Lime Mortar: DIY Repairing The Crumbled Stone Threshold & Joist Pockets In Our Irish Farmhouse

With the joists all in and the noggins being done, Dawn restores the bedroom stone threshold using lime mortar while Ben fits the last of the noggins in between the bedroom joists as well as him tearing down the wooden ceiling panels on the landing.
Once Dawn has explained her lime mortar mix ratio and given a quick run down of how it is mixed, she gets on with bedding in the joists with lime mortar into the stone pockets to fix in the new timber joists.
The Irish stone farmhouse renovation is a huge job and we are chipping away at each part day by day. Renovating the farmhouse and living in it at the same time is sometimes a challenge, but one we have come to love.
Being complete beginners at farmhouse renovation and also really needing a "homesteading for beginners" guide, we are taking it slowly, enjoying everything we do no matter how hard it is, to one day realise our dream of running a fully functioning homestead from our once derelict Irish Farmhouse.
👨‍👨‍👦‍👦 Become a Channel Member: www.youtube.com/@thecornerhouseproject/join
☕ Buy Us A Coffee:
www.buymeacoffee.com/thecornerhouseproject
🥇 Thank you to those for supporting us with a Super Thanks
There is something for everyone on The Corner House Project channel, if you subscribed for the derelict house renovations or just for the homestead in Ireland, we will bring the smiles, you sit back and relax and let us do the work.... well, Dawn will do the work.
Stay tuned for more updates on our farmhouse renovation journey and the transformation of this historic farmhouse into a modern homestead. Don't forget to like, share, and subscribe for more content on DIY home renovations and beginners homesteading adventures!
Stay connected with us:
Instagram: @thecornerhouseproject23
Facebook: @thecornerhouseproject
Thank you for watching and supporting our farmhouse renovation and homestead journey!
#farmhouserestoration #irishfarmhouse #farmhouserenovation #floorjoists #lime #stonework

[@jayinla310]

It is looking amazing, Dawn is great on camera. I really like that she looks in the camera and talks to us as if we are there with you. Make me feel like a part of the project.

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Thank you very much, Dawn is very good with the camera and does like to explain what she is doing. Sadly the camera was a little low in one part where she was mixing the lime but the rest she looked great. Thank you for watching and commenting :-)

[@sharonheron7559]

Loved that crackling fire! Another milestone accomplished with the pockets. You are a dab hand with a trowel🪜🥇

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Thanks 👍dawn does like liming and being a perfectionist it always looks good at the end too. I am looking forward to seeing her work on the out buildings. The fire is great, or should that be grate? Thank you for watching and commenting 👍

[@TheHavasu_77]

If you’re worried about rotting skirting boards, or we call them baseboards here in America, another beautiful option is put tile there instead. Beautiful lime work, great job!😊❤

[@thecornerhouseproject]

That is a good idea :-) You can also get plastic wood now, basically a moulded plastic with wood grain etc, don't know if it is available as skirting board though. We have noticed that the walls are dryer now so we may be able to use wood as before. Not sure we know what we are doing for a finish yet. Thanks again :)

[@kategreen-adarkcarnival6747]

Your mortaring work looks really neat Dawn, quick learner! Really good draw on that fire - it'll be so cosy when all complete! Kx

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Aww, thank you 😊 I actually really like doing it. It's quite a therapeutic pastime. It's a great fire but sadly it might have to be replaced with a Woodburner as it's billowing smoke out of the bedroom above and apparently, we recently learnt, that to put in a flue liner for an open fire, the chimney flue opening has to be a minimum of 9 inches and sadly ours is only 6 inches 😢👎X

[@LewisC1944]

I am so full of admiration for you both you really are cracking on. Love your videos, especially on a cold day sat by my fire with a cup of tea!XX

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Luckily it isn't too cold here at the moment. You still your breath everywhere in the house except for the kitchen but with the fires lit it it should make it cosy... At some point. Thanks for always commenting 😊

[@jeanhawken4482]

