Barn Conversion in Ireland

[Rob55]

Hi guys, thought I would show you the project I have been working on. I am working to a small budget, however as you will see it's a 100 year old barn renovated to a modern workshop with space for 2-3 vehicles, compressor, safe tool store, toilet, etc. Foundations have also been laid for a 2 post lift which will come later this year.

Barn was originally in 2 halves - general store on the left and secure parts store on the right. Very messy and full of old junk from my dad's entire life of hoarding

We then modified the entrace to include a new 12 foot wide opening in a better place to allow access for a lift to go up into the far left corner of the barn. Oh and a new exterior door for access to the toilet.

Then some interior demolition to break down the partitions currently dividing the place up.

Trial fit of the Landcruiser

Digging out the bases for the lift posts

New floor poured before powerfloating

Measuring up the new doors

And then the agonising job of chipping the old limestone walls. This was the worst part of the whole thing, it took days with a hammer and chisel followed by an extremely powerful petrol power washer to clean the face of the stones ready for scudding and plastering.

Secure tool store built with awesome steel doors salvaged from another job

Then the plastering...

Plastering finished and a trial fit of a few toys

Wiring finished including trunking around the walls wired for 110v and 240v sockets, high amp welding socket, plus my 3 phase switch gear for the compressor, sander, polisher and grinder

Fixed airline fitted in place

Currently painting the new walls which are soaking up a ton of paint! Next jobs include sealing the floor with pva, building my work bench, finishing the ramp outside and moving in all my tools. I also picked up a great old Record No.25 fitters vice which I will restore soon.

Rob

 

[regguy1]

You're making great progress, the place is looking great

 

[930dreamer]

What a transformation, nice work.

 

[ODIS]

Beautiful progress! A great transformation to date. Will you be heating this new space and if so, how will it be heated? Do you know how old the original structure is? Perhaps in your family for generations? Looking forward to seeing the next steps you will take on this restoration.

Best of luck in all you do.

Ody.

 

[jabberwoki]

Mate thats going to be ****** beautiful!
What are you doing for heat?

 

[tinbender 66]

Beautiful! I love to see an old building get new life!

 

[dittle fart around]

Like the electrical on the walls. Worked a lot of industrial wiring jobs and the trough system is great. You never have mess with conduit when you need more circuits. Just open it up and add more wire.

 

[sam 8]

You've done a lot of work and it shows, congrats.

 

[mrobins297aaa]

very nice.........thanks for sharing

 

[Rob55]

Thanks all. At the moment I have no plans for heating, I will probably buy a portable space heater to take the chill from the air. As for the electrical trunking, I was lucky to salvage all of that from a nearby factory being stripped along with all my lights, sockets and 110v transformer.

The barn is anything up to 100y/o and has been in the family for 4 generations since my dad's grandfather moved here and bought this farm. It is connected to a set of stables in similar condition, which also need a lot of work, but as we don't keep animals anymore I'm not too sure what to do with them!

Rob

 

[Rigpig]

Amazing difference, looks like it was alot of work with great results! Good luck with the rest of the project and keep the pics coming.
Cheers!

 

[shoots]

love it looks great, got any links to the suppliers for the airline you have used??

 

[NASMAN]

Super Save. Always like seeing these older buildings that are structurally strong, saved and brought into a new and useful live.

 

[sooperdave]

I love it

 

[amolaver]

as others have said, amazing transformation. i see many hours of hard work to get where you are, and the results sure look worth it. great job!

ahm

 

[sbhockey]

Wow, lots of work and it's looking good. I personally wouldn't have plastered over the limestone walls. But it's your shop, build it your way. Keep up the good work.

 

[Arnee]

Nice eletrical job... like it.

//AA

 

[Aaron P.]

nice one rob.....great to see another one from ireland.....will you ave enough room when a car is on the ramp for clearance with the collar ties???....keep the pics coming.....

 

[ct71rr]

Wow, nice job. That place is going to be awsome!!

 

[Wastedwagesracing]

Way to cool, thanks for sharing.

I like some more info on the wiring system and components.

 

[johnmcg]

Rob looks mega great to bring a building back, I will watch with interest on the floor coating
it has been a real pain for me and i am still unhappy with it

 

[alfazer]

Nice. You've been hitting the school clearout auctions by the look of those machines.

 

[Wastedwagesracing]

Not to hijack but that wiring system is what I have been looking for. I have searched the net and have not found anything close. Can anyone offer up some info?

 

[kered]

It's called "Dado Rail Trunking" or "Perimeter Trunking" & is widely used here, particularly in office environments.

More often than not it's split internally into three separate wiring run channels, with the central, larger channel for mains voltage runs, for the likes of switches & sockets. Then one of the smaller channels would be used for data/comms wiring. With the third one for whatever else you might like to run separately, such as alarm system or perhaps cctv. All depending on your specific application.

