Monday 29 October 2012

Let there be light

I have been indulging in a spot of DIY this weekend. I enjoy tinkering with things but I did SO much when I first moved in here that I took a well earned and much needed break from it. Now I am back and ready for more.

One place in my house that I never have explored really was the loft. I have poked my head through to look at the insulation and once crawled over joists to check the TV aerial but besides that it has remained completely shut as though Mrs Rochester was slowly going mad up there.

Now I have decided it is time to get to know this space properly.

With the help of my brother, this new project was begun this weekend by putting lighting up there.

I won't bore you with how we did it, but I was dead proud and very happy when 2 working lights were illuminating the gloomy corners. Total cost for the job £3.96.

There is plenty of potential storage space up there.

The loft is in 2 halves with the hatch in the centre.



I've attached this trailing wire to the beams now.

As you can see there is plenty of insulation up there and I have some extra that a friend wanted rid of which will add to some of the bald spots here and there.

Now that I can see up here the next job will be getting some flooring down, might do that this week, or at least prepare it. Loft flooring is pretty cheap and I will do it in stages, one half at a time. I don't need to do a particularly neat job, but I am quite neat and tidy and can't help myself trying to get it just right.

It will be great to be able to use this space to keep the things I want/need to keep, but don't need to use very often. Christmas decs, blow up beds, paperwork etc.

One day I will sort a permanent ladder out too, although for now, my ladder from the garage will do just fine.

It's good clip my tool belt back on and get my hands dirty.

8 comments:

  1. That looks like an awesome start! We also have old carpet scraps on the top of the loft boards as an extra layer of insulation again... just a suggestion...

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  2. DB gradually did our attic floor piecemeal, as and when he found appropriate material. We have quite a lot of chipboard up there, plus pieces of wardrobe no longer needed etc. It is now almost done. Whenever we changed a carpet in the house (same as Penny Wise), it went down on top of the boards for extra insulation.

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  3. I was lucky enough to get my loft insulated for free with an initiative by my local council, i also had cavity walls done as well so as well as making the house toasty i saved around £500 :-)

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  4. We too were lucky enough (Scotland) to get the loft topped up to the recommended levels unfortunately its a combed ceiling, prevalent in Scotland, so zilch storage space. You can walk round it, but we need that to be available should anything go wrong with the electrics!
    Tis lovely to be able to do something with your hands that will benefit.

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  5. Cracking up laughing at your Mrs. Rochester comment!!!!

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  6. I love attics! My friend used to have a secret lair in her attic when I was a kid - I loved it! :) Our attic (my parent's place) has a colony of bats living in it, so we're not allowed to use it!

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  7. I have floored half of it now, will post on that in a couple of days. hard work, but oh so rewarding.

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