Things don't go to plan in Bulgaria | Going Off Grid
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- Опубліковано 1 жов 2024
- Another week of owning property in Bulgaria and thing's are not quite going to plan!
With the effects of the winter weather, we have discovered damage to the walls of one of our barns and it is on the verge of collapse. After lots of deliberation, the unfortunate decision was made and we began the salvage mission.
Still with minimal tools and what seems to be British weather, we manage to crack on regardless.
We're Phil and Kayleigh, a husband and wife living in rural Bulgaria with our two children, Alex and Ember. It's always been our dream to live a more self-sustainable life off grid. So, we've sold all our belongings, escaped the rental rat race and bought a plot of land. Complete with a derelict house and 3 barns, we hope to create our new life mortgage free. We've faced lots of hurdles already, so hang on tight as we show you highs and lows of moving abroad and starting again.
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Thanks everyone for your likes, comments and messages. We've been living over here for a while now and release a new video every other Sunday - so make sure you subscribe and hit that notification bell so you don't miss what we are up to! 😊
I removed the tiles from a single story barn using a long pole, I wouldn't trust standing on a roof in poor condition. I would suggest a visit to the local hospital to see the conditions and inquire about the costs for surgery before you think Health and Safety is unnecessary. Sorry to put a dampener on your work but your health is more important than an old barn.
Hi David. Thanks for your concern. This roof was actually amazingly strong! Even the broken ridge beam put up a fight. The walls were by far the weakest link. Thanks for the comment 👍
@@OffGridWithTheUdens A tip for the future. As you needed to buy new timber, in future get the timber first and use it as scaffolding.
That just HURTS to watch you having a bonfire with FIREWOOD. Take a chain saw to that and burn it in a woodstove for cooking and heating.
Thanks for the comment. We saved loads of wood from the roof for heating in the future. The stuff that got burned was either rotten or full of nails that would have been way too time consuming to either remove or avoid with the chainsaw. 👍
Fun video, thanks. I hope you don't mind me asking, but are you guys still working "regular" jobs to pull in an income, or is the plan just to live cheaply off savings in Bulgaria? Also, where are you staying whilst doing all the construction works? Many thanks
Thanks for taking the time to comment 🙂 I (Kayleigh) work full time remotely and the three of us live full time in our self-converted Sprinter Van 🙂
@@OffGridWithTheUdens Amazing, thanks for sharing.
Well done! You have done a lot of hard work. I always remind myself this project we have undertaken is not a sprint, it is a marathon :)
Hi Yordan thanks very much. There's so much more ahead too but we love it 😁. Absolutely it takes as long as it takes..... It's all about the journey.
@@OffGridWithTheUdens glad I found you’re channel .as ull know you picked a great time to get out the uk .I myself am scrimping n saving till next yr hoping that I get through this winter with out bursting the bank or having to put a iron barrel in my mbike shed for hourly heating .lol .Then it’s bye bye to uk .goodluck in you’re new life
Good luck in your journey - we look forward to you following along.
Hello. This barn now I see it as a nice swimming pool with an open bar (the part with the bricks ). What are your ideas for it?
Hi, haha that's a good idea, not sure we would want a pool in this location though haha. Hopefully we will do a pool at some point. Thanks for the comment 🙂
Really, I found that ol' tiles & roof battens don't survive too much disturbance.
Couldn't you just keep the roof on and patch the ridge, sandwiching it between hardwood, underpin the failing wall with a few Accro props - till it can be rebuilt with damp proofing?
Oh well, wishing you the best but I can't help thinking that you may end up regretting this, but what would I know after 28 years in building & restoration....
Still thanks for sharing it with us.
Bri
Hi Bri, thanks for taking the time to comment. I'd like to point out that the roof was not the main issue or reason for dismantling the building. The walls were the problem and as you know the walls hold up the roof. We deconstructed the barn to recover as many of the tiles and beams for use in future projects as possible. If we had left it and the roof had fallen in i'm sure we would have lost many more tiles and had a much bigger mess to clear up. We did look at bracing the wall however the opposing wall was also very weak and it could not be externally braced due to obstructing the driveway. I'd also like to point out that our plan was always to knock this barn down and rebuild it we just hadn't planned on it being quite so soon. I hope this clears up any confusion you may have had while watching the video. Regards, Phil
@@OffGridWithTheUdens Oh ok, wishing you the very best.
Bri
Well done, you've really put the work in. The gaffer really looks the part in his little dungarees too!
We've got some land in Banya, Burgas, well be coming out full time ina couple of months. Do you have an IG or telegram at all? It'd be nice to connect with some other English families in Bulgaria, but we can't seem to find any properly active expat forums...
Hi. Thanks very much. Yes he's often the boss on site! Best of luck with your land. Yes we are on Instagram @offgridwiththeudens. Thanks for the comment.
Whatever you do, just remember that the price you paid for the property is less than the cost of the second-hand bricks and tiles on the property.
Hi Peter. Yes absolutely I thought 99% of the tiles were good, but when I got up there a lot of them had really bad frost damage. We've saved as much as we can though, and we'll continue to do so on any of the other buildings we dismantle along the way. Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
I had a feeling the barn was going to have to be torn down.
You guys are certainly doing a lot of hard work.. When I
was younger I restored a 100+ year old house that
was in rough shape and can attest to the hard work you
are up against. The things I learned very fast are that you
must do any repairs to the foundation and roof first.
It is no use doing anything else until the house sits on a
solid foundation and has a good totally water tight roof.
