Final stage of the bedroom retrofit is adapting the window architrave to accommodate the additional 100mm of insulation that is now on the wall.
For those of you who don’t know what an architrave is (me until recently) it’s the decorative moulding that sits around window frames and door frames to tidy up all the joins involved with the installation. It was removed along with the old plaster at the start of the process and now had to be reinstated on the ‘new’ insulated wall at a greater depthSteve the carpenter took on this job, alongside of reinstated all the original skirting boards. He also rebuilt the fitted wardrobes in the new space – but that’s another story.
Doesn’t 100mm extra insulation make the room smaller?
This is the most common question from people who want to insulate internally. I remember that concern myself – I imagined the walls closing in on me, with just a little space left in the middle of the room.
In the bedroom we had worried that it would be a much tighter squeeze for John to get into bed on the window side and expected the door to hit on the bedside table on my side. Amazingly, shuffling the bedside tables just a smidgen closer to the bed was all it needed. 100mm is neither here nor there in reality.
No one notices
Each time we’ve done an Open House, I’ve had to point out that the architrave has been built up. Not one person walked into the room and asked about it, so it’s clearly not obvious.
Back to normal
As soon as the wardrobe was reinstalled, the decorator could start. After all the work, the room looks exactly the same. My young grandson questioned the wisdom of our actions: ‘Why did you do all that work, Granny? The room looks exactly the same as it did before!’
He is quite right. But I know we now have that wonderful cosy padding around us, we are fully airtight and we have a heat recovery ventilation unit working quietly in the background making sure the air is fresh and dry.
I look forward to warm bedtimes this winter!