Epi-Blogue 2 of 2 – Converted but are we Saved?

This is the final instalment of this Blog. The basic build took 13 months but the Blog has taken longer. Readers of the first instalments will know that it was over a year after we bought the barn that work was able to begin due to re-design and re-submission for planning permission. We've learnt a huge amount about the building industry and the joys and pitfalls of  converting a 200 year old property. We're still in love with the property and the location and the views (and with each other) despite the stress and expense along the way. Would we do it again? Don't know.

All that remained once the garden walls, patios and driveway were done was internal decorating, landscaping, fencing, weatherboarding on the garage, teething troubles, curtain tracks ... Ho Hum.

The landscaping was less painful than anticipated - more a question of re-instatement as we don't want to make any major changes of level. The guys who did the drive spent a couple of days with their skid-steer Bobcat and smoothed things out in no time. The planting and cultivation is going to take us years, but at least we’ve made a start. We're going to leave most of it to grass over naturally to begin with.  Maybe a bit of wild flower meadow here and there.

 Quagmire

all nice and smooth

 

Weather boarding on the garage is purely cosmetic.
Bare blockwork

 

and boarded over (with a heap of MOT1 in the foreground. Of course you know what MOT1 is, don't you.)

 

Something that wasn't on the original list of projects was Solar Panels. The thinking is that the barn is all electric. Lights, of course, and also cooking, heating, water supply, sewage treatment. Electricity is the only mains service we have on site. (Apart from telephone. Don't get me started on that one ... grr, spit, growl ...) Almost anything you do in the barn causes the electricity meter to spin - even flushing the loo. The sewage treament plant whirrs away all day and all night, and the water supply is driven by, yes, you've guessed it, an electric pump 52 metres down the borehole. So anything we can do to reduce our electricity bill would be good. No?

Well actually, it's not that simple. The UK government has a scheme to encourage people to install solar panels - the feed in tariff. You get paid a over the odds for what you generate plus a bit for what gets fed back into the grid. You can use whatever you generate for "free". (You pay £k's for the kit that generates this "free" electricity. How do you spell "free" again?)

Have you heard of that list of the most useless things in the wold? As well as sky hooks and pots of striped paint there's a solar powered torch. Well, solar panels are a bit like that. They generate loads of kilowatts in the middle of the day when the sun is shining ... and you don't need it. And they generate virtually nothing in the morning and the evening, and in the winter ... when you do need it.
Anyway, despite our reservations, we decided to go for it. Time will tell whether it was a good investment. Here's where we decided to put the panels - we can't put them on the roof because of planning restrictions and we didn't want to stick them right in front of the view out the back.
 

 

they sit on tubs

Sixteen of them, giving a maximum of 4kw production. Any more than that would have exceeded the 'domestic' provision of the feed in tariff scheme.

 

 

Since we're in  the country we decided on simple post and rail fencing. All very rustic. Here are the posts at the back.

And finished fence along the side of the back garden.

At the front, posts going up

There's still a number of rooms to decorate - 9 or so when we moved in. The high bits we had done by a professional decorator while we were away earlier in the year. The bits we could do ourselves, … well … we’re doing ourselves. Getting there.

 

Since moving in we've noticed all sorts of wildlife out of the window. Either in the back garden or in nearby fields.

Mr pheasant, king of the castle, on one of our many heaps of rubble

 

The Collins Book of British Birds says this is a partridge. (Can birds be British? Do they need a passport if they fly across the Channel? And can they emigrate to warmer climes?)

 

There's a family of stoats living in one of our woodpiles. At least, I think it's a stoat. Could be a weasel? I'm told you can weasily tell them apart because they're stoatally different.

 

We have loads of rabbits, but these guys are bigger and boy can they shift. I guess that makes them hares?

And of course we see deer from time to time. Usually first thing in the morning, lolloping across the field at the back.

 

We also had a cow in the garden one day. It had escaped from a field not too far away. Looked out the window at the back and there it was, a couple of metres away. It just stood there looking in and saying to itself  'Well I never! Fancy that. People living in a cowshed. Whatever next?'. We've also seen buzzards flying overhead, a barn owl a few times, not to mention pigeons, rooks and the rest.

