The real cost of barn conversion

[philt]

I am very interested in buying a barn I have seen. All the services ar

in place and it 'looks' in good repair. I would be very thankfull i anybody could advise me of the most common mistakes (£) people mak when attempting to convert a barn. I have read the posts relating t foundations of barns on this site and have found them interesting. Th barn when converted will have a livable area of 1600 sq. ft., I kno its a near impossible question but if anyone would like to hazard guest at the sort of buget required to finish it to a reasonabl standard I would be greatfull. Ultimately I would like to build a house and see this as a taste o things to come. Any constructive comments will be very welcome

-- philt

[Rick]

Based on my experience, its about the same price as building new of the same size. Much will depend upon what you need to do to get the walls in the right place. Then finisher range in price from sensible, through the idiots on property ladder, right the way to the stars.

Many architects will do you a couple of hours of consultancy, for a hundred quid or so, and this will really help you get an idea of what is needed.

IMHO its not a cheep way of getting a house, its a good way of getting a fantastic house in a fantastic location.

Rick

[Tony Bryer]

With a sudden cold snap it would take days to cool down surely? It's like having an engine with a huge flywheel.

[jacob]

A bare shell is an opportunity to dry-line and incorporate as much insulation as you can afford. Check out thermal conductivity; stone 1.3 to 2.3 W/mK, foam 0.02 to 0.035W/mK. So 50mm thick foam can be better insulation than an astonishing 5 metres of stone. Stone buildings are cool in summer and freezing in winter!

cheers

jacob

[Doctor Drivel]

Best build a structure inside the existing structure.like a timber frame inside the existing walls. Make sure you superinsulate it as they cost an arm and a leg to heat.

Best go over to the UK_Selfbuild forum on Yahoo groups. They are more in tune to this sort of thing.

[Rick]

Stone buildings remain the temperature of the stone, which you can alter with a lot of expence. So if you get your stone walls wharm in winter, the house will remain wharm for a couple of days with the heating off. But it takes 7 days to get the house wharm when it was cold.

I am puting 120mm of kingspan on all my stone walls, except the ones when I want to see stone.

Rick

[Doctor Drivel]

Best to have the insulation on the outside of the walls so the thermal mass is usable.

[Peter Scott]

I didn't see the original post. I have a flint wall barn with thick walls. Flint is a good conductor. We had an additional block wall built inside the existing wall with a good layer of insulation in the cavity. The result is a very low rate of heat, judged by the bills and the size of the house. It is warm in winter and cool in summer.

Peter Scott

[Rick]

Maybe, depends what the nature of the use of the house is. It would be stupid for say when I was communiting to work by plane, and only home at the weekends - you would never get the house wharm in winter.

Rick

[Rick]

Thats what I have done, but as I don't have windows in yet, I have no isea if its gonna work - I have new confidence now.

[jacob]

If you want it to warm up quickly then you insulate inside and anyway it's the only way that's practical. Our chapel conversion has dry lining with 2" air gap, 2" kingspan, 1" air gap, 1/2" plasterboard with foil back - and same in the ceiling +

6" rockwool. It's easy to heat large rooms which also stay warm inspite of low 'thermal mass'. Have also insulated partitions so that only rooms in use need heat. Less heat required also means simple heating with electric fan heater becomes viable - at least for heating up quickly before other system kicks in - really useful if you come back to a cold house.

cheers

Jacob

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Great idea. So with a sudden cold snap the house takes days to heat up. And insulating the outside will look just great instead of that nasty natural stone.

[Doctor Drivel]

Good. You are getting the message.

[Doctor Drivel]

Don't try and explain things to him as he gets confused easily.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

That would depend on other factors like the overall insulation? But in any case who wants a house that stays at the same temperature all the time? Maybe fine if achieved by insulation, but not by just having a vast thermal mass.

Yup. But again who wants this?

[Doctor Drivel]

It is clear he hasn't the slightest clue about thermal mass and emissivity - yet he keeps babbling dross. Sad I know. Very sad.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

You'll be recommending storage rads next. How sad is this.

[Matt]

Drivel, just for the record on this occasion I actually agree with you.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I'd not bother asking Drivel since he never gives a sensible reply, but just why would you want a high thermal mass house? I have a programmable thermostat which is set to give different temperatures throughout the day and night. With high thermal mass this would be difficult. To me, a well insulated interior would be the ideal so you could quickly change the temp. But then there's also the question of just how you insulate the outside of an old building with thick walls without ruining the appearance? Which is possibly why it was bought in the first place?

[Doctor Drivel]

Lord Hall, that is nice. How is the Makita?