Removing the 2nd floor

The second floor in both rooms needs to come out so all the Oak beams/ joists are to be removed. I bought an electric chainsaw for this purpose as it is more pleasant to use indoors than a 2 stroke saw and just as powerful- it goes through the beams like a hot knife through butter.

We fitted 2 Acro props to each beam and I carefully checked them for nails before cutting so as not to blunt the new saw.

Getting there:

And in the smaller room as well:

We also need to block in the openings for the original fireplace so we mixed up some mortar and tried to match the original stone work with the stones we had available...

Top opening blocked in:

Bottom opening half done:

You can see inside the original bread oven here through the bottom opening. The oven has partially collapsed at the back of the cottage so water drips through when it rains and enters the building via the fireplace that is being blocked in here. The Bread oven repairs are coming soon.

More stonework to block in holes next to the fireplace beam :