Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
arch centre was carefully removed by gentle easing and then removing the
folding wedges and the timber struts. The underside, or soffit, of the arch was
then tided-up by rubbing-up the soffit and, where necessary, pointing the joints
with the thin bladed jointing tool. Finally the connecting mortar joint between
the rear of the arch soffit and the half-brick recessed brick reveals and window
frame was pointed with the lime-hair mortar that was then trimmed plumb to a
consistent 20 mm width to produce a neat bead, or 'fillet'.
As this work was carried out during the months of March-April the odd cold
snap could still occur during the construction, so each day's work was covered
each night using hessian sheets, bubble wrap, and polythene. When the brick-
work was finished it was again covered but left with a slight gap to permit air-
flow to aid drying, and left for a period of two weeks, which was long enough
to be well out of any frost periods. The covers were then fully removed and
the arch face was very lightly rubbed-up with the hand-held 'float stone' to
bring the work to a bright-unified finish. This completed the re-building of the
gauged arch (Fig. 149).
Figure 149
The fully restored
gauged arch and
surrounding standard
face brickwork, 1998.
(Courtesy of Richard
Keech)
When carrying out repairs or restoration it is important to employ someone
that has the required depth of craft skills, knowledge and experience; and who
has confidence in their own abilities. It is also vital that these craftsmen know
and fully recognise the limits of their abilities. Of course, to a degree, one can
only increase experience by trial and error, but gauged work is not a place for
this, that should be done in a college. Gauged work demands a high-level of
competence as it was, and remains, the pinnacle of my craft, therefore one
must be taught its skills and knowledge fully before attempting to repair or
restore original work. I was indeed fortunate to learn not only the skills and
knowledge of traditional craft practices from an acknowledged master, but also
his excellent ethos too.
