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my barn conversion

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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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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 ~ October 2009

    Category: Barn Conversion Journal November 9th, 2009 by mbc

    Ah, October - seems like a long time ago now…

    I’ve stalled in finishing treating the untreated oak stairs and banisters the banisters along the landing have all been whitened & waxed, but the stairs themselves along with the banisters still need finishing. I managed (mistakenly) to wax one of the posts before whitening it and the colour difference was quite noticeable, thankfully a quick sanding brought things back to where I wanted them.

    In the kitchen the cooker is now in (well almost, the gas just needs connecting) and I’ve got the cooker hood ready for installation - that will be fun. Every job involving attaching something to the plasterboard walls gives me ongoing nightmares at the thought of collapsing walls and gapping voids.

    I’ve started work (another job not yet finished) on putting in skirting boards in the main room downstairs. I’m quite surprised by the difference they make, adding a cherry on the cake type finishing touch to the room. I’ve taken the easy route in fixing them to the walls that everyone else seems to follow (an opinion formed following extensive internet searches), namely using adhesive or sealant in my case rather than anything more permanent. The reason I’ve not finished is that the Wickes shop I normally go to has had none in stock since my original visit … as valid an excuse as any.

    I’ve also started boxing in the pipes in the bathrooms. There’s a fair bit of this to do as the layout of both changed quite a lot as appliances were moved around to fit. It took me the best part of a Saturday to cover half of the shower waste pipe in the en-suite. I lost count of how many pieces of wood I cut and it’s still not finished after a split decision on whether to use skirting boards as part of the boxing or not. Another one for the to-be-finished list… must knock some of these on the head in November.

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

    Building Progress ~ April 2009 on May 3rd, 2009
    Determined to beat my previous poor showings, here's the April update, just a few days after April has ended.

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

    Building Progress ~ May 2009 on June 16th, 2009
    May has been about two things - painting and tiling.

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

    Building Progress ~ February 2009 on March 23rd, 2009
    As it's already embarrassingly late I'll make the February update a whistle-stop tour of what progress has been made.

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

    Building Progress ~ January 2009 on February 8th, 2009
    As well as bitingly cold weather the New Year has seen some slow progress on the barn.

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

    Posted in Barn Conversion Journal |

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