Not quite the sunami on the other side of the world, but the tumbling dominoes that cascade through the project after one little element is changed is quite challenging. Not least the challenge of the ever changing 'move-in' date!
Depite all this, huge progress has been made in the last few weeks and we've been so busy, hence again I must apologise for not posting sooner. Some of you have asked if we are still down here in Somerset or perhaps we've packed our bags and returned to Sussex? No, we most definitely are still here, ploughing on, spending far too much money but getting SO excited about these old cow sheds that are really starting to resemble a very livable home.
We have finally got glass in all the windows (yay!), all the scaffolding has gone (yay!), our drainage is (almost) fully connected (phew!) and second fix has started - we got disproportionately excited at seeing the first light switch go on!
So what have we been up to (apart from spending far too much money!) ... Well, we decided to continue to try and save on tradesmen's costs by doing what we can ourselves. Being chased by plumbers to get bathrooms in, I started tiling our bathroom as a trial, thinking that if it was really awful then no one else would see it. Actually, it's not too bad, though I'm sure a pro would say otherwise! It now appears I'm doing all the tiling in 4 bathrooms, 2 kitchens and a small bit in the cloakroom using some beautiful family heirloom tiles that I've been waiting to use for almost 20 years - excited about that!
We've been learning to rake out and re-point the damaged mortar on the stone work and I've started lovingly labouring on an area of wall that I fell in love with the day we found the barns. There are acres of stone pointing to patch and repair externally as well and I think this is a job we will all be doing slowly over the summer once we're in and I'm sure it will keep us busy for many months, if not years! Anyway, it's great to learn more about using natural lime mortar and feel proud to be sticking with the traditional materials that were originally used to bind these huge walls together. The lime will allow the walls to breath an prevent any damp problems.
There's been loads of sanding and cleaning of the oak beams over the past few months. This is quite backbreaking work and Andrew has done a fantastic job of cleaning off the blackened water stains, dirt and damage from the storing and handling of the mamouth timbers. All are up in the roof now and look amazing!
The flagstone floor is half down - the rest waiting for that last pour of screed in the long barn to fully dry out. Because of the size we had a self levelling type of screed, which can take up to 3 months to dry out fully before we can lay the rest of the flags. We plan to move into the rest of the building and live on a bit of a building site for a while until the main kitchen and utility room can be fitted after the flagstones are down. We should be able to speed things up a little by having the underfloor heating on low and of course all the sunshine through the new glass will all go someway to drying things out.
Where the floors were poured earlier, we have been able to get the flagstones laid and make a start on the oak flooring too, which we need to treat with a hard wax oil. Another job started this week. We are so pleased with this wooden floor that's been stored in our old pigsty barn for over a year now. Shrewedly, we placed the order just before timber prices sky rocketed early last year!
The reclaimation yard came up trumps again, as we found a huge wrought iron chandelier salvaged from a nearby pub, that is just perfect for the long barn. It will hang centrally from the beams over the fireplace which has been newly created this month too. I'm sure it could tell a tale or two, and hopefully we'll give it a few more tales to tell during it's life at Old Dairy Barns! We've up-cycled and re-purposed like crazy, locally sourcing a secondhand oak kitchen from Marketplace for the Milking Parlour annex which I'm really pleased with. I've transformed old pieces of brown furniture into wash stands, experimenting with silver leaf and resin. Washbasins, taps, light fittings, mirrors and furniture for up-cycling plus reusing waste timber and ironwork from the site. All saving us a few pounds here and there and offering a little satisfaction by reducing our consumption, which arguably has been quite high! I just want to see them all in their new places now.
So we are forging on. Second fix electrics and plumbing have started, but that butterfly effect has caused the long barn element of the building to be behind the rest. Waiting 3 months for the last floor screed to dry, which couldn't be poured before the internal scaffold came down, which couldn't be taken down before the vaulted ceiling was painted, which couldn't be painted before the plaster was dried etc. etc. etc. right back to the delay of the oak for that part of the roof last year... that cascading butterfly effect after one element's delay means we will be moving into an unfinished house, hopefully within the next month or so (fingers and toes very firmly crossed!). The fun-finishing-stuff is starting now and all the images I had in my head at the start are now being realised ... it really is an amazing journey!
I'll update again very soon as things progress - there should be some interesting photos to come over the next few weeks!
Happy Spring Time to all our dear friends, family and followers! xx
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