Renovating a gite in Brittany.

Barn before conversion into two gites started in September 2004. Click for larger image. Proposed gites upstairs floorplan. Click for larger image. Latest picture of gite renovation. Click for larger image.
Proposed gites downstairs floorplan. Click for larger image.

Starting point of gite renovation and latest picture of progress with floorplans of each gite. Click on each image for a larger picture.

View a timelapse of the renovation in pictures. Broadband users only.

 jeudi 20 janvier 2005

Loft hatch, what loft hatch.

Ceiling up in the first giteAfter the plasterboard delivery Monday, Ian and I have been making the piles smaller by putting up the two ceilings in each of the gites. Apart from boarding straight over the first loft hatch and forgetting where it was everything went very smoothly. I didn't make the same mistake with the second hatch in the other gite. I know it sounds a bit bizarre losing a loft hatch that I only constructed a few hours earlier, but once the ceiling is up it's a bit featureless. A bit of tapping around and a small exploratory hole soon confirmed it's location.

Ian spent half a day of sterling work filling holes in the gable ends with small rocks and cement whilst I humped 15 huge rolls of 200mm glassfibre into the loft space ready to lay out once I've run the electric cabling for room lights etc. and VMC ducting. The VMC is a fan unit located in the loft to extract damp air from bathrooms, toilets and the kitchen by a network of flexible plastic ducting. It detects the humidity/mositure in the air. Caroline has started to do the internal pointing for the exposed stone walls with a sand and lime mix. It really makes the stonework come alive and look very nice indeed.

Today has been another monster shopping day for Caroline and I. We've been buying toilets, showers, internal doors, baths, and various other bits and bobs so next week we can start on the internal walls and subsequently first fit electrics and plumbing.


 9:18:49 PM   Loft hatch, what loft hatch.