Above 1200 Sq/FT Drafty Barn into Everything Workshop - the VolksBarn? (100x40) (U.K.)

[VolksWomble]

I joined GJ to ask an odd question about a Snap On tool box… then I got sucked in! I’ve read and followed so many threads on here, and am finally happy to be able to add my own

I’ve mucked about with cars since before I was of legal driving age here in the UK - restoring and then race in Land Rovers and modifying watercooled Volkswagens mostly, with brief distractions along the way. Growing up on a small farm in the SE of England using my dads (extensive) workshop, building a single garage at our first house, and then about 2005 getting some space in a friend’s barn that I turned into a workshop I thought I was reasonably sorted, but always really wanted to have the workshop located with the house. Nearly 2 years ago now, a number of things happened which rather gave us the push to sell our house and look for somwhere that would fit the bill.

The story of actually selling and moving is long and painful, but is a topic for another time (as well as an illustration of how broken the U.K. property market is…).

Suffice to say that in early January this year (2024) we finally moved into our 3 acre ’farm‘ 150 miles away from where we were… but with the addition of a 100’x40‘ (30m x 12m) barn and a number of outbuildings.







There’s a lot to do here, to get this up to where I can even start playing with cars again… so far I haven’t even moved out of the old place 3 hours away as the barn has a dirt floor. One of the shipping containers is serving as a temporary garage/shop whilst the other is storage. I have not yet decided what course of action to take with the brick garage and the tin shed…

So, I will try and update this when there is stuff to show, but progress may be patchy! Hopefully it’s of interest to some people here…

 

[VolksWomble]

So, here’s what the barn looks like inside - I’ve just dumped a couple of my trailers, one of our T3 Westfalia campers (Vanagons ) and my Porsche 987CS.

The barn already had the 4 post lift installed, and I negotiated the cherry picker, the lawn tractor and the forklift separately. Strangely they all now seem to be projects too…

The biggest issue here is that the floor is just dirt, and very dry dusty dirt at that. The plan is to dig out to 12”, add 6” of aggregate and then 6” of fibre reinforced concrete. The two existing concrete pads will be broken up and the whole are done as a single slab. I will also need to address the less than weatherproof siding and the lighting and electrics… all in good time.



Here‘s the forklift - it kind of runs and drives, but needs a head gasket and a water pump… I’ll get to that at some point.

there’s also a very dubious construction in the corner, which needs to come down so we can break up the concrete that’s there.



underneath the black particle board are 8 full sheets of 1/2” plywood. Plywood is expensive stuff, so the will be dismantled rather than demolished!

first job was to shore up the roof so I could get down the POs ****… I felt that a me shaped hole in the roof would rather hinder my plywood reuse plans!



they don’t look like much, but they lasted long enough for me to get up there, throw some stuff down and make it back down without incident.







Deconstruction Complete… the ply has all been de-nailed and put to one side, and I haven’t decided whether to invest the time in de-nailing the framework yet.

next job is to uninstall the 4 post lift ready for concrete before the end of the month…

 

[Geoff289]

Welcome aboard from downunder, you'll like it here. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with the place,

 

[davejo]

Is that a UK version of a tobacco barn? I like it

 

[VolksWomble]

Is that a UK version of a tobacco barn? I like it

Tobacco isn’t a common crop in the U.K.,

 

[VolksWomble]

Sadly, not much to report on the barn - we’ve had friends round this weekend, but next weekend is the big clear out ready for concrete.

in the meantime, we’ve had unseasonable amounts of rain here in the U.K. Locally to us the rivers are very high with some localised flooding. So much so that a new lake has formed in our bottom field! more concerning however is that several of our outbuildings seem to be sited at the point everything wants to drain to :/



i had planned to use the brick shed as a machine shop, but as of this afternoon there is 3” of water in there, and rising. The Tin Sheds future is unknown, but neither building are really suitable for anythin I want to do in the short term, which is somewhat frustrating. My plans to demolish, regrade and lay a new slab(s) and put up new buildings may have to be accelerated!

