Fairlea Steading

Spot the diference.

2010-07-13T03:11:00.000-07:00

Wind and watertight

2010-06-29T09:33:00.000-07:00

Well, almost. A bit more squirty foam, and it'll be as snug as you'd expect a granite cave to be.

Onwards and upwards. 1st fix is almost complete. Anyone fancy spending a week or 2 helping me to saw up insulation and cram it into the frames?

Oh, to see the pictures in their full glory, you do need to click on them.

Bit tidier now

2010-05-02T09:39:00.000-07:00

A bit more progress for you all to marvel at.

2010-03-17T12:50:00.000-07:00

At last, nearly 2 years since they were removed, the sandstone ridge tiles have been replaced. Nice to have it waterproof at long last. (It wasn't when we bought it)

Some more pics

2009-12-11T13:32:00.000-08:00

It has a roof, wall frames, and the slates are sitting in the farmyard waiting for the slater.

Turning point. - It was a barn, now it's an unfinished house.

2009-07-15T08:23:00.000-07:00

Well, sometimes you've got to be a bit roofless.

2009-05-26T00:34:00.000-07:00

Following a couple of weeks of (not constant) work, it's turned from a building into a seemingly derelict collection of walls.

Hopefully it'll be a building again soon.

Roof + Rope + Land Rover + Reverse =

2009-05-04T13:56:00.000-07:00

Don't worry, it was intentional.

Plenty firewood for the years ahead.

Small steps forward, but steps forward nevertheless.

2009-03-25T09:27:00.000-07:00

Lintels in the steading, and some more 'finishy' stuff on the garage.

Well, that's one less ladder to fall down.

2009-03-10T11:49:00.000-07:00

The ladder just right of centre is now just for decoration.
And the diagonal bit of 2 x 2 is a little insurance, but it seems pretty solid tbh.

Another step forwards for the garage.

2009-03-07T10:34:00.000-08:00

2009-01-28T11:42:00.000-08:00

well, the garage loft now has a floor

And stud walls

And it needs a tidy up already!

Can you spot the new window?

How about now?

2009-01-21T14:10:00.000-08:00

Update

The Steading is now lined throughout with the felt that will act as a damp proof course (Such things not being on the spec for agricultural buildings over 100 years ago. ) The crushed rock is now in level, and compacted ready for the concrete floor, and the retaining wall between the split levels is now built.

The granite for the new windows and doorways is sitting on a trailer in the farmyard, and all things being equal, the concrete floor will be in when the builder feels it's safe to put it down without it being damaged by frost, and once that's done the new openings will be made, and the builder will be almost finished.

The roof will be removed in early March, at which time the builder will come back to make sure the tops of the walls are in good order.

Then the roof trusses should be coming along in time to go back on sometime in late March, (As long as my structural engineer has done the sums) or perhaps early April.

And no, I'm not going to make that mistake again.

Then it'll be doors and wndows, and lots of dust and noise inside, but it will be a sealed building then, and I'll be free (Reasonably at least) from the vagaries of the spring weather.

As for the instrument of torture and delays that is the garage, it's moving forwards. The doors are on, even if they're not in their final form, the floor upstairs is laid, and the stud walls upstairs have been built. It does work as a garage though, I've changed a land rover engine in there over Christmas and Early January. Happily, on the whole, the rain doesn't come through the roof, much. That'll change in February, when the corrugated metal roof should arrive, and go on.

Outside there's a pile of even more timber, which is slowly but surely cladding the outside of it, so that at the very least it'll look finished. Even if it isn't. And it's now so heavy that I don't panic when I hear a gale blowing in the night. Much.

2008-11-17T04:16:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all who helped while I was crocked.

2008-11-17T02:16:00.001-08:00

To Steve, Wayne, Bill, Niek, Simon, and Dad, thanks so much for all your hard work. It's paid off, as the place is still standing, and can now be used for its intended purpose, even though I haven't completely finished it yet. Without you, I don't know where we would be.

Thanks so much.

Apologies if I've missed anyone, but I was on a lot of drugs at the time.

2008-09-29T06:44:00.000-07:00

This

Plus Gravity

=

I fell fromthe roof of the garage onto the ground, and was lucky to 'only' break both my wrists, quite badly. It's been a month now, and things seem to be on the mend. I hope it continues and doesn't interfere with the amount of work I'm able to do myself.

General progress report.

2008-08-14T08:35:00.000-07:00

What have we achieved in just under a year?

