A guide to our Barn Conversion in Poitou Charentes. Back to the comfort zone

Back to the comfort zone.

Having spent a few weeks creating the openings in the walls downstairs it was good to be looking forward to the idea of building the upstairs floor for our barn. As the title suggests I am more comfortable with the wood aspect and had more of an idea of what was to be expected and done.

A quick word, before I carry on, about the present economic climate and the “crise economique” overtaking everybody’s thought processes. Before we embarked on this project we knew we had a limited budget and did not want to take out a mortgage to do the work. In effect we self imposed a credit crunch. The way we organised and set about the floor fitting serves as a good example of how we made best use of our resources, both financial and practical. As I had previously designed and built log cabins/chalets I am comfortable producing working drawings to be able to quantify material requirements. This enabled me to accurately know the amounts and types of wood we were going to use to create the floor. So when some floor boards appeared on special offer we were able to buy the right amount, at the best time, and store them to one side. We, in fact, treated and stained them prior to fitting.

The Oak uprights and beams were bought from a sawmill who also sourced us the Spruce we used for the joists.
The uprights were raised on spikes located in the concrete cube footings previously mentioned. All the exposed wood has been treated and waxed prior to fitting in position The four beams, longest six meters and shortest three meters, were lowered into position. An Oak crossbeam was then fitted across the back of the hall to create the upstairs link corridor. We tried to hire a 2 tonne hoist but this was going to cost more than buying one. Guess what we did ! Only the Oak beams and the frame ends were socketed into the wall. The floor frame is in fact floating inside the barn walls. I could not face cutting more holes in the walls, especially with the thought of the upstairs openings still to come.
The joists all had to be cut to length individually as our barn is not rectangular. These were spaced so the tongue and groove floor boards were supported at the ends. We also created a mezzanine corridor to separate the two sides upstairs and to create an open plan entrance hallway.

In any renovation, conversion project there is a budgetary constraint that has to be taken into account. Figures ranging from €750 to the sky’s the limit, per square meter are all banded about. The range is determined by choice of things like construction methods, fittings and fixtures chosen etc. This can be broken down into the following percentages; 45% materials, 40% labour and 15% incidentals. (Including builders profits materials mark up fees etc). By keeping a sharp look out at material costs and reducing labour to not a lot we kept the third to a minimum. In the case of the floor I would be very surprised if we spent € 2,900(£2,200 at the time). Which in terms of our build made it a bargain. In previous articles I have spoken about the need for careful project management and planning. Actually doing it is a good way of learning on the job, and is so rewarding when you get it right. We feel we are getting it right and will continue to do so.

(extracts from this article have previouly appeared on Frenchentree)