Wood rot is a major issue with older houses. And of
course the rotten beams will almost always be in the hardest places
to access.
Hi. Yes we totally agree foundations are everything! We haven't dug down here yet to find out what any of the buildings are sitting on. But id be surprised if it was anything more than a thin layer of stone.
We certainly aren't afraid of hard work or getting stuck in so hopefully we haven't bitten off more than we can chew 🤣 thanks for the comment 👍
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤Bulgaria
Was it done in a day or time lapsed over a couple of days?
Hi. It was filmed over 2 fairly short days we probably could have done it in a day if we were pushing hard though. Thanks for the comment.
If those are unbaked mud brick, you can soak them for mud plaster.
Hi Ian. Thanks for this, we are definitely keeping them I'm sure we will use them for a few different things. I was wondering if we could mix them up and make new bricks with them? It would be a very eco and cost effective option for us. 🙂
That's a lot of work, we started taking down one of our buildings and regretted it immediately lol
Haha I think I feel the same but mainly cause we've lost a valuable dry indoor space 😐. Thanks for the comment Lauren 😁
Haha, I can imagine! We're moving over soon, we just bought land though, for that very reason. My partner is not willing to go through this!
I keep saying "How good would it feel though? Renovating one of these Bulgarian houses" and he's just like "it'll feel a lot better not doing it at all"
It's certainly all about the journey rather than the destination 🙂
Lots of hard work. You guys have a lot of energy and determination.
Thanks very much. Yes we love a bit of hard work 😁
Welcome to bulgaria .. a tip don't waste the mud brick (all the broken ones and the dust ) pile it up ..sheet it over its a valuable free building material you will use it loads if you have it ...
Hi thanks very much. yes we were thinking we might be able to reuse them for cob or something in the future. We're planning to pile them up in a place where we can mix them up again 🙂
@@OffGridWithTheUdens been here 7 years 2 years off grid natural buildings is my thing ..don't mix concrete /cement with with traditional materials ..
New structures fine .. but old houses /barns a no no .. it will fail . Var and varof rastov (lime putty and line mortar are your friend and cheap ...and mud ...it's free
Thank you for the comment and apologies for the delayed reply!
That barn is certainly 'no more', well done , keep up the hard work. Epic 😁
Haha thanks very much! Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the comment 😁👍
My heart dropped when I saw you burning all that straw..I almost paused the video to ask why you weren't using it as mulch or at least compost material. Made me so happy to keep watching 😁
My comment was meant to be on your newest video 🙄 silly UA-cam app. xx
Haha no worries we have sooo much straw probably way more than we would ever need for the garden but we are planning raised beds and things so it definitely will be useful in the future!
Wow! Big job. Well done.
Thanks very much. It certainly was a lot of work. 👍
You've worked so hard there guys, great job! 👍
Thanks guys! 😁👍
Truly inspirational guys. Your videos are what sparked us to move and attempt to become self sufficient (still a very very long way off) but so enjoying the journey! Can't wait for a new video.
Thanks guys! It's great to hear you've taken the leap too. We will have a new video soon - Phil's editing but keeps getting distracted by projects and pool time with the children 😊
Don't they have small reliable building contractors available??? If not, this country is not the place to be. I rather get a contractor to build a simple but strong, metal shed with lighting protection.
Hi thanks for the comment. I'm sure they do have them yes, but the whole idea of doing this for us is to do things ourselves and take back control of our own property, food, power and life 😁. Metal buildings are not that common over here more brick, block, mud and wood. 👍
You are absolutely right about removing the tiles and you can protect the wall from falling by making a termporary wooden frame to hold it. Gd luck mate.
Hi thanks for commenting 😊 we'd love you to watch our other videos and let us know what you think!
Well done guys. You put in a good shift. I had a roof collapse on a knackered shed due to the weight of snow on it. A year later, my ideas what to do with it have changed completely. I wouldn't have built a shed like that, in that place, so if I am going to rebuild there will be a lot of changes. Actually, I would rather build a nice tree house in the huge walnut tree in the garden, to maximise the beautiful views.
Hi Tony! Thanks very much. Yes I can't see us rebuilding this one anytime soon. There's so much else to be getting on with. The tree house sounds awesome. 🙂👍
You are doing a fantastic job on your Homestead . keep up with the great work that you are doing .
Thanks for following along - we've made great progress and 2024 is looking to be even better!
Construction methods of that barn are incredible.
There are so many structures over here that you would think are about to fall down but are as solid as a rock. 🙂 It's a shame alot of the wood was no longer usable for building due to being eaten.
I just saw you. In what city are you? And do you understand Bulgarian. Edit:be careful from dogs. They are everywhere
Hi Totto. We are in the Haskovo region down in the south east. We are having Bulgarian lessons and at the moment can only understand basic greetings etc, but we are getting there. We've already met loads of dogs but all have been friendly and kind or scared and run away. Thanks for your comment.
@@OffGridWithTheUdens Great wish you the best. See you in the next video
Well done messy those mud bricks look
Certainly are! I found mud in places I didn't know I had! 😁
Thanks!
Thank you - that's very kind of you and most appreciated ❤️
Where abouts on bg are you guys ?
Hi. We are down in the south east (Haskovo region) thanks for the comment.
@@OffGridWithTheUdens ooof too hot in the summer for me ..look what the babas grow .. and when they plant .. otherwise you spend more on water than the crops are worth
Absolutely - it's amazing what knowledge the babas have and we cannot wait to learn from them.