EnglandCarlton in Lindrick53°22’44” N 1°7’26” W
January 21, 2018 in England ⋅ ☁️ 1 °C
Another productive week by John and his team. During this week they have managed to get the new flooring down in what will be the master bedroom and bathroom and get the stud walls in place for the bathroom, master bedroom and bedrooms 2 and 3. It really is starting to look a bit different now and it’s clear to see layouts and room sizes which are a lot better than I had in my mind. The new bathroom that is going to be upstairs and the master bedroom are a lot bigger than I thought they would be. Bedroom 2 is a reasonable size and bedroom 3 is the smallest but still enough room for a single bed, wardrobe and small cabinet.
Being able to walk everywhere upstairs without having to balance on beams makes a huge difference. John has also strengthened the ceiling rafters in the bedrooms with the studs and plans to beef them up a bit as there is a 30mm bow in them. He has rectified this but wants to add some extra support. He has also discovered a water leak from a rogue tile on the roof which he will sort next week. We uncovered loads of spare tiles when we chopped the garden down last year so one or two of them will come in handy.
So our task for this weekend was to make a start on the first fix wiring for upstairs. I know where the consumer unit is going to go so that’s where we started. I decided to put the upstairs lighting ring in first and that all went pretty smoothly. The hardest part really was crawling around on the roof rafters for getting the cable runs in. What was great was we decided the positions of the lights, it was down to us and we took the advice of Spock and put them all in the centres of the bedrooms. Spock’s thought on that are that they are ideal if people want to add a ceiling fan.
The upstairs sockets were a bit more challenging, not really difficult in any way, just awkward getting cables routed where we needed them. We are in a lovely position really as there are no ceilings on any level yet so the upstairs sockets were all wired from downstairs above what will eventually be the ceiling. The stop point for the day was to get the upstairs socket ring in and we did that although we didn’t leave until 6.30 by which time it was pitch black and baltic.
Sharon spent a lot of the day tidying up upstairs and helping me pulling cables and fetching and carrying whilst I was hanging from the roof etc..
We both left last night absolutely knackered, came home, had a bath, had tea and were in bed by 9.
We set off with good intentions this morning meeting Spock an Denise for breakfast at 8 with a view to going up for a couple of hours, Sharon to tidy the kitchen, me to get the upstairs light switching cable runs in place. However, it was so cold and we were both still a bit tired so we had breakfast, went up with Spock and Denise to show them how we were getting on, and then we came home. I’m working in Kent this week so have to go tonight and won’t be home till the end of the week so we thought bugger it. We have a few jobs to do at home today and then I’m off.
So it’s progressing nicely, and there’s plenty for us to do next weekend.Read more
EnglandCarlton in Lindrick53°22’44” N 1°7’25” W
January 27, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
So, on my list yesterday was remove the living room floor and carry on with the rewire. We arrived yesterday morning and was pleasantly surprised as John, Rich and Matt were there. I didn’t know they were going this weekend but it was great to see them. We had a cracking and productive day. My wiring job was to wait as I was able to be of use with the jobs they were doing. The window was removed from the upstairs bedroom and loads of sheets of plasterboard were lifted up through it. That was to be the main job of the day. Sharon set about cleaning up the kitchen and I loaded all the old joists and boards on to the back of Johns trailer. I then progressed to helping cut, hold and screw the plasterboard in place upstairs. It was an all day job but we did manage to get all the ceilings upstairs done and the walls in the two smaller bedrooms in. New loft hatch cut out, breeze block wall knocked out on the stairs and a repair to the roof. We also managed to cement a new waste pipe in to the main drain for the downstairs loo which John will put in as a temporary measure next week. I took a shine to the gadget used to screw the plaster boards to the joists without pushing the screws through the board.
