Now that lockdown had ended, I could finally make a start on the second wall in the box room. But first I had to build a cubby hole to fill the gap between the (newly) built-in box and the external wall so that there was a platform for the bed to go on, and usable space underneath for a cupboard or drawers or something. So, I gathered my tools, grabbed some more plywood (i hired a van and picked it up from B&Q myself, along with all the other supplies for the second wall) and drew up the meticulously measured plans. It was a nice sunny day, so I decided to do the work outside to save me having to hoover up sawdust and shavings from the kids room. Measured the gap, triple checked my corners were straight and cut the sides and back for the box. Once it was all screwed together, checked for straightness and stability, and measured again to make sure, I was surprised and elated. It should fit perfectly in the gap! Unfortunately, it wouldn’t fit through the door… I knew this was too good to be true. so, I marked the sides to make sure I put it back together exactly the same way as it was now, unscrewed it all and carried it all upstairs to the room. The plan now? Put the base in the gap, and build it up in place. The problem now? There wasn’t enough space to screw in the sides if they were flush against the wall. So, it would have to be built up in the room and placed into the gap. I had to move the cot out of the room in order to have enough room to do this, which meant I had to take the door off to get the cot out. Door off, cot out, I set to work re-assembling the box. It went together very easily thanks to my markings, so I made short work of the re-assembly. Now I just had to slide it into the gap. The gap that was blocked by a radiator. Good times. So, the only option left was to lift the box over the radiator, and slot it into the gap. The box that was about 4 foot tall, and 3 foot deep. The box that weighed about as much as me. And all I had to do was lift it about head height and carefully lower into a gap that is exactly the same size as the box, without damaging the walls, the box, or myself. I lifted it up onto the newly built built-in box, and slid it over the gap holding it at a steady height until it was flush against the wall. I lowered it down as gently as I could considering my arms were getting shaky by now.
Surprisingly, I actually managed to avoid damaging the box or the wall. Scraped the crud out of my arms and a little on my face (don’t ask), but all the ‘important’ bits were still intact. I climbed up, stood on the top and had a little jig to make sure it wouldn’t collapse. Success!!! Now I could move onto the second wall. But not today. My 30 minute job had taken the whole afternoon.