The shed at night

Views of the shed at night

Week Forty Two - we move in!

The mezzanine level is now a fully functional kids hang out area and I am really pleased with it. I loved moving my homemade sofa in and it fitted perfectly (as I knew it would having made it!)  The Christmas present items such as the John Lewis lamp and rug also went in and a new 32" HDTV has also been purchased with money the children have been saving. The only things left to do is sort out the LED strip lights, put the skirting in,  make a wooden ladder and get the utility part fitted out - but the latter will have to wait until I get some more money!

Week Forty One - moving in!

I have been very fortunate to have had a week of dry and sunny weather which has meant that I was able to get lots of 'shed stuff' from under the tarpaulin where it has been since last summer and start putting it underneath the mezzanine.

Week Forty - finishing off floor laying

I am now on the last part of laying the floor. I have really enjoyed this as the planks fit beautifully together with no gaps and I am using my jigsaw which cuts very neatly.

Week Thirty Nine - floor laying

Week Thirty Eight - putting down DPM

Floor levelling

I have started to level the concrete floor using Mapei Self Levelling Compound. I have never used this stuff before and found the mixing of it quite tricky as I needed and extra set of hands. I should have masked off the timber boarding under the mezzanine as using the spiked roller made it spatter everywhere - lesson learnt! I only have three bags and one hasn't covered a third,  so I am definitely going to need at least one more.

Update and lessons learnt. ... On the second mix I used a mortar float to spread the mix out better prior to going over it with the spiked roller and it went so much further. I ended up only needing the three bags I had bought. 

Sealing concrete floor with PVA

Week Thirty Seven - working on LED strip lights

Finishing the painting

Just a couple more hours and the painting will be complete.  I have used Zinsser paint as the top coats and using my lovely Purdy window brush along with a Purdy mini roller,  it goes on beautifully.  All the effort with masking off the rafters has been worth it as I can paint right up to the edges without worrying about it. 

Finishing off

Balustrade complete

I am thrilled to bits with my lovely oak and glass balustrade!  It is exactly as I planned and the proportions are perfect. I cannot wait to get into the shed to finish off the mezzanine and complete all the painting.

I have half of the ceiling needing a second white emulsion coat plus two coats of the Zinsser paint and the other half just needs the second coat of Zinsser so that will be easy. I am looking forward to peeling off the frogtape! I will then use decorators caulk at the edges where the oak rafters meet the plaster.

Oak balustrade and glass panels are fitted

Jack has been working on the oak balustrade and it is going to look amazing!  I have had the glass and stainless steel brackets for ages and it will be great to see them in place - it will also make it much safer for the children and I am hoping that they can start using their space as soon as possible. There is no reason why they can't use it later this week - I just have to finish the ceiling painting which I am hoping to do today.

Week Thirty Six - electrics

Dan, Jack and Niall returned today and started work on the second fix for the electrics. The wall sockets and switches went in plus the lights were fitted. I now have light! It was good to see the outside step lights work as they had not been lit since last Autumn when they were first installed. Dan has somehow put the step lights on a remote control unit which works from the house so we can control them from there - very clever! We also have the PIR outside wall light which triggers when you walk down the garden, so we will never have to walk to the shed in the dark.

Week Thirty Five - mezzanine floor

I have spent some time today sanding the mezzanine floor and was then able to put on the first coat of Polyx Hard Wax Oil which I had bought following lots of research. I didn't want to varnish the floor so this wax oil sounded like a good option and it just brushes on.  I will put a second coat on tomorrow.