After they left, Sharon and I stayed and had a tidy and a sweep in the 2 newly created bedrooms. Unfortunately when we returned home Sharon had a bit of a mishap. Uncle Spok managed to get us some collapsible ladders I was looking for and I put them up when we got back to see how high they were. They are spot on, however they didn’t collapse as I would expect so Sharon pushed one of them down for me. They came down, and trapped and crushed one of her fingers, we spent 3 hours in A&E and she has fractured a finger. Made worse by her false nails apparently as the nail underneath the false on can’t flex so it’s broken it.
It didn’t get much better today, I left Sharon in bed and went up early as there’s a lot to do so I don’t hold John up. I started off by extending the lighting ring in the loft to accommodate a fan in the bathroom and a shaver point. I also dropped all the lighting switch cables in so the upstairs ring circuit is complete. Stupidly I was rushing around and managed to put my foot through the new bedroom ceiling. I was gutted, really hurt my knee but managed not to fall out (just) but took the shine off things. Anyway, that doesn’t get the job done so I went back up and tidied and clipped all the cables down without any further mis haps. Sharon came up to provide tea and a bit of fetch and carry but she was on light duties. I managed to get the downstairs lighting circuit in and half of the switch cables dropped in. The final casualty of the day was a bit more severe, RIP to my trusty claw hammer 🔨 . May you be happy in your new home which is in the cavity under the kitchen window !! You will be missed.
I got a call from John tonight and I had to break the news, he knew before I’d even told him that I’d come through the ceiling - he laughed so much. I’ve got my defence loaded when Rich finds out, it’s a lot cheaper for a new piece of plasterboard than it is for a piece of glass that he bust when putting the windows in!!
So a lot achieved this weekend although it didn’t feel like it by the end of today. The place really is moving along. John and his team are doing a fab job.Read more
EnglandFirbeck53°22’45” N 1°7’26” W
February 4, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 3 °C
It’s been all go this weekend, and work is progressing nicely. Again a full team yesterday minus Sharon as she needs to make sure she keeps her dressing clean on her fingers, and as JB and his team were there I at least had someone to talk to. I didn’t take to much grief about last weeks mis hap although Rich did christen me Lionel Ritchie in honour of his hit Dancing on the Ceiling. There has been some work in the week and it really is starting to take shape. During the week John and Rich have managed to complete the rest of the stud work, boarded out the larger of the 2 smaller bedrooms, and even got the ceiling and one of the walls plastered as well as getting the loft insulated. I had been up and ensured that any cables that needed to run from upstairs to downstairs were in place. That meant getting all the coax cables in for the TV points 📺 (one in each bedroom, 2 in the living room as we couldn’t decide which side of the room to put it, and one in the kitchen), all leading back to a central point in the loft for a splitter. I also installed a 10mm earth supply for the gas meter and got the cables in for the smoke alarms, one on the landing and one in the hall. Finally, the upstairs sockets that were fitted last week had the grommets put in to them to make sure they comply when the wiring comes to get signed off. One could be forgiven for thinking JB had forced as much glue and plaster in to them making it very challenging to get them in, but I’m sure that was the furthest from his mind !!
Yesterday’s work saw the upstairs change massively. 1st of all the remaining old upstairs window was removed and the large plasterboard sheets were passed up from the back of the trailer through the window and in to the front bedroom. It was all systems go after that, John cracked on with plastering the rest of the bedroom. No quick task. Although it was all boarded out, the walls were not square and true and so John was doing his best to make them as square and flat as he could. It looks perfect to me, he has done a fantastic job. He is a perfectionist and it took him the whole of the day, even trowelling it up after the others had gone and the light was barely left.
Rich and Matt spent the whole day boarding out the rest of the upstairs. Again no easy task. They work like a well oiled machine, each of them always one step ahead and no time is wasted waiting for anything as they both just seem to know what is next and are already on it. They measure and cut a room full before mixing the glue and sticking them to the wall taking a lot of time getting them flat and upright. They have managed to get all the outside walls in the back bedroom done, the landing and most of the master bedroom. The upstairs is now almost all boarded with just a few outside walls left. The walls were that bad in places that to keep them flat, 2 plasterboards have had to be stuck in in the middle but only one top and bottom.
