I am working on my conservatory but have hit a bit of a snag. I was planning to insulate and make it winter-ready to have more use of the space. I have removed the large glass panes and taken down the outer paneling and the little insulation that, surprisingly, was in the sections outside. The floor consists of sparsely-laid boards with wall-to-wall carpeting on top.
The outer paneling, sparse without a cover panel, went almost all the way down to the ground, and under the foundation, there was a lot of debris that I cleared out (including a non-functional rusty old lawnmower, various boards, an old rabbit hutch, buckets and broken bottles, clay pipes with mouse nests in them, and other debris. Fine sand, very uneven, and water flows in when it rains and collects in a puddle, I noticed. Planning to rake away the top layer of sand and level the surface with a slope towards the garden instead, lay down ground fabric and gravel. The flowerbed in front also needs to go: I plan to dig out the soil and fill it with gravel, I think.
I will replace the collar beam under the roof, the one that the roof trusses sit on, with a thicker horizontal one and put up new framing (correctly!), insulate the walls, and put on rough-cut wood paneling outside and paint it with gray earth paint.
But what should I do with the pier foundation? There are very few piers and I'm worried that the construction won't hold up for furniture and use if I don't support it a bit more underneath. The conservatory is about 3 x 6 m and looks like this from below and up:
1. Piers about 2 m apart, 4 on the front side and 4 at the back against the house wall.
2. 2 beams on top of the piers in the middle.
3. 5 beams crosswise (i.e., along the house).
4. Sparse floorboards.
5. Loose wall-to-wall carpeting on top.
* I will install new windows, insulate the walls and floor and under the roof as well.
* Thinking about adding a couple of piers, right under the two middle beams for extra support.
* Considering leaving the pier foundation open in the future, is that a good idea? But it won't look very nice...
The mysterious supports under the floor don’t reach all the way to the ground. It’s possible they did once upon a time, but I have no idea if so.
(I didn’t sweep before taking photos, it was very messy behind the paneling with lots of spiderwebs and other debris.)
All tips, advice, ideas, etc., are welcome!
The outer paneling, sparse without a cover panel, went almost all the way down to the ground, and under the foundation, there was a lot of debris that I cleared out (including a non-functional rusty old lawnmower, various boards, an old rabbit hutch, buckets and broken bottles, clay pipes with mouse nests in them, and other debris. Fine sand, very uneven, and water flows in when it rains and collects in a puddle, I noticed. Planning to rake away the top layer of sand and level the surface with a slope towards the garden instead, lay down ground fabric and gravel. The flowerbed in front also needs to go: I plan to dig out the soil and fill it with gravel, I think.
I will replace the collar beam under the roof, the one that the roof trusses sit on, with a thicker horizontal one and put up new framing (correctly!), insulate the walls, and put on rough-cut wood paneling outside and paint it with gray earth paint.
But what should I do with the pier foundation? There are very few piers and I'm worried that the construction won't hold up for furniture and use if I don't support it a bit more underneath. The conservatory is about 3 x 6 m and looks like this from below and up:
1. Piers about 2 m apart, 4 on the front side and 4 at the back against the house wall.
2. 2 beams on top of the piers in the middle.
3. 5 beams crosswise (i.e., along the house).
4. Sparse floorboards.
5. Loose wall-to-wall carpeting on top.
* I will install new windows, insulate the walls and floor and under the roof as well.
* Thinking about adding a couple of piers, right under the two middle beams for extra support.
* Considering leaving the pier foundation open in the future, is that a good idea? But it won't look very nice...
The mysterious supports under the floor don’t reach all the way to the ground. It’s possible they did once upon a time, but I have no idea if so.
(I didn’t sweep before taking photos, it was very messy behind the paneling with lots of spiderwebs and other debris.)
All tips, advice, ideas, etc., are welcome!
