Progress - Ensuites 3&4

November 2013

While Ensuites 3 and 4 are two separate rooms, they will be described as one project here because the issues involved in each were very similar, and initially relied on one set of work tasks. The first work done on the 1st Floor was taking up some floorboards to see what was underneath, because it was planned to run the plumbing for the new Ensuites 3&4 under the floorboards and across to the toilet room, from where the plumbing would then run down the services shaft to the Ground Floor. What we found surprised us a little! Between the sub-floor beams was packed earth, presumably acting as insulation (both temperature and sound). We were surprised that such insulation would have been used 100 years ago, since it looked like it was part of the original house. The advantage of this finding was that once the packed earth had been removed, there was plenty of space for electrical cabling, plumbing and wastewater pipes, and the underfloor space could then be repacked with more modern insulation materials.

The front wall and door of the old Storage Room were removed as were the wardrobes inside the Storage Room. Once all the packed earth insulation material had been removed, the space was ready to receive the new Ensuites.

March 2014

EnSuite 3 needed to be connected to Bedroom 3 by a new doorway cut through the brick wall separating the two rooms, as shown on the right of the photo below. The opening on the left (the old entry doorway to Bedroom 3) will be closed in to become part of the wall in EnSuite 4.

April 2014

This month has been a busy month for the new Ensuites 3&4. The new flooring was laid, extending into the Foyer and Bedroom 3, the timber frames were built for the Ensuite walls, and the VMC extraction ductwork was installed. Now that the wall separating the Foyer from Ensuite 4 has been built, one can get a better appreciation of the space available in the different areas.

The toilet cisterns and frames were also installed in Ensuites 3 & 4. This was done slightly differently in each Ensuite. In Ensuite 3 the frame was hung directly onto the wall, whereas in Ensuite 4 there was the old bedroom entrance door behind where the toilet was to be located. So rather than completely fill in the doorway to form a new wall, the cistern frame was hung on the new wall frame at the back of the doorway recess, thus providing a bit more floorspace within the Ensuite.

Both of the new ensuite cisterns can be seen in this photo from Bedroom 3.

May 2014

In the cabinets behind every toilet is a valve system which will allow each toilet to be individually disconnected from the water supply for emergency repairs, without affecting the water supply in other parts of the house.

June 2014

All the framing, insulation, plumbing and cabling have now been completed in the new Ensuites 3&4, ready for the plasterboard walls to be installed.

August 2014

Both Ensuites 3 and 4 have had their plasterwork completed (using the green hydro-plaster boards), with the cisterns now recessed into the walls. However, because of delays in getting the plasterwork completed, it was decided to leave these ensuites unfinished for the August band tour, to ensure that other more essential work was completed in time.

March 2015

By March 2015, work had commenced on fitting out Ensuites 3 and 4. Each of these smaller Ensuites contained the same fittings as in the larger Ensuites 1&2, except that there was no bath (just a shower cubicle) and there was only one basin and set of drawers (no "His & Hers" fixtures). The fitout of these rooms brought the total number of bathrooms in La Maison to six and the total number of toilets to seven - all required for a modern B&B.