The Old Cowshed
- Thread starter Lippyp
- Start date
My bathroom remodel
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=135141
Kitchen remodel
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=147287
General stuff from when we bought it last year
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=116466
Oh and my holiday home across the channel in France.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=104232
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=135141
Kitchen remodel
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=147287
General stuff from when we bought it last year
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=116466
Oh and my holiday home across the channel in France.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=104232
mynydd-graig
Member
Has there been any progress on your Garage?
I've just got PP for my own garage at my parents, 17' by 25', so finally get my own workshop in Shropshire.
I've just got PP for my own garage at my parents, 17' by 25', so finally get my own workshop in Shropshire.
Not really had time to do much tbh, been concentrating on house stuff and garden stuff. Finding the time to concentrate on it hasn't been possible so far this year. I have spoken to a roofer about reroofing it and adding a dormer over the door opening so I can actually get my truck in as at the moment the eaves are too low, 100 year old cowshed versus 45 year old american truck doesn't work!
pegase747
Member
Phil,
I ike your view on the french and I agree, another complex nation.
And I agree that we all hate parisians....LOL.
I am french myslef and I have an old house ( with a double garage as a basement ) in the Lot, above the river and with the vineyards as a view, and love the place, although I am originally from the Alps, I just LOVE that area, for its beauty, people friendliness, food and wine ( Cahors black wine ).
My neighbours are actually british and they are great nighbours, I wouldn't change them for parisians....
By the way this is my holyday house, as i live and work in Asia, in an ex-Bristish colony there....
Where are you in the Lot, I would love to catch up sometime...
Pierre
Hong Kong
I ike your view on the french and I agree, another complex nation.
And I agree that we all hate parisians....LOL.
I am french myslef and I have an old house ( with a double garage as a basement ) in the Lot, above the river and with the vineyards as a view, and love the place, although I am originally from the Alps, I just LOVE that area, for its beauty, people friendliness, food and wine ( Cahors black wine ).
My neighbours are actually british and they are great nighbours, I wouldn't change them for parisians....
By the way this is my holyday house, as i live and work in Asia, in an ex-Bristish colony there....
Where are you in the Lot, I would love to catch up sometime...
Pierre
Hong Kong
Hi Pierre,
We are up in the north of the lot, near St Cere, we have four departments meet near us, the Cantal starts about a kilometere away from our house, the correze and dordogne not far away. I've been visiting France with my family initially and then on my own since 1977 and have always loved it. We fell in love with the Lot after staying down near you in a Gite, just outside Lalbenque in 2000 (the year of the petrol blockades, we were staying in a house with no mains electricity, just a generator so the lights had to be rationed as we had little diesel so inevitably my wife came back pregnant!) We bought our house there coming up on ten years ago now. In fact we arrived back very late last night after closing the house up for the winter, had a little snow last saturday night and then went up into the mountains to look for more, ended up having lunch in Salers which is another favourite place of ours.
We are up in the north of the lot, near St Cere, we have four departments meet near us, the Cantal starts about a kilometere away from our house, the correze and dordogne not far away. I've been visiting France with my family initially and then on my own since 1977 and have always loved it. We fell in love with the Lot after staying down near you in a Gite, just outside Lalbenque in 2000 (the year of the petrol blockades, we were staying in a house with no mains electricity, just a generator so the lights had to be rationed as we had little diesel so inevitably my wife came back pregnant!) We bought our house there coming up on ten years ago now. In fact we arrived back very late last night after closing the house up for the winter, had a little snow last saturday night and then went up into the mountains to look for more, ended up having lunch in Salers which is another favourite place of ours.
pegase747
Member
Hi Phil,
yeah you are quite far from me.
actually i am near Prayssac and Puy-l'Eveque if you see where it is...
I will be there over Xmas and new year, and despite the crisp cold weather I am sure i will enjoy it a lot, will spend some time in the garage working on my Alpina-BMW, and enjoy the food, for a change from smoggy Hong Kong !
Cheers Pierre
yeah you are quite far from me.
actually i am near Prayssac and Puy-l'Eveque if you see where it is...
