LADYFIELD FARM - How to Renovate a Static Caravan : Part 1 Studwork and Framing
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- čas přidán 15. 04. 2021
- Our first winter at Ladyfield Farm was a cold one! We were able to get our static caravan warm but not to keep it warm. The solution...to clad and insulate. This is an overview of the first stage of our caravan transformation from cold metal box to warm log cabin. Videos detailing lots of the stages will follow on so please ask any questions in the comments and I can address those questions in the forthcoming videos.
That’s gonna look amazing. Love the fact that your swapping labour for materials with your friend. Like the good ol days.
Thanks James. Yep that seems to be more of a thing in the Highlands and something I very much enjoy. No tax on a fair exchange eh.
I have that exact same rocker! :) Thoroughly enjoying your videos, too!
Nice job Adrian I'm enjoying watching your journey.
Cheers Paul, nice to hear from you.
Fabulously helpful video, we're looking forward to watching your progress!! Cheers from Wales :)
Thanks so much for watching and getting in touch. Just had a quick look at your channel and will subscribe, it will be fun to see how each other are getting on. It looks at a quick glance like we have similar goals. If we can help in anyway please shout.
A thing of great beauty Adrian. Gonna be so warm with all the wool.
Well if it's good enough for the sheep.....
Very nice build so far, look forward to seeing more. This is how I plan to live in the future with a bit of luck :)
Thanks for that. I can highly recommend th lifestyle.
Nice job Adrian 😎
Hi loved your work on the caravan. It will be nice when done . take care
Thanks James, Part 2 is almost ready to upload.
fantastic job. Love it
Cheers Steve and thanks for giving it a look.
Many thanks for this video. I noticed those metal beams, but wasn't sure if I can drill thru them. Great idea, well done job. I'll do the same in next few months :)
Thanks Nikolay. The beams are just mild steel and drill pretty easily. Good luck.
Many thanks for this info...due to start mine soon
My pleasure, hope your project goes well and the videos are useful.
Amazing work
Thankyou kindly.
I remember when we first got married, we lived in a mobile home caravan. We would go to bed nice and warm turned off the heating and woke up to icicles on ceiling lol .
Yep that was the story of our first winter, not anymore thankfully. It's a real pleasure to live in now.
I was hoping there were videos like this because I want to try something like this but maybe with a 30/40 foot portacabin. Oh perfect, you have exactly what I want! I'm Scottish and would think I was being wound up with both noggins and dwangs, it took me six months to believe a memory stick was called a dongle!
Good to hear you found what you were looking for here, I hope it is a big help. a dongle indeed! Pull the other one!
You're a bit clever Mr. N :D It's looking great :D
bravo cool
Thanks for watching.
Thanks bud im going to do simular for me and my family
Thanks Sam, I hope the videos are of some help.
take my hat off to you mate, what a brill log cabin or will be when its done like to see it when its done.
Thanks Paul, you should be able to find parts 2-4 and see the finished cabin. It's turned out as good as I had hoped and keeping us nicely warm now.
Hello just watched your video found it certainly helpful I currently live in mobile home and want externally insulate mine as have the same trouble with cold would like yours when finished thanks jason
Gald to hear this was helpful. It really has made such a difference to our comfort and has really made the caravan a homely and comfortable place to be. All the best to you and any renovations you get up to.
I have only just discovered your channel so have some catching up of your other videos. Impressive what you have done so far. Have you achieved this by yourself or do you have someone to give you a hand?
I live in the Midlands and wood prices here have rocketed. I did a project but didn't order enough wood and when I went back 6 weeks later the prices had gone up by 30%, so you are very fortunate to have that supply. I can't wait to see it finished, that larch cladding is going to look amazing. I also love that you are using sheep's wool to insulate... thank you for sharing your video.
Good Morning Lesley, thanks for taking the time to comment. Yes the caravan makeover I did by myself. I have worked on my own for years and it is amazing how you find ways to do things when you have to.
Timber prices went crazy for a while there didn't they. I believe they have come back down somewhat now but of course not to where they were. And yes you are right I am incredibly fortunate to have access to the timber I do. The next big project here is to restore and convert our 200 year old stone barn/byre and again all the timber will be coming from my friends sawmill. That is going to be quite the challenge. Hope you enjoy the rest of the videos.
