Renovation blog
- Moulin des Etrebières
- 17 November 2024
- 20h52
- 0 comments
Eco-renovation of an ancient farmhouse and its attached garage
Here are the stages in the project to go from a near-ruin to a comfortable holiday retreat fostering a low-carbon lifestyle :
March 2025
We're starting to furnish!
March 2025
The landscape gardeners took to the stage and transformed the landscape. Rip-rap retains the slope and Japanese steps allow the two levels of the hamlet to communicate with each other from the outside. The laurel hedges were removed: they were invasive, non-endemic and of little interest for biodiversity. This opens up magnificent views over the bocage. A new access was created to separate the agricultural area from the house.
March 2025
The boiler room is complete. A leak was identified when the air was put in (before the water was turned on). To re-supply the affected manifold, a chamber will have an apparent but discreet pipe. A lesser evil. We opted for a wood pellet boiler rather than a heat pump, which would not have been sufficient to supply the entire site.
March 2025
The reed filter for the phytosanitary treatment of the site has been installed. The reeds will draw their nutrients from the grey water, and after several passes, the clear water will be discharged into the stream. This is another measure put in place to preserve the site's natural resources.
March 2025
The installation of the networks is well under way. It's a maze of red, green and blue ducts and grey PVC pipes beneath our feet.
March 2025
The rainwater collection tank has been installed. It will collect up to 12 m3 of rainwater from the gîte's roofs. This water will be used to flush the toilets in the gîte and to water the garden. This is one of the resource conservation measures implemented on the site.
March 2025
The terrace is up. The view is magnificent. We decided to keep the space underneath open, as it's quite spacious and pleasant.
March 2025
The mill and the small outbuilding have been roofed and plastered. We're still waiting for the exterior joinery to be completed so that the roof can be enclosed. The roofs of the farm buildings (shed, cowshed, pigsty, henhouse) still need to be revised.
March 2025
The work inside the house is finished. To celebrate, we're having a toast with all the contractors after 17 months of work. What a crack team! Each carries a tool to represent his trade. A fine array of skills.
March 2025
The bathrooms have been completed with mirrors, tiling, basins and accessories (towel rails, soap dishes, toilet roll dispensers, brushes, pyjama hooks, etc.). Everything is ready for the comfort of our guests.
February 2025
Work is starting on the mill to protect it from water. The programme includes roofing, rendering and joinery.
February 2025
Work is progressing on the laundry room, which will have an uninterrupted view over the bocage. The stages in order: pouring the screed, laying the tiles, installing the insulation and plasterboard, painting, installing the electricity meter. The kitchen fitter will install the units at the beginning of March, with the remaining work to be done on the credenzas. The pump for collecting rainwater to supply the toilet flushes will also be in the utility room.
January 2025
The bathroom vanity tops have been fitted and the tiled splashbacks installed. All that's missing now are the basins, taps and mirrors.
January 2025
The headboards are fitted and covered with a natural fibre covering for a cosy, decorative effect. The wardrobes are arranged and await the curtains to close them.
January 2025
The steps from the living room to the bedrooms and the courtyard have been installed. Made to measure in oak by the joiner Coudronniere.
January 2025
The kitchen worktop is tiled and the latest appliances installed - only to be stolen that very evening. The gendarmerie came to take fingerprints and an alarm was planned. It's infuriating.
December 2024
Both kitchens are installed in the main house and the annex. The worktop in zelige tiles is yet to be done in the main kitchen.
December 2024
The digging begins to lay down the electricity and water networks (drinking, rainwater and wastewater). Within minutes, huge trenches are opened. The power of these machines and the dexterity of the operator are impressive.
December 2024
It is time for the final touches. The log burner is installed, as are the doors. The wood floor is laid and the walls and ceilings decorated.
December 2024
The barn roof is done. Windows and doors are yet to be done for weatherproofing.
November 2024
Stairs and light fixtures are in and immediately provide a warm atmosphere to the rooms.
November 2024
The manifolds organise the piping for hot and cold water and the electricity switch boards do the same for the wiring. The crane is folded and about to be moved down to the watermill for the roof renovation.
November 2024
The utility room has been insulated and rendered watertight, but the buried wall is damp and will need to be waterproofed.
November 2024
The tiles are laid, as are the radiators. The painters are laying the first coat.
October 2024
A one-day community project to coat the wall of the living room, insulated in August, with lime, hemp and sand. See the lime/hemp blog.
September 2024
The installation of hot water tanks and ventilation is underway in the attic of the annex.
September 2024
Some dividing walls are coated in sand-lime with exposed stones.
August 2024
A two-day community project to insulate a lounge wall in hemp/lime. 6 volunteers and 2 technical coaches make up an A-team! See the lime/hemp blog.
July 2024
The large bay opening onto the future south-facing terrace has been installed. We are weathertight!
June 2024
The plasterboard installation is progressing. Plasterboards must be cut to fit the stone wall as closely as possible. All the electrics and plumbing are routed behind the plasterboard, and need to be marked out so that the switches, lights, radiators and other taps can be installed once the painting is done.
