I have a cunning plan

[zzzz]

Hi All
Long story cut short
I have sold up (UK) and bought a old barn in France to do up in my own time. The barn has recently been re roofed and is water tight. It has a solid concrete floor in good condition a small tractor, trailer and some plant have previously been parked on it.
The barn dimensions are 15ish meter long x 5ish meter wide.
I hope to joist out the whole ground floor area ready to take the wooden floorboards. There are plenty of 120x75x5meter joists (pine I think) in the barn that was included in the sale, they are all new, dry and treated.
I dont really want set the timbers in the wall and was wondering if 2 sleeper walls built in from the main walls and then another 2-3 sleeper walls in between those will allow me to use the whole joists in one length.
Under the floor will be well vented and I intend to insulate between the joists.
Hope this makes sense?
What do you think?
I want to make a start soon as living in a caravan under a hanger whilst clearing the barn out over the winter has worn a bit thin now.

Ta.

 

[luisdesign]

What are the rules in the local area about you changing the use of this barn for use as a home?

You may want to enquire about their equivalents of planning and building control before you get too far down the road.

As for the floor, if it is sound, then you do not necessarily need to go with a raised timber solution. You could potentially lay the right type of solid insulation down on top and screed over? It will keep the look and feel of the original barn style, but have improved efficiency.

It is a nice big floor area, but what height does it have?

 

[zzzz]

luisdesign

Thanks for your input.

All the paperwork and permission is in order.
I have 6.5 meter hearoom and maybe put a second floor in one day.
There are a few reasons for wanting to go down the timber route:
1 Timbers are already onsite
2 I think I can undertake the joists comfortably on my own.

Not sure I could get the materials onsite easily for the screed (nightmare access at the moment) plus I dont think I could get the screed level all over etc.
I forgot to say honeycomb sleeper wall with dpc and wall plate.
Any other takers?

I may not be able to respond straight away as I am normally grafting trying to make a bit of a track to the road with all the old rubble and stones, but I am usually on the net for a few hours a night before I pass out. Still it beats working .

Ta

 

[Graeme1983]

Im in a similar boat. Sounds good to me that you thinking about keeping the place well ventilated.

Be wary of the concrete floor, I guess its okay if its a big draughty barn but Ive got concrete floors in an old cottage which are keeping the moisture in and preventing the house breathing. When you start closing the place in, insulation, washing, cooking, breathing that concrete floor might end up as part of an inpenetrable barrier. My place looked fine when I bought it but when we started living in it the damp came right out. Concrete doesnt go well in old houses, neither does modern insulation or DPC.

Do some research and get hold of books if you havent already. Out of a few Ive read, this is my favourite:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Old-House-H...7721/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362431354&sr=8-1

The mantra in these books and from house conservationists is that modern doesnt mean better, its sometimes worse.

Look into Lime, Ive been using a bit of cement over the years, in my previous house but Lime was what the old houses were built with, its making a comeback as its more gentle on the house.