Looks good

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Dawn seems to have a natural knack with it. She seems to be able to turn or hand to anything. Thank you as always :-)

[@susanjackson4613]

You two are an inspiration to everyone! There are so many diy videos to help you accomplish any project… y’all are proof that! 👏👏👏 You both will be masters by the time your house is completed and will be able to help others. Love from Hot, Humid, still A/C weather…Florida 🏝️ ☀️

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Wow, thank you! We watch so many channels with people doing / have done what we are doing, but anything we haven't come across we are sure there is a video on KZbin for it. I am not sure we will be masters, well Dawn might be, but helping others, even if it is to just have the confidence to have a go would be nice. Hot, humid, and A/C still on.... thanks for that hahahaha. Thank you for watching and commenting as always :-)

[@mocarra100]

Great video guys! Much love from Oklahoma USA Jackie 🇺🇸💖

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Thanks so much!! and thank you for commenting. We hope you are well :-)

[@kaye-q1k]

You two are a great team working together and making your house into a home.

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Thank you very much. Although we say it ourselves, we do feel we make a good team and tend to know what we should be doing. I tend to lack sharing my plans with Dawn so she has to guess most of the time, but she is normally spot on. The house is getting there bit by bit. Not the fastest renovation I am sure but it is certainly feeling like home. Thank you for watching and commenting :-)

[@christinerowlands539]

Another great video guys, be careful about having to many weeping willows, they tend to take all the moisture out the ground,I suppose that's why most of them are found around water 🤔😂

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Thanks Auntie Chris! Yes they do seem to be growing right by the ditches….which is sort of silly of them as they’ve all fallen down because the ground is sooo wet! lol. I think we’d do well to get some planted in that area but maybe not so close to the ditch! ❤️❤️

[@bill90405]

I have done up a large Georgian millers house in Offaly 2017-8. Hope you seriously consider leveling the bedroom ceilings, the lower ceiling joists perfect the roof trusses, but more importantly a lower flat first floor ceiling eliminates a large volume of space that no longer needs heating before the residents beds get warm. Made a huge difference, also installed ground floor in floor heating and ATW heat-pump have cut costs in half while making barefoot warm in winter and eliminating damp.

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Hi Bill, thank you for watching and commenting. At the moment most things are temporary, mainly so we could get to live in the house and use it properly instead of being in the tent. We won't be making any major decisions before we have been here a while, living, feeling and experiencing how the house is, what it needs to heat it and so on. We haven't ruled anything out but also don't want to rush into anything we may later regret. The vaulted ceilings are one of the feature we love though. Thanks again watching and commenting and all the very best for 2024.

[@micheledenise2305]

Be sure and wet the stone before putting morter and setting it..After it dries brush off excess with soft bristle brush..Watch Sean's World he is renovating a stone cottage 😊 keep pushing on because I watch 1 channel that took them 2 years but finally reached 100,000 subscribers it will happen because u have been consistent!!! 😊❤

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Hi Dawn always wets it all down but my poor video editing missed all the important parts out, like damping everything down lol. Well there is hope for us yet with the subscribers. We are pleased with how they are climbing, but after would be nice. 100k, here we come. Thank you for watching and commenting.

[@theirishhomestead]

Good to see what tools you're using for pointing! You will have to give us some tips.

[@thecornerhouseproject]

A cement mixer is the best tool. Mixing with the paddle mixer is good but it is hard going, the cement mixer is much easier. Dawn is the one to ask about tools though. I use whatever she says is best to use. I leave the liming side all to Dawn lol.

[@dolcebrick1380]

Amazing job

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Thanks very much 👍👍

[@legrandeileen4863]

Wow, what energie

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Thank you very much indeed 😁

[@simonworthington3330]

Caught me off guard you did and now to view the video. It's looking good i do say and Ben has had a close shave and looking respectable.