I’ll update with the barn clear out as it progresses…

 

[VolksWomble]

this last weekend’s task was to get the barn floor clear ready for contractors to dig out and concrete this week. Once I had moved out the Campervan and the Porsche, this is where I started…



Two of the trailers got deposited in the field next to the barn



but the third trailer had a slight interference fit issue with my truck…



so, had to come up with another method… its not stupid if it works, right?



the hard bit was then to move the lift out. This is a Bradbury 4 post lift (old picture, there was no car on it this weekend).



I didn’t take any more pictures, but suffice to say that despite draining the hydraulic oil from the tank, I had not accounted for the remainder of the oil in the ram. Luckily the floor was being removed, beacusethe oil went everywhere!

eventually, having removed the 3 posts and the ram, the rest got moved outside…



let the digging commence…

 

[VolksWomble]

On Tuesday the guys turned up, set some levels, and got cracking with the digger…



The intent is to have 6” of ******** base, and then 6” of fibre reinforced concrete. I decided 6“ is plenty strong enough for my purposes without steel reinforcement.

so that meant roughly 12” of material to move - roughly 4000 cubic feet…

By the end of the day we had a big pile of dirt,



and a long, wide shallow hole (and a recalcitrant forklift)…





Day 2 progressed in a similar vein… but I was at work. So no pictures I’m afraid…

 

[Dividing Creek]

Hi,
Congratulations of your new home and outbuildings. Your path sounds a great deal like mine.
Could you explain the upper sidewalls on your building. Trying to understand whats going on there. Appears to be a galvanized slat type system over plastic sheeting thats blown out ? I see the benefit of the light passing through but otherwise seems to leave a lot to be desired ?

 

[VolksWomble]

Hi,
Congratulations of your new home and outbuildings. Your path sounds a great deal like mine.
Could you explain the upper sidewalls on your building. Trying to understand whats going on there. Appears to be a galvanized slat type system over plastic sheeting thats blown out ? I see the benefit of the light passing through but otherwise seems to leave a lot to be desired ?

Hi there, Thanks for your interest Nice Defender in your profile pic

Like you I have also spent a while trying to your out what’s going on with the sidewalls and your assertion that there is any kind of system in place is probably over stating it!

Firstly, the two sides are different - one side is 6” wooden boards run vertically with a roughly 2” gap between each board - let’s call that the north side. The other (south) side is galvanised corrugated box section steel sheeting, but with the upstands(?) in the box section being perforated… This leads to quite a lot of wind blowing through, and a fair bit of rain too - hence the drafty barn moniker in the title!

Essentially the barn was erected in the late 80’s, and I think it was second hand then. This place was operating as a small farm, so was used for animal and equipment housing rather than as a workshop, so the need to keep it very well ventilated seems sensible. I also suspect the differences are very much a case of making use of what was around at the time.

At some point in the past a PO has attempted to improve the situation by attaching polythene sheeting to the inside of the siding with wooden battens. That sheeting has now gone brittle and has largely started breaking up, making a right mess everywhere.

Once the new flooring is in place, one of my first tasks before moving all my stuff 150 miles across the country is to erect a scaffold tower and work my way around removing all of the battens and broken up polythene.

I am also currently investigating getting a contractor to come and replace the siding on the south side to improve the waterproofness - usually I would attack these things myself, but am tempted just to get it done for expediency.…

 

[STINEY]

This looks to be a good project to follow along with. Always fun to watch a place with a new motivated owner.

Like you, we bought a place that needed lots of attention. You are off to a great start!

 

[MrPink]

Welcome, from another VW owner.

 

[f121]

Good barn!

 

[jollygreengiant]

Congrats on the new property. Is there farmland as well or just buildings?

Your description of the walls on that barn certainly sounds like it was used for livestock. Lots of ventilation but still has a roof and mostly covered walls to keep out the rain/wind.

