A friend of mine who lives on a farm has the ruin of a small stone cottage on there land, which they are interested in developing into a small house.
They have had planning permission for the development go through twice, being allowed to lapse both times as circumstance changed, and have also have planning permission for developing it into a larger house turned down, which would have used the outline of a presumably once attached barn (now just footings and rubble, much of which is missing) and or some new build.
Like myself the are very independent competent people, who have contacts in the trade, however while if it was a largely sound brick constructed affair the rough gist of what would be required to complete it would be clear, being as it is the project is a little more complex. Currently as it stands there are three of four walls, include the gable walls, with chimney, and half an internal wall and staircase, but no roof or floors, and a partial cellar in poor state. The walls are basically ready to come down, and in many ways the best option would be do measure it up up a bit, and do just that, rebuilding them with suitable foundations, mortar, and a little straighter than they have now become, most likely being able to use the stone on the ground to make up the bulk of the missing wall, certainly I would estimate there is enough to make up the visible face.
But there is then a lot of decisions to be made as to the design of the rest of the project, for instance, how to achieve suitable levels of wall insulation without excessively compromising the available internal space. As space is at a premium there is also talk of extending the cellar to include the entire foot print of the house, which appears reasonable, but obviously has implications for the foundations (?) of the wall. For the floor, underfloor heating is being considered, both to remove the need for radiators which take up space, add an amount of thermal inertia to the building in lieu of the walls being internally insulated, and with the future expectations of adding ground source heating, although its expected that initially heating will probably be from a solid fuel (typically reclaimed wood) kitchen range type affair. Size wise it is perhaps 20*30ft externally. Location wise, its up a reasonable hill, about 5minutes walk from the farm house, and 150m from a historical track which is currently a bridle way.
Obviously there is a lot to consider, and at some point some professional involvement is undoubted going to be required, but like the owners, I am keen to support to process as much as I can and in doing so also learn about the restoration of such a building and would be interesting in anyone who can add to the topic.
Daniel
They have had planning permission for the development go through twice, being allowed to lapse both times as circumstance changed, and have also have planning permission for developing it into a larger house turned down, which would have used the outline of a presumably once attached barn (now just footings and rubble, much of which is missing) and or some new build.
Like myself the are very independent competent people, who have contacts in the trade, however while if it was a largely sound brick constructed affair the rough gist of what would be required to complete it would be clear, being as it is the project is a little more complex. Currently as it stands there are three of four walls, include the gable walls, with chimney, and half an internal wall and staircase, but no roof or floors, and a partial cellar in poor state. The walls are basically ready to come down, and in many ways the best option would be do measure it up up a bit, and do just that, rebuilding them with suitable foundations, mortar, and a little straighter than they have now become, most likely being able to use the stone on the ground to make up the bulk of the missing wall, certainly I would estimate there is enough to make up the visible face.
But there is then a lot of decisions to be made as to the design of the rest of the project, for instance, how to achieve suitable levels of wall insulation without excessively compromising the available internal space. As space is at a premium there is also talk of extending the cellar to include the entire foot print of the house, which appears reasonable, but obviously has implications for the foundations (?) of the wall. For the floor, underfloor heating is being considered, both to remove the need for radiators which take up space, add an amount of thermal inertia to the building in lieu of the walls being internally insulated, and with the future expectations of adding ground source heating, although its expected that initially heating will probably be from a solid fuel (typically reclaimed wood) kitchen range type affair. Size wise it is perhaps 20*30ft externally. Location wise, its up a reasonable hill, about 5minutes walk from the farm house, and 150m from a historical track which is currently a bridle way.
Obviously there is a lot to consider, and at some point some professional involvement is undoubted going to be required, but like the owners, I am keen to support to process as much as I can and in doing so also learn about the restoration of such a building and would be interesting in anyone who can add to the topic.
Daniel