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my barn conversion

Answer the burning question... how much does a barn conversion cost? (Pt 1: the building, Pt 2: architects & plans and Pt 3: the 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.

Read more about - Lime mortar, Insulation, Insulation, Insulation, 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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Slack

Category: Barn Conversion Journal October 30th, 2009 by mbc

Sorry, I’ve been very slack in updating the site over the last few weeks - very busy at work (my proper job) at the moment with a system implementation.

Rest assured my usual slow and steady service will be resumed shortly…

If you enjoyed that post, then read these...

Building Progress ~ August 2008 on September 12th, 2008
Progress in August was.

category: 'Barn Conversion Journal' tag: 'Progress' (2)

Building Progress ~ July 2008 on August 5th, 2008
July has been a good month with much progress.

tag: 'Progress' category: 'Barn Conversion Journal' (2)

Building Progress ~ May 2008 on June 3rd, 2008
May has been a month of windows.

category: 'Barn Conversion Journal' tag: 'Progress' (2)

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Yard Window

Category: Vital Statistics October 11th, 2009 by mbc

Picture with measurements of the yard side window.

Click on the picture for a larger version hosted by Picasa.

If you enjoyed that post, then read these...

The large window on the yard side of the barn on September 7th, 2008
barn window

title (2)

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Logs

Category: Barn Conversion Journal October 8th, 2009 by mbc

I’ve really enjoyed Roger Deakin’s ‘Wildwood: A Journey Through Trees’, the book takes you on a gentle journey, part biography, part manifesto, part travelogue.

As I expect to be spending substantial amounts of time sourcing, collecting, cutting, splitting and stacking logs to keep us warm over the winter, one particular quote struck me as good advice - advice that I’ll try to apply whenever I get around to building that wood store …

…a mosaic of cut log ends that wall the whole of the south-facing end. The summer sun will dry out the end grain, drawing out the sap until the wood is pure energy for the fire.

Anthony Watts’ recent comment on external insulation on my Insulation post (damn, I’ve still not finished that series of posts!) also reminded me of other passages in the same book, where when travelling through eastern Europe, Roger saw houses with great stacks of logs against the house walls, drying whilst improving insulation. Perhaps not a whole solution but potentially a partial, practical, low cost (assuming Anthony burns wood) one.

If you enjoyed that post, then read these...

Logs 2 on January 5th, 2010
With my current preoccupation with firewood and the current bout of ice, snow and freezing temperatures making me long for warm weather a favourite quote...

title tag: 'woodland management' tag: 'fuel' category: 'Barn Conversion Journal' (4)

Future Fuel on February 5th, 2010
As I've mentioned earlier I have plans to start work this year on managing the small amount (I'd guess at around half and acre) of...

category: 'Barn Conversion Journal' tag: 'woodland management' tag: 'fuel' (3)

Bowsaw on August 26th, 2010
I get laughed at when I insist on using a bowsaw from time-to-time instead of a chainsaw.

tag: 'fuel' category: 'Barn Conversion Journal' tag: 'woodland management' (3)

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Building Progress ~ September 2009

Category: Barn Conversion Journal October 2nd, 2009 by mbc

Straight in this month, no excuses and no delay…
I’ve managed to spread the load on finishing the untreated oak stairs and banisters having roped TC into treating the stairs with white foundation paint prior to waxing. I completed sanding and filling last weekend and the bannisters along the landing have all been whitened & then [...]

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