The carriage house was a major draw to this property, only second to the spider room. There was only one picture of the carriage house on the listing and it is tucked quietly on the back corner of the property. With the years of overgrowth and deterioration to the outside it is easy to overlook this gem.
As we toured the inside of this dilapidated and wet out-building, all I could see was the opportunity to bring this building back to life. We are excited that the previous owners left gifts throughout the years.
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| View from main house before clearing |
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| View from main house after clearing |
As we toured the inside of this dilapidated and wet out-building, all I could see was the opportunity to bring this building back to life. We are excited that the previous owners left gifts throughout the years.
A couple of the glaring issues with the state of the carriage house was the bowing wall and a leaky roof. The carriage house was surrounded by large trees and we didn't realize how much rain they diverted from the building until we had a bunch of them removed and it rained. We needed to get the building sealed quickly!
We found out during the roofing quote that the original roof was slate and covered with two layers of shingles. We now understood why the wall was bowing. Supports had been removed in the building and, without any additional structure pushing against this side of the house, the shear weight from the roof was collapsing the building. If we couldn't fix the wall, then there wasn't any point in fixing the roof.
Over the course of 1.5 days, the wall was successfully pulled in 10 inches and tied off!
With the wall tied off, the roofers removed all of the shingles and slate, saving as many slate pieces as we could to repurpose in the renovation, and repaired any rotten wood/holes. Before the roofers re-shingled, the collar ties were installed. We now have a dry building!
What's next?
Continuing to clear the overgrowth to make a path to run electric.
