The latest from the inside

There are random bits of plastering going on all throughout the house. 1st fix plumbing must be nearly finished as there seems to be pipes everywhere! Reclaimed flooring has arrived and is ready to be fitted, sanded and oiled. The kitchen, worktops, cooker, extractor and thermal store are all due to be delivered shortly, thankfully we have space off site to store some of the more delicate items.

Stuff stuck to the windows to stop birds flying into them

Office room ready for plastering

Kitchen and door to utility area

Main bedroom plastered

Bathroom plastered

Cupboards on the landing area, home to the thermal store (eventually)

Secret door/bookcase through to storage area (shhhh)

The gallery

Stud wall to the shower room

The latest from the outside

I don't think there's a lot to add to the outside of the barn, there is one more tiny window but apart from that we're pretty much finished with the actual building. We even have a house sparrow nesting box proudly made by yours truly. We do plan to re-finish the drive, the parking area and eventually our next project will be improve the garage which is pretty much ready to fall down.

Doors are the latest addition

If you look closely you can see our big knocker and the nest box

Hmm, should have moved the junk before taking a photo

The back door

More cladding and rendering

Heat rising

Bruce the plumber pressure checked his pipes by blowing down them, Womble assured us that Bruce was full of hot air and this was probably the most-fail safe way to test the pipes prior to pouring concrete over 80sqm of flooring covered in expensive pipes and insulation. We'll soon know if this was a funny joke or a very unfunny one. Stuart Bryant (& Co) prepared the area with insulation throughout and then arranged for Martin to lay the pipes and B&H to come in to pour the self leveling floor screed. The process is really very quick and looks quite simple but it is the kind of process where the slightest error can be a major problem with quick setting times and bendy plastic with a mind of its own.

Stuart after laying insulation

Laying pipes

UFH - Underfloor Heating Manifold

Pouring the screed

Self leveling floor screed

The garden

Most of the landscaping in the main part of the garden is finished, we've also cleared the old access track so that we can get to our field easily. We now have a blank brown (mud) canvass to create, grow and have fun with.

The bottom corner has been raised

I like big butts... this one is over 3,000 litres

Leftover topsoil

The old access track

Pipes in the garden

Our waste water will run from the barn/house down the length of the garden into a treatment plant which then discharges clean water 275 metres along a pipe into a stream that eventually joins the River Neet. In order to install the pipes we needed big earth moving machinery so it made it a good time to landscape the garden area. The landscaping is very easy to talk about in theory but when you see it all happen before your eyes... well put it this way I think both Sally and I began to worry about the carnage that we were causing to the land.

Clearing some top soil

Bury spoils, re-cover with top soil.

Hmm, a rather large area to bury spoils?!

Soft ground at the bottom of the field near the stream

Digger, digger, digger

The run down to the stream

The only car that fits him

The old septic tank takes a direct hit

A hole for the new water treatment plant

Water treatment plant

Lili & Mark

Waste pipes now join the caravan!

Now to replace the topsoil

Agricultural Fencing for Cladding

We are now rushing to get the outside of the barn finished so that it can be sealed up from the rain allowing us to lay the underfloor heating, insulation and floor screed. First fix electrics are nearly complete. Upstairs has been plaster-boarded ready for plastering and the bathroom fixtures and fittings have been delivered. Glazing and doors will be fitted some time between now and next Friday.

Office cladding on the left

Patio doors and main entrance area

The back door

Timber Cladding

Big digger in the garden

Sheep's wool insulation : )

No more scaffolding... Very revealing

The scaffolding has gone so the building has been revealed properly for the first time.

It's a good time to reflect on the changes that we've made. We started off with the rectangular barn and planning permission for a small lean-to extension on the SE facing gable end. We took a gamble to re-apply for planning permission requesting a larger building that would take advantage of fantastic views of the surrounding countryside and benefit from improved solar gain thus less demanding heating requirements. We took our inspiration from a working barn in the Quantock Hills, Somerset.

Approved by planning at the time of purchase

Inspiration from the Quantock Hills, Somerset

Windows soak up the morning sun