Month: June 2010

Spot the difference... Before undercoating: From Barn Conversion 2010 After undercoating: From Barn Conversion 2010 (Difference = Slightly darker / greener window frames)

... floor levels are dictated by a heady blend of building reg’s, foundations, ceiling height and final finishes - you need to consider each of these - tricky! What goes into the floor? Literally - hardcore, sand, insulation, a damp proof membrane - in many parts of the UK this will need to also be a radon barrier membrane, then the concrete or limecrete slab (more below). You should also consider slipping under-floor heating (UFH) cables or piping in there. Admittedly, UFH costs more, but it provides two things I like - no radiators and radiant heat (even heating throughout…

May has been a painting month. I started painting the exterior window frames in April and by the end of May I have almost completed under-coating all the windows (twice!). The 'eco friendly' Farrow and Ball paint we chose goes on quite nicely, but definitely needs a second, albeit quicker to apply coat to give anything like an acceptable finish. I've taken to using blue decorators masking tape that costs a fortune (well £6 a roll for masking tape seems like a fortune to me) but does stick well and the contrast makes it slightly easier to get a tight…

Interested to see that the sea off Wales will be home to one of the largest offshore windfarms in the world. Consisting of 160 wind turbines it should come online in 2014. I view that with a certain amount of ambivalence, on the positive side - Power from renewables has to be good.! It's a large capital project which is positive for the economy of both the UK and Wales. New technology is exciting! But there are also negatives for me - Foreign companies (Dutch and German) seem to be the main players and whilst this is a private investment…

Here I’ll consider architects, architectural technicians and touch on the other potentially pricey professionals such as structural engineers, that we'll need to employ to bridge the link between the unconverted building and the building work that will convert it. The Architect I spoke with some lovely architects when I started this project. They seemed to share my enthusiasm for the project and helped to provide me with the confidence to proceed. Costs can be a little tricky to pin down for architectural services since the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) did away with scale rates some years ago. This…