All of this makes a massive difference to the heat in the house, especially upstairs. Got a visit from Spok to see how we were getting on and as he’s says it changes every time he comes up.
Today, Sharon and I weren’t going to go but I’m conscious that there’s so much i need to do and whatever I don’t do will impact on John. So we met Spok and Denise for breakfast and then went up. Sharon did battle with the upstairs and did a great job clearing up tidying and sweeping up. Again, the front bedroom is looking fab. Completely plastered and drying nicely. I cracked on with a few more wiring jobs, extended the ring main for the upstairs sockets to include a double socket in the loft for the TV booster, I also dropped a cable in from the bathroom to the hall (all though it needs extending slightly as I ran out of cable) for the room thermostat from the boiler. I then moved downstairs and mounted all the socket back boxes in the living room making sure they are at the right height for the regulation approval and level, before finally starting to drop the cables in for the downstairs ring main. Most of the living room sockets are now wired apart from the last two. We have made sure that there are plenty of plug sockets.
Again, Spok and Denise popped up for a look as Denise didn’t see it yesterday. Other than Sharon’s Mum and Dad they are the only two who are genuinely interested and as excited to see it progressing as we are. Paul also came up this afternoon and dropped us a boiled off which we are a while from fitting but probably not that far. He saw a massive change as he’s not seen it for a while.
At 2.30pm we decided to call it a day. We can see it starting to take shape and it’s going to be really nice we hope. The burnt smell has completely disappeared and it coming together nicely.Read more
EnglandCarlton in Lindrick53°22’44” N 1°7’25” W February 10, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C
Here we are again, another Saturday and both of us reporting for duty bright and breezy this morning (Don’t feel quite so bright and breezy now though !!).
An eventful week, John and Rich have been up in the week boarding and plastering upstairs. I popped up on Thursday during my lunch break to say hello as I needed some fresh air. As I had turned up, Rich popped out to get a hair cut so I hung about for a chat with the gaffer. He was plastering the ceiling in the master bedroom. All of a sudden a large dollop of plaster dropped in his left eye. We rinsed it with copious amounts of water, rang Rich to come back with some optrex but John really was in pain and struggling. The only day of the week the chemist was shut, so half hair cut Rich came back to drive John to the supermarket in Carlton. He also tried to rinse it whilst I went but we weren’t getting anywhere. Long story short, I ended up taking John to A&E and then on to Doncaster to get him the treatment he needed. He is ok although his eye is very sore, he has lots of drops and needs to go back on Monday. In other news, Rich got the van stuck in the mud and Dianne had to go up and tow him out. They don’t do things by halves them Bowns !!So, as I said, a pretty eventful week.
That said they have cracked on nicely, the little back bedroom now has its ceiling and all walls bar one plastered, the master bedroom has the ceiling plastered (thanks to rich finishing it off due to Jon’s mishap) and a wall in the master bedroom is also done.
A full complement of staff in today, and as usual no shortage of work or fun and banter. Sharon was on scraping plaster off the floor duties in the 2nd bedroom between making tea and tidying up. She was well rewarded by the gaffer as he temporarily stuck the old toilet back in which although needs flushing with a bucket, is fully functional in every other way. I’m pleased to say John was being sensible and has kept out of the dust and postponed plastering until next week but that hasn’t meant he’s taken it easy. Between them they have boarded out the rest of the bathroom, the rest of the bedroom, the rest of the landing, half way down the stairs and made a good start on the living room. The transformation is remarkable. Another fantastic job done today is the old broken bedroom window has now been replaced completing the windows from the front. The only reason it’s been left as long as it has is it was taken out often to allow the large sheets of plasterboard to be passed up through the hole to avoid having to negotiate around the new walls on the landing. A sterling effort by the boys.
