Farmhouse Eco Refurbishment blog

Moving from Nottingham up to Baldersdale, was not without its challenges! We had realised from an early stage that a large removal lorry was not an option for our long narrow drive with overhanging trees. As we had been driving up from our rental property most weekends in any case, we had been travelling with…

  After gaining Planning Approval, the next mandatory approval we required for our project was a Building Regulations Application. Whilst Planning relates primarily to the exterior of the building, materials used and the impact on neighbours etc. the Building Regulations are a technical standard required for structural work, drainage, electrics, heating and insulation etc. The…

One of the first rooms to work on was a new utility room. The estate agents listed an outhouse as the utility room in the sales particulars, but we were keen to have a space that you didn’t have to venture outside to access! Our kitchen was eventually going to be quite open plan, so…

Our new borehole was fitted with a pump, to push the water up the field and fill up a 700 litre storage tank. As we had a barn approximately mid-point between the borehole and the house, so it made sense to locate the tank and filtration equipment here. This would avoid using up too much…

Our new borehole was fitted with a pump, to push the water up the field and fill up a 700 litre storage tank. As we had a barn approximately mid-point between the borehole and the house, so it made sense to locate the tank and filtration equipment here. This would avoid using up too much…

Our poor old roof was in quite a state of disrepair, and numerous large holes had been letting the weather in for some time. We knew from the first viewing that the roof tiles would have to be removed and replaced, and this was going to be one job we needed to leave to the…

Much as we’d like to have bought our own excavator, the budget wouldn’t quite stretch to it! Luckily a neighbour recommended a very good local contractor Andrew, who had a range of excavators for all occasions and made it look very easy. As we had no mains drainage connection, as noted in a previous post…

Weekend Commuting We had sold our previous home to enable us to be cash buyers, and were renting a property in Nottingham when we purchased on North Corn Park. When we had completed, we traded in Suzy’s car for a 4×4 and bought a used but solid builder’s trailer on EBay. We had collected numerous…

Planning Application Our property is classified as a “non designated asset” by the planning department, which although not Listed suggests it is thought of as having some historical importance and Conservation Officers are often consulted when planning applications are submitted. Although the Conservation Officer objected to the dormer design at first, we argued that a…

As this was to be our “forever” home, we wanted to consider not just the initial refurbishment costs but also the longer term running (or lifetime) costs of the building. We certainly didn’t have a huge budget, so needed to plan ahead and try and spend our money wisely in ways that would offer a…