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Well we don't like to be predictable Simon, well, not to predictable. Dawn did a great job yet again with the lime repairs and pocket filling and I just made a mess really. Thanks for noticing me shaving :-) Thank you, as always, for watching and commenting :-)

[@simonworthington3330]

@@thecornerhouseproject Yes just finished viewing the video and Dawn packing it in . Yes noticed clean shaven but no lippy 😂 😂.Looking great and ready for the storms to come. Excellent jobs done.

[@jaymurtagh]

You two are amazing, don't know how you keep going. You are getting the jobs done, and done to a great standard. 👍

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Thank you Jay. Sometimes we wonder how we keep going too but we do procrastinate a lot so that helps lol. It is Dawn, if she is going to do a job, it has to be done right and look right too. She never does anything by half from big chunky work benches to liming stones, wall and pockets. She is not stopped by anything.

[@clivecarser7356]

Hey guys thanks for the mention 😂😂😂 i had my fire roaring up the chimney last nite .at first was abit disappointed that i didnt see Dawn repair the fire ,but the blaze made up for it!!!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Hahaha you are most welcome Clive. We couldn't find that dedication and thought we had lost it, so we made another. I may add that on to another video for you. I am not sure why we didn't record patching up the back wall of the fireplace, but it did make a big difference. It still isn't right though, I can't find the right size fire back and shoulders for it. What should be simple, in this house, isn't. Thanks as always for watching and commenting :-)

[@tracybush8115]

Dawn's lime work is terrific and Ben, your noggins look great - oops, that came out wrong haha, just teasing! Before long there will be an actual floor. I'm praying the electrician shows up tomorrow for you.

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Dawn can really lime well, she just doubts herself far too much. It doesn't matter how many times I try to tell her, she still doubts herself. Tell the truth Tracy, you are talking about 3:27 and certainly not 3:22 hahahaha Nope, not long at all, and with the delay from filming to uploading to KZbin, we may already have a floor, but don't tell anyone, it is a secret! Thanks for your hopes for the electrician. We will see. Thank you for watching and commenting as always :-)

[@tracybush8115]

Yes 3:27 - OMG I'll never joke again! @@thecornerhouseproject

[@thecornerhouseproject]

hahahahahahaha

[@shannongarlitz8434]

So fun to see how far you have come. Electricity will be huge. You’re making do. But life will be easier with electricity for sure.

[@thecornerhouseproject]

It will be soooo much easier with mains electric. We have mains power, albeit from solar, we can run a lot, but not the big stuff. This is where we are looking forward to being connected to the grid. Even if it just for an electric kettle lol. Thank you as always for watching and commenting.

[@dorygeancunningham8027]

I just got to watch your vid today. Dawn you may find that people want to employ you for pointing, cause it’s looking good. Glad you were able to get the fire going again. Boy when Ben was pulling down the landing ceiling, you really can see the amount of dust you two have had to put up with. Unfortunately, our property didn’t come with any out buildings so, yesterday we had some guys out preparing part of our land for the Amish to come build a small barn for us…not that we plan to have animals but it’s the right size for a workshop and the upper loft for storage. It feels like cheating after watching all you two are doing on your own. LOL

[@thecornerhouseproject]

We are just in awe that you have the Amish coming to build you a place, they are things we have only ever seen on the TV,, we didn't know you could employ them. Maybe we are too sheltered and need to get out more lol Dawn has got really good with the lime and pointing and sadly it was a hard video to show what she was actually doing as you always stand in front of the camera. The dust... Oh the dust lol. Hopefully we are now at a stage where the dust will start to settle and we won't make anymore for a while. Not this side of Christmas anyway. Thank you, as always, for watching and commenting, it means a lot ❤️

[@neutonrenda2303]

By the time you've got the house done you'll be an easy expert and ready to tackle the outbuildings.😂❤👍

[@thecornerhouseproject]

As Dawn said, she would have liked to have practiced out there first, but the current state of it and the time of year stopped that from happening. But you are 100% right, when May comes round and it is OK to lime outside again, she will be a dab hand at it. Thanks for watching and commenting, and again and again. It really means a lot to us. :-)

