We Have Conservatory

Last week, our porch was pulled down. It was in a bit of a state of disrepair when we bought the house back in 2002, and had been leaking - sometimes badly - for almost a year, which I attempted to stem with tarpaulins and polythene. A couple of months back the ceiling caved in due to the water damage, and it was obvious then that there was no more hanging around.

Fortunately, the value of the house has more than doubled in the time we've been there, so I could persuade the mortgage company to give us a bit more to get thing fixed. Here's how it looked last Wednesday, about an hour before work started:

Slightly blurred, but you can see where the timber had gone rotten and the polythene on the roof. A couple of hours later, I had a man scuttling across it, avoiding falling through wood so rotten it was practically soil, and taking it apart:

About an hour later, the roof had gone completely, and just the joists were left.

Come lunchtime, the whole thing had been taken apart, and the lovely pistachio paint that the previous owners loved so much (it was also in the kitchen and is still in the spare room and attic) was exposed to the world.

Then our conservatory frame and glazing arrived in the car park next door. It probably took longer loading the van up and unloading it again than the drive, seeing as the conservatory centre is the other end of the car park!

Quite quickly the frame was erected and the process of bolting and sealing joint began.

Process was halted at 4pm because the light had given up. We were left with the frame and roof without any glass in overnight, but from the end of the garden it just looked like very clean windows! The following day the fitters returned to finish the installation, and they very nearly did it - here's how it looked at the end of day two:

The only things that have changed since this photo was taken have been the installation of the downpipe from the gutter and the finishing of the plastering inside.

So, that's how we've gone from having an embarressing, rundown porch to a really nice conservatory. I sat out in it and drank some wine at the end of the second day, and it's lovely. Very pleased to have the old porch gone and a whole new front to the house for people to see - and no draught!