Vertical window goodness

Pretty

Yesterday I finished the "parging coat" (first coat) of mud render on the inside of the east wall. I took my time and enjoyed sculpting the curves.  To all the people who gave opinions on whether this window should be vertical or horizontal, you were right: vertical.

Hepburn render mix dries

I'm really pleased with how the new render mix is drying on the walls.  The photo above shows the worst of the cracking - that is, hardly any, especially compared with my first attempt.  The cracks and bumps are small enough to be covered in the next coat of render.  

Shrinkage gap

There is a shrinkage gap at the top of the walls, and it looks ugly where the wall joins the off-cuts of wood that prop up the ceiling, so I decided to take a bit of time yesterday to patch the walls and try (where possible) to cover the wood and bring the mud up to the ceiling.

Ready to start work

When we made the core of the walls, we put in some dodgy formwork to create a sloped window reveal.  It made a really neat surface, but there wasn't going to be enough room for the window to open inwards once I'd put on some thick render. So I had to attack the wall with a hacksaw and scissors.  Again.

Prepared curve

While I was at it I put a few bits of bamboo in at ceiling height above the window reveal.  When the first coat of render dries the ends of those bits will be securely buried, so I'll use them to hold some render upside down in that spot.

Patches on old panels, new panel nearly completed

It wasn't long before I became completely enchanted with the light playing on the curve of the window.  I wish the mud could stay shiny and dark forever. Look at the difference in colour between wet and dry!  I'm definitely going to experiment with some oxides to give the walls some colour.