I was still on wiring duty, completed the living room ring main, got the switch cables in for the living room and hall, replaced the boiler stat cable and sited it which runs from the living room to the bathroom and got all the back boxes on and fixed and all the rubber grommets in place. We decided to change the room thermostat cable as I had originally dropped it in with a view to putting it in the hall. I’d used 1.00mm twin and earth cable but JB had a suspicion it needed 3core and earth. A quick call to Alan the electrician and turns out we were both sort of right. The cable I had run in would have been fine but wouldn’t have ever taken a newer spangly stat. With that in mind, and the fact that the one I had dropped in needed completing as I’d run out, we decided to replace it with 3core and earth. We also decided to site it in the living room due to the fact that there’s no room in the hall for a rad. So I re routed all that and got the cables in and clipped up.
After the boys left, Sharon and I blitzed upstairs, gave it a good tidy and a good sweep. It’s looking amazing up there now. Spok came for a look and was suitably impressed, Sharon FaceTimed her Mum and Dad as they have not been well enough to get up for a while and again very chuffed with how we are getting on. Sharon had a conversation with the lady next door but one who’s daughter maybe looking for somewhere to rent so there may be an opportunity there. Doris next door thinks she can here the radio playing at night, she dutifully advised John and her carer confirmed that there is a ghost living there 😂😂. Fortunately none of us believe in that crap, clever ghost though as we kill the power whenever we leave !!
Day off from that job tomorrow as I’m working the real job in Kent next week and have to go tomorrow so we’re not going up there. I think we can justify half a day off.Read more
EnglandCarlton in Lindrick53°22’44” N 1°7’26” W
February 25, 2018 in England ⋅ ☀️ 2 °C
The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed the lack of an update last week. Unfortunately poor Sharon had another little mishap. Whilst we were there on Sunday morning she managed to fall out of the back door resulting in her breaking her wrist. She is ok, she will mend but she really didn’t need it and was a tad upset and frustrated. The kicker being it’s on the opposite hand to her broken finger so she’s struggling to do a whole host of things. However, a week later and she’s coming to terms with it and getting back to her old self. I’ve not been there as much this weekend, I decided to take a bit of well needed time off. That’s not to say nothing has happened, read on...
During the week the boys had been up and done quite a bit more. Things really are starting to look different. Most of the upstairs is now plastered, all of the door frames are in so the upstairs are well defined.
Last Saturday once again was a full team although Sharon had the day off as she had to get her false nail removed on her broken finger. She dropped me off, made the troops cups of tea and off she went. My job for the day was to get the electrics in to the kitchen. The socket ring was at the door from the living room as I had already got it that far, so all I needed to do was decide where I wanted the sockets, fix the back boxes to the walls and get the cables to them drilling roof beams and feeding cables through before returning to the consumer unit above the back door. Not a difficult job but quite time consuming. I managed to get the wiring in and returned for the sockets, rewired the outside light, got the cable through the wall and sited the light switch for it in the hall. That just leaves the light switches to fix to the wall, wire in an isolator and socket for a washing machine an potentially put in a 6mm cable if we decide to put in an electric hob. Jury’s out on whether to put an electric one or a gas one so I’ll need to think about that.
The boys attention was on boarding, they boarded down the rest of the stairs which was a challenging job due to the walls being so far out. Also lots of awkward cuts around the hall too. They also completed the boarding out of the living room, in some places they were having to put more than one board on just to keep the walls upright. They also filled between the roof joists with insulation and boardedthe ceiling. They left a couple of boards off the ceiling to allow access to the floor in the two smaller bedrooms to be able to get the central heating pipes in and run them across to the kitchen. It has made the room look a lot bigger and brighter and you can feel the temperature difference between the living room and the kitchen.
We were treated to dinner at a John & Dianne’s in the evening which was lovely as ever and we’ve managed to come up with a date we can all get together and meet at their place in France which will be lovely and gives us something to look forward too.
