Demolishing The Garage

As we have now constructed the Sun room, under new planning regulations we need to 'give back' the square metres used for construction, and have made the decision to demolish the garage. This will also give us some off road parking, which is a necessity with the very busy road at the front of the cottage, and parking space being at a minimum.

We have given the work to a local building company, as the roof sheets contain 1% asbestos cement, these need to be disposed of in the correct manner and to a licensed waste station.

Initial work has commenced, laying foundations and building a block-work wall to divide up the current outhouse and garage space, and today some of the roof sheets have been removed.

Dining Table

After deciding that as we had family visiting for Sunday lunch, that the small pine kitchen table would only seat 4 people, we did a "sell/buy" event on Ebay!

We listed and sold as a Buy it Now, the pine table and 4 chairs, and bought an oak 8 seater dining table, that also came as a package with an oak sideboard.  Unfortunately having no room for the sideboard, this was listed and sold as a separate item, so we were eventually left with the oak dining table and 6 red leather chairs remaining, all in place for our family meal.

Flying ducks

We bought this unusual set of 4 flying ducks while on holiday many years ago from an antique shop in Totnes, Devon.  They have travelled around with us as we have moved house, living in a packing box for at least the last 8 years.

Some of the plaster had perished, and the ducks had acquired many more chips and knocks, but after some renovation work they are as good as new,  now in situ flying along the sun room wall.

Freezer

We have eventually got around to ordering a small under counter freezer to stand alongside the fridge in the base of cupboard.

Zanussi make, ordered from and delivered by John Lewis, with a 2 year guarantee.

7000 page views

Thanks to everyone who has viewed our Blog, now at 7000+ page views

Pine Sleigh Bed

Our latest purchase for the cottage is a pine sleigh bed
Since the addition of the sun room, we find we no longer have the inclination to sit in the rear sitting room as much, and have decided to make this into a sitting room/bedroom for visitors. As we already have a double sofa bed in this room, a day bed is idea for afternoon siestas! I think it needs the addition of more decorative cushions.

Sun Room Completion Day!

At last, after many days of intensive hard labour ( ha ha! mainly by hubby aided and hindered by me) we have successfully completed work on our fantastic Sun Room, and furniture is now in place, ready to enjoy many relaxing days in the future.

(We do still however need to install a radiator and electric sockets at some point, and some finishing bits of painting works.)

Blind Fitting in Sun Room

When we first purchased the timber conservatory from Ebay, we received with the delivery several boxes of blinds..for the roof and windows.These window blinds perfectly complement the finished paint colour of the window frames, and look lovely now fitted in place.

Painting Sun Room

We have chosen Dulux Orchid White for the walls, with brilliant white for the ceiling and upstands to roof lantern.

The window trim has been fitted around small window into hallway

Flooring in Sun Room

Oak Parquet laminate wood flooring has been chosen for the floor in the sun room

This was purchased from B&Q, who currently have a 50% discount offer. Before fitting we read the reviews on the product page, some others had problems fitting the laminate flooring...watch this space!

The green under board was fitted first to give insulation to the flooring

Followed by the laminate flooring planks...and as previously reported, the reviewers were correct, fitting was found to be a pain! Lots of patience needed, but the finished result is fantastic.

Then followed the skirting boards. Luckily we had 3 x 4m lengths stored in the attic leftover from the cottage renovation.

Plastering Sun Room and fitting french doors

As we did not know of any plasterers in the area, we placed an ad on My Builder website, logging details of work required.  Had a speedy response from a local company, who we contacted to call for a quote.
Unbelievably he called to the cottage on a Sunday evening to give a price for plastering work in sun room, we accepted and he carried out the work the following day, a Bank Holiday Monday!

Next job on the list was to fit the french doors. Hubby wasn't looking forward to this, but with his expertise and patience all seemed to go ahead fine. Brass handles, locks and hinges were fitted first, then some final adjustments to the doors.

Taking advice from the roofer, we have fitted mesh behind the gutter ventilation area to prevent wildlife from accessing the roof space, followed by installation of polystyrene foam insulation, in between the ceiling joists, in preparation for the plasterer' visit tomorrow.

Window Glazing

8 windows to be glazed by hubby and myself...the first one took 1.5 hours, and following windows approximately one hour each, experts by the time all were glazed and trimmed.

Fitting roof and sky lantern

After much discussion we decided to employ a roofing company to fit the timber frame and roof lantern, and after seeing the amount of timber and quality of their work, we are really pleased we chose to go this route

By end of day one the roof construction is complete, and first coat of fibre glass coating has been applied and left to dry

Work completed end of day two, with second coat of fibreglass and roof lantern fitted and glazed

There followed some touch up painting and trimming by hubby