I heard a bang, and went to investigate. It sounded a bit loud for a bird strike. In the conservatory, I discovered an exploded pane of glass:
The inner pane of the double glazing on that panel is no more. (The outer pane is intact, so at least we are weatherproof.) Well, the pane does still exist, in a higher entropy form, some caught in the blind, some swept up into a bucket:
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| not diamonds, unfortunately |
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| only 28 Celsius; not hot enough to shatter glass |
Here's a recent view from our upstairs window, over the roof of our new conservatory.
(We don't have a cat.)
The hanging tile of Damocles has just been safely removed. This has required the erection of significant infrastructure (which is also needed to replace and refix the other damaged and displaced tiles).
Storm Eunice had very strong winds at home yesterday. Today, surveying the results, we saw some displaced roof tiles.
First we noticed all the tiles that were displaced. They’ll need fixing. Then we noticed the gutter – with the roof tile lodged in it, flapping up and down in the still strong wind.
If that falls, it will drop onto the new conservatory’s glass roof:
The hanging tile is in absolutely the most difficult position to get at – in the very middle back of the conservatory. The roof tiler will need scaffolding to access that bit of the roof.
Oh well. Fingers crossed it doesn’t fall.
The conservatory is now tiled, although that is difficult to see from afar:
The great "grey green" (non-greasy) grout we originally chose was found to be out of stock until the end of March, so we went for "charcoal" instead. It works nicely to highlight the pattern of the tiling.
Today saw the start of the floor tiles being laid in the conservatory.
The black plastic pieces are the spacers. The yellow plastic wedges are there to break off the top of the spacers later. All rather more sophisticated than matchsticks.
Having chosen the floor tiles, we now have to choose the grout colour, and were sent to a website with a truly amazing selection of grouts, including various glittery ones, and even cherry red! (But not cherry red glitter, so I suppose that is something to be thankful for.)
We went with “grey green”, as the tiles have just a hint of green, and I’m now thinking about the Limpopo...
We now have a brick step down on either side of the observation deck: the front will have a railing. And the interior lights have been fitted. There are two wall lights on one circuit to light the conservatory in the usual way, and a third light on its own circuit that will have a red bulb for use when we are observing. There is also an electrical outlet on the outside wall, ready to supply power to the observatory one it’s built.
The electric underfloor heating has been laid. We aren’t expecting to use this a lot – just to stop the conservatory from freezing – since we will be storing the small telescope in there, and it should be kept at ambient temperature. However, the people who have the house after us might want a warmer room than that.
The mesh has been covered with a thin coat of latex to protect it. While still wet, it has a nice sheen:
Once the floor has been tiled, and the lights and sockets installed, that will be it (inside). The end is in sight!
The raised paved area outside the conservatory has now been finished – although there is still a brick step on each side, and a railing at the front, to install. Also, the bed at the side of the conservatory has been backfilled. So, the outside is nearly finished, and certainly looking a lot smarter. Just the inside floor to tile, the electrics to do, and it’s nearly done!
Half the patio (or “observation deck”, for use by the small telescope) has been installed. The idea is that this deck is level with the interior of the conservatory, so we can move the small telescope in and out relatively easily. The step down from the old exterior doors to the old patio made moving the telescope exciting, especially in the dark.
We now have a brick step down from the interior doors into the conservatory.
The idea was for the brickwork to be to base of a tiled step. But we like the look of the brick, so we will leave it as a brick step. That will also make it more visible against the tiled floor (still to come).
More progress: today we got a few inches of screed laid on top of the floor insulation. However, we are told this will need to be left for a week in order to fully dry out before the floor can be tiled. But nevertheless, things are moving in the right direction. The interior of the conservatory looks more like a room, and less like a building site. The exterior, however...
New year, new work on the conservatory. Today the insulation was laid on top of the beam and block floor.
The brick edges of the patio area have been built. We want this piece of the patio to be level with the interior of the conservatory, to make it easier to move the smaller telescope in and out. (The larger telescope will be in its own observatory dome, to be built once the conservatory is finished, which should have been several months ago...)
The final small triangular piece at the top of the end wall has been installed, and all the joints caulked and sealed. It's now dry inside.
It has been nearly two months since the conservatory frame was erected. Today, finally, the glass was installed!
The frame for the conservatory is installed! No glass yet, though. The installers claim they are waiting for the pond people to finish, so that there is no chance of damaging the glass. But I happen to know they haven't even got the glass delivered yet.
So, as this slowly progresses, we have moved from having an expensive unusable patio, to an expensive unusable pergola...
Meanwhile, the pond work continues, with the path hard core laid out in the right places.
Today saw the first movement on the conservatory build since the end of July. (The glazing has been delayed, several times.) The downpipe had originally been rerouted with temporary fxings, to allow the end wall to be built, although bizarrely the bricklayer just bricked round it.
It has now been properly rerouted, leaving a small hole (visible halfway down the wall), hopefully to be filled in later...
Glazing is promised for next week. Maybe.
The end wall is now finished, except for a small wedge at the top to accommodate the sloping roof, which will be added once the glass is ready. We hear the glass has been delayed ...
The end wall continues to rise. A temporary gap is left to accommodate the temporary downpipe. Rain stopped play for about ten minutes around midday when the heavens opened, leaving a wheelbarrow full of freshly mixed mortar swimming in water.
