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my barn conversion

Keep track of what's happening with my Progress Updates.

If you read only one book before designing your conversion or renovation, then I recommend that you make it this one. I love patterns!

Location, Location, Location! pah, that's old hat we all know that the new mantra of home-building is Insulation, Insulation, Insulation.

Read more about - Lime mortar, VAT on conversions and managing woodland for fuel.

Tiling tips - learn from my mistakes!

Around an ongoing barn conversion project, this website draws together advice, information and references to aid all would-be and current barn and non-residential building converters and renovators.

Our approach takes on board 'healthy house', sustainable, ecological & environmental concepts to as great a degree as timescales and budgets allow.

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Whitewashing update 2010

Built in bed

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Latest Comments

On White-washing? by Whitewashing update 2010 | my barn conversion on March 16th, 2010
[...] wall. After finding it was ‘infested’ with stalactites and stalagmites, I considered whitewashing the wall, then eventually it was...

On We have stalactites in our walls! by Whitewashing update 2010 | my barn conversion on March 16th, 2010
[...] do about the leaky, south facing gable end wall. After finding it was ‘infested’ with stalactites and stalagmites, I...

On Boxing Clever? by Built in bed | my barn conversion on March 12th, 2010
[...] of practicality and desire. Practical because part of the construction can be used to solve my tricky carpentry challenge...

On Travertine tiling - pictures by Downstairs tiled floor | my barn conversion on February 18th, 2010
[...] time and money in planning, sourcing and then fitting. It’s been completed for a while now (since August 2009),...

On Gas Pipeline Woes by The four new English “eco-towns” | my barn conversion on February 10th, 2010
[...] my first thought was ‘glad they’re not on my doorstep’ , but then I have a bloody big gas...

On Building Progress ~ August 2009 by Building Progress ~ January 2010 | my barn conversion on February 8th, 2010
[...] foray into the world of tiling can be quicker and more effective than the last one, the thought of...

On Insulation by Logs | my barn conversion on February 5th, 2010
[...] Location, Location! pah, that's old hat we all know that the new mantra of home-building is Insulation, Insulation, Insulation...

On Logs 2 by Future Fuel | my barn conversion on February 5th, 2010
[...] Logs 2 [...]

On The Healthy House by Green Business on February 2nd, 2010
Thank you for this checklist - I might use it in future when building a green house of my own!...

On Air Source Heat Pump by Feed-in tariffs … coming soon to a roof near you!? | my barn conversion on February 2nd, 2010
[...] On Air Source Heat Pump by Pete on January 12th, 2010I'm in a barn conversion with a GSHP supplied...


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    Building Progress ~ November 2008

    Category: Barn Conversion Journal December 3rd, 2008 by mbc

    So apparently stoves are like hens teeth these days, demand for them has rocketed in line with spiralling fuel bills. I’ve been trying to track one down, our original choice had a 14-16 weeks lead-time on it so a bit of digging around on the internet later I managed to find a Country 16B Multi-fuel that was in stock with a supplier so hopefully will be with us before Christmas.

    Plastering is completed (except for final tidying up and the wall behind where the stove will be).

    My main task has been cleaning down the water staining from the two oak beams that provide the supporting structure for the first floor. I’ve used a variety of techniques which I’ll write more on shortly. Suffice to say that it’s a time consuming process…

    I’ve started tiling the floor of the two bathrooms (after they were ply lined and then unibonded to provide a water resistant film), natural slate which makes life interesting with its varying sizes and thickness’s.

    We’ve also started painting - my favourite clay paint watered down by 20% for a first coat after lightly sanding down the walls. Coverage seems good, a second undiluted coat should provide a finish.

    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...

    category: 'Barn Conversion Journal' tag: 'Progress' title (5)

    Building Progress ~ February 2008, week 4 on March 3rd, 2008
    We have walls. Well at least partially, the partition walls have started to be built in the kitchen, to form a utility / services room &...

    category: 'Barn Conversion Journal' tag: 'Progress' title (5)

    Building Progress ~ to middle of October 2008 on October 20th, 2008
    The South facing gable end of the barn has been one of the biggest issues we've faced.

    tag: 'Progress' title category: 'Barn Conversion Journal' (5)

    Building Progress ~ March 2008, week 3 & 4 on April 8th, 2008
    Progress has become a rather abstract term recently.

    title category: 'Barn Conversion Journal' tag: 'Progress' (5)

    Building Progress ~ January 2008, week 4 on January 27th, 2008
    At the moment, my life seems to be dominated by lintels - oak or concrete, big or small.

    title tag: 'Progress' category: 'Barn Conversion Journal' (5)

    Posted in Barn Conversion Journal |

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