How Are Stone Houses Built?
Exterior walls are normally made of dressed stone on both the inside the rooms and the external faces. The joints between the stones are filled with soil and then small wedge shaped pieces of stone are hammered into the joints to keep the soil in. At least that was the idea originaly! Over time these stone wedges tend to fall out, sometimes replaced with horrible looking pieces of red roof tile or even worse, badly applied grey cement which clashes with the natural colour of the stone. The shaped and dressed stones around the windows and doors cover wooden lintels which span the openings and support the walls above. These are normally Olive wood or Chestnut branches. These two timbers were used because they are less effected by wood boring insects. (See additional blog information on problem insects). Unfortunately both types of timber are effected by damp which causes wet and dry rot. After a while, generations of wear and tear and wood boring insects will have taken their toll. It’s