The plan on Sunday morning was to complete the kitchen wiring, tidy up in there and get the upstairs tidy. We managed to get the whole of the upstairs tidied and swept, and quite a bit of the kitchen tidied before Sharon had her little accident which put pay to that. We spent 3 and a half hours in A&E where I seem to becoming a regular.
This week once again no shortage of work from JB & Rich. The upstairs are all plastered out now with the exception of the back of the wardrobe in the master bedroom., the chimney breast walk in the living is plastered, all the way down the stairs are plastered, the central heating pipes are installed from the 2 smaller bedrooms through in to the kitchen and from front to back in the kitchen. Also most of the skirtings and door architraves are now in place upstairs. So once again a great effort by them both.
I went yesterday morning and the boys didn’t go this week. I decided to complete my wiring in the kitchen and then pack up and go home and spend a bit of time with Sharon. I opted to put in a 6mm cable to supply an electric hob in the kitchen should we decide to put one in. If we don’t, at least the cabling is in should we ever change our mind. I mounted the switch back boxes and drilled through to the outside wall to accommodate an outside light at the back and put a switch in for that at the side of the back door. There’s now going to be lights outside both at the back and the front.
JB popped up for a chat and to see what I was up to and I left around 1.30. It’s made a big difference having a bit of time off but I’ll be back on it next weekend although I’m maybe going to take it a bit easier on a Sunday !!Read more
EnglandFirbeck53°22’45” N 1°7’26” W March 3, 2018 in England ⋅ ☁️ 0 °C
Back to it today on a very cold morning with lots of snow still hanging about after a week of terrible weather due to “The Beast from the East”. Sub zero temperatures and lots on snow in the middle of the week has made for difficult conditions all over the country. Sharon aka Sicknote stayed at home today but she did do some ironing which in her predicament was a tremendous achievement.
I hadn’t expected John and Rich to have been there this week but they had although Rich had been off for a few days with the dreaded cold. He is off for the next week as he is on holiday so JB will be on his own if he goes up. Yet again there has been great progress, they have now got all of the upstairs radiators on the walls and quite a bit of the pipework in, nearly all the skirtings and architraves are cut and in place upstairs, the ceiling in the kitchen has been insulated and about half of it boarded and the kitchen wall where the old chimney breast was has been boarded. What a transformation. Talking to John, the chimney breast wall was a bit of a monster and took both him and Rich nearly the whole day just to do the one wall. I can believe it too, it was very undulated and not true but now it’s boarded it looks spot on. The thick black soot has disappeared and its starting to look a lot lighter in there.
I went up this morning and and John and Matt followed fairly quickly armed with yet more plasterboard and glue. The aim of the day was to crack on with boarding the kitchen out. I was the apprentice, fetching carrying, cutting and basically doing anything I could to help which also meant I was chief tea maker. It was very cold at first until JB fires up Bertha. A 50,000 BTU Kerosene heather that quite frankly heated the place up within minutes. I guess the last time the place was that hot was when it was on fire almost a year ago !! Progress was excellent today, the majority of the kitchen and the hall is boarded out now and we were only forced to stop due to us running out of glue and board. Still what is left to do from a boarding point of view is small, a third of the ceiling in the living room and about the same in the kitchen and a few bits and bobs in the kitchen and downstairs loo. The transformation is fantastic, the whole place looks so much lighter and maybe even a bit bigger. The kitchen diner is a lovely space and it’s hard to believe not so long ago it was a kitchen, bathroom and pantry.
I’m not going tomorrow, with all our little mishaps lately I’ve decided to try and have Sundays off. I will spend tomorrow sourcing some materials for the second fix of the wiring and some admin. If there is a picture of the kitchen boarded out on this blog then I may have nipped up there to take it.
So until next week, over and out.Read more
EnglandFirbeck53°22’45” N 1°7’27” W
March 11, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C
Here we are again, another weekend. Last week John was at Langold in his own and there has been progress. He’s managed to just about finish the boarding, piped up all the upstairs radiators and pressure tested them and plastered the largest kitchen wall and the opposite chimney breast wall in the living room.
