The story of our project to convert some derelict Victorian barns in Derbyshire into a home
It’s been a long old haul to get to this point. We have always underestimated the amount of work to be done (and the number of chaps on site doing it!)., but at last we are moving in. Some bits and pieces are yet to be finished off (and only one of the barns is ready) but it’s not holding us back!
Barn One is getting tantalisingly close to completion. This coming week is make or break week as we are hoping that there will be a full complement of trades finishing off. Everybody has had a dabble - some electricity, some heating, some sinks and toilets. A good start but never a finish.
Let’s talk progress - water has been connected and drains have been the big deal of the last 2-3 weeks. The foul water drains are in for all three barns, ditto for the rainwater soakaways. It looks like a battleground at the front of the barns now, but we are hoping that the landscaping is not far away.
The boiler is in action warming the floor and hot water tank in barn 1. It’s all a bit temporary in that we don’t have the 10 tonne silo yet. Instead we have a small internal hopper and lots of bags of pellets so hopper feeding is a regular task. It’s great to have that comfortable warmth from the underfloor heating as soon as you open the door. The first time it was all powered up we didn’t have thermostats on the u/f zones so the temperature got up to around 25c which was too warm even for me, now it’s running at a much more sensible 18c. It’s a good job too - at the moment it’s snowing!
The drains and soakaways have been interesting to see being laid. Normally, you don’t see them so you don’t think about them
Barn 3 has nearly all it’s windows and doors in now. We had a bit of a hiccup over the window sizes as they are slightly small. It won’t be noticeable when they are sealed and finished, but it has taken the shine off it a bit……so much time and effort went into the measuring and style selection. I think they look stunning though, but I am biased!
At last we have signs of life at the barns. Yesterday the dining room roof on barn 3 was started and the water for all 3 barns connected. We have a program of works over the next few weeks which should mean that we will be able to move in during March. We are not planning to give notice on the rented hovel any time soon though as there is still plenty of time for the weather to throw a spanner in the works!
……or at least that is the plan. There really is little to report except that we are (still) waiting for trades to appear on site. All the promises of drains being dug and roof completed all faded away with the end of the year. It seems that everything is poised for action in the New Year. Let’s hope that we can pin down our builder into cracking on and getting it done so that we can move out of the rented hovel early this year.
Barn 3 now is ready for it’s final bit of build now that the scaffolding is down. It feels like nothing much has happened, but actually quite a lot has been going on as the roof has been finished and the chimney flues installed. The flues were quite a big job as there were two for barn 3 (log burner and boiler) and log burner for barn 2. Note the plastic coated bonfire in the garden ready for bonfire night!
The flue liners from the bedrooms. Unfortunately, they stick out a bit more than we wanted them to so there will be a bit of rearranging required for the internal walls to make sure everything fits in as we want it to. We thought that the plans should have taken care of all this but there seems to be more 'seeing how it looks’ going on as the build progresses than anticipated. No matter how hard we tried to get all these things fixed in the plans, we didn’t get quite as much input from the ‘eco’ installers as we had hoped. The plus side is that they are local and responsive to the fluctuating timescales, and much cheaper than a couple of the bigger national companies we approached for quotes. It all adds to the fun (or stress) depending on how high your spirits are!
The next step for barn 3 is windows and doors, and of course to finish the gable to the dining room and put on the roof, install velux windows and solar pv panels, so not quite there yet! But anyway, these are the barn style doors ready for installation. On the positive side, we have ordered a garage door and when that is installed we can have the boiler fitted and then………heating for barn 1……hoorah.
Last night we had our fourth……..yes, fourth…..bonfire party at the barns. Every year we say ‘well at least next year we will be living at the barns and it will be so much easier to do’. Well again we had to do all the cooking at the flat and transport it with the slow cookers and kettle and drinks……well, everything really. We set up in the ‘hall’ of barn 3 as this has a roof and a good view of the garden, and it was really weird as this is where we set up for our first bonfire party, but that was in the original building. The layout of the hall is almost exactly how it used to be in the old building (by design of course), but it looks much sharper and straighter than before, thank goodness. Despite all this, we had a lovely time. The bonfire was fantastic, the food was fine - I mean who doesn’t like a hot dog, and the fireworks across the valley at the Midland Railway Centre were superb. Also, we continued our tradition of sparkler writing and eventually, with a bit of practice, came up with Happy Joel (our littlest member of the family)!
Wall painting is almost finished and the kitchen is underway. As seems to be the case with most things, the kitchen installation has not gone quite to plan with some measurements being incorrect and damage to the work surface. The work surface is really huge and had been damaged on one edge and has therefore had to be re-ordered which will take around 5 weeks!. It’s looking really nice so far though! I’m looking forward to playing in the kitchen - there’s even a warming draw which is very bake-off!
Before the kitchen fitting work started, we quickly arranged for a sliding pantry door after discovering that there would be a big enough space at the end of the kitchen units. You have to look on the bright side of a measuring cock-up! It really finishes off the pantry nicely!
It feels like there is quite a lot of blogging to catch up on as there has been a constant steady progress on site in September. Inside barn 3 it is nice to be using our own electricity and thank goodness for our neighbours allowing us to use their electricity and water throughout the build so far.
Richard has decided to do all the interior painting, partly because the kitchen is being fitted in October and it seems that no timely painting has been scheduled in by our builder……(*grmf* mmmrff builder). It also means that he is on site every day in case of deliveries and questions from the lads. Notwithstanding all the great reasons for doing it himself, it is a bit of a monumental task. Fortunately for me, I have to do the 9-5 to earn our daily mortgage so have managed to avoid all painting thus far.
In the meantime, I am trying to do my bit by organising the internal lighting scheme for all 3 barns. On one hand it is great fun to have an excuse for shopping, but on the other, there is a limited budget (as ever) so it is really time consuming to come up with a scheme that I like and can afford. Such is life.
I’m also working on prototypes for some designer roman blinds that will fulfill the limited budget criteria whilst still looking nice……..errm I mean chic and expensive.
I’ts slow progress, but the roof is almost finished on barn 3. The solar panels are now in place so that the roofers can come and finish off. I must research topping out ceremonies before the scaffolding comes down………
A blog diary of my creative life in Derbyshire with crochet, quilting, knitting, embroidery, textile art and baking......and barn conversions
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