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In February I commented on my acquisitions thread that I was thinking of building a cigar smoking room at home, now that we had decided to not move house. As is always the case, things took longer than planned and we couldn't decide between a full blown extension or something else entirely.
We had some plans drawn up for a two story extension, applied for planning permission only to be thwarted by a requirement for a bat survey (our house has bat boxes in the gable ends) and some eye watering quotes from builders for the work. We revised back down to a single story extension, still needed a bat survey and still had outrageous quotes from builders. I looked at a garden office in that space in the garden and in the end shelved all the plans as nothing seemed to fit what we wanted to do.
Just before lockdown we ordered new windows, bi-folds and doors from a local window company. Typically lockdown meant they couldn't be installed, which wasn't helped by the fact the front door had actually broken whilst locked! After two months, the owner rang to say he needed to get his fitters working - could they come and do the work? He was apologetic that not all his fitters would come back to work, so it might take four days, but he needed to show people they were working otherwise he might go out of business. Their quality of work was excellent (they had previously built a porch and conservatory for my parents). He was talking about how he needed to keep his fitters busy, so we got to talking about a potential cigar room.
We have a boundary fence across part of the front of the property, between the lounge and the garage, so I did not want a conservatory, rather a wall against the fence. We settled on a hybrid orangery / conservatory, with a vaulted roof to match the lounge we were extending from. As he needed to get his staff working, we struck a deal and they started the week after. Four weeks later they were finished, then disaster, the floor screed blew as it was drying. Turned out that as the base was block and beam, there was a bit too much flex in the floor. It was replaced with board and last week the flooring was finally finished after a two month delay (waiting for flooring contractor and flooring itself).
I treated myself to two Swisscave CLB-888 's from Mitchell, which annoyingly have been sat in the garage for two months due to the flooring delay. However this week, we managed to move everything in and the room is finished.
734E4D7D-1CA3-4475-9498-A3F390E35D71.jpeg
The patio door gives a complete seal to the rest of the house, though I may add an air purifier, just to keep on top of the smoke.
AE9C3F3B-A5FB-461F-85DD-939F98F1F635.jpeg
We found an old Provost jet fuel tank that had been painted in a shop nearby, was originally going to go in the kitchen, but looks far better in here.
C5C1A6E4-8B2D-479E-9A3E-858659FA7045.jpeg
Really impressed with the Swisscave humidors. A bit of an overindulgent treat to myself, but they fit the room well.
53FF7F12-4880-4C0E-9EEF-52FDD0358D3C.jpeg
Opening night, just the lights from the Swisscave's and some candles (wife mandated). So relaxing.
5BC19592-1A68-4895-AEFA-37303D798734.jpeg
Usually I only smoke outside or when walking the dog, now I can chill out all year round. I deliberately did not put a TV in there, just a speaker to listen to music / radio / podcasts. Really enjoyed the Hoyo last night as my first cigar.
image_33427.jpg
We were very lucky to get a deal on the building work, it was a case of right place right time. It has cost me a new kitchen too though, so you win some, you lose some!
We had some plans drawn up for a two story extension, applied for planning permission only to be thwarted by a requirement for a bat survey (our house has bat boxes in the gable ends) and some eye watering quotes from builders for the work. We revised back down to a single story extension, still needed a bat survey and still had outrageous quotes from builders. I looked at a garden office in that space in the garden and in the end shelved all the plans as nothing seemed to fit what we wanted to do.
Just before lockdown we ordered new windows, bi-folds and doors from a local window company. Typically lockdown meant they couldn't be installed, which wasn't helped by the fact the front door had actually broken whilst locked! After two months, the owner rang to say he needed to get his fitters working - could they come and do the work? He was apologetic that not all his fitters would come back to work, so it might take four days, but he needed to show people they were working otherwise he might go out of business. Their quality of work was excellent (they had previously built a porch and conservatory for my parents). He was talking about how he needed to keep his fitters busy, so we got to talking about a potential cigar room.
We have a boundary fence across part of the front of the property, between the lounge and the garage, so I did not want a conservatory, rather a wall against the fence. We settled on a hybrid orangery / conservatory, with a vaulted roof to match the lounge we were extending from. As he needed to get his staff working, we struck a deal and they started the week after. Four weeks later they were finished, then disaster, the floor screed blew as it was drying. Turned out that as the base was block and beam, there was a bit too much flex in the floor. It was replaced with board and last week the flooring was finally finished after a two month delay (waiting for flooring contractor and flooring itself).
I treated myself to two Swisscave CLB-888 's from Mitchell, which annoyingly have been sat in the garage for two months due to the flooring delay. However this week, we managed to move everything in and the room is finished.
734E4D7D-1CA3-4475-9498-A3F390E35D71.jpeg
The patio door gives a complete seal to the rest of the house, though I may add an air purifier, just to keep on top of the smoke.
AE9C3F3B-A5FB-461F-85DD-939F98F1F635.jpeg
We found an old Provost jet fuel tank that had been painted in a shop nearby, was originally going to go in the kitchen, but looks far better in here.
C5C1A6E4-8B2D-479E-9A3E-858659FA7045.jpeg
Really impressed with the Swisscave humidors. A bit of an overindulgent treat to myself, but they fit the room well.
53FF7F12-4880-4C0E-9EEF-52FDD0358D3C.jpeg
Opening night, just the lights from the Swisscave's and some candles (wife mandated). So relaxing.
5BC19592-1A68-4895-AEFA-37303D798734.jpeg
Usually I only smoke outside or when walking the dog, now I can chill out all year round. I deliberately did not put a TV in there, just a speaker to listen to music / radio / podcasts. Really enjoyed the Hoyo last night as my first cigar.
image_33427.jpg
We were very lucky to get a deal on the building work, it was a case of right place right time. It has cost me a new kitchen too though, so you win some, you lose some!
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