Barn02

Barn Restoration 2008
From the kick-off point in summer 2006 there are now some real changes to be seen. BB has been doing all the work himself. Anything he doesn't know how to do - he learns. Building block walls was the huge learning curve of 2007. Building stairs from scratch has been the big thing in 2008. It's not glamorous work, but it's satisfying. He certainly seems to be enjoying himself.
	The first job for the new year in 2008 was to put up joist hangers on the roof timbers to create a fifteen foot high ceiling. Then the underside of the roof had to be lined with high-grade insulation (for both sound and heat) and the actual joists fixed in place. The newly created loft area will be storage so the joists have to be strong enough to take the weight. Of course the new ceiling meant that the lights would no longer illuminate everything below the ceiling, so new light fittings were also needed. Only one set-back during this phase and that was BB ripping open a knuckle down to the bone on the sharp edge of a joist-hanger. Three cheers for the local health centre who gave him an immediate appointment and within ten minutes had it cleaned, stitched and bandaged.
The joists covered three bays, but didn't extend to the roof space above the small room. The pic to the right is the last bay with joist hangers but no joists.
	Once the ceiling joists were in place BB put up a double-skin of plaster board. This was a heavy job because it's a two-storey high ceiling and every heavy board had to be hauled up the scaffolding then secured above head height. It wasn't easy on BBs neck and shoulders. Soon after I heard muffled bangings behind it as he went up into the newly created loft space and finished the insulation, laying chipboard flooring up there for safety. After that he ran some cables to put in temporary working lights under the new ceiling.
And this is the other end. You can see where the gallery/balcony will be. Where the ceiling boarding ends there will be a dividing wall upstairs.
	Once the ceiling was in place it was time to insulate and line the end wall. This is already a triple-skinned wall, but as it joins on to the house (once a barn) in the farmyard development, it needs to be totally insulated. Here are the battens
And the boarding went up on the end wall pretty quickly - though as when doing the ceiling the boards themselves are heavy to haul to the top. At least this time BB wasn't trying to fasten them above his head.
	The ceiling joists in the small room were - if not easier - at least not so tall. Once they were installed the whole of the inside of the barn - open since the old floor came down in 2007 - started to look as though construction, rather than demolition, was happening.
Once the ceiling joists were in BB began the floor above it, boarding it all out with floor-grade chipboard ready for the stairs to go in. With a 'lid' on it the small room also became a smaller space which could be heated a little for indoor working in winter. (Though with no doors, yet, the heat dissipated quickly.)
	Originally he'd bought an electric winch for the building process but it had proved so useful that BB decided to keep it as a feature. He made a proper loft trap and positioned it right next to the upper balcony. Heavy objects can be winched up to balcony level rather than being carried up the stairs. Oh yes... stairs...
This is the space where the stairs are going to go.
	The stairs went in in two halves almost five months apart and BB made them all from scratch, no pre-bought timber sections here. The first section, the straight bit went in during the summer months, making it possible for someone relatively fit to clamber up on to the upper level. (Which meant BB could start to store some of the stuff from the 'work in progress' up there.)
Then in the summer, having built the stairs, we had a couple of instances where strangers just wandered up the side of the house and round the back, not realising it was a private driveway. So BB decided to use some of the wood already bought for the rest of the stairs etc. to construct a gate. It's huge and solid - and it bolts from the inside meaning that if anyone wants to get round the back of the house they have to ask first. One of the neighbours has the right to access the back of her house from our garden for cleaning and repairs, but the others don't, however this never seemed to stop one of the other neighbours from bringing stuff through out garden to load-in over his back wall. (He's moved now, thank goodness.)

	After finishing the gate, even though only half the stairs were usable BB got on with erecting the divinding wall upstairs to close off the large room from the small. The ladder to the upper bit is the access to the new loft above the ceiling boards. On the other side of thios is the balcony/gallery.
This is the upper balcony/gallery, showing the hoist still in use.
	And finally BB could put it off no longer, the last section of the stairs, the tricky bit with the turn, was next on the list. Again with no pre-bought sections the whole thing was built from scratch. The angles are just right and the fit is perfect!

	And now the upper room can be used as a work room and storage area. Even I can get up there.
Though it doesn't look like 'big work' much of this year has also been occupied with battening, insulating and boarding walls (and ceilings). Americans call it dry wall, we call it plaster board, but it's the same thing. In November our friend Hugh McMillan came over on tour and during some of his down-time insisted on putting up some battens, though BB is always wary of giving a hammer to a working musician as accidents can happen to even the most careful. Hugh, however,did not hammer his thumb and put up some of the battens in the little store room downstairs which BB has just wallboarded. . The green plastic in the picture below will eventually be an outside door - but until we can afford the door itself the plastic just helps insulation.

So that's it for 2008. We look forward to more strides forward in 2009... watch this space. Back to 2006 - 2007

Barn Restoration 2008