The wood in the older part of the house or kitchen area was constructed using natural oak, Trusses spring from within the wall-head and are tied by a collar beams and pegged joints, the are tied at the apex by a short yokes which supports the ridge purlin.

But due to rapid depletion of oak in the seventeenth and early eighteenth century the second part of the roof was constructed using heavy purlins of bog oak with their ends bedded in the gable and internal partition wall with common rafters, this type of roof support required less heavy wood to construct and provided more uninterrupted space within.

The attic had not been used for over 70 years and so was closed up and covered with soot.

The back of the house had a ditch to within 3 feet of the wall. This had to be dug back and a french drain put in to take most of the water coming from the hill behind. This will help keep the house dry as there are no damp proof course in these houses.

Vegetable roof covering was common through Ireland from the early seventeenth century until late in the nineteenth in some areas, Donegal has still many thatched dwellings occupied by their owners. Thatch was used in towns as well as rural areas, whole streets were thatched. A wide variety of materials can be used, wheat straw, rye straw, water reads, rushes and flax.

After the main joists and purlins were put in place strips of bog oak was laid across them and on the top of this sods were cut and placed with with the roots up and on top of this was placed the thatch. The house was thatched using scollops. Each bundle of thatch was secured with a scollop to hold the bundle in place starting at the bottom and working up words. A thatch roof should have a pitch of 50%

An old stone house must be able to breath, there will be no damp proof course and as damp rises it should be aloud to evaporate throw the walls, the process of getting wet and drying out is on going. Some old houses have been plastered with impermeable hard mortars which do not allow rubble stone walls to breath and introduces rigidity into what is a non rigid structure. Over a period of time this plaster will crack and hold the damp within the walls which will creep up and rot the roof rafters.Traditional lime mortars are best used on old houses.

Lime putty is an excellent white wash when used on lime mortar rendered surfaces.

Traditional mortars are produced by mixing the lime putty into aggregate, 1 putty lime to 3 aggregate without water, it is not possible to use a modern cement mixer the material will stick together and not mix. It can be mixed by hand for small amounts but a mortar mill with two revolving wheels is ideal.

The mortar should be applied in thin coats, no more than 8mm thick and aloud do dry before the next coat is applied in much the same way as cement-based mortars, the skim coat is applied about 4mm thick and can be finished with a wet sponge leaving a nice smooth finish around protruding stones and corners, all corners should be rounded. Do not use the material during a frost or in very hot weather, if a crack appears during the drying process it can be worked over with a wet sponge. Hardening occurs by carbon dioxide gas re-entering the material and moisture evaporating.

Whitewashing will require five to six coats of lime putty mixed 1 lime putty to 9 water and applied with a brush, when put on first it will look like painting with milk but it will dry white and help protect the render, natural pigment colours can be added to the wash if an alternative colour is required.

As the house developed over time so did the windows. The original windows would have been small one to four panes of glass set in a frame which did not open. Certain features from larger houses were later adapted and used such as the Georgian-style windows. A sash window with nine or twelve pains of glass. I used six on top and three on the bottom sash window.

The back kitchen window and the lower bedroom were originals but unfortunately there were two much rot to save them, so they had to be replaced. I kept the design of the window but changed how they opened so they could be used as a fire escape if required. I also kept the old windows, perhaps they could be used fore something else in the future, and especially the glass, All old glass has imperfections in the pains which you will not find in modern glass. If possible use the old glass, or at least put it into storage, it is a valuable item which is fast disappearing.

The supports or lintels above the windows at the back were just roughly cut trees, the outside beam looked rotten but in fact they were quite solid, If they had to be replaced I would have tried to salvage some from another house, if any have to be replaced in the future it will not be difficult as lime mortar can be easily removed without damaging the house unlike hard plaster or mortar. Many old houses have no window cills but if you decide to use cills don't use concrete cills, I used stone and just plastered them into place. Modern cills have a groove underneath to stop water reaching the wall. stone will not have this unless it is cot. But again the plaster is designed to get wet and dry out so generally there will be no problems