Trials and Tribulations

Our posts have tailed off in the last few weeks, not because of inactivity at the barn but because of a really sad event in my sister's family.  But we have to keep going so ...


We got a man and mini-digger in last weekend to dig some trial holes.  A load around the perimeter to find out where the underside of the walls is (answer: only a foot down), what their foundation is (answer: nothing) and what soil they're on (answer: the worst kind of clay that shrinks and expands over the seasons).  Also dug one hole to a depth of 2 metres to find out where the clay finished and good founding soil started (answer: about 1.5 metres down).

So what do these findings all mean?  Well, bad news, bad news, really bad news and ... given the first three, erm ... s'pose it could have been worse.




Fortunately the engineer is good.  He thinks he can find a solution that will get through the clay without the need for piling (and might negate the effects of next door's tree) so won't be too expensive - not cheap, but not as much as piling.  We're waiting to see that, so that the architect can complete the planning drawings this week and get the application submitted.

We had to remove the barn door to get the digger in - which really shows the outward lean on the wall that's presently propped up by the existing lean-to!


Also took a trailer load of old slates to the tip - only to be told they were probably asbestos cement, so had to be double bagged and sealed.  Apparently you're allowed to dispose of 2 single tiles and one drain pipe per annum, and we've got 4 trailer loads of this stuff.  We've managed to negotiate for 3 loads, don't know what we'll do about the 4th - might be time to find a tip in Oxfordshire!