Bare bones
Gradually, as the floorboards came up, my available workspace decreased alarmingly. Initially, I had been temporarily storing the numbered groups of floorboards on the ends of the floor joists, as space was at a premium.
I was rapidly running out of room. Unfortunately, the joists also had to be removed. The building needed to be stripped back to its bare essentials, leaving only the walls and roof. I would soon be left with nothing but an empty shell.
To compound the problem, due to their lengths, there was no easy way to get the floorboards (or joists) out of the building. I didn’t really want to start cutting them down in size if I could help it. Fortunately, there was a plan.
Floor fail
The traditional suspended timber floor construction of my building had seen better times, shall we say. Much better times! Numerous areas of the structure were completely shot.
Over time, a combination of poor ventilation and a few fundamental design issues had made sure of that.
The floor joists simply rested on stacked rocks at a couple of points along their span. In turn, these supports sat on the bare, damp earth. This was constructed in a time way before damp proof membranes (DPM), vapour barriers, or insulation were a thing in buildings.
There had obviously been attempted patch repairs in the past. These had prolonged things a little longer, but eventually, they had also subsequently failed.
I had always been aware that the floor was a bit ‘spongy’ and ‘springy’ in places and would need looking into and sorting in the future. The future was now.
Whilst living in and using the space, I had grown accustomed to the way it was. The main soft areas of the floor, only being used sparingly, shall we say.
My senses had also acclimatised with the constant dampness of the building and its generally damp, musty odour.
Now that the reasons behind it all were fully exposed, I knew why it was that way.
I had never realised quite how much water I was sleeping above in my little Hobo Hotel. Maybe it was good I didn’t know? It certainly explains a lot!
Good gone
The only solid area of floor in the building was in the front porch. This was because it already had an existing concrete floor.
This was where I had made my make-shift kitchen/bathroom area whilst living in the building. Simple, but it did me proud.
Ironically, this one good floor still had to go. It was at a different level from the main hall, but more importantly, to comply with current building regulations, it needed to be an insulated floor. Time to bring in the cavalry.
This job needed proper builders. First up, the guys began by breaking up the only good floor I had. Having the right tools makes all the difference.
Helpful holes
My redesign required a fundamental change to the existing configuration. New use, new spaces, required new thinking and a revised layout of the original.
What was the building entrance will be no more. It will become a large window for what will eventually become a new bathroom.
This new feature window will bathe the space with morning light. A beautiful way to start the day.
So how do you enter the building? One of the four main hall windows will be converted into the new front door entrance.
Helping Hands
This will require making a bit of a hole in the wall. Always good to know your limitations. Breaking through a thick stone wall was definitely mine.
With the last vestiges of a usable building rapidly disappearing in the rear-view mirror, work on the new door opening began. This was going to be a big turning point in the project.
Changing the entrance to this side of the building makes so much more sense. Being adjacent to the off-road parking area allows a far easier and more natural access route into the building.
Also, the new front door will be fully double-glazed and western-facing, which allows more of the afternoon light/heat into the building.
I say it will be as the door cannot be ordered until the final size and height of the opening are known. This requires me to have a finished floor back in place first to establish heights, etc.
Looks like I’ll have to get used to having a great big hole in the wall for now…
Making mistakes
Sometimes I can’t help but wonder if I’m making a massive mistake taking on all of this? But believe it or not, this makes me happy; this is what progress can really look like!
There can be no happiness if the things we believe in
are different from the things we do
– Freya Stark
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Rest assured, there’s absolutely no AI-generated churn here; it’s just my own quirky outworking of ideas and dreams, as I look to renovate a derelict Small Mission Hall in the Outer Hebrides.