I decided to go for a couple of hours on Friday night and my father offered to join me. It was a very productive evening and we managed to get all the socket fronts on the upstairs socket ring main. We then ran a plug to the temporary supply to test and voila - all upstairs sockets working. Quite a nice feeling as I did all of that by myself. It’s the first circuit of a few but hopefully the rest will be problem free.
Saturday and it was just me and the gaffer. John turned up with a Steak Slice for us both, it’s a usual ritual for him and Rich and I normally abstain but occasionally give in. John’s aim of the day was to complete the plastering in the living room. Obviously everything takes a lot longer when you’re working alone but he still blitzed it. I helped with finalising the boarding of the living room ceiling but John cracked on with the rest by himself. And he nailed it, living room completely plastered with only the ceiling left. My task for the day was to make a start on getting some of the upstairs ceiling roses in place. It’s a slow job but methodical all the same. I managed to get all the bedrooms done and the bathroom. Then it dawned on me, when coming to do the landing lights I’ve forgotten to put a twin and earth switch cable from lamp to switch. To be honest I didn’t know it needed one, I’d already dropped a 3core and earth in to link upstairs and downstairs and thought that was all I needed. Obviously not !! So that’s the first mistake of the rewire, but it’s not a disaster. There a couple of options, get a live to the switch at the bottom of the stairs and cut the board that hasn’t been plastered, or potentially fit a junction box in the loft and connect in to it. John is going to discuss with the electrician to get advice. Other than that little pho par, another productive day.
Today, although saying I wasn’t doing Sundays, I decided to go for a couple of hours to complete the upstairs lighting ring without the switch cable for the landing lights which can be added later. I took Sharon and she was amazed how much it’s changing even in the last couple of weeks although she wasn’t allowed to do anything but sit and watch. I linked in the two landing lights, and connected all the switches. Other than 1 temporary glitch success !! We now have fully functioning sockets and lights upstairs, even cut out the noggins to allow the bedroom light switches to sit flush. All the sockets are at regulation height and I’m quite chuffed with where we are at. If all the other circuits go as well then I’ll be very happy.Read more
EnglandFirbeck53°22’44” N 1°7’26” W
March 17, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ -1 °C
I was struggling to motivate myself to go to Langold this morning but I knew I’d enjoy it when I got there. It was absolutely freezing outside this morning and there was a lot of snow forecast so I put on my layers and off I went.
There has been some more action up there this last week even though John had said he had other things to do. The living room is now fully plastered out including the ceiling, the downstairs toilet is now fully boarded out and there is a new window in there although a bit of a goolie has been dropped and the glass is clear rather than frosted. Not sure if we ordered it wrong or it was supplied wrong but it’s not a big job to fix. The wall in the kitchen had also been boarded where the consumer unit is going to fit and a header to tie the freestanding wall to the brick built stair wall has been built.
I was on my own today and the first thing that hit me when I got there this morning was despite it being biting cold outside, it was quite warm inside. I decided that the first thing I would do was to get the master bedroom tidied and swept out before sweeping down all the walls. I then made a start on painting the ceiling in the master bedroom. Just a whitewash to seal the plaster. I watered down a large tub of white paint and cut around the edges before rollering the ceiling. Arm aching work but one of the nice and easy jobs. As I was on a roll I continued through to bedrooms 2 and 3. Although the paint was watered down the ceilings covered remarkably well.
The gaffer (JB) popped in at lunch time just to see how I was getting along and to see how his plaster was drying. He decided it would be worthwhile to fire up Bertha to inject a bit of heat in to the place even though it really wasn’t that cold. However I wasn’t going to complain as those of you that know me know I hate the cold. He didn’t stay too long, he cleaned up a couple of the bedroom walls to remove any plaster splashes and did a few other bits and bobs before disappearing instructing mr to turn off bertha before I left.