May 2024
A new phase begins for hemp/flax/cotton wool insulation from Biofib,a Vendée-based company.
May 2024
Enlarging an opening to install a regulatory fire door between the two houses.
May 2024
The panels of the covered courtyard north of the house were removed to allow for retiling.
May 2024
The exterior joinery has been installed. It's starting to look like a house.
May 2024
The two power poles have been removed to clear the view.
April 2024
Repair of a wall section that collapsed during the removal of the cement coating. Each stone is selected according to its shape, laid according to its face and wedged with smaller stones.
An old door converted into a window can be seen. One of the many evolutions of the house over centuries to adapt to the inhabitants' needs.
April 2024
Preparation of dividing walls for coating. These walls have no external exposure and therefore do not need to be insulated. They can be coated as exposed-stone walls to give bedrooms 2 and 4 a certain chic.
April 2024
Preparation of the outer walls for coating. The house was stripped of its cement sheath and given a new sand-lime coating: solid for the south gable and western facade; exposed-stone for the eastern and northern facades.
April 2024
Consolidation or replacement of floors to create a sufficiently flat surface to lay the wood flooring.
April 2024
Before and after: the large attic bedroom will have its own en suite bathroom and can sleep three people.
April 2024
Installation of 3 roof windows. One for the attic bedroom, two for the living room.
April 2024
To prepare for the removal of two power poles in the garden, Enedis removes the cables and reconnects the power from the new meter.
March 2024
Two windows are pierced in the south gable, which had none. This is an opportunity to see how ancient stone walls were made. The stones are interlocked and mixed with red earth. Did you know? The word "parpaing" originally referred to a stone that stretches from the outer side to the inner side of the wall..
March 2024
The frame is in place. Crossbeams, trusses, purlins and rafters - there's a whole new vocabulary to discover. The weatherproof under-roof membrane is laid on top of the battens to improve watertightness and is fixed by counter-battens.
March 2024
To prepare for the removal of two power poles in the garden, Enedis bures the cables and installs the cases for the new meter.
March 2024
The frame arrives as parts by semi-trailer. It's not easy to manoeuvre around the bend. The carpenters assemble the trusses on site, then use the crane to lift them onto the concrete supports cast at the top of the walls. Then all four walls will be linked together - with concrete again, as required by anti-seismic regulations...
March 2024
After removal of the old frame, the dividing wall between on level 3 is found to have been added in at a later stage. It needs to be strengthened and linked to the perimeter wall (wall ties) to bear the new frame.
February 2024
The scaffolding is erected to gain access to the roof, a fairly long and tedious process. In Hong Kong, scaffolding is made of bamboo, which is very light and can be erected very quickly, but it's a skill that is being lost. While clearing the ground to install the scaffolding, a terracotta tile floor appears. The tiles were laid directly on the ground, which must have meant poor insulation.
January 2024
After many months of demolition, construction can finally begin.
Left photo : A door and window will now be under the terrace, and are bricked up.
Right photo: The back wall of the living room, which was in poor condition, is being rebuilt.
January 2024
The crane is in place. The workers had to dig right down to the stable wall to be able to wedge the crane into the 'upper alley', just above the house.
January 2024
The concrete slab is poured using a pump powered by a concrete mixer. The pump has a long arm that enables it to get to hard-to-reach places. The concrete is then smoothed with a tamping bar. In the future bedrooms/shower rooms, cardboard wedges were placed along the walls to separate the slab from the wall. In this way, any residual seepage water that might run under the wall will drain away through the gutter.
January 2024
To reroute the water running under the house, a trench close to 2 m deep was dug in the future living room to lay a drain (left) that will run under the terrace.
A draining sheet is also laid over the entire surface of the downstairs bedrooms and the living room. This sheet (black in the photo) is lined with small tubes that capture the water and direct it to a central drain, which in turn brings the water to the outside.
January 2024
Pipes are assembled in the location of the future service ducts. Then the draining sheet is laid, followed by the metal for the concrete slab.
December 2023
Drainage pipes are laid, then covered with a mixture of sand and gravel. The empty blocks are future concrete blocks to support the staircase and a retaining pillar. The hot water, cold water and heating pipes are in place. Two pipes are needed per sink/shower/bathtub/radiator, including for the shower rooms on the first and second floors.
November 2023
Thanks to heavy rains, a water vein running under the houe appeared during the excavation of the future bedrooms (video). The house is on a hillside and built on schist rock. The water therefore seeps easily and runs over the rock. A trench was dug in the living room, above the bedrooms, and the water vein was found close to 2m deep. A solution has to be found to drain the water before and after the wall.
October/November 2023
The future living room was originally just a beaten earth garage. Part of the roof had collapsed, but the stone walls are superb.
The ground was scraped to check that the rock was not immediately below and that excavation could take place. A buried wall was discovered 30cm from the main wall. Its purpose is to support the main wall but also to allow it to breathe by keeping a thin layer of air between the two walls. The breeze-block wall at the back of the room was knocked down. The roofing sheets were also removed to allow for the future removal of the frame.
All joinery was removed (doors, windows) and reused locally. The staircase was removed.
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