If
you've ever wanted extra room for family or guests, or even just
a quiet place to persue a hobby you may have considered a garden
chalet. We did, but sadly prices for the size of building we wanted
were, at 3,000€ to 5,000€, beyond our reasonable budget.
Then we saw a nice little 9.5m2 abri being sold at Mr Bricolage
for 679€. OK, that was about half the size we wanted but
hey, why not buy two and, with a bit of reworking, join them together
to make a 19m2 chalet? So we did, and here's the build in progress...
The
chalet had to be sited on sloping ground. So we levelled up with
breezeblocks, covered the grass with weed suppressant ground cover
material and then filled the void with rubble. On top of this
we constructed our base. We treated the bearers with a creosote
substitute and old engine oil mix and centred them at 12 inches
to allow the floor to be laid with 8'x4' OSB sheets.
Here
we have fixed the OSB floor, the garden tractor and trailer will
certainly earn its keep during the build! The three floor bearers
protruding will help support the verandah.
And
up she goes. The modular interlocking pine boards are really easy
to assemble.
This
is the stage where we must start reworking the kits to adapt to
our own design. The original abri had a double door in the gable
end. We want two double doors one in each side at the same end,
we also allowed for a window in the other end. The whole thing
is a bit floppy at this point, but will stiffen up as the build
progresses - we hope!
As
said above, a bit floppy at this stage, we are holding the window
side boards together with a temporary vertical piece of timber.
Notice the piles of short boards, these will narrow the doorways
to the correct size.
Alex
is pre-painting the roof panels, this will save a lot of cutting
in when the roof is in place. That's Myrtle scratching about on
the patio.
Of
course, the two abri kits had four gable ends. What we wanted
was a strong centre beam to span across the middle of the chalet,
so we fixed the two spare gable end tops together back to back
and fixed a board under to make a box section beam which is very
strong indeed. Notice some slightly twisted boards being straightened
on the floor with breezeblocks.
Two
vertical posts each side (inside and out) not only stiffen up
the sides, but give a solid support for the box beam to rest on.
The roof bearers are screwed into the gable ends and centre beam,
this wasn't the intention of the original kit designer, but we
want our roof to remain in place during gales!
A
view of the front. Notice the centre vertical post has been cut
to overhang the base, this is an important fixing each side, we
don't want the building to shift in high winds.
28/06/10
The
first coat of Cuprinol weather protection going on the outside
and the untreated pine inside was sealed prior to varnishing.
Notice the double glazed window waiting to be installed tomorrow.
We saw it in a local discount shop and found it was the exact
size we wanted.
29/06/10
We
had to make a frame for the window but it went in fairly easily.
Here's
the outside with pine trim round the window. When the mastic has
hardened we can stain and varnish the window frame. Roof going
on tomorrow.
30/06/10
We did manage to get all the roof panels in place today despite
the arrival this evening of a very nice lady asking for a job
as a chalet maid! ... Knowing how the wind belts down the valley
at times we decided not to use the tiny screws supplied with the
kits and instead used much bigger, and better quality, loft floor
screws.
With
the inside now protected from the elements we even had time to
start the fitting out. The square box in the corner will be a
storage area which will also be one end each of two single-beds/bench-seats;
one across the end wall and one along the right side. (This has
now been changed - see further down)
Now
the roof is on we can bring up the woodworking tools saving much
walking down to the workshop.
03/07/10
The
roofing felt is now on but the edges are yet to be tacked down.
The exterior walls have had a second coat of weatherproofing today.
The
doors were a challenge but all good in the end.
We've
had several emails via the contact
page from people following the chalet build, many
thanks for all the interest. - Well ... 'chalet'? Someone pointed
out that the original meaning of chalet is a steeply pent roofed
wooden building found in Alpine regions, although in recent years
the term has also come to mean chalet bungalow or even one of
those small rooms for sleeping in at holiday camps! So, should
we call it a chalet? Or should we call it a cabin? Let us know
your views.
One
big benefit of building one 'chalet/cabin' from two abris is the
large amount of materials left over after building the shell;
two whole walls worth of 28mm modular pine boards. In our case
that amounted to an impressive 32. We used 12 for taking the walls
up an extra two boards giving sensible headroom, and 5 for the
centre posts and under the box beam. That leaves 15 boards to
help with the fitting out, that's a big saving. However, heightening
the walls meant that the doors and frames were too short! So there
was much fiddling about extending them. Care was taken when fitting
the doors to make them as tight as possible or, as Debbie says,
**spider proof**
We
have all the necessary solar panels and charge controllers etc
to make this building self sufficient as far as electricity is
concerned. This page will cover the solar installation so if you're
interested in that stuff please check back frequently.
View
of the doors from inside.
05/07/10
We
now have a bench seat...
That
converts into a single bed.
07/07/10
We
had a rethink about the interior layout and realized that the
storage area in the corner was wasted space. So we decided to
put the shower and loo in that corner. That means that the kitchenette
can have a full width worktop and possibly a breakfast bar too.
Full
of tools etc as we've had a bit of a clean up.