Another frequent visitor to the field at the back is Homo Sapiens Metalus Detectorus.

They're an almost exclusively rural species, seldom seen in an urban setting. Referred to by some as Swishers, on account of their habit of swishing a long proboscis, or trunk, back and forth, they have been known to swish for hours on end with no obvious result or purpose. Anthropologists are divided as to the significance of this curious behaviour. Some suggest it is a mating ritual. This would seem to be unlikely due to the fact that female metalus detectoruses are an even rarer breed and never to be seen in the vicinity of a male Swisher. Indeed, this lack of any obvious means of reproduction has resulted in suggestions that the Swisher be placed on an endangered species list. More likely, therefore, is the interpretation that the swishing behaviour is fundamentally territorial. But whether they’re seeking to ward off other Swishers, or all-comers, is unknown. Maybe we’ll never know. Maybe they don’t even know themselves why they do it. Perhaps they just feel driven by an inbuilt, instinctive desire, to go out and swish all day long. You have to admire their dedication to whatever it is they’re doing.

 We’ve been in for a few months, signed off by Building Control, with an address issued by the Local Authority and recognised by Royal Mail. We've got a water supply, albeit still subject to teething troubles - tastes salty from time to time and occasionally a bit yellow in colour. The Ground Source heating seems to be functioning correctly once a couple of issues with the heat pump had been sorted. And Broadband was connected up, with only a minor delay of several months. What more could one want?

So, finally, if you have been, thanks for listening.

 

 

Epiblogue 1 of 2 – Is There Life after Conversion?

We managed to move in earlier in the year before everything was fully complete, and before the budget ran out ... just. Contractually, we still had to build a couple of garden walls. Also needed a driveway – we didn’t want to be wading through mud for the rest of our days. And we couldn’t leave the garage with just blockwork walls - it needed cladding with weatherboarding to match the house. Access to the house, steps up to the doorways, had to be sorted out before Building Control would sign us off. Less essential, but nonetheless to be done, were the patio and pathway at the back and north end. Last, but not least, there was the small matter of post and rail fencing round the back garden and at the front.

 So, getting on with the garden walls.

At the front - footings

 

Going up

 

Front wall done.

 

and round the back - first you need a few bricks. (Remember all that concrete under there? Serious retaining wall. Bit over the top as a foundation for the wall, but it will do.

Up we go

 

Back finished. The passage round there is wider than we'd imagined it. 

 

Next came the drive

In the UK the standard sub base is MOT1. Ministry of Transport type 1 - graded inert material of a defined size and strength. With successive Government re-organisations we no longer have a Ministry of Transport but MOT1 lives on. We ended up buying over 60 tons of the stuff.

 

Bit like making a Christmas cake - a layer of marzipan overlaid with the icing. You smooth out and whack the MOT1 and apply a couple of layers of shingle.

 

So that's the drive done. Tick that off the list.
 

 

Patios and steps

Front steps before -

 

And the final product.

 

The path round the back. I hesitate to use the term back passage for fear of creating a stink.

 

Preparing the patio by the cart doors on the west side.

 

Laying slabs

Patio done

 

That's the major construction projects finished. Still have the fences, landscaping, decoration .....

Week Fifty Five – A Moving Experience

At the beginning of the week - still no water supply. No heating. No sewage.
And the removal firm has been booked for the middle of the week. We've given notice on our present accomodation  that we're moving out. And we're on an aeroplane half way round the world come the weekend. So, come hell or high water we're moving in this week. If the worst comes to the worst we could move our furniture in and go and live in a hotel for a few days before flying off. But we really really really don't want to do that. We really don't.

We went out on a limb by booking the consultant to come and commission ground source heat pump at the beginnng of the week. That was a few weeks ago, before the heat pump was even plumbed in and before we had a water supply. And then our plumber went off sick. Gulp.

Anyway, so far, so good. The assistant plumber has managed to get it all in, literally one day before the commissioning date.

Commissioning the sewage treatment plant. Second only to having a decent water supply is having decent sewage disposal. In our case we’re having a treatment plant, as opposed to a septic tank. Which has a motor in it to drive the stirring mechanism which promotes the growth of the bacteria, or whatever, which does the treatment bit.  Can't say I'd fancy climbing in there ...

