'The days seem to fly by'

29 November 2013

A bumper crop of photos this week, as Tom and his team make good progress:

             "The view from the upstairs window is fantastic, the photos don’t do it justice ... It's been cold and crisp here all week, with low temperatures overnight. Its been very enjoyable  working on the barn, your planning is coming together nicely. The days seem to fly by."

When the builder is happy, and even he comments on the scenery, that has to be a good thing, right?

The kitchen window proved to be tricky and they lost a fair bit of stone work above the lintel. 

The lintel will be cleaned up later on.

The teeny shower room window with its oversized lintel :). It's centrally placed on the wall when you are inside, but because of the thickness of the stone walls, looks off-centre here.

Upstairs, work has begun on the French door overlooking the valley. We were sad to see the small existing window go, but in order to get a reasonable height on the door, we had to sacrifice it. The gable stonework will be replaced; it's not going to be a Grand Designs special, with an all-glass gable end. Sorry to disappoint, folks.

This morning in my inbox, more photos, taken yesterday morning and evening...

The cladding of the right hand wall is underway. The stairs will rise along this wall and turn just short of the central beam.

But don't take my word for it; come and see for yourself. Only not yet. The beds aren't made and I have to Hoover.

Reflections in the glass

20 November 2013

Light is reflecting off the glass in the new window and doors, and suddenly the barn feels as if it has p for personality.  Since our last update, Tom and team have put in three French doors and three windows. There are still three more windows and a French door to come.

He has also rendered the wall on the right as you enter the barn, in preparation for the lining. No draughts or meece allowed!

This is the view over the valley from the living room.

And yes, there will be a step up into the barn as you approach from outside. That was a deliberate decision and is a good idea in case of bad weather and flooding. At the gable end, the land falls away quite steeply, so we may have to build up the garden a bit there, or fix a garde-corps, to stop all you lot from toppling out into the raspberry canes in an unguarded moment.

The windowsill is clearly a very useful place to keep your miscellaneous stuff.  Like UHT milk.


Although G and I chose really good windows and doors - all framed in oak - seeing them installed is a tiny anti-climax. After all, 'custom-made' and 'rustic solidity' would describe the materials and workmanship so far, and now we have to accept 'factory-built' and 'modern'.

Ah well. (It's what Cal would call a first-world problem.)

I think in time, the juxtaposition between old and new will soften. The shutters will help, too. And the odd hydrangea. Only odd ones need apply.

Interior pics and the view

4 November 2013

Now that there are floor joists, the final floor and ceiling heights are starting to emerge. I don't think we'll be bumping our heads on the ceiling downstairs - Gregg, in the doorway, is 6'4"!

And it is now possible to get an idea of the views from the Velux windows upstairs.

Not too shabby.

Big Daddy of a lintel

30 October 2013

Tom has admitted to losing sleep over the replacement of the rotten lintel over the main barn entry. It took weeks of cogitation and consultation with Phil, the carpenter and other builders but finally, he had a plan of action designed to avoid losing stonework as much as possible. He even went over to England to get hold of some equipment for strengthening the gable end.

In the meantime, they have been working on the upper floor joists.  And it looks as if head-height is not a problem.

Last week they began by supporting the gable end over the beam. It took them 4 days to get it ready.
And then the pictures speak for themselves.

Simply magnificent.

... and more knock-throughs

13 October 2013

The second knock-through is the French door that will one day lead out onto the terrace from the little living room.  And the third is the small window which currently commands a startling view of the corrugated wall of the neighbour's cabine (which we hope will one day be goooooone!).

It's perhaps a little difficult to see from the photos, but all the openings are bevelled so that they are larger  on the inside than on the outside, to increase light and to focus one's gaze on the outside. Look at the depth of those lintels!

There will be a small prize for the person who doesn't notice the glaringly obvious pipe that is ... in the wrong place. Thanks, Charles: 10 out of 10 for focus.