I moved on to fixing last weeks little blunder and attempted to fix the missing wire from my 2 way switch for the landing lights. I ran a switch cable from one of the upstairs landing lights, across the loft, down the inside of the wardrobe in to the roof void above the hall ceiling before trying to find it and run it to the switch in the hall. I’d love to say it was a doddle but I’d be lying, however I did manage it. A combination of me running up and down stairs, up and down steps to get in the roof space and Bertha saw me needing to shed a few layers. I was slowly roasting, in the end I gave in and turned Bertha off.
I then returned upstairs and recut and painted 2 of the bedrooms ceilings for a second time. Uncle Spock came up to check on proceedings just as I was finishing off. (His absence last weekend was noted by JB).
As I packed up and opened the front door to load the tools up in to the car I was hit by the Baltic weather, nipped back in and re-layered. That’s it for this week as I’m working tomorrow I’m in Perth in Scotland - well as I write this it’s totally white over outside and we are on an amber warning ⚠️ for snow so that could be an interesting trip !!
Thanks for following, our sick note has her pot off on Tuesday so I’ll be conducting a back to work interview next Saturday morning 👍. Until then, AdiosRead more
EnglandFirbeck53°22’45” N 1°7’26” W
March 31, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 4 °C
Last weeks update didn’t happen, I just forgot. That’s not to say that nothing had happened though. John has been on holiday since Tuesday and not back until the middle of next week but he did manage to get through more work before he went. The kitchen is pretty much plastered now including the ceiling apart from the very end bit which has been left exposed to enable us to get central heating pipes in and connected as well as water feeds. Downstairs toilet is also plastered out and the window has been replaced. From a plastering point of view there’s not too much left now. The back wall in the kitchen has been left as we’ve decided to replace the 2 windows rather than trying to clean them up. The window sill in the kitchen front window is now on which makes the world of difference, guess my hammer will live in the cavity forever now. I went last weekend and watered down some white paint and whitewashed the ceilings in the bedrooms and put a first coat of magnolia on the walls. Suddenly it’s looking like a new house upstairs.
It’s Easter weekend this weekend so a long weekend, also Sharon is back with me so we’ve tried to make it count and bashed on. It was quite cold when we first got there and I was all ready to fire up Bertha 🔥, only to realise John had taken her home. Sensible really as we try not to leave anything of value there. Friday morning we were there armed with takeaway bacon butties from Snackattack. First thoughts when we got there was that the kitchen was like a scene from the Krypton Factor. As John had been there plastering the ceiling before he went off to Spain, he had breeze blocks, scaffold planks and tressels built up so he could walk freely all over the kitchen whilst being able to reach the ceiling. It was a criss cross of scaffold planks and wooden pieces. So we made our first job the task of dismantling that lot. I have noticed he’s forgotten to expose the wiring for one of the kitchen lights which could be fun trying to find without ruining his fresh plaster !! Sharon then set about having a tidy and a sweep downstairs and I made it my mission to get a new toilet pan installed temporarily for obvious reasons. That was successful, what a difference after a sweep and the fact that we have a flushable bog (although only flushable with s bucket but beggars can’t be choosers)!!
We then moved on upstairs. Painting was the name of the game. It’s a slow job but we made good progress. We managed to cut in and paint the landing ceilings as well as cut in the 2 smaller bedrooms, put a coat on the walls and cut them in a second time. They have also had a further two coats of white on the ceilings. The master bedroom had 3 coats on the ceiling last weekend and a couple of coats on the walls so that’s just going to want a further coat on the walls. Was a long day and a 7.30pm finish thanks to the clocks going forward last weekend.