I will be there over Xmas and new year, and despite the crisp cold weather I am sure i will enjoy it a lot, will spend some time in the garage working on my Alpina-BMW, and enjoy the food, for a change from smoggy Hong Kong !
Cheers Pierre
Some new stuff gone up in the garage over the last couple of months, some I've had for a while and finally unpacked some I acquired last year. I have a date booked with an electrician friend of mine to come and help me get the place wired up in a couple of weeks time for beer and curry, and the paid electrician will be connecting the house end of the underground cable next week.
1930's Essolene Petrol enamel sign
French "!Piles Wonder" (battery company) enamel sign, my Texaco clock I got for christmas (modern repro) and my old shell anti-freeze testing station
old oil cans
oldest is probably this one, I reckon 1930's.
oil jugs and tins
Vintage warning triangle, old Bib brand (made by Michelin) oil can and my grandads old spray gun complete with kilner jar on the botton, I have the electric air pump for this and its dated 1947!
repro esso oil drop girl enamel sign I got for christmas.
French roadsign
Old bosch sparkplug display stand the red sign came from a WWII fuel depot,
old enamel raodworks "loose chippings" sign proably 1950's looking at the car!
Rather beautiful repro Lucas Lights enamel sign my wife bought me for christmas
Outside shot today in the snow
1930's Essolene Petrol enamel sign
French "!Piles Wonder" (battery company) enamel sign, my Texaco clock I got for christmas (modern repro) and my old shell anti-freeze testing station
old oil cans
oldest is probably this one, I reckon 1930's.
oil jugs and tins
Vintage warning triangle, old Bib brand (made by Michelin) oil can and my grandads old spray gun complete with kilner jar on the botton, I have the electric air pump for this and its dated 1947!
repro esso oil drop girl enamel sign I got for christmas.
French roadsign
Old bosch sparkplug display stand the red sign came from a WWII fuel depot,
old enamel raodworks "loose chippings" sign proably 1950's looking at the car!
Rather beautiful repro Lucas Lights enamel sign my wife bought me for christmas
Outside shot today in the snow
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CoerceCare
Active member
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2010
- Messages
- 43
That's cool & great use of the space
Hi Phil, nice project! Just stumbled across yours via the Concrete Underground mammoth build.
Some good friends of mine live (what can only be) spitting distance away from you, in a barn conversion they did with my friends wifes parents a few years back...Merryfields, Foxholes?...know it?
Cheers
Spencer.
Cris B
Well-known member
Any plans to re-roof the barn space and insulate? It was the first job we did when renovating our 1650s timberframe house in Norfolk. We reused most of the tiles and found other period ones at a local reclamation yard.
Yeah, a re-roof is on the cards for this summer, most of the timbers are wormy and have been eaten by rats at the back where they meet the wall back when it housed animals so all the timbers will need replacing, the front wall next to the man door is leaning outwards so needs to come down and be rebuilt and the back of the roof is in a very bad state, its half handmade tile and half slate with added holes! It'll get re-slated to match with felt underneath and then insulated when I can afford it. It also needs doing as I want to replace the wood purlins with steel so I can take out the two stub interior walls to open it up. The wooden purlins currently sit on that wall so need replacing with something that'll span both bays and also be strong enough to use a trolley and chain hoist on to pull engines etc.
The floor also needs to come up and have a proper concrete slab laid. I may also put some velux skylights in the back half of the roof to add some natural light into the mix and also allow some ventilation upwards if it gets too hot or smoky when welding etc. A secondhand woodburner will also be going into the workshop end if I can find one then it'll have a backboiler and be used to run a couple of radiators
Tha garage is victorian, we reckon probably 1880's, the oldest part of our house next to it is 1630.
The floor also needs to come up and have a proper concrete slab laid. I may also put some velux skylights in the back half of the roof to add some natural light into the mix and also allow some ventilation upwards if it gets too hot or smoky when welding etc. A secondhand woodburner will also be going into the workshop end if I can find one then it'll have a backboiler and be used to run a couple of radiators
Tha garage is victorian, we reckon probably 1880's, the oldest part of our house next to it is 1630.
