Day 1905: The big clear out

After 5 years we finally are starting the loft conversion. Better late than never I guess.

And after 5 years of careful planning, we've picked the optimal time to do this - the middle of winter at the onset of Coronavirus Lockdown 3.0. Cold weather outside with all of us trying to work / do schooling / keep our sanity inside. Will make for some good stories in reflection I hope.

The first thing we needed to do to prepare for this was clearing out the loft space. If you remember (and I'll help with a link here), the loft was first converted back into storage back during a previous winter. As it turns out, stuff in a storage space has an R value greater than 1.0. Needless to say, the space was getting pretty full. Fine in normal times - out of sight out of mind I guess but not helpful when we needed to clear everything out to convert the loft. We are getting some storage back, but really need to cull a lot of the junk. Christmas / Hallowe'en decorations are protected of course. 

We initially thought about storing everything in the cabin, but given this is my new office / mancave - it was quickly dismissed. This meant that we needed to find external storage. Enter Big Yellow .. easy to reserve a spot, great service and decent prices. Most importantly, just like off-licenses and photo shops it was considered an essential service and allowed to stay open. Just a 5 minute drive away from us as well so happy days there.

I had a bit of fun moving the stuff there .. particularly with the life size skeleton from Hallowe'en which ended up being my passenger on the drive there. It got a few people's attention :) .. He's now guarding the storage locker for us. 

As you can see, the storage is pretty full now. Initially I thought this was going to be too big for what we needed but the R value of stored items came into effect. After 10 weeks, this may be overfilling, let's see.

Most importantly, the loft is now empty save for some bonus items that can be re-used or go in the skip. Fine either way. 

 

   

Monday the skip and portaloo arrive and the work starts in earnest. 

 

Day 73: Loft in space

This weekend I took a break from the bathroom and decided to escape to the loft. The place was full of creepy crawlies and other nastiness that would have made a good setting for an Indiana Jones film - just add a bad plot and a poorly written script and you're ready to go. 

First I installed some led wall lights, rerouted some wiring and moved the bathroom extractor fan back to clear space. Next I took my trusty Karcher shop vac (Hoover for the Brit's) and filled 2 bags of dust, dirt and other fine things. Yes, that's a desk lamp in the photo. I had to kill the lighting circuit and needed to improvise to get more light. Afterwards, I redistributed the insulation before finally laying down some tongue and groove chipboard flooring. 

Overall, I'm pleased with the result. This will give us some useful storage space for all of our junk. Or alternatively, a penthouse retreat for the next time I put my foot in my mouth. In either case, it will get well used. 

Bathroom floor tiles are due in this week so I'm planning on getting back to the bathroom next weekend. Until then, holidays are over and it's back to the day job.