stone inglenook query

pinkmami

I have a very old stone inglenook (dates back to at least 1837) and it was opened up last year. We installed a Charnwood country 8 had no problems. We don't live at the cottage as its being extended & renovated.

I was up yesterday in the warm sunshine & the place is quite dusty when I noticed the edge of the slate tile (on the hearth) where it joins the stone wall was dark & the stone was too. I touched it & it was cold & moist. Just the 1 stone. The rest of the walls are totally dry & I can't see where any water would come in as from the stone to the wall to the outside is about 3-4 feet thick! we had a new damp course & concrete floor laid & the new slate tiles fitted.

My question is (allbeit silly!) can a stone release moisture?! I checked it again today & it was still cold but not as moist.

I will get the builder who exposed to nook for me up to check it but I'm just puzzled!!!!

The stone in question is the one on on the left, on the corner at the front where the wall meets the slate tiles.

TiredGeek

The nature of an old house Always throw things like this at you.

1/ Has it been raining? Has the water come down the chimney and is getting into this one area? it could take days to perculate through the stone work.
2/ Condensation? We'd painted another room and the moisture from the paint condensed out on the flag floor in our place. If you have no heating on the walls will be moisture laden.
3/ Old house? A ghost messing with your head......

BTW, that fire looks lost in there, just my opinion

pinkmami

LOL it does look lost in there! But its not "as lost" now I have 2 wicker baskets full of kindling & logs & to the left of the stove there's a huge void full of logs too..

Just been up there now & its completely dry...I'm just puzzled! Could well be condensation. Can't wait to have the central heating installed so we can dry out the place!

Thank you for your suggestion of a ghost.......I really don't want to share my new home with a presence...then again DH & I were spooked there 9 yrs ago when his aunt died & her coffin was returned to her old home (this cottage) & we stayed there for the night with her & her dog & he started howling at 3am:eek: MIL said "it was her soul leaving her body"......who knows it could still be there:eek:

TiredGeek

LOL, I was only joking about the ghost

Saying that, my place in northern Scotland has no neighbours, nearest house is about 1/2 mile away, and sometimes in the night you can hear a woman very very quietly singing "frere jacque". It's not just me that's heard it, we had friends staying and they heard it too. The weirdest thing though was their dog: it was sitting happily in front of the fire when it suddenly turned round, jumped up and walked to the other side of the room and looked up wagging it's tail, it then walked out of the room, through the dining room and into the kitchen to the back door, all the time looking up as though it was walking at the side of someone. It then came back and sat by the fire and went to sleep (we followed it 'cos it was so strange).
THAT'LL freak you out!

I believe the "feel" of the house will tell you a lot, if it feels friendly I don't mind sharing

pinkmami

ohh eeerrrr! A shiver went down my spine reading that!!!

hethmar

It may be that the moisture is coming up between the slate and the wall - albeit it a teeny gap, enough to make the edge wet - may be the concrete wasnt totally dry.