I have power! Finally after 14 months of extension leads and a small generator for lights I have mains electricity. The underground cable went in early ish last year but now I've finally got both ends connected as we have had the main house re-wired so they conncted the house end on Friday and yesterday a friend helped me wire the garage end in. So far I have four double flourescents up and today we'll be getting the other two up and running a short temporary ring main for some sockets. It's going to make such a huge difference. Pictures to follow later.
Bogdan M.
Well-known member
Very cool building, really shows a lot of character with all those vintage things.
Olliecampbell
Well-known member
Looking forward to seeing this develop 
I currently have two Chev-ro-lets! My daily is a UK spec RHD S10 Blazer and my toy is a 1967 C10 long fleetside that I've owned for nearly ten years now. Its very slowly getting back to being roadworthy although I think the prolonged lack of use may have knackered the transmission as it now squeels like a pig in reverse.
This is them having a chat in the garden of our previous house.
This is them having a chat in the garden of our previous house.
Heres a couple of updated pictures from the weekend.
Main panel/Breaker box UK style, cable is 16mm2 (I think thas 5 AWG) three core steel wire armoured cable with a 63A breaker at the house end.
Let there be light, and there was! they are twin five foot flourescents and are the type that have a battery backup so one tube stays on in the event of a power failure, we jumpered the connections so they get charged by the switched supply only rather than a seperate permanent live. This means they do come on when you turn the lights on but it gives me light o lock up by!
The lights and panel were sourced used from ebay, the rest was new.
Oh and some temporary power sockets, these ar just radial circuits for now but when the roof gets done and the back wall gets dry then I'll put in a proper ring main. They'll still handle pretty much anything I can throw at them. I just have four doubles for now.
Main panel/Breaker box UK style, cable is 16mm2 (I think thas 5 AWG) three core steel wire armoured cable with a 63A breaker at the house end.
Let there be light, and there was! they are twin five foot flourescents and are the type that have a battery backup so one tube stays on in the event of a power failure, we jumpered the connections so they get charged by the switched supply only rather than a seperate permanent live. This means they do come on when you turn the lights on but it gives me light o lock up by!
The lights and panel were sourced used from ebay, the rest was new.
Oh and some temporary power sockets, these ar just radial circuits for now but when the roof gets done and the back wall gets dry then I'll put in a proper ring main. They'll still handle pretty much anything I can throw at them. I just have four doubles for now.
magnusk750
Well-known member
Kind of a francophile myself and talking about cars never driven anything but Citroen for 24 years, ie since I was 19. Lived in Aix en Provence for three months in 1990. The french people have their quirks, but who has not? I'd love to attend french autojumbles but that's still a thing on the to do list. Gues there must be loads of interesting stuff.
Did a bit of repair work on the workshop end today as I was hiding from the plasterer who has the house in uproar making good after the rewire.
I repaired my niche, this seems to be an original feature and I reckon it was probably so the farmer could put an oil lamp in there if he had to attend to his cows at night. I don't have a proper before picture as I forgot but the bottom had a missing half brick and was all over the place so I chopped a couple of the worst bricks out and replaced them and repointed the back and sides. I might have to turn this into a shrine to the workshop gods!
after
There are various missing bricks, the biggest from where there used to be a lean to on the end of the garage, the previous owner just knocked a couple of bricks out and shove some beams into the holes. I blocked the outside up a while ago and finally got round to repairing the inner skin today.
I did repair the bigger hole but didn't take a picture. It's all little steps but now the evenings are getting lighter and vaguely warmer I hope to crack on with getting the floor lifted and a new flat and dry concrete one laid soon. It's currently half old engineering bricks and half manky concrete and is very wet. It'll get a layer of rubble, sand and then a membrane and then concrete.
The big problem with the wall and the reason it's a bit green and very wet is that theres two roofs meeting in a valley and at the moment the old guttering that was there has long since collapsed, the top course or two of the wall are a bit dodgy and leaning out so the water is just running down the wall when it rains and then it sits in a sort of sump that runs along the other side of that wall with the niche in inside what was once a pig house. Presumably it was for the piggies waste products but now it's full of rain water. I drilled a hole as low down in the end wall as I could get to (its four bricks thick there and was a ****** to get through, killing the gearbox on my sds drill in the process) but theres still a foot or two of water so the plan is to pump it out. I've just picked up a submersible pump from ebay which should be here in the next day or two.
