Having had an evening out at a local beer festival, Chris didn’t have the energy for DIY, so I decided to crack on with the windowsills on my own. I had the theory down, however, the practice was very rough. I took the previously cut pieces and joined them together with a set of clamps so I could plane along the edge to flatten the join and make them match. Getting it completely flat was a challenge but I got it fairly close.

Next I needed to use the biscuit cutter to cut slots in both pieces of wood. This is where it went wrong. I didn’t realise there was a flap that folded down on top of the wood to keep the cut at the same height all the way along. So instead I ended up with randomised depths of cuts, I then had to match to the second piece. It took me a fair while to rectify, but with a bit of fudging, I managed to join the pieces together.

With biscuits and wood glue applied I now needed to keep the sill flat, using a piece of wood either side with clamps to keep the join from bending and a couple of large clamps to pull them together.

Pieces joined and dried, I used my cardboard template to mark out and cut the edges. I ended up going back and forth to trim several times, not wanting to accidently cut it too small.

Overall it’s not the tidiest job. The gap is a little wider than desirable, and the second smaller piece slants up a little – I think from not using the guide while cutting. Still, for my first attempt I’m happy – and once it’s sanded it’ll look really nice.

Having learn all the ways to go wrong on the first windowsill, the second was significantly easier. First I cut out my missing edge piece from the cracked piece I’d joined with biscuits previously. I then cut off the protruding biscuit edges.

As with the first Windowsill I cut out slits for the biscuits (this time with the guide) glued and clamped.

I’m much happier with this sill, though it was also simpler because it’s smaller. Both just need a lot of sanding and treating now. Only four windowsills to go.

Having rested up, Chris got on with the job of trimming down and hanging the door he made. This was a little more complicated than it should have been as he realised, in order to use some old hinges we had laying around, he needed to remove the architrave we’d already attached. But it’s all up finally, with a handle and everything. Given this will be the babies room in 5 months time, a door is definitely a big plus.