House of straw

The old lounge bar which is going to be the new dining room is next door to the old residents lounge which is currently our living room. Are you following me so far? Well, these two rooms were originally a single room and at some point in the dim and distant past a wall was built dividing them. Fortunately for us, this wall is not a brick one and does not support the floor above, but it does have some interesting features which our electrician discovered today. The wall is what's called a "stud partition" which basically means there is a wooden frame, covered on each side with wooden lath (little strips of wood) with plaster on top. So far so good. But to provide insulation the now long-dead builders filled the space between the layers of plaster with...

... straw. Yes, the space is filled with close packed straw. Now the more perceptive of you will have noted the construction here: Straw, little strips of wood, bigger pieces of wood. Yes, this is not so much a wall as a bonfire in search of an ignition source. I'm not sure whether we can leave the straw in place or whether we need to strip it all out.

Electrical installation work continues in the new dining room. Joinery work continues elsewhere. No prospect of a finishing date this far.