New gites one year on.

Well, it's been a full season with the two new gites. Thats five in total now.

We always knew that in order to make a living five gites would be required and judging by the success of the last year, the two extra gites have made the difference. The renovation of the gites was hard work but the extra income is worth it. With the extra gites it also means that the fixed costs don't bite into any profit quite as much.

All the guests this year in the new gites have been very impressed and having two slightly different layouts meant they catered for each type of families requirements. One gite has a ground floor bedroom and en-suite for wheelchair access and the other gite with the extra upstairs space for larger families.

Fortunately there were no breakages or problems to note, so the extra attention to detail paided during the gite renovation was worth it. We do have a couple of lettings over winter and I'm hoping all the extra insulation in the walls and roof will make them comfortable and less expensive to heat.

 12:15:48 PM   New gites one year on.   

Gite photos

Eighteen months hard work and the two gites are finished. Here are some photos of the most recent gite, Abricot. The other gite, Fraise, which was finished at the end of last year has photos on the website.

Time for a well earned break.

 8:51:03 AM   Gite photos   

Gite finished

The gite is finished. Hurrah.

Everything has been cleaned up and my tools are safely back in the workshop. I've no plans to see them for a while. Curtain poles are up, and Caroline has been hanging curtains and pictures. The missing kitchen cupboard doors arrived from IKEA, which was a relief. Nearly all the furniture is in place with just a sofa suite left to put into the gite lounge.

Over the next few days we have got to take photos of the rooms and publish them on the website. The garden has been a bit of a distraction over the last few weeks, the grass growing like the clappers, weeding, hedge trimming etc. but fortunately we have got enough spare time to add the finishing touches to the gite and smarten up the garden.

The first guests for the new gite arrive on Saturday 27th May.

Update: Gite Photos

 11:13:38 AM   Gite finished   

Gite kitchen finished

The kitchen is the new gite is finally finished.

Well finished apart from the two cupboard doors under the kitchen sink. They are in the post from IKEA because for some reason we got the wrong doors. Hopefully they should arrive before the first gite booking at the end of the month. All the white goods, cooker, dishwasher, fridge etc. are in and working. The tiling is finally finished and grouted. On the suspended ceiling you can see the smoke alarm and fire extinguisher on the wall. Apart from popping in the other 'essentials' like a toaster, kettle, microwave etc. the kitchen is complete.

With the kitchen finished it's really that last piece of major work in the gite. All thats really left is picture hanging, curtain poles a major clean up and shifting all my tools back to my workshop.

So next week we should be able to dress the gite ready to take some photos for the website. It's been a long slog but certainly been very satisfying to see the end of the project.

 1:40:31 PM   Gite kitchen finished   

Gite furniture moving in.

At the end of last week the upstairs rooms in the gite were finished. They have been almost there for a couple of weeks, but still needed light fittings, heaters, stairgates, mirrors, shelving, etc. Now that all the final finishing touches have been completed Caroline has been busy sorting out curtains and putting in the furniture, beds, wardrobes etc.

The vast majority of the smaller stuff for the gite had already been bought but the larger items we left to later to avoid having to store loads furniture and move it all twice. The 'window' shopping and planning is the hard bit (well and paying for it) so it was just a matter of driving the van about and collecting the beds etc.

We are both really pleased with the result and the gite is really starting to take shape. A week or so left downstairs for the finishing touches and the gite should be finished. Where have I heard that phrase before.

 7:29:39 PM   Gite furniture moving in.   

Tiling nightmare

I've been having a bit of a disaster tiling the kitchen this week.

We bought 7 boxes of plain white tiles to do the walls above the cooker and kitchen sink that were on special offer. What I didn't realise was that there were three different batch numbers stamped on the boxes.

Like the books say I took several boxes and randomly pulled tiles out of each box and tiled the wall behind the cooker and under the kitchen units. The result looked OK when I stood back but the tiles seemed a little 'grey'. I just put it down to the light.

However halfway through the second wall I stood back and noticed the wall looked like a patchwork quilt of grey, white and off-white tiles. Truly awful. I just couldn't have lived with it. So I had to strip off the tiles and adhesive and chuck them out. Sorting through the unopened boxes revealed the batch number problem. Different shades of white.

Luckily when tiling the first wall I must have used tiles from the same batch but the second wall was a mixture of three different tile batches. So the first wall got left, and I had to go out and buy more tiles, this time paying particular attention to the batch numbers printed on the tile boxes.

Very frustrating having to do a job twice, but I guess that is what was special about the tiles.

 9:32:41 PM   Tiling nightmare   

Fitting a kitchen sink

Finally got around to fitting the worktops and fitting the kitchen sink today. Got slightly way laid on some finishing touches upstairs because Caroline went to Ikea yesterday to buy beds, bedroom furniture etc, and it seemed like a good idea to get upstairs basically finished and cleaned up. There is only the last coat of paint to put on the window trims and around the loft hatch and it's finished.

Anyway back to the kitchen today and putting in the sink.