Once it's drained I can then get access to repair the top of the wall and put up the 6" wide industrial guttering I bought so that the rainwater from the roof doen't fill it anymore. I can leave the pump in place anyway as it has a float switch to switch it on automatically if water does get in. Then hopefully the back wall will dry out as its very wet at the moment. When the roof gets redone it might well be on the cards to actually put a proper lead lined valley in rather than rely on guttering.
I repaired my niche, this seems to be an original feature and I reckon it was probably so the farmer could put an oil lamp in there if he had to attend to his cows at night. I don't have a proper before picture as I forgot but the bottom had a missing half brick and was all over the place so I chopped a couple of the worst bricks out and replaced them and repointed the back and sides. I might have to turn this into a shrine to the workshop gods!
after
There are various missing bricks, the biggest from where there used to be a lean to on the end of the garage, the previous owner just knocked a couple of bricks out and shove some beams into the holes. I blocked the outside up a while ago and finally got round to repairing the inner skin today.
I did repair the bigger hole but didn't take a picture. It's all little steps but now the evenings are getting lighter and vaguely warmer I hope to crack on with getting the floor lifted and a new flat and dry concrete one laid soon. It's currently half old engineering bricks and half manky concrete and is very wet. It'll get a layer of rubble, sand and then a membrane and then concrete.
The big problem with the wall and the reason it's a bit green and very wet is that theres two roofs meeting in a valley and at the moment the old guttering that was there has long since collapsed, the top course or two of the wall are a bit dodgy and leaning out so the water is just running down the wall when it rains and then it sits in a sort of sump that runs along the other side of that wall with the niche in inside what was once a pig house. Presumably it was for the piggies waste products but now it's full of rain water. I drilled a hole as low down in the end wall as I could get to (its four bricks thick there and was a ****** to get through, killing the gearbox on my sds drill in the process) but theres still a foot or two of water so the plan is to pump it out. I've just picked up a submersible pump from ebay which should be here in the next day or two.
Once it's drained I can then get access to repair the top of the wall and put up the 6" wide industrial guttering I bought so that the rainwater from the roof doen't fill it anymore. I can leave the pump in place anyway as it has a float switch to switch it on automatically if water does get in. Then hopefully the back wall will dry out as its very wet at the moment. When the roof gets redone it might well be on the cards to actually put a proper lead lined valley in rather than rely on guttering.
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40p
Member
Just come across this whilst looking at another thread, I'm in shropshire too. Love the look of you garage bud, keep up the good work.
So a bit of an update, my life has been full of ebay hunting. I now have a woodburner for the garage but I'm still trying to run down some cheap flue as the double skinned stuff is eye wateringly expensive new and seems to really hold its value. Its a cute little scandinavian job with a solid front door with a picture of a moose on it, was sub a ton, needs a new ash box knocking up for it but other than that its good to go. Even has two openings on top so I can stick a coffee pot on it.
Today I addressed my lack of a workbench. It's been a right pain in the **** just having a B&D workmate to work on. In the last house I had a run of old kitchen units we ripped out but nothing here. I was going to build some having acquired a couple of old hardwood inch thick desktops to use as a top but on searching ebay hit on a bit of a gem. Today I managed to pick up two really heavy duty steel framed workbenches on Ebay for £70 each. These things are pretty epicly heavy, the top is 2" x 8" planks with a sheet of 3mm steel plate on top and they are 6' long by 2'6" deep, they have a steel cupboard underneath one end and a shelf under the rest. We nipped over to Brierly Hill in the west midlands to collect them, stuck one in my trailer the right way up and then slid the second onto it upside down (they had it sat upside down on a mobile bench so getting it on wasn't too bad) Getting them out was another matter, the top one came off in a barely controlled slide onto a couple of old boxes and then we heaved and wriggled it into one end of the garage. This one won't be used until I get the floor done in there. The other has gone into the end I'm working in at the moment and again was a matter of heaving the fucker off and dragging it. I'm gonna give it a clean up and then move a load of **** around this week to make permanent space for it and then handily my brother-in-law is down next weekend so he can help me shift it into place. The top looks worse than it is, it has a bit of surface rust in patches but most of it is goos as it's had some non slip matting glued on it , a quick buzz over with a wire wheel and a wipe with some oil is what it's going to get. Then I can run some power around to it and bolt my big vise on their and move my drill press on there too. I might eventually paint them military olive drab to match the old shelving.