[@neutonrenda2303]

The camera is a bit like me without my reading glasses. A recent requirement, so don't always have them handy.😂👍

[@thecornerhouseproject]

It is something we still struggle to remember, always have our camera so we can record everything we do. You will find with your glasses, now you are needing them, you will need them more and more as your eyes get lazy. Sorry for the bad news but thought I would share what happened with me :-) Thanks for watching and commenting :-)

[@patrickcarroll960]

You have put some serious graft in cant wait to see yous finally settled and looking good just bought a derelict cottage in eslin mohil so my misery will start soon but yous have inspired me that it can be done

[@thecornerhouseproject]

It really is worth it, we are so proud of what we have achieved with no former knowledge. Is your "new" place in a bad way? Are you moving there with a caravan or god forbid a tent or do you have other accommodation?

[@patrickcarroll960]

​@@thecornerhouseproject no tent , sorry but yous are hardcore and yes its a wreck even the rats moved out because of the living conditions , caravan it will be

[@mocarra100]

I put up all my Christmas decorations yesterday, and I thought I was going to die at the end of lol at my age of 70 I swear I thought I could do what you guys are doing but just my Christmas decorations wore me out😅 my hat's off to all of you that do this and you guys are doing a great job! Much love from Oklahoma USA Jackie 🇺🇸💖 PS I watch this video yesterday but I came back to watch it again because I was putting my decorations up at the time and I want to see everything 😊

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Hi Jackie, we are truly flattered that you would put us on a second time so you didn't miss anything, that is so so nice of you, thank you. I can't wait for our Christmas decorations up, We love Christmas. We may not have mains power for Christmas, but the decorations will still be going up :-) Thank you as always for watching (twice) and commenting. See you soon. Ben & Dawn x

[@rebekahvenn201]

Your not far off having one proper floor and one proper ceiling. Awesome.😃 Hopefully next you will get the roof sorted so that you are not having anymore leaks. You are slowly but surely getting there.

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Two proper floors, the one over the kitchen was done a while ago now so finally we will have a house we can walk around safely in each room, upstairs or down. The leaks are being done soon. They are still there at present though :-( Thank you for watching and commenting :-)

[@rebekahvenn201]

Oh yes Id forgotten you had done the kitchen one aswell. Your doing great.

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Thank you very much indeed :-)

[@johnoneill5812]

You are doing really well and have gained a lot of confidence and skill as the project has progressed. If I may express an opinion, I would not bother with skirting board. A piece of 3/4 inch quarter round could finish off where the floor and freshly rendered walls come together. Looking forward to when the roof is completely resolved.... slate roofing makes me uncomfortable as I have no experience with anything other than asphalt shingles or steel.

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Thank you John. Of course you can express an opinion, we are always open to ideas and the 3/4 round, guessing you mean quadrant? is a really good idea. I just replied to a previous comment saying we are tempted to plaster down to the floor and not have a skirting, but then we have the dilemma of it not restoring the house to it's original form but would be changing it. The roof is booked in for the builder guy. We have the scaffold for him and would love to do it ourselves, but maybe the hip ridge isn't the best place for the first time on a roof. We will let him do it, and properly. We can learn another day. We do do things with more confidence now, Dawn still doubts herself a lot but she is always good, and thorough, with everything she does, liming is one of them. Thank you as always John for watching and commenting :-)

[@horza4530]

Great work as usual. Well done! I don't know where you get your energy from. :) I'd just lit my own fire before I sat down to watch your video. Yours looks lovely. You can't beat a big open fire. I would put the wooden blocks back into the wall over the joists. You kind of need something between the floor and the plaster of the walls to protect the plaster. Otherwise you'd have to be overly careful running the hoover up the the wall and moving furniture around etc. It also looks better I think to have a bit of skirting at the base of the wall and the wooden blocks will make attaching it far easier, unless you glue it, and then you can't get it back off without taking half the wall with it.