I'll be following along, it's always interesting to see how things are done in different areas. And I'm a sucker for old buildings being given a second life.

 

[VolksWomble]

Like you, we bought a place that needed lots of attention. You are off to a great start!

Thanks! Any chance of a build thread?

Welcome, from another VW owner.

Thanks There will be some more VW content just as soon as I can get the rest of my workshop here!

 

[STINEY]

Thanks! Any chance of a build thread?


Thanks

Yep. Clink the red links in my signature line area.

 

[VolksWomble]

Good barn!

I have yet to meet a bad one… but thankyou

Congrats on the new property. Is there farmland as well or just buildings?

Your description of the walls on that barn certainly sounds like it was used for livestock. Lots of ventilation but still has a roof and mostly covered walls to keep out the rain/wind.

I'll be following along, it's always interesting to see how things are done in different areas. And I'm a sucker for old buildings being given a second life.

Thanks for the interest. I’ve followed your schoolhouse build keenly!

We have 3 acres - we really didn’t want any more land as we didn’t want the extra work. We are surrounded by fields, so get the outlook without the upkeep.

 

[VolksWomble]

Yep. Clink the red links in my signature line area.

Lol, I knew as I posted that comment that I hadn’t checked your sig…

 

[VolksWomble]

some more progress inside the barn, with the ******** going down…



we are using crushed concrete rather than virgin aggregate, and thats fine with me. Our contractor is licensed to deal with waste concrete and ********, so it saves him buying it in.

sadly the weather is still one of the wettest February’s ever seen, and that means everywhere has turned to mud



getting the truck in and out of our front gate has meant our driveway has rather suffered, and I dread to think what’s going to happen on Monday with 8 or so loads of concrete coming in… but they guys have promised they will make it good before they go.

by the end of today they had blinded off the ******** with fines, so ready to roll out membrane and pour on Monday…





I can’t believe I’m getting excited about concrete… but I am

 

[68400BIRD]

I am now too. Bring on the new pictures.

 

[STINEY]

There are people who DON'T get excited about concrete? How odd.....

 

[VolksWomble]

There are people who DON'T get excited about concrete? How odd.....

I know, right!

So, without further ado… a run down of todays concreting activities - or at least those pics I grabbed in between work meetings!

It was cold and frosty this morning, but at least it was dry. the guys rocked up with all the kit



Levels were set and the first cement wagon arrived and promptly looked rather lost inside the barn…



The first load didn’t even touch the sides… this place swallows materials!




Apparently this was only a 6m^3 load - the rest would be 7.5m^3 loads… luckily I managed to get the front doors fully open (there’s a roller door on the inside) and the wagons kept coming…




a couple more trucks full…



And by lunchtime, they had reached the front door - I have to admit I lost count of how many loads this was, but I did start to recognise the drivers after a while! My rough calculations would suggest 8 wagon loads…



The threshold for the back door turned out to be 6“ higher than threshold at the front, so we set the floor level to split the difference. The plan had been to put a gradual ramp at the front door, so dug out appropriately. However, after all the trucks this morning the existing threshold was breaking up, so the guys brought the level out to the door, and put a new threshold in. It does mean the concrete is rather thicker here than the target 6” - as you can tell by how far up the guys boots it came!

There also seemed to be rather more spare than we expected… so we also added a small apron outside too.



Eventually it was ready to start the float action…



Its nearly 9pm here, and they are still at it…

 

[Geoff289]

That's a lot of concrete!

 

[sawduststeve]

Very nice, well done fella.

Steve

 

[ConCretin]

Wow. That's some serious gear. Laser screed and riders. You should get a very flat floor. Congrats!

 

[VolksWomble]

Wow. That's some serious gear. Laser screed and riders. You should get a very flat floor. Congrats!