12/07/10
After
a lovely weekend in the camper at the Ufford
bygones annual charity fundraiser we resumed work
today. One side of the toilet/shower room has been faced with
T&G, here props are holding it in place until the glue dries.
The toilet door has been constructed, it's sitting in the doorway
but yet to be trimmed and hung.
The
toilet window has been made and fixed in place, it's one of those
that pull inwards at the top to open. The inset shows the outside.
13/07/10
Today
we fitted and hung the toilet/shower room door. We decided to
make a small diamond shaped window (frosted) so that if the light
is left on it will be seen and hopefully turned off; when the
solar panels are installed electricity will have to be used economically.
14/07/10
Late start today ... Boney M blasting out at the annual village
disco in a marquee over the road at 02:55 was to blame! Still,
it's just once a year, and the French hereabouts do seem to like
Boney M.
As
it was a public holiday today we decided not to make much noise,
so most of the day was taken up with the little jobs like sanding
rough edges, filling gaps and curing a creaky floor board. But
we did make a start on the second single bed/bench seat. It poured
down this afternoon, but was a good test for the roof which was
completely dry. Some rain did come in through an open doorway
though, so we may have to think about a small porch over each
of the doors.
16/07/10
Oh
dear, not much done in the last two days, lots of other pressing
things to attend to. But we did manage just two hours this afternoon
during which time we finished off the second single bed/bench
seat. Here it is as a bed.
And
here it is as a bench seat.
And
here we are trying out the throw overs we bought yesterday at
Gifi. The village brocante is on Sunday and we have to do things
indoors tomorrow so the next update will be on Monday. Hopefully
that bit of OSB on the side of the toilet/shower room will be
faced with T&G and maybe a start on the table or the kitchenette
worktop. We'll see.
17/07/10 Ok I Know, I said next update Monday 19th ... but we
had an hour or so free late afternoon today as we'd run out of
plasterboard fixative for the job we are doing in the house. So
we made the table and gave it a coat of varnish.
19/07/10 Today we did make a start on that bit of OSB that needed
facing
And we did
a bit on the kitchenette worktop too.
20/07/10 Today we almost finished the kitchenette worktop and
the carcase which is now ready for the doors to be made and fitted.
It was almost dark when we finished this evening!
24/07/10 The laminate floor was installed today.
And
here's the floor laying gang, from left to right: Broom, Ryan,
Chloe and Lorraine. What a brilliant job they made of it!
25/07/10
We decided to properly hang the curtains today, the material was
chosen by Rosemarie in Ipswich who also made them. Here's the
curtain installation operatives: Megan (left) and Chloe, still
wearing her underlay bandana!
26/07/10 Here's a photo we took yesterday on Lorraines phone because
the batteries went dead on the camera, it's had a trip to Ipswich
and back by text and email because we couldn't download it here.
Left to right: Chloe with bandana, Broom and Megan with Minnie
Mouse ears :)
05/08/10
Yesterday
we started work levelling at the back of the chalet. This will
be a nice flat area to enjoy morning coffee. It will also allow
rainwater to soak away before eroding the chalet foundation. We
had a bit of help as you can see.
Here
it is finished complete with shingle, unfortunately not wide or
long enough for a petanque piste :(
We've
put in some temporary solar power to make the family more comfortable.
This will be replaced by a permanent set-up in due course. Outside
the chalet is 120w of solar panels (which will eventually be mounted
on a framework along with a solar collector for hot water), a
10a charge controller, a 90ah battery and a fuse box. In the chalet
as a temporary set-up there's one 8w 12v energy saving lamp and
a 150w msw inverter which provides more than enough power to charge
mobile phones, run and charge a notebook PC, run and charge a
portable DVD player or small TV plus power an 11w energy saving
table lamp. We do have a couple of 600w msw inverters so eventually,
when we have upgraded the battery, one of those will be installed
instead of the 150w inverter. We will post photos of the permanent
installation when we do it.
12/08/10 Made a start on the verandah today. Here's the deck bearers
being put into place. 70x50mm at 400mm centres. As with the level
area at the back of the cabin, weed suppressant material under
shingle will stop grass growing under it.
13/08/10
A couple of hours this afternoon completed the verandah deck bearers.
Next job is to run about 15 pallets over the circular saw table
to obtain enough 80cm long boards for the deck.
19/08/10
Is it ever hard work cutting up and denailing pallets! But we
do like to recycle when we can. Anyway, a trailer load of wood
for the deck is ready to be used tomorrow.
20/08/10
We found time to lay some of the deck boards today. With staggered
joints it's very solid.
30/08/10
Due partly to refurbishing our kitchen, and due also to the really
bad weather recently, there's nothing much to show here. However,
by snatching a few odd moments we have almost finished the deck
and started to construct the pergola.
31/08/10
We like end of season sales. This bistro set was bought last week
in B&Q for under a tenner.
06/11/10
Now that winter is almost upon us, we have decided to leave the
cabin as it is this year and finish the project in 2011. Please
check back next spring. Debbie
To
everyone following this build - thanks for visiting.
