Good, bad, worse…

Transform time

Progress is typically measured by things improving from bad to good. Unfortunately, my progress seems to be going in the opposite direction. My usable building, I’m now progressively making less so.

The original V-lining boards on the ceiling are now all removed, revealing the full timber structure of the roof. It’s the first time I’ve been able to see the full internal height and space of the building clearly.

Loved seeing the unrendered areas of the gable walls. The exposed original stone work of the solid walls would look amazing as the final interior finish, hmmmm…

Design deconstruct

My design intentions were always to try to keep and utilise the full-height space. Have space, will use.

Space is the breath of art
– Frank Lloyd Wright

Not just incorporating a mezzanine sleeping platform. I want to add double-height drama and contrast to the kitchen/dining area of the building.

Apart from the separate bathroom area, the main space would shrink if subdivided with walls. Hence, functional areas (sleeping, living, kitchen, dining) will be defined through changes of levels and/or material finishes.

Grunge graphic

Whilst bringing down the ceilings V-lining, I had a bit of an idea…

I still had the template from my recent artist collaboration project with Anthony Burrill hanging on the wall, and as you will probably have guessed by now, I do love a bit of reuse…

There was some leftover ‘institutional blue’ emulsion paint that the old plasterboard had been painted with. Seemed a shame to let it go to waste…

I wanted to create a typographic Easter Egg with it. This version is a bit more punk, grungy and distressed, a little different from my outside visible version.

It will be hidden beneath the new structure and insulation, ready to be (possibly) discovered by future generations.

You might think it’s all a little bit odd, but that’s just me, and it makes me smile. Creative interlude over. Now that the ceiling is done, it’s time for the floorboards to be taken up.

Perfect plans

They’re in fairly decent condition. Some have been hacked about a bit, but will clean up nicely. That’s the great thing about wood. Just got to get them all up first, and as usual, I had a cunning plan.

I began diligently numbering all the floorboards to make sure I knew where they should each go back in relation to each other. Hopefully, this would make the refitting process a bit easier.

However, plans are rarely perfect. Unfortunately, old, rusty nails combined with fragile tongue and groove floorboards meant that they didn’t always come up so intact or in one piece.

Initially, I’d hoped to reuse them all, but clearly this plan needed to now evolve and adapt. Thats the big advantage of my ‘slow design’ approach with the renovation. By not rushing things, it gives more opportunity to be responsive in how issues get resolved.

Shrinking space

As the floorboards got removed, I discovered some redundant electrical cabling. I needed something to tie up the numbered groups of floorboards I was accumulating. The cable provides a great solution.

Rather than simply discarding it, I stripped it down, cut it into lengths – boom, the perfect plastic-coated wire ties. Now I could start bundling up the floorboards.

Next there were also a few logistical issues I had to work through. The more boards I took up, the less space was left for standing on or to store the boards in the building. Floor space was rapidly running out!

Hidden below

Unfortunately, I also discovered some ‘interesting’, shall we say, issues underneath the floorboards! No going back now, though. 

Much more progress coming shortly – feel free to subscribe and get updates, or simply follow/share the journey. No catches, no spam!

Rest assured, there’s absolutely no AI-generated churn here; it’s just my own quirky outworking of ideas and dreams, as I try to renovate a derelict Small Mission Hall in the Outer Hebrides.