Barn Conversion 2011: Week Fifteen

We called week 3 the 'end of the beginning'. This week is more or less the end of the repair and restoration phase and marks the point at which new things have started to happen to the barn. Up till now we’ve been making good the original structure. We could stop now and the barn would be more or less as it was when it was first built and would probably stand for another 200 years. (We’d have to put the tiles back on the roof first, though.)

Here's a scaffold flower. As well as the familiar scaffolding on the outside of the building we also have a birdcage, an internal scaffold which enables them to get at the underside of the roof as well as supporting the frame while they pull out and replace load-bearing timbers.

Celotex - we ordered a heap of the stuff for the roof, walls and floor. Standardising on a single thickness, 100mm everywhere (apart from the inside of the plinth) seemed like a good idea. Actually it's not celotex but something called ecoversal made by ecotherm. The builder's supplier assured me it was the same thing and certainly the u-values listed on the ecotherm website are the same. And if it's on a website it must be true, no?

Some more Roman numerals chiselled into the timbers. Get everywhere these romans don't they.

Another truss, another scarf joint, this time up in the roof at the north end of the barn.

The Planners allowed us to have a skylight at the north end of the building where it faces away from the road. So here's the hole in the roof for a for Velux skylight to slot into.

A big mile stone passed. Repairs to the roof are pretty much done and installation of the celotex between the rafters has started. The 8 foot by 4 foot boards have to be cut to size and shape. With all the sun we've been getting lately the guys are getting fried, hit by radiation both sides, direct and reflected off the foil backing of the boards. They're a bit like chickens in a rotisserie - they don’t seem to mind though.