The Laundry Room

LAUNDRY ROOM

When we investigated the exterior walls of this the oldest part of the house (it is on the Napoleon map of the village) we discovered two problems:

1. the exterior render needed to be removed and replaced! As it can only be seen in my neighbour’s courtyard, it is low priority because of ‘what the eye doesn’t see’.  However, it will have to be repaired within the next 5 years! 

2. the guttering ran through the boundary of a 3 feet wide stone wall and discharged the rain straight onto my ground. THIS was why the indoor floor level of the room which was half a metre lower than the external ground was wet! So once we’d understood the problem, the floor was tanked with tar, cleaned and levelled so that white ceramic tiles with plinths could be laid.  

The damp interior walls were further dry-lined to ensure the walls were dry and other walls were stripped of the unpleasant wood cladding. All walls were plastered, sanded, and filled continually until they were flat – it was unbelievably difficult.  The ceiling which had never been plastered properly was also a major problem to stop it moving as we tried to make it flat.

Window difficulties

The first window for the laundry room was 45cm by 45cm and an opening/closing window was chosen. My friend adapted the hole in the 2 feet stone wall which looked out into The Atelier. It was wider internally than externally and so wa awkward to improve.  He left a gap for a ventilation grid, as one day the central heating oil boiler will operate once more. As I finish each room I will replace the radiators! 

The second window had a sealed glass brick window flush with the external wall which my friend improved both on the exterior and interior and also removed the nasty, badly-fitted secondary glass which was on the inside.  We had to order an opening window in the same style as the first window and wait two weeks. This was going to be installed on the inside of the existing window as a method of sound and thermal insulation. It was an hour’s journey to the shop so we delayed travelling until we had a number of other things to buy. Meanwhile the beautiful wooden sill was finished. Imagine our annoyance when holding the window to the hole, we couldn't understand why it was too big. The reason was because it is advertised as a window 75cm high and 60cm wide. Correct?  We had assumed that that is the size of the hole.  Mais NON!!! This is France…we had not read the small print at the bottom of the specification chart. Each window is actually 3 cm wider and 5 cm higher or vice versa than the actual measurements advertised in large print at the top of the specifications chart!  Our research indicated this is the norm in Bricodepot and Le Roy Merlin. Therefore, our hole was too small and the neat work had to be undone to accommodate the window frame.

Electricity,Plumbing and Shelving

In May 2010 the Electrician/Plumber promised to make the power safe, complete many electrical  anomalies and instal an enormous, new 'chauffeau thermodynamique' water heater which was eventually completed just before Christmas day 2010 but not switched on until June 2011.  In May 2011 the washing machine was installed.

Between October 2010 and May 2011 I was carefully monitored by my friend and lectured severely when I didn’t get it right! I worked hard on this room and learned to dislike sanding and filling of walls and ceilings. I learned to like painting the walls but was not very good at cutting in. However, I enjoyed stripping the old pine door and waxing one side and painting the other.  Of course my friend had to rehang it which presented additional problems.

It was a terrible room to renovate but now I am extremely happy with it, even though in December 2011 I still await a sink, a worktop and cupboard space. It will be some time before this can be achieved. Meanwhile, shelving units store food, as the room is an excellent larder.

The wood was painted “Lead White” and the walls and ceiling were painted “Chiltern White”. We were very pleased with the transformation of the room.