More hacking and chopping

After the excitement of the surveys last week, we are once again waiting for something to happen. Not wanting to waste any time we are continuing to do a bit of clearing in the garden. This weekend a rather large and vicious pyracantha has taken the brunt of my pruning shears and pruning saw (with a little help from the chainsaw). It didn't come down without a fight though and I bear the scratches to prove it. I only have another 3 or 4 of these to do now.....

This is the view before hacking and chopping

After a couple of sessions of extreme pruning the stone wall is now on view

This is the cuttings ready to burn.....

Ecological, topographical, structural and borehole surveys

There has been a flurry of activity this week with a host of surveys taking place; structural, ecological and topographical. The first two have been updates to previous surveys with this being the third time for both ecological and structural. The good news with the ecological survey is that bats haven't moved in since the last survey. However, swallows have returned to their established nesting site in the barns, in fact on the day of the survey! We were advised that we could board up the doors and windows to prevent them rearing young but since our builders won't start until September, we've decided to leave them as by that time they will have left for sunnier climes. 

Another area we have been investigating and I forgot to mention last week, is that we have had a site survey from a local borehole drilling company for ground source heating. Their initial survey was to see if they could get their gear up the narrow and winding line. Fortunately they are confident that they will be able to manage but with a bit of a struggle. The dratted lane has kyboshed a number of schemes so far including a residential caravan and a big storage container! The next step was to visit the mining records office in Mansfield to find out if there has been any mining activity in the area we have designated for our drill holes. Much as I would have liked to have gone to the records office I was at work and so couldn't go. We are slap bang in the middle of a mining area so the chances of there being no mines under us was going to be slim and despite the map records being numerous, very old and in some cases full of holes, it looks like there are former coal seams running very close to where we would want to drill. Apparently this might not be a problem at all as it depends how deep the seams run underneath, but that would take a surveyor to decipher the records to be absolutely sure, so the information gleaned so far been passed to the drilling company.

Topographical survey and bat man

Finally, some progress. A pre-planning meeting with the local Amber Valley District Council planning department has been held. This was to sound out some changes we would like to the current planning permission already granted.  This was a mixed bag of some being agreed to and some not. The main changes we needed were to plot 1 where the  L-shaped bit is very narrow and is a separate mono pitch roof. This can be changed to be a wider section of building and a dual pitch roof to be fully integrated into the rest of the building. The second change that was absolutely essential was to have permission for a front door for plot 2. Currently, the only access is all the way around the buildings and accessed via the courtyard, and again, this has been agreed to. The change that we wanted for our house which is plot 3 has not been agreed to. We would have liked a garden room extension as there are few openings into the walled garden; which is going to be our garden, but sadly this has not been agreed to. It's not the end of the world though, and I'm sure there will be other options for gaining access and views to the garden. The next step for us is to send our wish list to the architect indicating which are 'must haves' and which are 'would likes' and he will endeavour to fit it all in.  

A topological (or is it topographical?) survey has been booked for this week and with the results of this the architect can start our plans. You might wonder at a topological survey being commissioned as we already have plans. The reason for this is that the existing plans were drawn up by a different architect and do not contain all the measurements for the elevations. It will also ensure that the ground levels are measured around the barn so that all pipe work can be laid at the right level to make sure that the flows are in the right direction. It would be tragic if sewage didn't drain properly. 

An update to the existing ecological survey has also been booked. This is to check that bats haven't moved in since the last planning application was made.

For actual physical progress, this week we have been making inroads into the slightly jungly walled garden. Some trees have been taken down and are ready to be burned and the worst of the brambles have been attacked although they did their best to attack back. Some more of the canopy has blown down, but the rest is still standing (more or less). We have looked into having this taken down before the builders get on site, but it hasn't been so easy to find someone with the correct certification to remove the asbestos panels. Also, one of the barns is tiled with asbestos tiles and so it's not wise to remove them just yet as the building will then be completely open to the elements. They really need to be removed in one go as it is so expensive to get the asbestos removed and disposed of.

A few photo's of the garden and buildings....