Great job,I guess you have gas fire,but do consider installing a log burner,that will keep you very warm at night,there s lots of scrap wood or Dead wood to burn,hope all goes well....🤗
Thanks Christian. Great minds think alike eh, one of the first things we did was to rip out the gas fire and install a wood burner. It has served us well, kept us warm and there's nothing quite like the glow of a real flame.
@@LadyfieldFarm So glad & its good to have mobile calor gas heater too when you want a quick blast of heat,So true the flame of a Real fire is so heartwarming🤗😘
Brilliant frameworking! And the cladding will look wonderful! How many bits did you go through while drilling the holes in the steel beams? I'm guessing 2
Believe it or not I don't believe I broke any. Different story drilling out rusted in screws on the roof vents mind.
This is ace. We’ve just had delivery of our static. Really informative on the cladding was wondering how I was going to work that out so thanks. How did you do the roof would love to know.
Hey, thanks for the comment and I hope it proves to be useful for you. The roof construction is all covered in the next video Part 2. There are 4 videos altogether. Here is a link to Part 2... czcams.com/video/7VP8p3xy1FY/video.html
En espérant que vous comprenez le français , c'est un très beau travail.
J'attends la suite
Bonjour Franck. Je comprenez le francaise un petit!! Merci beaucoup pour le comment. Part 2 is coming soon.
@@LadyfieldFarm
Merci
Hello! Thanks for the great videos this has been really helpful for our static conversion.. how did you insulate the floor it looks like you may have used untreated wool? How did you attach this to underside? We are going to insulate and clad the caravan and putting in double glazed windows and hopefully a wood burning stove will reduce the problem of condensation.. we’ve only had the caravan a few weeks.. it’s at least 20years old and we’ve found rot in the walls and some floor we’ve had to replace. I’ve been told not to insulate floor as it will rot out.. but I guess if wool insulation is breathable then this should work..? Any Advice much appreciated. Many thanks. Jules 😊
Hello Jules, so glad the videos have been useful. We did start trying to insulate the underneath with will but it proved extremely difficult. I tried to keep it all in place with strips of plastic stapled to the timbers underneath but it really wasn't very effective. Instead we opted to place bales of straw all around the perimeter of the caravan just underneath inside the edge. Up here the cold wind blowing through seems to be the culprit for taking the heat away so this has certainly helped by stopping that wind. We have zero condensation problems with having a woorburnern. Most of the heat is lost out of the roof rather than floor so of the two getting the roof done is more effective.
Thanks for sharing again! Does the larch smell (good) ?
Has the most amazing smell yes.
Nice video. May i ask why you have no double glazing? Have you thought about it? Worth doing?
Hello, the windows we currently have are in fact double glazed. They are only 12 mm units but better than single obviously. So far as the weather has turned cold this year we have not had early morning temperatures as low as last year and we have had a record morning high with a minus figure outside so it all seems to be working. Thanks for watching.
Great video, did you notice a difference just with the roof before you finished the sides?
Will you put in double glazed windows?
Hi Clive, thanks for watching, The period between doing the roof and the walls was during the summer so to be honest it is hard to tell how effective just the roof would be. One thing that was very noticeable is the summer though was the roof of the veranda...that side of the van faces south and in the previous summer the sun through those windows heated the caravan up unbearably but with the overhanging roof this kept the direct sunlight off the windows and the difference was remarkable.
The caravan windows are already double glazed handily.
Why did you go for felt roof and not a tin roof with breather membrane?
Hi! I'm embarking on my own static caravan decking exercise and plan to follow your lead by using those metal chassis runs underneath to hold 3x2's that I can extend out for decking. Do you find the block pavers on which you've got the posts stood are enough? All google says is 'posts must be concreted down' or similar, and my static is on a hardcore base so I don't fancy trying to dig 16 post holes when I don't have to!! Cheers
Hi Samuel. The block pavers are working fine and as far as I'm concerned are a better option than digging the posts in simply because when they are in the ground they will begin to rot. Being up on the block pavers it minimises the amount of water they are subject to. If you have enough pavers to have two under each post then leave a gap between them, say half an inch, that way any water that does fall onto the pavers will just drain away from the bottom of the post.
The joists being connected to the underside of the caravan steels will hold everything laterally so I see no other reason to concrete them in.
Would love to hear how it all goes....
@@LadyfieldFarm Thanks, a very kind and swift response! My wife and 2 young boys are in the process of moving onto 24 acres of agricultural land in Devon having sold up in Scotland, so whilst were the reverse of you geographically we're going in the same direction!