Crappy phone pics, sorry.
Today I addressed my lack of a workbench. It's been a right pain in the **** just having a B&D workmate to work on. In the last house I had a run of old kitchen units we ripped out but nothing here. I was going to build some having acquired a couple of old hardwood inch thick desktops to use as a top but on searching ebay hit on a bit of a gem. Today I managed to pick up two really heavy duty steel framed workbenches on Ebay for £70 each. These things are pretty epicly heavy, the top is 2" x 8" planks with a sheet of 3mm steel plate on top and they are 6' long by 2'6" deep, they have a steel cupboard underneath one end and a shelf under the rest. We nipped over to Brierly Hill in the west midlands to collect them, stuck one in my trailer the right way up and then slid the second onto it upside down (they had it sat upside down on a mobile bench so getting it on wasn't too bad) Getting them out was another matter, the top one came off in a barely controlled slide onto a couple of old boxes and then we heaved and wriggled it into one end of the garage. This one won't be used until I get the floor done in there. The other has gone into the end I'm working in at the moment and again was a matter of heaving the fucker off and dragging it. I'm gonna give it a clean up and then move a load of **** around this week to make permanent space for it and then handily my brother-in-law is down next weekend so he can help me shift it into place. The top looks worse than it is, it has a bit of surface rust in patches but most of it is goos as it's had some non slip matting glued on it , a quick buzz over with a wire wheel and a wipe with some oil is what it's going to get. Then I can run some power around to it and bolt my big vise on their and move my drill press on there too. I might eventually paint them military olive drab to match the old shelving.
Crappy phone pics, sorry.
fergus
Well-known member
One of my favorite olde sheds. Glad to see you'll have a little warmth come winter.
pegase747
Member
Very nice Phil.Love the Ebay findings.
Pierre
Pierre
Some updated pictures now I've moved the bench into its temporary new home (temporary until I get the floor done in the third bay)
Looking towards the door
Garage hifi, Pioneer amp, Wharfedale speakers and an old philips portable CD player, still need to get a DAB receiver.
Have started a tidy up and chuck out on the shelving and re-orgainising the parts drawers and labelling them so I can find stuff.
Moved my tool box from one side to the other and relocated one of the red shelves
My new bench in position and I moved all the little parts drawers and bins to behind it. The vise needs bolting down as does the drill press. I still need to wire in the small flourescent light over it.
Looking towards the door
Garage hifi, Pioneer amp, Wharfedale speakers and an old philips portable CD player, still need to get a DAB receiver.
Have started a tidy up and chuck out on the shelving and re-orgainising the parts drawers and labelling them so I can find stuff.
Moved my tool box from one side to the other and relocated one of the red shelves
My new bench in position and I moved all the little parts drawers and bins to behind it. The vise needs bolting down as does the drill press. I still need to wire in the small flourescent light over it.
1/2 Cup
Member Emeritus
Thanks for the update, its looking great. I just love old buildings like yours - so much character.
firecracker
Well-known member
So Lippyp did you get the stove up and running ? lets see some pictures.
1/2 Cup
Member Emeritus
So Lippyp did you get the stove up and running ? lets see some pictures.
Agree, firecracker well said.
Not yet, I've been up to my eyeballs finsishing off redecorating my study in the house, building in a desk and shelving, changing the nasty fake leaded glass in the internbal doors/divider for clear glass and so on. Add on to that christmas stuff, running around like a blue arsed fly basically so no time to spend in the garage. It's nearly in but I still need to buy a few bits and pieces and weld together a new grille. Hopefully I might get some time out there between christmas and new year.
