The Countdown, The Dream, and The Twisted Truth

Well, the time has finally come! It’s the week before, a thrilling crescendo after what feels like an eternity. The countdown has been long, the anticipation building, and in the past two weeks, things have truly accelerated as we finally locked down a firm date for our grand Bulgarian adventure!

Up until now, I’ve been practically living inside those house viewing videos from our viewing with Top Estates. I’ve drilled down, frame by glorious frame, meticulously scrutinizing every little detail, dreaming of our new life. And then… the dream took an unexpected, dramatic turn.

I noticed it. A subtle, yet undeniable, twist in the barn roof. A cold knot of dread began to form in my stomach. I immediately called Top Estates, who, to their credit, quickly dispatched a carpenter. His verdict? A chilling €10,000 average to fix it. Average! and we have the house roof to do as well!

We knew there was an issue before hand, a problem that stretched back decades, festering unseen or just not cared about. But the reality was far grimmer: a critical purlin is missing, and two more are cracked, along with two joists and some posts!, all matching the back but on the front side. This isn’t just a minor repair; it’s a structural nightmare teetering on the brink of collapse, threatening the entire barn.

Take a look at the image above, and you’ll see the heart of the beast: that towering, ominous vertical big orange line. Where a crucial supporting post should stand, there is nothing. The span is dangerously, impossibly, too far. Now, shift your gaze to the right – see that subtle, alarming lift in the roofline? That, my friends, is the terrifying visual of the entire roof twisting, pivoting, and threatening to tear itself apart. The left side of the roof even looks like it’s reaching skyward – that’s the pivot in action, pulling the whole structure into a terrifying contortions.

And if you thought that was the end of our woes, brace yourselves… it’s not.

The left side of this twisted saga connects directly into our house, and that connection presents two monumental, soul-crushing problems:

  1. The “fixed roof” next to the barn for the house is an absolute “bodge and leg-it” job. It’s a patchwork of quick fixes. For us to properly build up that wall, the house roof itself will need to be partially dismantled, just like the barn roof. It’s a complete teardown of both, just to fix one wall!
  2. The true horror: the joists, indeed the entire A-frame supporting the connection at the house, have completely rotted away. For years, the house roof has been an unwitting accomplice, pouring water directly onto these vital timbers, turning them into a soggy, decaying mess.

So, in short, the few “good” parts of the barn – the far-left end and a chunk in the middle towards the house – are literally trapped between two crumbling, catastrophic sections. And the entire structure is twisted, a testament to decay that, ironically, could have been an easy fix if only those four crucial, now-missing and broken, parts had been addressed decades ago.

If you’re like me, the idea of a beautiful, natural wood frame is non-negotiable. As we dream of converting that end of the barn, we envision it exuding vintage charm, not screaming “brand new plasterboard.” It’s a vision worth fighting for.

I reached out to John of Cosy Adventures, who I remembered from his videos was tackling his own barn restoration. He not only confirmed he has frame timbers but also revealed a stroke of pure, unbelievable luck: we locked onto the exact same timber yard where he got an incredible deal! Could this be fate, offering a glimmer of hope amidst the chaos?

However, in the meantime, while we scheme and dream of salvaged timber, we have a mountain of work awaiting us on the house roof… and a million other things that refuse to wait! The adventure is just beginning, and it’s already proving to be anything but dull!

A week before I go, and I am sitting here, pricing up timbers and working out ( trying) where do I start!