Well how about that! Where were you in Scotland and where have you landed in Devon? I have a great friend in Devon who is my gardening guru!
If I can help in anyway do feel free to get in touch. admin@ladyfieldfarm.com
This is wonderful. Just getting myself psyched up to start the stud work on our van. One question - how did you attach the uprights at the top? Did you do the roof stud before the wall stud? Thanks :)
Hi Phil, I did the walls first which have a plate at the top which I attached temporarily to the side of the caravan (from memory the gutter) with a few small angle brackets. This just held the walls up in place until the studs walls on the end were in place which was then the means to tie the two sides walls together via the head of the end walls. Hope that makes sense.
Then the roof went on which you'll see in part two and that then tied the whole to together. I think I may well detail that process in part 2 of this series. Thanks for watching.
@@LadyfieldFarm yes that makes sense. Thank you for your fast reply. Time to source the timber 😊
Excellent. Be sure to let us know how you are getting on
How's things, only just found your channel an I'm just after buying a mobile home. A question on the sheep's wool,do ya just use it straight off the sheep or does it need some work done to it before ya can use it?? Thanks
Hello Frank, we used it without treating it in any way. I have had folks say that it should be treated but 3 years in and we have no issues at all. The sheep get a treatment called 'pour on' a few times a year which kills ticks and lice etc and I think that must hang around in the fleece. Whether it is due to the climate in our area or not I don't know but all appears well. I have heard that sprinkling Borax onto the fleeces as you put them in is a good idea but it's not something I've done. Sorry I can't be a bit more definitive.
Question: Is the wool you are using washed at all? My experience with unwashed fleeces (I spin wool) is that the wool moths will go to it first over washed wool. I don't know if it is because of suint/other filth (what I would expect) or the lanolin. Can't wait to see this project completed!
Hi Beth, we have taken a chance with this wool and gone with it unwashed. There is a cottage in our glen that had some wool used as insulation over 20 years ago with some of it exposed in the eaves of the building and there is no evidence of wool moths in it. Maybe it is the climate here. Anyway we will keep a close eye and hopefully this will be the same. Thanks for watching and the final stages will be done soon.
@@LadyfieldFarm I was wondering how much the climate would be a factor. I suppose, if you left it accessible in the eaves, you could remove and replace it, if necessary. I'm in the pacific NW of the US and we have pretty warm and somewhat dry summers. Prime moth hatching weather...
Smart job pal we are literally embarking on the same project with a 37 x 12 caravan roughly how much 3x2 and 4x2 did you use ?? Just on the main caravan
Just looking back at some old photos I can take a rough stab at it but it will be rough...
3x2 40 lengths 2.4m for uprights
3x2 30 lengths 2.4m for head and noggins or dwangs!
4x2 35 metres of any lengths for supports in steel girders underneath and plates for stud work.
Hope that's helpful.
@@LadyfieldFarm Thankyou so much
What kind of fire proofing did you do to have a wood burner in there as im unsure whether to do mine i just worry about everything catching lite. ?? Plus how much did you pay for your bags of wool?
Hi Grant, I really should do a video on that question. The woodburner sits on thick paving slabs with at least 300mm beyond the from of the doors. The wall behind the burner I lined firstly with a 12mm sheet of plasterboard and then I tiled on top of that. I cut a hole through the ceiling and roof at least 50mm bigger all round than the flue which was twin wall so pretty cool to touch anyway. Then I attached a fire proof board to the ceiling for the flue to pass through. That was a 12mm thick Hardie Backer board. The void in the ceiling and on the roof was filled with vermiculite.
Sorry Grant just realised I didn't answer your last question. I helped out with shearing at a farm across the glen so I as fortunate to be given several bags of wool. The fleeces are currently worth so little that it costs many farmers more to transport the wool to where it needs to go than they get for taking it there. So if you approach any local sheep farmers you may be able to get some pretty cheap. I did get some last year for £10 a bag and there were at least 50 fleeces in each bag.
Hiya - are you concerned about moisture and mold build up between the insulation and the original aluminum walls of the caravan? Or I suppose there is enough airflow that it’s not an issue? Especially if u are using a wool product as insulation.
