair in the weather facing walls. The wall that was originally the front of the building has always been protected by a verandah and I'm guessing is the original pointing and ribboning. It is worn and chipped in places but generally in good condition.

The east wall has been repaired decades ago and is still in good condition because it is now protected under a verandah and used a harder mortar mix. The very defined ribboning of the south wall has not been reproduced here although it has been attempted, and I'd like to fix that somehow. It may be worth trying a mortar stain as explored already with the extension transformation.

The west and north walls need to be fully repaired and I'm planning on doing that myself. It's a skilled job so I'll need to do a lot of further research and get some practise first. The two original bluestone toilet out-houses are candidates for this.

This point-work has always been protected by a covered verandah so I think it could be original. The name appears to be "Baxter" followed by some unidentifiable letters that could be a "W" or an "A", and while there may be no connection at all, Mr. James J. Baxter (teacher) and his family resided from 1882 until 1900.

Verandah

Starting point and vision

The floor is plain concrete. The original south verandah has wood panel lining under the corrugated iron roof. The east verandah is unlined. Posts are more or less equally spaced all round and mounted in steel stirrups embedded in the concrete floor.

The posts have been repainted already and one with evidence of rot at the base was replaced as part of the extension exterior transformation.

I want to repaint the south verandah lining and fascias. The tongued wood panel lining expands and contracts with the humidity and heat and was last repainted when the gaps were closed. As the gaps expand the latex paint stretches across the gaps in strings. I want to cut and scrape those strings and spray repaint when the gaps are open and the tongues are exposed so that it looks right in all seasons.

I'd like to tile the floor, preferably in a Victorian style pattern.

I'd like to relocate (re-space) several of the east verandah posts to align them with architectural features such as doors and windows. Currently their positioning is simply equidistant and dissociated from the buildings lines.

The lighting is practical but is uneven and underdone on the south-east side. The one light over the original schoolhouse verandah (south-west) is not working (it was disconnected when the residence entrance doorway was sealed off internally in 1983). The switch for this light was in the parlour entrance architrave. Reconnection would include a new ceiling pull switch.

I'd also like to build some low walls between the posts to further engage the verandah with the building.

Roof

History

The roof skin is double-overlapped galvanized corrugated iron ("Lysaght ORB Galvanized Tinned" sheets) which appears to have many more years left in it, with some minor maintenance. The roof has been painted at least twice. The trademarks are visible on the underside but are mirror images, i.e. reversed as seen in image 8.

Spennermann in his analysis of another building where sheets were found with similar marks asserts this is not from stacking while wet, because there is no smudging, so he then assumes it was an intentional way of marking "seconds", or faulty sheets, which were sold at a lower price. This needs much more elaboration which is not provided in the report.

Having my own examples and need-to-know I have to dispute this.

As to dating the sheets, I believe this trademark was only applied to sheets produced in England, which puts the date at pre 1924 according to the Spennermann report. There are no date or works indicators in this trademark, just as there are no date indicators in any trademarks that I have found anywhere in the building, including later additions such as the ventilation system.

But the real question is, are these sheets original 1879?

Even though steel sheets were becoming more common by the 1880's wrought iron sheets were still being produced into the 1900's. Wrought iron is less susceptable to corrosion than steel. The lack of evidence of corrosion in the schoolhouse roof and the fact that these sheets are imported suggests these sheets are wrought iron. So I believe they are original 1879 sheets that have been well maintained by repainting. They would have been painted originally and have certainly been repainted. There are clues that they were probably last repainted in the 1980s.

If they are secondary sheets then they have lasted at least 100 years and most probably 140 years and outlasted many a roof whose owner paid full price.

[By the way, I've just noticed the clever continuity in the trademarks "ORB" and "ColORBond", the modern successor in corrugated steel sheeting from Bluescope (was Lysaght Australia).]

As for the supporting structure, from inside the roof space the timbers look sound with no sign of rot or whiteants.

All flashing is lead and looks original but shows signs of physical wear and tear in places. Should be easily repaired.

Chimneys

Starting point

There are some chips and cracks in the render. The collars could use some minor repairs and two of the chimneys need to be properly capped. One had a square of cement sheet over the top held down by a brick and the other a square of particle board I think with a brick on top.

Progress

The lounge/classroom chimney was re-flaunched when the open fireplace was converted to a wood burner insert and it's flue was installed.

Invasion of the killer bees

In Spring 2017 a colony of bees decided to establish a hive inside the top of the chimney of the original 1880s kitchen. I actually found a large number of dead bees in the room where this fireplace is, all piled up on the window sill. They had found their way through the hole that the pot belly stove pipe (previously removed) entered the chimney through the closure plate. Once in the room they obviously were unable to find their way back.

I estimated they could have started the hive up to a month before and so there should be minimal damage. Nevertheless, they could not be allowed to stay and advice from local apiarists that I contacted, who would normally collect the bees, was to kill the hive and then call a chimney sweeper. This was understandable because to remove the bees properly without harm, according to one article I read, takes up to six weeks and a lot of time and effort on the part of the apiarist.

I already had permethrin (ant and wasp dust) and all I needed was a way to get it into the hive without getting stung. I was attacked and stung by a hive when I was a child and did not want a repeat of the experience.

So I took a long length of pvc electrical conduit, which is reasonably stiff and light, inserted the air jet attachment connected to my air compressor, taped it up to seal it, and drilled a hole a few centimetres up from there through the side of the conduit, into which I could squeeze a lethal charge of the dust. Once charged the far end of the conduit was raised to the entrance of the hive (a gap in the bricks around the top of the chimney), the charging hole was then covered and a blast of air injected.

Sadly, white dust-covered bees started raining down all around and enough dust was left inside the hive to kill any bees as they returned. By the end of the day there was no more activity.

Eighteen months later and I've decided it's time to cap that chimney permanently to prevent a recurrence of mass apiscide. I will do the other uncapped chimney also while I'm up there.