It’s good enough to live in!

The new Trading Hut is now fully enclosed with timber and the insulation has been put in by Joe, who has been sawing away most days in the dark!

Charlie and Bill have been putting the roof and soffits on but the weather has been too wet or windy to get the roof finished. The roof is going to be coated with GRP, which is effectively fibreglass and will give a very durable finish.

On Thursday I was thrilled to meet Terry, the electrician, who took two days to do the ‘first electrical fit’ of the hut. This means that the cabling is ready for sockets and lights as soon as the interior finish has been put up. It really begins to feel like a building!

Today Charlie and Joe were getting to grips with the partition between the office, kitchen and toilets to stop them being blown off the roof by trying to work up there in the high wind.

Next we’ll be ordering the windows and doors and choosing the colour for the wood cladding.

The unseasonally warm weather this November has been helpful for our build but the recent high winds and rain held up progress on the roof until last Thursday, when suddenly the winds dropped and the rain held off. Charlie and the gang uncovered the roof and spread the GRP fibreglass coating all over. The roof is now watertight and just needs a finishing coat of paint.

Today the team was busy boarding out the interior spaces and sound-proofing the toilets (yes, there are two!). The space for the office, kitchen and loos is now very clear and it is easy to see how much space we are going to have.

And the best bit as the days shorten in November – Terry our electrician was back to put in the lighting!

The Hut is beginning to take on a real character of its own with all the work that has been done in the last week.

The lower external walls have been rendered to make them water-tight and give a hard-wearing coating to the building. This will be topped with wood cladding very soon.

Work has carried on inside and all the insulation and boarding is now complete.

This shows the ‘view’ into the disabled loo which will actually be blocked off from the kitchen (see wall below)! Our oven and fridge have already arrived.

Today the doors are finally in.

Charlie and the gang are working flat out to get the plumbing and kitchen in ready for our drinks party on 13th so I hope you’ll all come and look at the progress they’ve made.