Church to become home for family of eleven

A family of eleven is creating a stunning home from a former church near Truro in Cornwall – and has chosen to insulate it with products from the Actis Hybrid range because they are much cleaner and faster to install than any alternatives.

Tracy and Dave Bennett, who have built a number of homes over the years, say the latest conversion is the biggest construction challenge they have ever undertaken.

Tracy and Dave are converting the chancel, nave, north and south transepts of St Peters Church at Chiverton Cross into a five bedroom home with spacious living areas and enough space to accommodate the youngest few of their nine children, whose ages range from eight to 25.

The church was built in 1861 and decommissioned in 2008. Its original tower, complete with spire had to be taken down in 1898 when the stone started to crumble possibly after being damaged by lightning. However, the replacement tower, constructed in 1928 will form part of the Bennetts’ new residence.

The couple are completely gutting and renovating the church and using insulating breather membrane Boost'R Hybrid, 60mm honeycomb insulation Hybris and insulating vapour control layer HControl Hybrid in the 400m2 roof to achieve a U-value of 0.17.

They will be using around 750m2 of HControl Hybrid for the walls to achieve a U-value of 0.30.

The Hybrid range is becoming increasingly popular across Devon and Cornwall and Tracy and Dave chose the materials on recommendation from friends.

Dave explained: “They are great quality products and make insulating so much faster and cleaner.”

They hope to move in in time for a huge family get together at Christmas.