Firm Foundations?
I’ve had a few concerns about the foundations of the barn, specifically how much of the soil that has built up around the walls we will be able to clear to install new drains and discourage damp without exposing the foundations. With pick and spade I sunk a trench to see what was what (or at least take a guess).
The barn is built on a slope, with the walls at the top of the slope being shorter than those at the foot of the slope and with a horizontally level roof line. Digging down, I found what I take to be the original ground level some 9 inches down, with a similar depth of footing stones beneath that. These sit on either, further foundations or (I guess more likely) packed earth and rubble. So, we have firm foundations (a fact that is attested to by the lack of movement and cracking in the stonework) and as we are not greatly adding to the load to be borne by them then hopefully no issues there.
My mini-excavation also tells me that we’ll need to clear out less soil from around the barn than I originally thought and that the slope should provide sufficient drop for drainage.
Yes!
If you enjoyed that post, then read these...
Building Progress ~ March 2008, week 1 & 2 on March 16th, 2008
We've now arrived at the stage where I need to get start getting services installed into the fabric of the building - first fix electrics and plumbing.
Where have all the builders gone? on July 17th, 2006
Having embarked on this crazy journey I thought we should try to firm up on exactly what it will cost.
Attention to detail… April 2008 update on April 15th, 2008
Being a fan of .
Gas Pipeline Woes on June 23rd, 2007
A rainbow rose over the pipeline today!
I must admit I loathe the thing.
I'm certainly no bathroom designer / the strange 1 metre wide space on November 8th, 2007
The original plans for the barn had two largish bathrooms one of which contained an airing cupboard that to my mind was a waste of space.
Posted in Journal of my barn conversion |