Well we sold our old house, moved into a rented place 1/2 a mile away from the steading, had a baby, bought the steading, sorted out various access issues, cleared the inside of the place, removed countless tons of earth / muck from the inside of the place in order to give us enough room inside for 2 storeys in one 'wing' and for the concrete floors, insulation, and underfloor heating in the rest of the place.

The drainage is nearly all in, one part of the steading has had its foundations underpinned, the crushed rock has been put into the place to form a clean, porous, stable base for the concrete is in, some walls have been removed, and some others have had holes made in them for doorways etc.

Outside the septic tank is in, the driveway and turning area is sort of in, it's not finished, but the cars and lorries won't sink into the mud, the timber shed has been demolished, and the 'garden' has been landscaped to a degree, and toms and toms of earth have nem dumped. There are many tons of building materials, one wall has had the pointing raked out, the base for the garage is in, and the garage is in the process of being built.

Am I happy with the progress so far?

I must admit that I am, we had a long lay - off while waiting for the rights of access to be sorted, and thereafter for the mortgage funds to be released. but it's really great to be at the stage of putting things back rather than taking them away, and I'm really enjoying building the garage at the moment.

(Colleagues please note, I'm not doing everything, there will be PLENTY to do on the 30th and 31st of the month)

I got wood

2008-08-14T08:25:00.000-07:00

To build the garage, I need lots of wood

(Which was kindly delivered last Friday, so I set about it with saws, screwdrivers, drills, and nails) resulting in this:-

Tip :- Don't try to lift a 4.8 metre section of wall by yourself. They're bloody heavy.

Digging out then putting back.

2008-08-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

Over the last month or so, the steading has been dug out as much as it needs to, and some material has been put back in, namely 50 tons of hardcore / crushed rock, and the drainage for the downstairs bathrooms. The main body of the place is on hold a bit while we wait for graite to be delivered. (Should be here in about 6 - 8 weeks) There is a bit of underpinning to be done though, so I won't be twiddling my thumbs.

I won't be twiddling my thumbs anyway, as the base for the garage is complete, and the timber for the garage is arriving on Friday. And I need to turn it from a pile of wood into a set of frames ready to be put up by some willing (and perhaps unwitting, although I hope not) volunteers. By the end of the month.

2008-06-26T08:10:00.000-07:00

Well, it's amazing what a good operator with an excavator can do in a day.

4 more days work and we should be in a much better position to do things like making a start on the garage etc etc etc.

The granite for the new openings has been prdered today as well.

I've got a point.

2008-05-15T14:20:00.000-07:00

Well, I've got to point.

The whole of the north wall of the steading is now raked out and ready to be repointed with nice new lime mortar. Hopefully I'll pick it up quickly............ Still, I'll get tons and tons of practice, much like digging, humping crap about, and clattering myself on the thumb with a hammer. And probably falling into holes I've dug - actually I've done that lots already.

The builders merchants are dropping off a load of stuff with swhich I can make a tremendous mess next week. And the electric is being connected up tomorrow.

It's moving - slowly, but it's moving.

2008-04-30T14:59:00.000-07:00

RESULT!!!

The right of access to lay a drain through our neighbours land has been granted, only 5 months after we bought the steading. (We tried to insist it was done before we bought it, but the seller dug their heels in, and put the steading back on the market. We took the chance of buying the steading and getting the deed done ourselves, and it's now paid off) Needless to say we do hold a somewhat tarnished view of the seller.......

Tradespeople permitting, it's full steam ahead now. The first lump of mortgage comes in tomorrow, and I'll be spending some of it on hiring a big digger for a few days, and a tractor and trailer, and buying a septic tank along with several tons of gravel. (About 20 to start with)

And probably an ill advised power tool or two, but I've already got a chainsaw, and nailguns. Anyone got any other suggestions?

Snow and drain.

2008-03-23T06:03:00.000-07:00

The sewer is now mostly installed, around the west and north sides of the steading, along with some perforated pipe for surface drainage. Some pics of the inside of the shell too.

Most of the standing water has drained away, following a bit of judicious digging under the wall where the orange poo pipe can be seen on the right. That was a nice job, lying in water digging under the massive stones of a 2 foot thick wall. Look on the bright side though, at least the poo pipe hasn't been used yet.

Quagmire - Tastic!

2008-01-23T04:27:00.000-08:00

2007-12-28T13:24:00.000-08:00

The work starts now.

Well, next week if I'm being honest.