Cut hole in kitchen sink for tap

The kitchen tap is fitted via a 35mm hole in the kitchen sink. The draining board is going on the right-hand side so I know the front and back part of the sink. I drilled a 10mm hole where the tap was to be positioned and the little black device in the photo is threaded through the hole so that the cutter is underneath the sink and the 'clamp' on top. By just tightening the nut the two halves cut a neat and easy 35mm hole in the correct place.

Markout kitchen sink location

Stick and oblong of masking tape on the worktop and then lay the kitchen sink upside-down on the worktop. I positioned the tap hole on the centerline of the kitchen window above the worktop. It just seemed pleasing to the eye. Draw round the sink onto the masking tape with the sink positioned squarely on the worktop.

Markout the hole

The actual hole in the workstop for the kitchen sink has to be 10mm smaller than the size of the sink. Fairly obvious really otherwise the sink would just fall straight through. So, on the masking tape draw parallel lines 10mm in from the kitchen sink outline with a straight edge etc.

Cut sink hole

The scary bit. With a large drill bit cut four holes, one in each corner, for the jigsaw blade. Using the jigsaw just cut along the lins to join up the four corners. I used a brand new fine cut blade and put the canter on a low setting to prevent chipping the formica worktop.

I have found in the past it's best to go slowly otherwise the blade skews off the vertical and you end up with sloping sides on your hole.

Obviously if you are cutting with the worktop resting on the kitchen cabinets make sure you don't jigsaw through the cabinet sides, and before you ask, not I haven't made that mistake; yet!

Pop the kitchen sink in place just to check everything fits OK.

Silicon sealant

If any water seeps under the kitchen sink and soaks into the wood of the worktop it could expand and 'blow' the worktop, so I put bathroom silicon sealant on the cut edges. Just pump a thick wiggly bead onto the edge and work it in with your fingers. I also do the same on the back edge of the worktop.

Kitchen sink clips

The kitchen sink we bought came with 14 clips that hook under the sink and then screw up onto the underside of the worktop to clamp it down firmly. I did have to cut some notches in the kitchen cabinet horizontal cross members so the clips could fit onto the worktop.

Sealing putty and earthing

Nearly there. The kitchen sink came with with a roll of grey sticky putty like stuff that seals the gaps between the sink and the worktop. Just lay it round the edge of the sink. I also took the opportunity to connect up an earth wire whilst the sink was out.

Now simply pop the whole lot in the hole, make sure it is squared up and tighten up the clips to install it. I tighten up the clips in a sort of zig-zag order, a bit like tightening wheel nuts, to pull the whole thing down square and flat.

Fit tap

It is most probably easier to fit the tap before installing the kitchen sink so you don't have to be double jointed to get to the nut for the tap. However there seemed to be enough room for my hands so I did it afterwards. The tap was supplied with braided flexible hoses so connection to the water supply was trivial.

Fit waste

Finally fit the drain plugs and waste piping to finish the job. Our kitchen sink came with this amazing bending, twisting, adjustable contraption that looked really wierd but actually slotted in very easily. The flexible waste tube was glued into the pipe coming out the bottom of the kitchen cabinet.

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 9:16:34 PM   Fitting a kitchen sink   

Painting finished, kitchen started

Finished all the painting in the gite yesterday. Two coats on the walls and ceilings. It covered very well. I think having a good undercoat helped.

Today I started to fit the rest of the kitchen. Four more base units and three wall units that we bought from Ikea. You hear alot of jokes about assembling Ikea flat pack stuff, missing bits, vague instructions etc., but everything when together very smoothly. Nothing missing and pretty good quality.

Fitting the sink unit carcass was a bit fiddly as I had to fit up the waste water piping for the sink and the dishwasher next to it. Just a lot of measuring, cutting pipes and holes and dry fitting. The carcass went in and out half-a-dozen times before it was sorted. The wall units were very easy as we had fixed thick plywood to the back of the plasterboard and it just involved getting everything level and putting in some large screws.

I should be able to fit the rest of the units tomorrow then make a start on the 'return' wall for the units that finish of the last side of the U-shape

 4:14:37 PM   Painting finished, kitchen started   

Dehumidifier

Borrowed a dehumidifier from a friend to help dry out the water leak. It has extracted about 10 litres in the last 24 hours. It already feels more comfortable in the gite whilst working.

Hopefully I should finish the second coat of painting tomorrow.

 8:42:35 PM   Dehumidifier   

Painted undercoat in Gite

The undercoat is now finished and I've started the cutting-in of the topcoat. The fan is doing it's job drying out the bottom of the plasterboard but the concrete is still very wet. I think there is still quite a bit of water under the floor. Hopefully now the weather is warming up a breeze through the open windows etc. will speed up the drying process.

The photos show the progress so far and by referring to the floorplans you should be able to work out the layout. Only a couple of kitchen units have been fitted. This was to allow the gas man to come and fit the pipework for the cooker. Once the painting is finished there are more units to fit to create a U shape kitchen extending into the living space. The units will follow the line of the suspended ceiling above. Make sense ?

 6:40:31 PM   Painted undercoat in Gite