A Listed Barn Conversion

It was a grey, wet and windy day when Sue and Richard Jobson first saw the tumbledown old barn in West Yorkshire. But even the bleak moorland weather didn't put them off the property; they could visualise it as their next home. The front elevation was unstable, the roof was in a terrible state of repair and the land was piled high against the building at the back. Inside it was a "big, dark, dirty shell with cattle stalls still standing in rows," but Sue and Richard loved it.

"We knew it would be hard work to turn it into a home, but we could imagine a house with large, spacious rooms," says Sue. "We had been looking for land to build our own house on, but there was nothing we really liked - then this barn came up for auction. It would be very different to our last place, which was a modern detached house on a small development of new builds, but we needed more space as the children were growing up."

Throwing caution to the bitterly cold wind, the Jobsons agreed to go for it and attended the auction - armed with a ceiling price of £130,000. "The room was packed, but it soon became clear that there were only two of us seriously bidding," remembers Sue. "It was really nerve-racking. The other bidder offered £125,000. I dug Richard in the ribs and we offered another £2,000. My heart was pounding. It was a huge relief when the hammer came down, despite the amount of work ahead of us."

The building is Grade II listed, so the Jobsons couldn't change the external layout or the windows. With the help of Howarth architect Andrew Jones, they drew up the design for the internal space and submitted their plans to Calderdale's planning department to include an open plan kitchen and sitting area, five bedrooms, five bathrooms and two attic rooms.

The first job was to clear the land with two JCBs, to create space for a courtyard and detached double garage. A mini digger was hired to reduce the internal floors from four levels, stepped up the hillside, to two.

Builder Russell Wilkinson of Rose Construction tanked the walls - using masonry bricks and Sika rendering - at the gable end to prevent water seeping in as it ran down the hill at the back of the barn.

The floors were dug down by two feet so a steel mesh could be laid ready for the concrete floor, the internal walls were breeze-blocked and the external walls insulated with thermal block. The roof came off and the front elevation was dropped and rebuilt, using the same stone. Steel RSJs were craned in and thick steel pillars embedded into the concrete floor to support them, so the property could be raised to roof level. New open roof trusses were used to create attic space, Rockwool and Kingspan insulation installed between the trusses and plasterboard, and a slate roof finally went on in August 2002- though not before a five-month setback.

"We had a problem with the roof height when someone complained to the local council that the pitch was higher than it should have been," says Sue. "As soon as the complaint was lodged we had to stop building work until it was sorted out. It took months but in the end we were found to be within the specifications of the drawings and allowed to continue. It cost us time and expense we could have done without. It was a worrying time."

During this time Sue and Richard were living in their old house, which they had sold. The buyer pulled out due to the delays and bought their neighbour's house instead. "It worked in our favour because we finally sold it for £100,000 more," says Sue. "It also gave us more time to work out what we wanted from the new house, so we made a few changes to the layout at this point. These included redesigning the staircase, and swapping the dining room with the study."

When work resumed, the roof was completed and handmade hardwood framed windows and woodwork - including architraves, doors and skirtings - installed, whilst final fix electrics and plumbing were completed.

"Fortunately, all the main services were provided, including gas, because there are neighbouring properties and a village nearby," explains Sue. "The water pressure here is so high that we didn't need power showers and we installed a Keston C55 condensing boiler to heat the house."

A false stone chimney breast was built in the kitchen and another, with a flue, built in the sitting room, then the plasterers moved in to `pull the whole house together'. Then disaster struck again.

"We thought everything was going well when, shortly after the plastering started, there were terrible storms and water started gushing into the lower sitting room through a storm pipe, flooding the room.

"It was heartbreaking. The floor had to be ripped up and a waterproof Sika render applied, to a metre high all round the room, to prevent it happening again. It set us back two months."

In spite of the delays and upheavals, Sue and Richard still maintain that it has all been worthwhile. "I know from people's reactions when they walk in and say `wow' that it's a success," says Sue. "Even Richard's brother, who thought we were mad to take it on, has admitted that it's worked really well.

"If we did it again we wouldn't expect everything to run smoothly," says Sue. "When you are renovating there are always unforeseen problems. You just have to keep your eye on the goal and remember that, sooner or later, you will achieve the house you dreamt about when you first saw the property.

WATERPROOFING

Waterproof renders are an increasingly common solution against the problem of water penetration and can be used internally as well as on the outside of the house. Sika, which the Jobsons used internally, is a rapid-setting leak-stopping liquid which is mixed with ordinary Portland cement to produce a paste for rapid leak sealing against high-pressure water infiltration although it is far from the only brand on the market. The key to the success of any internal waterproof render is to ensure an impenetrable seal at the wall/floor junction.

Further reading:

• A Converted Stone Barn
• Built with Reclaimed Materials
• How to point stone walls

Find out more about converted barns in The Book of Barn Conversions from Homebuilding & Renovating