Saturday saw more painting, we’d been to get more magnolia for the walls but it was a very slightly different shade. However it seemed to cover better which reduced the number of coats from three to two. Sharon’s mastered the art of cutting in and the number of cups of tea we had was no longer limited as we have a loo. She concentrated on cutting in upstairs and I set to about getting the next coats on the walls. Between us we managed a second coat on both the smaller bedrooms, a third coat on the master bedroom (so the colours match), a second coat on the landing ceilings and the first coat on the landing and down the stairs. So all in all a very productive day. All 3 bedrooms are now emulsion’d and the stairs and landing has had its first coat.
Sunday was a day of rest as far as painting was concerned (well that was the plan). After breakfast at the cafe with Spok & Denise we dutifully arrived for day 3. My aim for the day was to get the downstairs plug sockets connected up and plugged in to the temporary supply to test and see if I had dropped any goolies. Sharon was to set about clearing the masses of amounts of wood, tools, electrical fittings and all the other accumulated crap out of the bathroom. We set about our tasks. I was doing quite well until about half way round when the wire strippers snapped, and my Stanley knife had done a disappearing act. I did find another knife belonging to JB which bailed me out. Sharon did a cracking job clearing out the bathroom. I managed to get all the sockets on including the isolating switches and I’m pleased to report they worked first time with no dramas. Pretty pleased with that.
As we were ahead of schedule we decided to get the bathroom ceiling cut in and painted and the living room ceiling too before finishing off cutting the bathroom walls in. Every time we add a coat of paint the place brightens up no end.
Easter Monday and we were up and about reasonably early. White over outside and snowing like mad. We set our stall out and decided we were only going until lunchtime today as we are both a bit tired. We had a spot of breakfast and off we went. Upon arrival, we went in, picked up the paint brushes that we had wrapped up and dutifully left again. Decided to go home and have a day off. We are very happy with what we’ve achieved this weekend and it’s certainly starting to look good now.Read more
EnglandFirbeck53°22’44” N 1°7’26” W April 7, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
Here we are again, another Saturday, another day of work. There’s not been loads of activity this week as John has been off, he went up on Friday and did a few jobs like clearing out the living room in readiness for putting down the new floor, and they also repaired the bottom steps of the staircase, removing the burnt wood wherever there was any. The difference is tremendous.
So this morning for me was all about stripping the paint of the staircase sides. I’d love to say it was a simple 5 minute job but I’d be lying. It wasn’t horrendous just quite boring and laborious and quite physical scraping the paint off. I used Nitromors to soften the paint, 2 applications and then left it 40 minutes to react. Then with a paint scraping tool scraped it all off. Finally, I sanded them all down flat and they came up really well. We decided to just do the sides as the headers and treads will be covered in carpet. John and Rich turned up about 10.30 armed with all the flooring to floor the living room and kitchen which was their plan for today. Unfortunately the builders merchants were out of stock of the wood required to build the frame so that job has to be put on hold until next week. So instead they insulated the remainder of the insides of the walls and boarded out the last little bits in the hall including round the front door and the ceiling. That job takes longer than it looks but again it’s a great job done. There are hardly any exposed walls left inside now.
I pointed out the slight opportunity about the light cables being plastered over in the kitchen ceiling, between the 3 of us we had an educated guess where they would be based on where I thought I had run them and where Rich thought he had put them before boarding. As Rich set about putting a hole in Johns plaster, I bogged off to Cooplands for the Steak Slices !! Upon my return they had managed to find the switching cable but not the two ring main cables. Looking at it I think they are the other side of the strengthening lattice that they put in. It’s been decided they will put a bigger hole in to retrieve them and re-plaster it back up. It’s not the end of the world.
Sharon came later on and she was set on painting. The two walls under the windows in the living room so that the radiators can be put on and then she started to cut in in the living room. Meanwhile I fixed the plug sockets to the wall in the front bedroom after checking the electrician wouldn’t need access to the back of them. I also re cut and painted the bathroom ceiling with a second coat and the same in the living room.
It’s coming together nicely, that’s it’s for this weekend as I’m off to London tomorrow for work and not back until Thursday.Read more
Traveler We can really see a difference from last week we'll done