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Thank you very much as always for commenting. We are torn with a skirting board or bringing the plaster down to the floor level as it stands a chance we will have to remove the top coat of plaster anyway as we think it could be a form of gypsum plaster and not lime, so not good for the house, hence all the skirting boards rotting. BUT, to restore the place means we will need to replace the skirting otherwise we are not restoring those rooms but changing them.... so thanks for putting that dilemma in our heads and watch this space lol. The fire is lovely, it does get through logs and coal though like there is no tomorrow, or budget so we may have to look into something to slow it down a little. Again, thank for watching and commenting :-)

[@SweetOne.]

are you using a spray bottle to damp the old lime and stones before you point in new lime? Damp it down first so the new lime glues itself to the old lime. Your pointing looks fine, nothing wrong with that at all. Don't be scared to put wood back in those slots. Spray the hole with woodworm killer and paint the wood with bitumen - that will make it damp proof and kill any woodworm that may be in the pockets. You will want to do the baseboards later - paint the back of the baseboards with bitumen or some kind of damp proof paint to keep the damp out of the wood. Love your new tools! Yeah Dad sending the plaster board (called a Hawk) and a very nice Hawk too, light weight aluminium - so easy to clean!

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Dawn uses loads of spray water but for some reason I really messed the video up and left out the important parts... a bit like her spraying and also liming the pockets lol. What's more.... I just found her closing bit to the camera, far too late to take the current video down and upload the new one with the ending. We are torn with skirting boards, but the pockets have been sprayed to death already, just to be sure. Yeah the hawk is great from Dawn's dad. The knee pads are a god send too. Thanks so much for commenting as always :-)

[@alanlucas2886]

you need to stop kicking the bucket haha

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Hahahaha, maybe that is why things are taking so long. When I mixed it (once) I kicked the bucket too lol. Thank you for watching and commenting :-)

[@neutonrenda2303]

At least all the ceiling is now out, hopefully you'll have power soon.👍❤

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Yep, ceiling down in the bedroom and landing above the stairs. Now all we need is an electrician. Thanks for watching and commenting, again :-)

[@colettelavery7452]

You are an amazing couple working together. There seems to be nothing you won't have a go at and you achieve your goals. Well done .Great to see the fire lighting. Hopefully your electrician turns up tomorrow. God bless and take care xx

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Thank you so much! Yes, we will have a go at anything that needs doing. Because of how well we work together and knowing each others abilities is what made us decide we could do this, so we bought it. Scary hahaha. Thank you as always for commenting.

[@coby6417]

👏🌟👍🍀💐

[@thecornerhouseproject]

🤛🍀😘🤩

[@hmeyers5114]

I love watching the way the two of you work together, each helping the other, and ready with a quip when things look down. That, alone, is impressive. REALLY impressive is how you knew to Acrow Prop that hearth to keep it up while doing the beams. I would have been terrified. No, I'd have been so darn damp and cold I would have had a fire going in it the whole time. 🤷‍♀ 🥶 It seems to continually rain on you. Is that normal weather? If so, with no heat in the house for more than 5 years, plus decades more, it's no wonder the baseboards rotted. Add to that the continual damp from the leaking roof and it's amazing you had any uncovered wood, wallpaper, or paint left! On the plus side, the remaining parts of the beams will give you lots to work with in the outbuildings - and the rotten parts good firewood. Fingers crossed the electrician arrives. Hopefully, s/he is watching these vlogs and knows thousands of people are waiting. With two floors, nothing can stop you 😘 P.S. I was waiting to see what "bed" you had bibbity-bobbity-booed into doing noggins. Ah, the days before autocorrect...🙄 "Dawn restores the bedroom stone threshold while 😄bed 😄fits the last of the noggins"