1/2 Cup
Member Emeritus
Yeah but I bet the weathers better down there than the cool, grey, damp and windy miserable **** we've been getting here! Been pretty mild so far this winter with just a couple of frosts but damp and horrible with a lot of high winds. I've got an old apple tree that blew over a couple of weeks back in a big storm that I need to cut up for firewood, we're supposed to be getting another big storm over christmas, so more high winds and rain, maybe just a hint of snow. Hopefully I'll get the woodburner in before it finally does turn properly cold.
My brother-in-law was over for christmas with his family. He owns a building supplies company so we set to with a tape measure and paper and made some plans about how we are going to sort out the roof/increase the eaves height over the car doors etc. He then sat down and worked out some rough costings on materials, comes to somewhere between £3K and £4K just in materials. We've kind of come up with a rough plan as to how we are going to get it done in stages, replacing the wodden purlins with steels first so we can take down the internal walls, get the leaning front wall fixed by jacking up the roof and taking the wall down etc etc. I think the roof might have to wait until next year for the final rebuild as thats the really expensive and time consuming bit as it needs all new timbers and the back half needs 40m2 of new slate plus extras for the dormer we're going to build over the doors at the front.
I'm going to start buying stuff as and when I can afford it or see it cheap and stockpile it until we're ready.
I'm going to start buying stuff as and when I can afford it or see it cheap and stockpile it until we're ready.
Thanks. At the moment the rafters are only 3 x 2's albeit =on 12" centres which is probably why its sagged. They'll be replaced with either 4x2's or even 5 x 2's which will allow me to push them out to probably 18" centres, the ridgeboard is a bit of probably 1/2" or less T&G, that'll be probably 6 x 1 timber to give us a bit more strength up top. The purlins in the two car bays will be replaced with two steel I beams, one end will sit on a 9" internal brick wall, the other end will go 4" into the gable end wall and I'll either need to build a brick pillar for more support or possibly a box section steel upright under it. Rafters will then be birdmouth cut over the purlins.
We will be turning the two car doors into one large one with box steel uprights and a steel I beam over. The roof will then kick up from the purlin to the I beam over the doors at a shallower pitch than the rest of the roof so I can increase the height of the doors by a couple of feet to 8" as they are too low to get either of my vehicles in at the moment as the floor rises by a good 6" inside as well as the doors only being 6". New doors will then need to be made, wooden barn doors, side hinged and possibly bi-fold.
The rear roof is totally goosed, it's clay tile rather than slate at the moment, many of which are totally perished, theres also a good chunk at the bottom thats been really badly repaired in slate. The roof timbers are all rotten at the ends and full of woodworm. (at the back they've also been eaten away to form a rat run when it was a cowshed) Theres a valley at the back where the roof of another outbuilding meets it and thats going to get a big box gutter to catch the rain water from both whcih will involve cutting the last 6" of the other roof off (corrugated fibre cement sheet) Theres some brickwork repairs needed to the top of the back wal whcih I'm going to try and do before the roof comes off. We will also get the steel beams in to replace the purlins first simply by putting them alongside the old purlins.
Keeping the character is a tough one. I'd love to keep the brick floor inside BUT its only half there, its very uneven so hard to roll jacks etc on, you lose small screws etc down the gaps and it's horribly damp. It will go to be replaced with concrete. The walls will remain brick, probably whitewashed with a traditional lime wash so it breathes and lets water evaporate. I'd like to insulate and board between the rafters to keep the look of the roof. Once it's more watertight then I can properly do the electrics.
I think the roof is going to get done by me and some friends but it's a big job, 80m2 of slate in which I want to fit two or three velux skylights and a chimney for the woodburner. Every bit of timber from wall plates to ridgeboard will need to be replaced followed by felt (tar paper) battens and then slates, not to mention constructing the dormer over the doors.
It's a toughie though as my budget is pretty limited so its going to get done bit by bit.