Architect and Building contractor

After much deliberation, several meetings and quite a lot of angst, we now have an architect and a building contractor. Pheee-ew. As we have no experience whatsoever with barn conversions, we have put our fate (and our money) into someone else's hands. We intend to be involved as much as possible, but we have no illusions about our ability to project manage our barn(s) conversion. Hopefully we have made a good choice, but time will tell. We went for a local combination of architect and contractor with the decision being made on a number of factors; recommendation from friends, examples of their combined work and a gut feel, if you like, that they appear to be on the same wavelength as us. Why an architect when we have full planning permission? Well, inevitably we want to make a few changes to the existing plans and we need building regulation drawings as well as input from a structural engineer. All in all, we couldn't bypass the need for an architect. Unfortunately, this will add delay to the start time for our build, especially as builders all seem to be inundated with work. We have discussed endlessly how we could have done things quicker, but there is so much information to gather (for us newbies anyway) and after all, it will be the biggest expenditure we have ever made in our lives and we just cannot afford to get it wrong. So, that is that. Not much more will happen until we have our new plans in place, although it will feel more like our future home when we talk about our house wishlist with the architect. In the meantime, we will continue to research our heating and sewarage options, do a bit of gardening and ground clearing and look at bathroom and kitchen catalogues!

Barn Research

Our barns are Victorian brick and tile buildings and we wanted to research some similar buildings to give us an idea of the size of rooms and types of heating and construction.  After a bit of googling I found some holiday cottages in Yorkshire which seemed to fit the bill so booked a few days away. You have to understand that this was purely for research purposes and not at all for enjoyment! Anyway, the last few days away have done the trick on two counts - research and relaxation. The barn conversions were near Beverley in East Yorkshire at Broadgate Farm Cottages We stayed in 'The Stables' which was the perfect choice as we have stable buildings and really wanted to find out how they would feel for space and headroom. The conversion had been managed really well and although there was limited head room in the upstairs bedroom and bathroom, it was not an issue as there was plenty of room around the bed. Roof lights provided plenty of light unlike other barns we have stayed in before. Elaine the owner was kind enough to spend some time to talk about their ground source heating system and sewage treatment and to give some general hints and tips about conversions for holiday rentals, which was really helpful. It certainly gave us food for thought as the cottage was comfortably warm with the benefit of a log burner to top up the heat in the evenings, which was a good test as the weather was really cold at night. We had a good mix of weather with one day where it didn't stop raining and another where it was really cold and sunny. We tried to take note of everything, including the doors, windows, and door furniture as well as the obvious things like the kitchen, bathroom, wet room shower, log burner, underfloor heating.

Buying barns for conversion

Here is a bit about the background to our barn adventure. We had been looking for a project such as this for a long time. Our house was on the market and we were on the hunt for a building plot or a barn conversion, but only with planning permission in place. We were prepared to consider anywhere......... as long as it was in Derbyshire.  Still plenty of scope there, then. However, it soon became apparent that what we wanted and what we could afford were two very different things. No surprises there. We actually found a farmhouse and derelict barn in the White Peak area of Derbyshire which we would be able to afford (just) if we sold our house for the asking price. We were full of enthusiasm, regularly driving the not inconsiderable 30 miles up into deepest Derbyshire to investigate the area and plan our future. We made an offer and it was accepted - whoohoo. All we had to do was to sell our house for the asking price and persuade our teenage/young adult children that it was a great idea and all would be well. Needless to say we failed on both counts and our dream home was sold to someone else. It was a bitter blow, but in hindsight meant to be.  Four years down the line we still hadn't sold our house, in fact we had taken it off the market due to family and work reasons and we were restricting our search to a much smaller radius as our children had either left home and settled locally, or planned to when funds or weddings allowed. The financial climate was also against us and we gradually reduced the asking price of our house and reduced the price limit in internet house searches accordingly.

