Case Study

Grade II Listed Oak Outbuilding Restoration in Hampshire

Location

Situated on the rural Surrey / Hampshire border, midway between Farnham and Odiham

The property

The Granary is situated on the property of a Grade II listed farmhouse dating from the 18th century. It is a two-bay oak frame building, with double sole plates seated on staddle stones. The configuration of the oak frame is typical to its era, with standard English post and beam construction and mortise and tenon joints throughout. The trusses are close studded with clasped purlins and collars.

The frame was largely untouched upon our arrival, apart from the rafters above purlin level. At some point (thought to be in the last century) the roof had been stripped, most likely due to water ingress and fears that the rafters may not be sufficiently supporting the tiles. The original common rafters were nearly all missing their top halves, and had been crudely replaced with softwood upper sections, breaking their continuous run. Evidently by photo 1, this was detrimental to the roof and was ultimately responsible for its structural failure.

The process

1 -

A site visit was made to establish the scope of works and a ballpark cost proposal was agreed.

2 -

A Schedule of works and condition report was costed, agreed, undertaken, and submitted to the local planning authorities, in order to get listed building consent.

3 -

Pre-construction preparation works were started which included materials lists, health and safety documents and access equipment works.

4 -

8 weeks later, listed building consent was granted with a few specific conditions which were agreed upon. This process ran smoothly due to the detailed schedule of work clearly displaying sympathetic and minimally invasive repair methods.

5 -

All materials including the oak were then ordered and delivered to site, meaning work could commence.

6 -

The first stage of the works was removing the felt and batten to uncover the structural oak frame and gain access to the areas that needed attention.

7 -

The structural oak frame repairs were then executed in accordance with the schedule of works and the building was restored to its former glory. Throughout the process any notable changes were documented and discussed with the appointed conservation officer.