Easter Lambs & Flat Floors!
- Hils B
- Apr 9, 2021
- 3 min read
Spring has sprung (more lambs!) and at last we have the first level of flooring down. Layers of thick insulation, damp proofing and all that went underneath that now topped off with the first pour of concrete. This is the first time we've seen the whole building with a level floor ... and it looks fabulous! Finally, we can start to imagine what the space is going to look like and start planning the pretty bits!
I thought I'd show you some 'before and after' pictures of the main living space in the long barn. This will be our utility, kitchen, dining and living rooms. Mainly open plan, with a mezzanine level above covering half the barn up to the end of the kitchen. From there it will be vaulted ceiling into the roof with a huge set of windows at the end leading on to a terrace. This is the view that we stood looking at when we felt 'this is where we are meant to be'. Gosh, that was almost a year ago now! So here are the Long Barn photos from how we found them with cow poo on the floor, up to today's freshly poured base layer. Still a way to go, but feeling progress is being made:
We were so lucky with the weather on concrete pour day. After a really warm Easter weekend, suddenly the temperature plummeted with early morning frosts and snow visible on the distant Brecon Beacons. We really didn't want temperatures to drop below freezing on the day of the pour. Luckily it was just warm enough so all systems go with the first of 5 cement mixers arriving nice and early. The site was a hive of activity and the rush was on to get all the concrete poured and levelled. It was amazing to see our team of guys sloshing about in their wellies - we were tempted to join in, but thought we'd just get in the way or worse end up with one of us buried in the foundations (if I had Emoji's on my laptop I'd put a curiously suspicious face here, and maybe a laugh!!).
The next job is to start building internal supporting walls and first floor in the 'Tower' area. The first steel lintel went in yesterday which felt momentous too. We are having a number of steels for lintels over the large openings, as well as for some of the new roof.
Our builders use a local blacksmith for this work but turns out he's quite an artist too. So Andrew and I went off to pay him a visit at his forge to discuss the pretty bits like stair rails and door latches. I have an idea that I'd love to design our own 'special bits' around the barns, so in the hope that finances allow us to be creative, I've been sketching some of the metal work that I'm imagining. I've also been having fun sketching the kitchen... this is the only way I can try to imagine living in a space, so although I'm not good at accurate drawings, the sketching helps me visualise and explain to others what I'm thinking - well, sometimes!
So whats next? Well, along side many other jobs around the site, the scaffolding should hopefully go up next week. This means work can then start on the roof which is a truly momentous stage. Once the scaffolding is in place the next time we will see the unobscured building it will be looking very different and hopefully more like a home. The roof is a huge job. All the tiles need to come off and be cleaned up (not too much!), then stored ready to go back once the new timbers, steels and all the other layers of battening, felting and insulation have been completed. I have to say I think this will be a very exciting time during which our main hope is that they don't find any bats in the crevices between the tiles and that the weather will be kind! Please join us in keeping everything crossed and if it's your thing, please also say a prayer or two!!
(Don't forget to look at the Gallery Page to see more updated photos)
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