August Update - Weeks 17-18

This week marked a huge landmark in the conversion; we had finally reached the stage where we had to bring in specialist contractors to move the project forward. The roof was off so now the south gable wall could be taken down and re-built, so we hired Baden Powell and Sons Stone Contractor who started on site this week. They will also be creating all the new window and door openings whilst strengthening the existing stone walls. The new gable end will comprise a cavity block-work wall with stone facing using the original stone.

I had a bit of a shock seeing the barn as it now stands as it looks even more like a ruin than when we bought it! But from now on we will begin to see a home take shape.

With the contractors on site it meant Dave could start preparing for the next stages: hiring a roofing contractor, getting the first floor steels made and sourcing the oak windows all of which have to be custom made to fit each opening.

During the second week Dave prepared the concrete pads and openings for the steels to be incorporated. We chose steel joists as opposed to timber because this will reduce the void between floors, they are cheaper and they will not be seen anyway.

Everything is coming together extremely well so we hope to achieve our wind and watertight deadline of early October, even the weather seems to be on our side at the moment. If all goes to plan we may even get a holiday this year!