Heavy work

We have been working a lot lately in what will be our signature suite. It will beautiful and at 80 sq metres also very big. A few weeks back  we were removing the old plaster and revealing the beautiful stone blocks around the windows. We then noticed that above one of the windows five large blocks had dropped and were not very securely held. A pretty dangerous situation. 

We used an acro prop to support them and waited for the cavalry to come. Today they arrived, the stonemasons! This blocks are very big and therefore very heavy. Originally they would have been held in place with wooden wedges. We could access the blocks from the room above. The trick was to really loosen them and lift them out without them falling. If they fell untold damage would be done!

It took about an hour to prise them all out. The space was very tight and some blocks needed to be rotated before they could be lifted out. They were so heavy, we think about 70 to 80 kg per block - that was an awful amount of weight sitting unsupported above a window! We had one tricky moment when the weight of the blocks was all at one end and the support moved. Once out we could see what the problem was. Over time the wooden wedges had all but rotted away. 

Finally they were all out, leaving a large hole between the two floors. We will not be replacing the blocks, way too complicated. Instead will replace them with some nice oak beams. This is actually in keeping with the style of the chateau. There are many windows and doors with oak beam lintels above them. Just look at the size of these blocks, crazy!