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Thank you so much for such lovely comments. Always need a quip, usually everyday when something isn't going as planned. The acrow props have been a god send. We started with four as we knew we needed them from day one for the living room joists, we weren't expecting to end up having to do the kitchen joists too, so another four it was. So now we have eight props and just know they will come in handy for so many other jobs. There are currently two in the small outbuilding waiting to be replaced with a needed joist. One look at the concrete hearth and we knew it would need propping to remove all the joists around it, it just worked really well with the props. This year (2023) has been one of the wettest years on record for Ireland and it has caused so many problems for the farmers. Hopefully next year will be a bit drier. But there is a lot of rain over here anyway, which is good for us when using a rain water system for our everyday water needs. The house sadly did suffer from being empty for nearly two decades and very little timber has survived. Electrician, we will see :-( Dawn did say I had done a type with bed in the description and I am sure I changed it, clearly not hahahahaha. Now she says I am not allowed to change it as it means your post won't make sense lol. Thank you for watching and commenting, it means a lot. :-)

[@hmeyers5114]

@@thecornerhouseproject 😘

[@janiceliles9877]

Regarding the “skirting” boards which we in the US call “baseboard”, there is a product made of PVC I think that isn’t wood and would work in your case since you hesitate to use wood with the past issues you’ve had with woodworms which I think our equivalent is termites here.

[@thecornerhouseproject]

That’s a great idea thank you! Yes, I think termites are the equivalent. I would think you can get pvc with a wood grain effect too? I was just thinking of the weatherboarding that some houses have.

[@pcs2511]

I don't know if you can get treated lumber there if you can put it in for the skirting boards to attach to. If you can get flashing metal and get to the holes in your roof it flexible enough to bend to shape to cover those hole temporary.And it should be able to slide under the slate above it. Thanks for the video

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Hi, thank you very much for the tips. That is a good idea with the treated timber as we would have just treated it ourselves, but pressure treated would be much better and some spray to give it the extra help. We looked at the lead flashing as an option and also a steel strip for all of the way down but because of where the holes are, we can't just get a ladder up there, which is a real pain as we would prefer to do as much as we can ourselves. It is in hand though with the guy who did the holes in the roof and chimneys booked in. He will be doing off a scaffold tower and also knows what he is doing. Thank you for watching and commenting :-)

[@pcs2511]

@@thecornerhouseproject sounds like a plan

[@evelyngorfram9306]

You two - and the fire - are just roaring along! 😀 I'm sorry to mention it, but what about the staircase & upstairs hallway floor? I don't think you've mentioned them, but wouldn't they be expected to have some woodworm as well?

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Thank you very much. Well, the stairs, apart from the bottom riser and tread are in very good condition considering the living room timbers. They have been sprayed numerous times already as we really don't want to lose the original stairs. The landing at the front of the house, has the same issue as the living room joists. Where the front has a concrete face, the damp has damaged one joist. Fortunately this goes in line with the wall and not from back to front. The floor board ends are a little eaten but also been sprayed plenty. We may have to replace the front joist for peace of mind but we will try everything we can to keep the 14" wide ash floorboards on the landing. We haven't really shown much of the landing yet as it is either full of stuff and or we just haven't done anything with it yet. Thank you for watching and commenting 😊

[@jayinla310]

Dawn, if you wet the area you are using the mortar it will bond better. Espcialy after it drys.

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Thanks :-) She always does it, I just didn't get it into the video sadly as you are right, it plays a huge part in the bonding process. My fault. Thank you for watching and commenting :-)

[@bwitched3810]

Happy Sunday .You two are becoming master Carpenters oh yes, Ben, you’re looking very dapper. I hope your week goes well guys love from California.

[@thecornerhouseproject]

Happy Sunday to you too, I hope your weather is better than ours.... it is chilly and raining, but the rain isn't a bad thing as it means we can catch it and then shower lol. I always try to look dapper, I don't always pull it off very well but I try all the same hahaha. Thank you, you too and we will see you soon, or you will see us soon, one of the two. Thank you as always for watching and commenting :-)

[@user-vy3vk2sb8p]

[@thecornerhouseproject]

👋😆