 

Cometh the day, cometh the removal man. Here's our furniture arriving at the front door. Only problem is the soakaway for the heat pump is overflowing so I'm taken up with trying to get that fixed while the removal men do their bit. And I've asked the builder to come back and help ...

 

Didn't know know where to put the stuff so the family room seemed a reasonable placefor the piano and one of the setees.

 

Managed to empty a few of the crates so they can go back.

 

 

So, now we're in.

We’ve got a water supply, albeit subject to teething troubles. The softened water tastes of salt but fortunately we did specify a hard water tap in the kitchen so we use that for drinking water for now. There also seems to be a problem with the Iron/Manganese filter as the water is a bit yellow.

And there's still all the landscaping, garden walls and fencing, garage to finish, not to mention decoration inside. But we're in. Phew.

And finally

Week Fifty Four – Let the Nail Biting Begin

Not long to go now. Make or break. Removal firm booked. Carpets booked. Consultant to commission the heat pump booked. Will it all come together in time for us to move in – next week??  The list of things done and ready is getting longer, but at the beginning of the week, the list of things still to be done is frightening.

The plant room is far from ready – the water purification equipment has not been connected up to the water supply, or to the house. The heat pump hasn’t been connected to anything. It needs a water supply, electricity and two large buffers for the underfloor heating and for domestic hot water. The underfloor heating controls have not been installed in all the rooms. Electric sockets and lights are still missing. Not all the internal doors have been hung. The kitchen and utility rooms have not been fully fitted. Shower and bath screens are still in their packaging, leaning against a wall. The motor which drives the sewage treatment plant has not been fitted yet. Cappings on the staircase bannisters are still mising. Downpipes from the gutters are either missing of dangling in space. So, apart from no water supply, no heating, no drainage, no functioning toilets, no showers, gaps in the electricity supply, we’re almost there. It's a wonder I can get to sleep at night. Actually, ...

You may be wondering why the rush. Well, two reasons. Our budget is running out and we will have to call a halt soon in any case.  And we're going to be out of the country for the best part of a month from the end of next week. We don't want, can't afford, the build to just go on and on while we're away. So we're pressing to prioritise the things that are necessary to enable us to move in for a couple of days before we depart. Then we'll take stock of what still needs doing, and what we still have budget for, when we get back.

Our plumber has been off sick for a couple of weeks - wouldn't you know it? Fortunately his associate is available this week, so at least the heat pump and buffers are starting to be plumbed in.

And the water purification equipment is being connected up - ammonia filter, iron & manganese filter, water softener with a UV lamp topping it off. Feels a bit like the engine room of the Titanic in there. Maybe that's not a very auspicious analogy ...

Still quite a bit to do in the utility room but it's getting there. I think.

The top of the borehole is right in the middle of what will be the driveway so will have a proper manhole cover over it. Eventually. For now it's protected by three pallets screwed together to stop vehicles running over it.

The cooker hood has been installed. Agonised over whether to have a duct to the outside or just filters and a circulating hood. It's in the same part of the building as the woodburning stove (kitchen- diner, OK?) and we've been advised that there may be some conflict over ventilation. So we've gone for a re-circulating hood. For now at least.

The new doorway has been plaster boarded. We're quite pleased with the way it has turned out, given that it was a last minute bodge.

The sewage treatment plant, in the ground but not yet operational. Small matter of plumbing 2nd fix for the loos and provision of a water supply before we can call them back to finish setting it up and switch it on.

We'll have an outside tap connected straight to the supply from the borehole - ie no purification. No point treating water you're going to water the flowers with, is there? But I wouldn't recommend having a drink from it.

Bang on time the garage doors were delivered and fitted. At least something is going to plan. So now we have a garage which we can close to the elements. I suspect it will be a long time before we're able to put a car in there, given all the stuff in boxes that will end up in there.

The ensuite shower room is coming together.

The plastering of the studwork up the side of stairs has been done.

and the cappings for a handrail have been fitted.

Talking of staircases, the back stairs have been plastered and capped too.

We're very pleased with the way the stairs have turned out.

The skylight over the stairs means it's reasonably bright back there even though it's at the north end of the building.

Well, solid progress this week but still not sure we'll be ready for next week. We shall see

And finally