I can’t believe that April is drawing to a close and I’ve not managed an update since the end of March. On the basis of my laziness I’ll save time a update the whole month in one go.

The first fix electrics are now completed and plumbing is to follow over the next couple of weeks. The scaffolding that is needed for inserting the velux windows into the roof, patching up the few slipped tiles, sorting out the gutters & ventilation and working on the two upstairs windows is in place. It’s really looking like a building site now.

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Beautiful things electrical cables… especially when they mean that you’re making some progress with the first fix.

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Being a fan of lists, we’ve been using one to keep track of those items that we need to specify and decisions we need to make in regard to the detailed design of the conversion ~ attention to detail.

This is the current position:

• Ground or Air Source Heat Pump that is the question. >>
  Answer = Neither We’re now planning for a ’simpler’ system with solar and multi fuel burner input. More on this soon.
• Heating. Go with under-floor heating on the ground floor with radiators on first floor ~ drawbacks, problems, source of hot water for radiators (potentially from back-boiler on multi-fuel room heater)?
  Answer = UFH with radiators on first floor. Decision made on grounds of cost and the unsettling prospect of all that scree suspended on the first floor!
• Internal doors (find some that we like).
  Still working on that one.
• Openings through internal walls. Have we allowed for one to few? - yes but we will replan the bathroom / bedroom entrances.
  Answer = One opening. I’m pretty pleased with the one opening as it has allowed us to plan in a dressing area and thus create a main bedroom ’suite’. More on this soon.
• Paint. Compare eco alternatives to branded products.
  We love clay paint. Eco / Green ‘gloss’ paint review coming soon.
• Rain-water harvesting. Readdress the quote I’ve already had and evaluate cost and fit to the current plan.
  I’m going to save this one for phase 2.
• Flooring and tiling ~ select!
  We still need to decide on the main floor tiling for the ground floor, but I’ve already bought some slate mosiacs for the en-suite. We’ll use slate flooring in both bathrooms. The wall tiling in the main bathroom will be white, probably with wood panelling. More on this soon.
• Guttering and down-pipes excluded from bill of quantities, estimate and add them back in.
  This is one for later…
• En-suite bathroom~ what shall we do with the 1 metre dressing area.
  Sorted! See ‘Openings…’ above.
• Bathroom suites and Kitchen…
  Working on this one…
• Storage~ allow for narrow cupboards built into internal partition walls on the first floor.
  We’ve got a utility area in the kitchen, cupboards in the dressing area and second bedroom. So we’re getting there - the partition wall idea isn’t such a good one, although hopefully we can install shelving on the landing.

You see, we are making some progress.

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Progress has become a rather abstract term recently.
Nothing has physically changed at the barn, but plans are being made and wheels (hopefully) put in motion. I’ve not helped things by changing plans for the heating … hopefully we’ll get things out of the doldrums and moving again in April…
If you enjoyed that post, then […]

From the start of this project, I’ve been through numerous options regarding the method by which we’ll heat the barn and generate hot water for domestic purposes. It’s been a long and twisty road but I think I’ve arrived at a solution that I’m comfortable with (at least for the time being).
Let’s start off with […]

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. I’ve got an electrician sorted and a plumber in the pipeline (ha ha), so hopefully things will move on over the next few weeks and I can stop […]

We have walls.

Well at least partially, the partition walls have started to be built in the kitchen, to form a utility / services room & a small WC and upstairs, to form the second bedroom, main bathroom and ensuite / dressing area (if you can call a meter-&-a-half corridor a dressing area).
This dressing area is […]

Things are moving along at a pace now as the first floor is in and the upstairs partitions are about to go in. We have had a couple of challenges in positioning both the walls and velux windows as the plans don’t completely line up with the actual dimensions and the windows hadn’t been positioned […]

Whilst the insulation continues to be installed into the roof of the barn, I have a admission to make… despite eco aims and intentions I’ve not been precious in ensuring that the insulation products we are using adhere to this ethos.

To be honest, I find the various pro’s and con’s of individual insulation solutions […]

The true proportions and dimensions of the final building are now beginning to appear. The wooden frame that will hold the insulation and boarding away from the original walls is now starting to take shape, the insulation is going into the roof, and the basic structure for the first floor is nearly complete. I approach […]