Studio build - Part 3
With home working becoming the norm over the pandemic, this blog post series explores the highs and lows I went through when designing and building my own garden studio.
With autumn in full flow and the threat of further lockdowns on the horizon there was a sense that work would soon stop again, either due to lockdown or lack of material. I managed to get hold of enough cladding to encase the entire structure and once this was done the structure was solid for the first time - albeit without doors and windows!
Winter is coming
The sound of fluttering plastic sheeting would soundtrack my winter nights after I pinned a sheet of it to each of the empty window frames. We made a door for the shed side and hung the salvaged door I found on Facebook, so now the structure was finally water tight. Or so I thought.
After experiencing a few heavy and relentless rain storms I noticed the shed side was letting in a load of water! This was a setback, as every problem encountered meant we loss time progressing onto other areas, and we didn’t have much daylight as it was so setbacks like these that really hampered progress.
I tried to remain positive and do anything else I could to speed up the build whilst the weather and the pandemic outside tried slow it down. I ordered in the double glazed units which took a few weeks to be made up and delivered. In the meantime the leak was fixed and some proper water drainage in the form of guttering and waterproofing of the flooring area was created using some off cuts from the roof!
Sealed structure
When the glass arrived I felt I was on the home run. It took a few hours to successfully install each unit but once in the structure was, for the very first time, sealed. It was an amazing feeling. From the inside it looked a million miles away from completion, but from the outside it looked a million bucks!
For the first time since the project began, I was able to work indoors and away from the elements. Cutting insulation became a game of Tetris for me and I got pretty good at packing out the walls and ceilings. Once the insulation was complete I got my dad back to help with the electrics. This was the first time I consulted with outside help in the form of an electrician.
Within a couple of days my humble shell of a building suddenly had electric, insulation and glass windows. It was a moment which felt really good. The following weekend involved me screwing plasterboard after plasterboard to the walls and ceiling and then the build was almost done.
I was onto the final stretch but there would still be a bit of a kicker when I found out the waiting times for plasterers in my local area! It looked like I wouldn’t be moving in anytime soon…
Next time: Conclusion