Hello Jillian, well there is quite a lot of airflow around the caravan studwork, nothing is sealed. The insulation is fleeces taken directly from shearing, no treatment at all and thus far, approaching 2 years, there is no sign or suggestion of any problems.
@@LadyfieldFarm awesome! Thanks! Been thinking of a project like this myself and that was my first concern.
Hi! I live in a static up in Scotland and I wanted to know if you had to do anything to site your static in your land. I'm thinking about buying land to site it and do what you did while I work in the forests around.
Hello! When we bought the land here we had planning permission for the conversion of the stone barn as well as a new dwelling. Because we had planning permission it meant we could have a static here no bother apparently.
@@LadyfieldFarm thanks for the info! If you know of any land around Argyll let me know, we live here too and we're on the market for a modest plot of land or a derelict property in need of some attention.
Very jealous (the good one) and really good job on your build, great editing too! Thanks a lot for the inspiration!
Hello again - another question for you. I have seen quite a few people basically strip the caravan down to nothing and build it back up. They take off the aluminium and remove the "insulation" and sometimes even the framing. Then build it back up with sturdier stuff and clad with wood. This is tempting but I wonder what the benefit is over your method. Thoughts?
I'm not sure of any benefits that would outweigh the extra work and cost which would be substantial I'd imagine. Done that you would have to redo all the inside as well as the out of course. No doubt it is perfectly achievable but goodness me it sounds like a lot of work.
@@LadyfieldFarm That was my thinking too for the most part. But you could reframe the windows and install a better quality window. Did you insulate under your caravan? And since you have been all set up have you had any condensation issues?
@jillianbanks-kong4876 I stacked bales of straw all round under the perimeter of the caravan mostly to stop the cold wind blowing through. Hard to say how much difference that made but I think it was worth it. I had previously tried to insulate underneath the floor but it was like trying to staple blancmange to a ceiling whilst lying on our back!!
B3xause our hear all comes from the wood burner condensation is never an issue except when boiling stuff on the hob but that clears pretty quick. On a normal day there are no signs of condensation.
Will you do the window framing first?
Hi DJ, yes I am putting a larch reveal and cill around each window which will protrude from the stud work around 2 inches and then the cladding will be cut to butt up to the outside edge of these. Will be detailed in Part 3 of these videos. Thanks for watching.
Bet there is a business there makin statics much more appealing.
Well our winter is certainly looking more appealing than last year now! Thanks for watching.
Are there any issues with using wool with pests or mold ?
Well we have just passed our 3rd winter since we did the work and there have been no issues at all. I'm told an additional treatment would be to add Borax to the fleeces when they go in. We didn't do that and all appears to be well thus far.
Hi there how did you acquire the land im really lookjng into this type of life style with my family ,and sadly i cannt access any land as of yet ?
We simply looked online and believe it or not this was about the 3rd property on he search that we looked at. We saw in December 2019, viewed it in January 20, went home put our place on the market which sold in 3 weeks and our offer was accepted. THen it was just getting all the paperwork in order which took quite some time as the planning permission on the place had lapsed so we made that a condition of our offer that the planning permission was renewed. We took ownership in July 20. Keep looking and good luck.
@@LadyfieldFarm ❤️
Sorry to be a pester did you look for small hold land ,or just land with permission to build
@Aicreation-animationz if I remember rightly I just googled Land For Sale in Scotland. And it's no bother, pester away. Happy to help any way we can.
I would love to do this but do you need planning permission to live perminantly in a static
We currently live on 7 acres with no house but we have planning permission for a house and the renovation of a stone barn that here. Because of that we have the necessary permission to have the caravan here.
Have you pics of finished product
Hello quattroman, as yet the conversion isn't finished due to the fact my partner recently broke her shoulder and so I have had to concentrate on different things for a while. She is having an operation next week and I shall be getting back on to finishing off the project as soon as possible and will post videos of the final stages as soon as they are done. Thanks for the interest.
@@LadyfieldFarm I'm very sorry to hear that,hope all is well and a speedyrecovery.
Do u pay tax on caravan on ur land
Hello, yes we pay council tax albeit at the lowest band.
Beisim
Bellissima
Thankyou, gracie.
telefono
As it stands, a caravan has got to be one of the greatest ripoffs there is. I would advise folks who want to live in a caravan to just buy a chassis and build your own one with proper materials.
I see where you're coming from. We were very fortunate that we paid just a thousand pounds for this caravan which makes it a pretty dine starting point.