On Monday the plastering gang from Faye arrived in 2 lorries with scaffolding and their machines. The grass we had sown had grown, and we wished we hadn't bothered.
The scaffolding went up fast, and the whole house was surrounded ....
... on all the three sides with monomur masonry walls by Tuesday morning.
They brought a little JCB shovel...
..and a machine to mix the crépis.
Next they taped thin polythene over all the woodwork, ....
... windows and external doors.
The crépis machine was fed with bags of St Astier lime base coat and sand and water which was pumped down a long hose ....
... and sprayed all over the monomur "briques".
It is allowed a few hours to set slightly and then...
... trowelled to a rough finish and then left to set for 3 weeks before the final coat.
After seeing the house for two and a half years with red walls and getting used to the colour, it is a shock to see the change and ....
....we wonder if we should have chosen a darker reddish crépis.
The garage comes next....
...finishing with the wall inside the greenhouse.
The next day (Wednesday) after all the first coats have been trowelled, aluminium edging angles are screwed around the openings and corners.
We were offered various colour options depending on the amount of red sand in the mix.
The aluminium angles gives a very crisp frame to the openings.
The scaffolding will be left up for three weeks ....
....and we can take the opportunity to stain and protect the external woodwork.
