Progress Update

The build has progressed a lot since my last update.

Adam has completed one of the two new windows on the North Side, this was done in a similar way to the doorway but was complicated by the position of the beams and the size of some of the stones in the wall.

The first new window partly completed. The support posts, props and Strongboys are stabilising the wall whilst the work is underway

The finished window from the inside of the Barn

And from the outside - soon it will look as if it's been there two hundred years like the rest of the building.

 We've also had our new souterrain electricity supply installed and the old, ugly overhead cable has gone, the huge steel cable support has been taken down too:

 Barbara and I have been working on the fit-out of the lean-to, we've done the first-fix electrics and plumbing and have framed out the walls for the plasterboarding to follow. The lean-to will be one of the areas of the building that will be finished using conventional framing and plasterboarding; actually of course "conventional" in this case means modern rather than the techniques that the original builders would have recognised. We'll be using more traditional methods and more ecological materials in the main barn. Interestingly, after my previous blog post on my green confusion, the insulation in this picture is made from recycled bottles - so we'll be continuing our efforts to contribute to the stock of empty bottles to be turned into insulation ;o)

Framing using the French metal rail system (rather than the British tradition of using wood)

Electrical and Plumbing first fix in progress. The window we found and re-opened can be seen in the back wall.

Electricity "Connection Central" - hopefully we'll be able to connect all this lot up correctly.