I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 54 New House Completed

A few days later, Luc and Ryan returned to the cabin.

Go light and come back loaded.

In addition to taking back twenty iron arrowheads and a custom-made plowshare from the blacksmith's shop, Luc also bought some barley, sacks, ropes, and nails from the market.

Barley is also one of the staple foods for civilians. Its short planting cycle and cold resistance make it quite popular.

These supplies almost used up all of Finney's money. After all, bribing the monks alone cost him one and a half sous.

"Master, where should I put this cat?"

Ryan was holding a white cat with mixed fur in his arms. As he entered the wooden house, he asked Luke loudly. The white cat had two pupils of different colors and was looking around curiously at its new "home".

Little Charlie stuck to Ryan's feet, sniffing the white cat all the way, causing the white cat to keep baring its teeth and panting at little Charlie.

Luc replied casually, "Just build a nest in the house with some straw! And bring little Charlie out, before the cat gets scared away!"

The horses were led to the shed, which was temporarily used as a stable. While giving instructions, Luc went to check on the chicken coop and sheep shed. Before leaving, Luc gave them enough feed and water, and surrounded the yard tightly with a fence. Apart from the fact that the horses looked stronger than before, he found nothing unusual, so he went to the homestead of the new house.

Luc stroked his beard and said, it’s time to build the new house in one go!

The foundation and walls of the new house are almost completed, only the roof and interior are left. Put the purchased things into categories and wait for the house to be built. A new round of spring reclamation will begin.

They got to work right away, took a simple day's rest, and early the next morning, the two of them, having regained their former tranquility, headed straight for the new house with their tools.

After setting up the ladder, Luc began to cover the gable roof with wooden boards.

In fact, the roof is a very difficult task to complete and is one of the most challenging parts of house construction.

First, it was very tall. Even with a wooden ladder, Luc still struggled to reach the two-story building. The east and west walls of the house were raised, leaving gaps in the north and south, which were perfect for inserting wooden boards. To make the building easier, Luc came up with a solution.

First, build a sturdy suspended wooden board on the north and south walls. Luke usually stands on it and builds in mid-air.

First, it took several days to put up the beams. As the saying goes, if the upper beam is not straight, the lower beams will be crooked. However, this cabin only had one layer of beams, which saved a lot of trouble. After fixing it with iron nails, it was time to build a triangular roof frame. This required relatively thick wood. Ryan struggled to lift it from below, but he couldn't get a whole piece of wood to Luc's position. The two had no choice but to use the most stupid method. They tied a rope at the front and worked together to lift one end of the wood to the suspended wooden board. Then Luc ran to the other side and pulled the rope down. Ryan worked hard at the back end to lift the other side of the wood high, using the suspended wooden board as a support to keep the wood balanced on the board. Then Luc quickly climbed up the wooden ladder and used the wood to build the triangular frame.

Triangular roofs have been built on the east and west sides, and wood has been nailed to them before the roofing begins.

Layers of pre-polished and cut wooden boards were laid on both sides. Having learned from the lesson of the leaking roof of the cabin, this time the roof was made very waterproof. In addition to increasing the density of the clay, the wooden boards were coated with a large amount of resin.

The resin is not only waterproof, but also prevents certain ants from gnawing on it.

After the rafters are laid, it is natural to nail purlins under the wooden boards. The purpose of the purlins is actually to support the roof, to distribute the weight of the roof, and to connect it to the walls and columns to ensure the structural stability and durability of the house.

Luc had already removed the hanging wooden boards and was standing on a wooden ladder, hammering on the roof with a hammer and nails. Several times, he was almost blinded by sawdust.

After the overall structure of the wooden house was almost completed, it was not finished yet.

Don't forget that Luc's original idea was to isolate a storage room on the second floor.

A layer of wooden boards is laid horizontally from a place not much lower than the roof. This layer of wooden boards does not need to be very strong, just a thin layer. Then the purlins are nailed vertically in an staggered manner below. The wooden ladder becomes the steps to the second floor. In this way, the exterior of the entire new wooden house is completely completed!
That's not entirely accurate, because there's a gap in the northwest corner where the chimney would be. Yes, the next step is to build the fireplace!
Compared to the extremely primitive fireplace in the cabin, this time Luc planned to build something more detailed and solid.

The entire fireplace is made of red bricks and gravel, with red bricks as the inside and gravel as the outside. It is placed on the northernmost side, and you can see the burning flames in the fireplace as soon as you enter the door.

It is much easier to build a fireplace space with red bricks than with gravel. After mixing the clay, the red bricks are neatly stacked to form a square fireplace. The bricks are then expanded on both sides to the same level as the fireplace, but a hollow "storage" space in the middle is used to store temporary charcoal.

Luc and Ryan deliberately made the chimney above the fireplace into a curved shape, built straight against the wall and then turned to the northwest corner. Two wooden boards were erected inside the corner, at opposite corners, to better exhaust the smoke.

While Ryan was cleaning up the wood chips and dirt in the house, Luke was interestingly sticking gravel pieces on the outside of the red bricks. Suddenly, a sense of antiquity came over them.

Unlike the first time when he was eager to have a shelter and built it hastily, this time Luc was not in a hurry to build it. He wanted both comfort and sturdiness.

"Master, it looks very good."

Ryan stood in front of the completed new house, observing with joy the house that had taken several months to build from the foundation up. Even though he built it with his own hands, it was still a little hard to believe to see it rising from the ground and standing in the mountains.

It wasn't that he couldn't believe that such a house existed, but that he couldn't believe that he would be able to live in such a room one day!

“Feels incredible?”

"Uh-huh!"

Luc laughed and said, "Life will only get better, buddy. Who knows, you might even look down on this kind of wooden house in the future!"

Ryan pursed his lips. He used to live in a dark and dilapidated mud hut, and he didn't think he would dislike this tall thing that could really be called a house.

The house is gray in color, with a window on each side. The door is on the southernmost side. There is a door top in front of the door. A row of wooden boards protruding from the bottom hold wooden barrels filled with water, and there are wooden steps on each side.

After the exterior is built, the only thing left is the interior.

Unlike the damp land before, the floor of the house was paved with wooden boards. The beds Ryan had built before were moved to both sides of the cabin. Luke was on the west side, and Ryan was near the fireplace. In winter, he would be responsible for managing the burning of the fireplace, and the wooden ladder was also at his feet.

Between the two people was the long table, placed vertically, serving as a dividing line.

There was a long bench at each end of the long table, covered with deerskin, and the table was fully equipped with pots, pans, and utensils. In addition, the chairs from the original cabin were also taken and placed next to Luke's bed. Ryan thought about it and nailed a hinge on the south side to place some scattered items.

On the north wall were nailed and hung long swords, crossbows, and a pair of deer antlers.

There is a wooden box on the south side for storing important items.

Things that were not needed temporarily, such as sacks, were stuffed into the wooden compartment on the second floor.

The house is in order, a warm scene.

Luke thought for a moment, then built a simple cat bed with thatch next to the fireplace, brought the white cat in, and said with a smile:
"My friend, from now on you will be the guard of this house."

(End of this chapter)