We will be turning the two car doors into one large one with box steel uprights and a steel I beam over. The roof will then kick up from the purlin to the I beam over the doors at a shallower pitch than the rest of the roof so I can increase the height of the doors by a couple of feet to 8" as they are too low to get either of my vehicles in at the moment as the floor rises by a good 6" inside as well as the doors only being 6". New doors will then need to be made, wooden barn doors, side hinged and possibly bi-fold.
The rear roof is totally goosed, it's clay tile rather than slate at the moment, many of which are totally perished, theres also a good chunk at the bottom thats been really badly repaired in slate. The roof timbers are all rotten at the ends and full of woodworm. (at the back they've also been eaten away to form a rat run when it was a cowshed) Theres a valley at the back where the roof of another outbuilding meets it and thats going to get a big box gutter to catch the rain water from both whcih will involve cutting the last 6" of the other roof off (corrugated fibre cement sheet) Theres some brickwork repairs needed to the top of the back wal whcih I'm going to try and do before the roof comes off. We will also get the steel beams in to replace the purlins first simply by putting them alongside the old purlins.
Keeping the character is a tough one. I'd love to keep the brick floor inside BUT its only half there, its very uneven so hard to roll jacks etc on, you lose small screws etc down the gaps and it's horribly damp. It will go to be replaced with concrete. The walls will remain brick, probably whitewashed with a traditional lime wash so it breathes and lets water evaporate. I'd like to insulate and board between the rafters to keep the look of the roof. Once it's more watertight then I can properly do the electrics.
I think the roof is going to get done by me and some friends but it's a big job, 80m2 of slate in which I want to fit two or three velux skylights and a chimney for the woodburner. Every bit of timber from wall plates to ridgeboard will need to be replaced followed by felt (tar paper) battens and then slates, not to mention constructing the dormer over the doors.
It's a toughie though as my budget is pretty limited so its going to get done bit by bit.
1/2 Cup
Member Emeritus
Little by little, Rome wasn't built in a day. Mine has been a work in progress for 35 years.
I liken it to a good bottle of red wine, matures with age.
Keep up the good work.
I liken it to a good bottle of red wine, matures with age.
Keep up the good work.
Yeah, I've waited 47 years to get a garage this size so a few more won't hurt. Our house in France has been a work in progress for about 11 years now and is nowhere near finished so I know the feeling of a long term project. I really do need to get the roof sorted on this as soona s I can though so I can actually get the truck in and also it's only a matter of time before something catastrophic fails on it!
Well, a plan is afoot as they say. My brother-in-law and family are down this weekend and I always line up a few jobs for us to do which we both enjoy. Just two middle aged blokes having a bit of a laugh and doing a bit of work. he's been in and around the building trade all his working life and currently owns a specialist building supplies company.
Tomorrow it's finally D day for the woodstove, I now have all the pieces I need to install it in its temporary location until I do the roof next year home. Just need to remove a few tiles, fit the flashing and put the flue together (sounds a lot easier than it almost certainly will be as access to the back roof is a pig) I still need to fabricate a new grille for the inside for the actual fire to sit on and a new ashbox but thats a days work with the welder tops.
Next week i am having a big ebay push to get rid of a load of extraneous stuff thats currently cluttering the end bay up which will take me one step nearer to it being empty and then I can dig up the old half brick half **** concrete floor and lay a new smooth concrete one complete with damp proof membrane. Once thats done I can make a decent door and frame and move all my workbenches and cupboards etc in to that end.
Tomorrow it's finally D day for the woodstove, I now have all the pieces I need to install it in its temporary location until I do the roof next year home. Just need to remove a few tiles, fit the flashing and put the flue together (sounds a lot easier than it almost certainly will be as access to the back roof is a pig) I still need to fabricate a new grille for the inside for the actual fire to sit on and a new ashbox but thats a days work with the welder tops.
Next week i am having a big ebay push to get rid of a load of extraneous stuff thats currently cluttering the end bay up which will take me one step nearer to it being empty and then I can dig up the old half brick half **** concrete floor and lay a new smooth concrete one complete with damp proof membrane. Once thats done I can make a decent door and frame and move all my workbenches and cupboards etc in to that end.
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