Over the last month we've spent our time removing bits from the barn that will either be returned, replaced or disposed of depending on there condition and the LPA requirements.

This means that the yard is filling up so deliveries and other storage is now being put in the fields.  That's okay with a very dry April, might be more tedious if we have a very wet spell.

 

I removed the roof from the barns where there was a low ridge height, but that also included the insulation (lucky piggies), rafters, joists, wall plates, lintels (angle iron), gutters and fascia boards.  This resulted in a number of bruises from hammers, crow bars and wood.  All when they moved unexpectedly, luckily being a weak woman the crowbar was not much bigger than a pencil so only gave me a small bruise.  If it had been one of the big ones I would possibly have ended up in A&E.  I don't think I've ever seen so many nails.  Being rural we've been able to burn wormy wood and the rest I have chopped up for the wood store, the insulation has been stacked along with the roof sheets ready for the future workshops and garages.  Once hubby has a dry and insulated workshop he will never come in the house ?

 

I'm also very glad of my work factory boots with steel toecaps with the number of times I've dropped things.

It certainly looks very different now, lovely and light.

 

 

 

 

We have left the shed at the end intact as we are going to use if for secure storage and tea room for as long as possible.

Ultimately that will be our utility / plant room so we won't do anything until we have to.

 

The back of the barn had an overhang which has been removed, this was pretty low so although it was included in the dwelling dimensions we decided not to bother as we were not allow to increase the ridge height enough to make it useful.  This is where all the drainage is going to go, the internal walls have been set up to fit with the current window openings, not always central in the room, but good enough and easy and meets the LPA requirements.  We do need to create one more window opening for the family bathroom.

 

 

 

 

This back wall is to go up 1 block to allow for lintels, although the first window is quite small so the lintel is only the thickness of a brick so it will be pushed up so that the top of the window is as high as possible.

 

This side of the barn is the south side, unfortunately, as it faces a 45 degree 12' bank then the end of our land so it doesn't have an exciting view.

I'm planning on gabions, but at 24m long the cost might be prohibitive for now, a future project.

In the meantime I'm clearing the bank of weeds, dead trees, shrubs, rubble and a number of tennis balls lost there over the years.

 

Hubby has been working on the L part of the barn which had a cement fibre roof, which possibly contained a small amount of asbestos, and a metal frame.

The roof sheets are now cleared, double wrapped and stacked ready for the company to collect.

The metal frame had to be cut up in situ as it was fixed so firmly, but that is now down, cut up and gradually going to the tip.

It is much easier to destroy things with crow bars, saws and grinders, when we rebuild we shall have to be much more careful.

 

During May our plan is to start work on rebuilding the external of the ensuite / wardrobe room.

We will level the existing blocks, then add another block to the top as well as the window lintel.

As we won't be replacing the roof for a while we will leave the wall flat until we can measure the new pitch accurately.

The unwanted internal wall will be removed and the floor dug out.  This will be done in 2 stages, firstly the floating floor to level with the rest of the barn floor then the lower floor.  The floating floor is all we are doing at the moment as the whole barn floor needs to be dug down to install insulation and UFH and we will do that dig out in one stage when we are ready.

 

We will then follow the same process with each 'room' on the low side of the barn.

How long this will take really depends on all the other demands on our time.

 

Once this side is done and all unwanted walls knocked down then we will start on the other side and follow the process all over again.

So far progress has been pretty obvious, and as we have a nearby footpath we have provided lockdown entertainment for many of the locals who like to question us and comment on what we are doing.

Since last week and less restrictions the number of people has reduced by 90%, something that I'm pretty glad about.

 

I've had problems with images today so I've just added them all together.

 

I'm still chasing for Building Regulation drawings, something that will soon become more urgent.

Thanks for looking and feel free to ask questions.

Jill