Insulation of old house

[luckmålare]

Good day

We have just bought ourselves a farm. Long story short, the big house we planned to renovate will be completely demolished and a new one will be built. But on the farm, there is also an old outbuilding that the previous owner used as a sewing studio. We are planning to turn it into an extra home for the children so they can have their own house to hang out with their friends.

We have started demolishing, and we then saw that the entire load-bearing structure had been burned. We've heard various reasons for why this was done. One of them was that it was to prevent mice from getting in.

But now to the current situation, the plan now is to first reinforce all the rafters. Also, replace a log that was rotten at one end (picture 3) on the left. The floor will be torn up and adjusted to make it even; later, underfloor heating will be installed upstairs and downstairs.

But as you can see in the pictures, there are studs and then the exterior paneling; when we tore it down, there was chipboard and then insulation; in some places, there was plastic against the outer panel and in some places black wind barrier.

My idea is to add studs to all the "posts" to get straight walls. The facade will also be replaced, but I'm a bit unsure about how to handle the insulation.

When you are replacing the facade, you can add additional insulation, but is that enough? Then there will just be a gap between the inner wall and the other side of the log. That feels a bit odd.

Or should you install gypsum board, OSB, insulation, moisture barrier, additional insulation, air gap, paneling? The problem I see with the above is that it will be difficult to get the moisture barrier right.

Best regards

 

[cpalm]

We've started tearing down and then saw that all the load-bearing structures have been burned, heard a few different theories on why it was done. One was, for example, that it was done to keep mice out.

Sounds very unlikely considering how it looks. That "must" be an old, quite extensive, fire damage(?)
Wow, not to be that person, but I'm wondering if you truly chose the right building to renovate. 🤔

 

[luckmålare]

Sounds very unlikely considering how it looks. That "must" be an old, quite extensive, fire damage(?)
Wow, not to be like that, but wondering if you've really chosen the right building to renovate. 🤔

As you can see, the timber is very healthy, it's just superficially charred.
So the structure is sound, it's just that it looks a little dull.

It was a building consultant who suspected it could be from mice. When he was checking out a wall that was load-bearing on the upper floor.
But he said that the timber is sound. So it still retains all its load-bearing capacity.

 

[cpalm]

As you can see, the wood is very fresh, it's only the surface that's charred.

Yes, but that's how timber behaves in a fire. This makes thick timber relatively fire-resistant. Some logs are charred deep within, yet partially almost intact. It's not exactly Shou Sugi Ban in the making, but there must have been a substantial blaze.