Many electrical manufacturers make versions, among them......

Legrand

Schneider Electric

Marshall Tufflex

Crabtree

A page of Google images for "Perimeter Trunking" can be seen Here

Hope that helps

 

[SpeedyGee]

Great transformation !! Looking good.

Question about the piping for the compressor line .. what is that stuff ? Speedfit ? It is rated for high pressure air lines ?

 

[Wastedwagesracing]

It's called "Dado Rail Trunking" or "Perimeter Trunking" & is widely used here, particularly in office environments.

More often than not it's split internally into three separate wiring run channels, with the central, larger channel for mains voltage runs, for the likes of switches & sockets. Then one of the smaller channels would be used for data/comms wiring. With the third one for whatever else you might like to run separately, such as alarm system or perhaps cctv. All depending on your specific application.

Many electrical manufacturers make versions, among them......

Legrand

Schneider Electric

Marshall Tufflex

Crabtree

A page of Google images for "Perimeter Trunking" can be seen Here

Hope that helps

Thank you very much.

 

[Hephaestus29]

Someone else already said it, but "Thats a Transformation" for sure. Looking great.

 

[gricegear]

What a major change! Lots of work went into what you have done already. Nice job on saving a good building.

 

[DrBobOh]

Oh man that looks like a great place to get some work done!

Not gonna lie, I was sort of digging the stone-walls!

 

[Herb]

Does anyone in the US use these systems?

 

[Rob55]

Cheers all. The electrical trunking is a great job, looks good, very tidy, and leaves room for almost infinite expansion

As for the stone walls, they were quite pretty once they were washed back, but the lime holding them together was crumbling to pure dust, I'm much happier having them rendered to give them much more strength.

Great transformation !! Looking good.

Question about the piping for the compressor line .. what is that stuff ? Speedfit ? It is rated for high pressure air lines ?

Yes John Guest Speedfit - specific airline application though. I have been warned they aren't the greatest, but I know a friend has had the same in for almost 10 years with no problems so far. Plus, it's pretty cheap!

 

[Rob55]

A little more progress today. I used some old golf tee mats to cover the storage area above my tool store, it might seem a little strange but we have heaps of them lying about so why not! The main benefit is I can now store fragile body parts up there without the worry they might get scratched.

Picked up some 9x3 timber for my work bench. I know steel is usually preferred as it makes earthing while welding much quicker, but I just prefer the feel of wood. Total length will be 14' long

Finally, I added a little artwork to my steel doors, some nice prints I have collected over time. Need some suggestions for 2 more to finish it off????

 

[theoldwizard1]

Picked up some 9x3 timber for my work bench.

Is that a common size over there ?

Closest we would have is a 2x10 and after surfacing it would be about 1.5x9.25. I have never heard of a 4x10 !

If you live in the "right" area, there are saw mills where you can buy lumber, typically not dried, that is full dimension.

Dry hard woods (maple, oak, cherry, etc) are ridiculously expensive !

 

[Rob55]

Yeah 9x3 would be common enough. This is "deal" which basically translates as white soft wood. But it's heavy enough to make a fine bench.

 

[Rob55]

Rob looks mega great to bring a building back, I will watch with interest on the floor coating
it has been a real pain for me and i am still unhappy with it

What have you used John? I powerfloated the floor but I'm not too happy with the results, the floor is dusting a fair bit which it shouldn't be. I hope a 50/50 mix of PVA and water will seal it.

Nice. You've been hitting the school clearout auctions by the look of those machines.

Yessir, well spotted

 

[theoldwizard1]

Yeah 9x3 would be common enough. This is "deal" which basically translates as white soft wood. But it's heavy enough to make a fine bench.

White soft wood = pine

There are many different species of pine in the US depending on where you live. It is the most common;y used lumber for framing houses.

In SE US (GA, NC, SC) they have a hybrid tree call Southern Yellow Pine. It can grow more than a foot in one year. It is grown commercially.

 

[Rob55]

Some more progress. Place is now painted and looking nice and bright

I also used a mix of PVA/water to seal the new concrete. It was power floated but the guy didn't do a great job so the floor has been dusting like crazy Hopefully this should cut it down.. hopefully

Hopefully should look a bit more uniform when it has all dried out.

 

[ODIS]

It all looks very nice. Best presenting garage in your area would be my bet!

Ody.

 

[timbitca]

Looks good! Love the transformation!

 

[Bib Overalls]

The animals may be gone but a man needs a place to keep his horsepower. I'll bet you expand into the stable at some point. Your lucky to have that kind of space and the vision and ability to not only save it and bring it up to date but to make it your own.