And so we begin again...

It's been a long time since the last update so a quick recap is in order.  The bathroom was completed at the end of May and following that we had all internal doors replaced.  We then thought we deserved a holiday so we toddled off to the Loire Valley for a couple of weeks in August.  We went back to Le Moulin de Maulne, a gite we'd used in 2010, and one we'd highly recommend.

So, fast forward to mid October and the installation of a new front door.  The old one was a cheap and nasty uPVC thing which nearly fell out of its frame every time you closed it.  We'd done lots of research around front doors and looked at composite, uPVC and everything in between.  We finally settled on a steel and aluminium door manufactured by Hormann (German of course!).  Not much more expensive than the composite doors being peddled by our local door/window companies but light years ahead in terms of fit, finish, quality and thermal efficiency (this appeals to my inner geek!).

AHA Doors were contracted to supply and fit and this is where the delay in updating has come in.  The door needed to be a custom size so that entailed a 10 week lead time from the factory.  Anyway, it's in and we're really pleased.  AHA also fabricated the stainless steel sill, and they were a great company to deal with. They'll be fitting the matching garage door in Jan/Feb.

On with the pictures...

Note the fancy double sided locking mechanism.  No local company could provide anything close to this.

Bathroom 95% done

Apart from the new door and architrave which need painting, the bathroom is completed.  The tiler has done an excellent job and the room seems so much bigger now.  He has made lots of nice touches such as the spacing of the tiles on the shower 'feature' wall, and how they are laid out behind the toilet and sink unit.

Notice the shower controls are accessible without having to step into the shower so you don't get a blast of cold water!  Underfloor heating makes it really pleasant to walk into the room and the large towel rail makes it really toasty as well as heating your towels.

We've been using the Method range of household cleaners in the kitchen and for car windscreens for a while and we can really recommend their shower cleaner.  All natural ingredients too so really skin friendly.  The window is coated in a privacy film which allows the light through but no-one can see in or out, even when the lights (low wattage LED units, natch!) are on.

So, here are the pictures:

Bathroom latest....

So, the tiling is more or less done, just a couple of areas to tidy up, the ceiling was painted today, and the privacy film applied to the window.

The fitter is returning on Monday to grout the floor, fit the sink and units, and fit the radiator, towel rails etc.  Can't recommend Terry the fitter enough - a perfectionist and all round good bloke.

Bathroom Update

So, nearly two weeks in to the bathroom project and we're nearly there, good job really as evenings in the local Travel Lodge are becoming tiresome!

The tiler is on the final stretch and is hoping to finish on the 28th May.  The day after we have a carpenter coming in to replace all the internal doors throughout.

Updated pictures of the bathroom:

Bathroom - end of day 2.

Big improvement over the old bathroom already!

Phase 2 begins.

Now the bank balance has had a chance to recover, we're moving on to phase 2 of the renovation.  The bathroom fitters started on the 15th May and expect to be done by the 24th.  I'm not giving the game away by telling you what we have planned, you'll just have to keep coming back and looking at the updates!

So, here are the before pictures.  It's such a small room and the corner bath made the room virtually unusable, the less said about the glazed door the better!

More new furniture

The renovation work would be nearly completed by now if we didn't keep buying new furniture!  We fancied a new dining table and chairs and wanted to move away from the oak theme so have opted for some chic italian style glass and white leather.  Still deciding on a matching wall unit but so far we're pleased...