We’re building an energy-efficient barn conversion to a tight budget

Cara and Glyn are taking on much of the work themselves to keep costs to a minimum

Afew years ago my husband, Glyn and I joined a Community Land Trust group where we were looking to find a plot of land so we could build our own house.

We never managed to find land but learned a lot and it was always in the back of our minds that we would love to create our own energy-efficient home.when we saw this plot on the market in the perfect location we knew we couldn’t pass up on the opportunity.

There was a barn already here with the first section of Part Q permitted development in place, which meant the planning was actually quite simple because all we had to do was apply with the specific design we wanted. We were a bit nervous buying the barn without the design section approved so we negotiated to buy it conditional to planning being approved.we had a rough idea of what we wanted when it came to the design, so we used an architectural designer to draw up our ideas but, I drew up some of the Building Regs docs and went on a course so I could project manage. It all proved fairly straightforward and we were ready to start on site three months later.

BUILDING TO A BUDGET

We want this to be a sustainable ‘forever’ home and had originally wanted to build with SIPS [structural insulated panels] because of their airtightness and quick construction time. However, after our supplier raised our initial quote by 40% without reason and we realised we couldn’t crane the panels into place because of the barn’s existing roof structure, we had to go back to the drawing board and opted instead for a stick-built timber frame.

We’ve had to take on quite a lot ourselves because we’re building on a tight budget. Although tradespeople built the frame, we’ve constructed the ceiling, insulated the roof, walls and floor, installed the radon membrane, floor insulation and the underfoor heating ourselves — Glyn has even learned to lay blockwork and timber clad the exterior.

We got wind and watertight this week but as we’re doing so much ourselves we’re finding it really hard to schedule in trades at the right time because they’re always on other jobs when we need them.

Living in a caravan with our two kids has been a tight squeeze, which isn’t so bad in summer, but during winter you’re tripping over each other, so at the end of September we’re going to move in whether it’s ready or not — we can’t face another bout of cold weather in the caravan again!