In spring last year we once again marketed our house, aiming at a different price bracket (ie reduced the price again). That, combined with the upturn in the housing market, meant that a lot more interest was being shown in our house. Time to house hunt in earnest. We had spotted 'our' barns originally in 2010 but they were beyond our means until they too seemed to be struggling to sell and the price started to come down. They were on the market, and then they were off, and then on again.  We had a formal viewing that summer and once again allowed our hopes to rise. At that time another set of barns within a mile of 'ours' were also on the market. An absolute barn bonanza. These were a bigger range of barns and consequently a bigger development proposition. Too big for us, we concluded, although we gave them a lot of consideration. It was all academic anyhow because we had still not sold and so couldn't proceed with anything. Then 'our' barns disappeared off the internet search and then the other  barns. All gone and time to move on.  We changed tack and started looking at building plots and house renovations. We accepted an offer on our house. Hoorah. We stipulated that we wouldn't move before (one of) our daughter's wedding and so had a little breathing room to find somewhere for ourselves. We found a couple we liked but one sold quickly and the other......weeeelll, we could see the potential, but......was it right for us? We decided to pop round to 'our' barns and make absolutely sure that there was no hope, and lo and behold, they had not been sold - yet - but a sale had been agreed. Oh well, that was that, then.  In the meantime, our sale fell through, booooo.....but then sold again. hoorayyyy. Our two remaining children at home investigated the possibility of buying a house together, and joy, they were able to get a mortgage. So now we were house hunting with them and also for ourselves, and we had a wedding looming. Busy times! We looked again at the house for renovation we had been considering and nearly made an offer. But just to be on the safe side, I made one last phone call to find out about the barns, just to make absolutely sure that they were out of the picture. As fate would have it, the sale had fallen through and if we could come up with the right offer, they could become ours, otherwise we could take our chance at their impending auction. To cut a very long story shorter, we managed to avoid an auction and became the proud, if trepidatious owners in December 2014.

Builders, Architects, Services....

January was a busy month of builders, architects and services. After Christmas we were concerned that time was slipping away and we were making no apparent progress. So, we resolved to follow up all the enquiries made in December and to come a lot closer to appointing a builder and architect. We made a list of things we needed to do and set about making appointments and working up a project plan. There are a frightening amount of things to consider....in no particular order:-

• Building contractor
• Architect
• heating system 
• sewage treatment plant
• insurance
• finance
• road builder

To find a building contractor we have been following up recommendations from friends, leads from Self Build and Design magazine, internet searches. Similarly for an architect, we have asked the builders who they like to work with as well as finding local architects. We are keen to have a good working relationship with all concerned - a good team will make all the difference. But how do you guarantee this? You can only go on your gut feeling (and a sensible quote). We feel very green when it comes to assessing an estimate so we are really going to have to trust our final choice of contractor and architect. 

The heating system is a whole can of worms. We are not on the gas grid and have decided that we don't want to go for oil or lpg heating. So now we are looking in the realms of the eco and renewable heat initiative world. The government RHI payments look on paper very attractive. But again, there is such a lot to consider; the initial cost of installation, the lack of reference sites in the area,  the maintenance costs. Also, should we go for a single boiler system to service all properties or a separate system for each. How would a single system affect the possible future sale of any of the barns. 

Sewage treatment is another area of potentially huge expense. Our planning consent stipulates a sewage treatment plant, however we are also looking into the costs of connecting to the mains system down the lane, or at the nearby conference centre.

The access lane to the barns is another source of concern. We are responsible for maintaining the lane and providing passing places. There are also connections for drainage to be made into the mains system where it joins the highway.

The list appears to be never ending, and these are the big issues. There is so much more to consider when it comes to bathrooms, kitchens, lighting plans, doors, door handles; well,  everything you need for a home. It's almost enough to put you off isn't it? On the other hand, it is absolutely fascinating researching all this stuff. It's a whole new world. We are off to the 'Build it Live' show next weekend on another fact finding mission. Who would have thought that it go be so interesting finding out about sewage treatment plants?

Lastly, the snow at Christmas posed a more immediate problem as the canopy attached to one of the barns is quite rotten in places and has begun to sag quite alarmingly. So, another round of builder phone calls to find someone to take down the canopy. Again, that is not as straightforward as it sounds because the roof of the canopy is asbestos filled concrete panels and so requires extra safety considerations and specialist disposal. Nothing to do with the barns seems easy, but then again, it means it's not boring!

Barns in the snow

No progress over Christmas, although it all looked very pretty in the snow.

We had a lovely walk in the snow to the barns and it all looked very picturesque and bright and shiny. Rather curiously we came across a sign for the local international airport. Nope, we are no where near East Midlands Airport, this is more your grassy landing strip in a field. The Santa Specials at Midland Railway Centre were in  chuff chuffing evidence as we walked home. Until we reached the road, you could almost imagine that we had stepped back in time.