Thanks, these guys really know what they are doing - this was only a small fill in job for them! The laser screed is an impressive piece of kit, and a big investment - despite being fairly small, when tested it was achieving far better tolerances than much bigger bits of kit. Overall, it’s far better than a bit of 4x2 and a hand float!!

 

[jollygreengiant]

Very nice! You'll be loving that new floor, especially the apron out front.

I don't see any rebar so I'm assuming you went with fibre? How thick was the pour?

 

[MrPink]

looks good so nominal thickness of 6" or 15.25cm?

 

[goldtooth]

T3 Vanagon Camper! Awesome, we have one as well. Looking forward to seeing how this all goes.
nate

 

[VolksWomble]

Very nice! You'll be loving that new floor, especially the apron out front.

I don't see any rebar so I'm assuming you went with fibre? How thick was the pour?

the apron is only very small, but will work very well. 6” thick concrete with fibres but no rebar. 6” will be plenty thick enough for my loadings.

 

[VolksWomble]

following the pour on Monday, the guys applied a sealer and cut the control joints on Tuesday. Sadly the left a bit of a mess which I’m still awaiting them to come and clear up to get a decent picture. The slab needs some time to cure, so I’m (im)patiently giving it a couple of weeks before I start putting vehicles back in the barn. I’m also hoping the guys put some sealer into the control joints when they come, but I think that also needs a bit of time to ensure it’s shrunk back enough to allow the sealer to bridge the gaps.



underneath the cutting muck, the finished floor surface is fantastic - far better than I had hoped for! I’m almost afraid the start working on it!

in the meantime, I went shopping at the local auction…





it’s an Iseki 545 which has definitely seen some work, but I think it will do me fine for a while...

 

[VolksWomble]

As an aside, I’m also working on getting some of the other buildings into use - getting the containers (connex boxes) into use, and converting the stable into a gym. Let me know if people are interested in following along with some those projects too?

 

[Chrisb62]

Of course we want to see more, and personally I love seeing old buildings brought back to life.

 

[Jayman17]

That new concrete floor is such a huge improvement! You will like that for sure. Enjoy!

 

[roger440]

This looks fantastic. Gets expensive real quick at these sorts of building sizes though!

Ive got an 80x40, though it did have a floor. Similar project, 5 acres, etc. Like you have bben shopping for "gear".

Like you, again, i moved 140 miles west to achieve this. Can i ask roughly where you are?

 

[VolksWomble]

This looks fantastic. Gets expensive real quick at these sorts of building sizes though!

Ive got an 80x40, though it did have a floor. Similar project, 5 acres, etc. Like you have bben shopping for "gear".

Like you, again, i moved 140 miles west to achieve this. Can i ask roughly where you are?

It really does! We are in Worcestershire. Did you put up a thread about your ’new’ place?

 

[f121]

As an aside, I’m also working on getting some of the other buildings into use - getting the containers (connex boxes) into use, and converting the stable into a gym. Let me know if people are interested in following along with some those projects too?

Definitely, reading about other people’s projects makes me feel better about neglecting my own.

 

[roger440]

It really does! We are in Worcestershire. Did you put up a thread about your ’new’ place?

We are in mid wales, near Llanwrtyd Wells.

No, ive not posted anything. Since coming here its been a bit of a whirlwind, initally getting the place habitable and vegetation under contol.

Theres one pic on my last post here: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=265998

 

[VolksWomble]

We are in mid wales, near Llanwrtyd Wells.

No, ive not posted anything. Since coming here its been a bit of a whirlwind, initally getting the place habitable and vegetation under contol.

Theres one pic on my last post here: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=265998

That’s a shame for us but completely understandable! I remember reading your thread a while ago, before we found this place, and that picture alone really peaked my interest.

 

[roger440]

That’s a shame for us but completely understandable! I remember reading your thread a while ago, before we found this place, and that picture alone really peaked my interest.

I was rounding up all my pics that ive taken since we got here, in one place yesterday evening. Starting to look like a thread that could happen