Barn to workshop conversion dry lining

[Jon H]

Hi - my first post - I have spent most of my like as a keen DIYer refurbishing and extending a couple of houses in the past. We are just about to buy a farmhouse which has 2 separate 2 storey stone barns on site one which has been converted to garage and flat and is okish and  the other not touched  although in good state with intact roof and generally dry inside few cracks in the walls but nothing thought to be too serious.

We are not planning to get planning or formally convert this barn the top floor is one open plan room with a nice wooden roof and slates - we will just repair the walls repoint etc and repair the roof as required and use as a store or party or play area for extended family. The ground floor however has a good sized room with solid concrete floor this is not flat but slopes down to a central drain and drains to an external soakaway the barn has animal stalls in it and i guess the floor was designed to be easy to wash the stalls down for mucking out etc. I would like to convert this room to a dry warm machine workshop for a lathe and milling machine and other machine tools. To do this i need to create a flat dry insulated concrete floor and dry walls. The stone walls appear dry at present but have clearly been wet in the past and as the barn is half in the hill the outside ground level is half way up these walls as the back and one side so water will presumably easily penetrate through the wall from the ground on the other side. So i was thinking i need to somehow dry line or tank this room. After doing some research i wondered if it would work to put a studded cavity type system and utilise the existing drain in the centre of the floor. So i would line the walls with a studded membrane and plastic plugs I would then level the floor with simple gravel and a sand blind and then run the same membrane on top of the gravel this would allow water coming through the walls  to trickle down behind the membrane into the gravel and find its way out through the gravel to the drain in the existing floor. I would then line the walls with insulation and plywood cover maybe even sips and then some insulation on the membrane on the floor and a new floor slab layed on top of this with some kind of sealed acces through to the drain to rod it if required. I have created a section plan below to explain this. Any views gratefully received.

[nod]

1 hour ago, Jon H said:

Hi - my first post - I have spent most of my like as a keen DIYer refurbishing and extending a couple of houses in the past. We are just about to buy a farmhouse which has 2 separate 2 storey stone barns on site one which has been converted to garage and flat and is okish and  the other not touched  although in good state with intact roof and generally dry inside few cracks in the walls but nothing thought to be too serious.

We are not planning to get planning or formally convert this barn the top floor is one open plan room with a nice wooden roof and slates - we will just repair the walls repoint etc and repair the roof as required and use as a store or party or play area for extended family. The ground floor however has a good sized room with solid concrete floor this is not flat but slopes down to a central drain and drains to an external soakaway the barn has animal stalls in it and i guess the floor was designed to be easy to wash the stalls down for mucking out etc. I would like to convert this room to a dry warm machine workshop for a lathe and milling machine and other machine tools. To do this i need to create a flat dry insulated concrete floor and dry walls. The stone walls appear dry at present but have clearly been wet in the past and as the barn is half in the hill the outside ground level is half way up these walls as the back and one side so water will presumably easily penetrate through the wall from the ground on the other side. So i was thinking i need to somehow dry line or tank this room. After doing some research i wondered if it would work to put a studded cavity type system and utilise the existing drain in the centre of the floor. So i would line the walls with a studded membrane and plastic plugs I would then level the floor with simple gravel and a sand blind and then run the same membrane on top of the gravel this would allow water coming through the walls  to trickle down behind the membrane into the gravel and find its way out through the gravel to the drain in the existing floor. I would then line the walls with insulation and plywood cover maybe even sips and then some insulation on the membrane on the floor and a new floor slab layed on top of this with some kind of sealed acces through to the drain to rod it if required. I have created a section plan below to explain this. Any views gratefully received.

Sounds like a plan

This is a cellar I did last summer 

Similar to to your plan 

With a perimeter drain around the edge 

We use a 50 mil I stud stood 15 mil off the walls 
 

[Jon H]

Wow that looks a great job - do you think the gravel/sand/membrane/insulation/slab  idea will work not seen that before ? 

[nod]

The conditions should be nowhere near as damp as a cellar 

Ive damp proofed barns like yours with a membrane and no drain

 

Remember to fill each hole drilled with sealer before knocking in the plug 

Also your plugs should be set out with the dot and dab in mind 

300 apart vertical 600 across 
 

  Good luck 

Edited August 3, 2020 by nod