Bad Bones
Posted by Susie on November 19, 2006
Or good bones, treated by a quack osteopath. After tackling the wall in the alcove yesterday, I lifted up the panel that hides the pipes for the gas fire and discovered two things. Firstly, the brick hearth that runs along the length of our sitting room is not original. It has been built on top of lino tiles, presumably by the builder who renovated this row on houses in the 80s. The second discovery was that there was a whole load of rotten wood in there.
Getting it out took me back to my days as a student archaeologist, as I sat there scraping behind bricks with a trowel, a brush and a teaspoon (not official archaeological kit). The builder obviously just blocked in the original skirting boards, which have rotted. That particular bit of wall is underground, as our house is built into a hill, so it wasn’t the brightest thing to do. But it’s all out now and the rest is drying out with the help of a dehumidifier. It’s reminiscent of a Roman hypocaust system.
Perhaps I could fit in a very small bathhouse instead of a cupboard?
