The Laundillary

Dad had a week off work last week.  MG put some plastic sheeting from the polytunnel across the kitchen door and the arch into the laundillary (laundry/utility).  So we can't move round downstairs.  It's protecting the kitchen and sitting room from dad's dust.  Oh the grinder - it's bound to come into play.
he spent most of Tuesday with a chisel hacking gloss paint off the brick walls.  Then his friend Mick the plasterer said oh no yuo don't wanna do it like that...
MG meanwhile used the steam stripper to peel the paint off in sheets, with my help while dad for once was at a loose end. haha, the boot on the other foot.

Yellow glossed bricks with ancient chip fat replaced by plasterboard walls - it's nearly done, just two triangles, the cubby hole and ceiling to sort, with a bit of plumbing and electrics then we have somewhere to use the washing machine.  MG won't need to clear her decks for me to take the laundry over there and do it, or more often, nick the dirties while I'm pretending not to look then bring them back clean and dry.

Next week I'm off work and so is dad...just think what we may get done (run out of money maybe?  Hope not)

Fast forward late september

MG got some USA spec wasp eradicator at the Stanhope Show wher George was showing his donkey.  (no wonder progress is slowing).  It nearly did the trick, but some survived and multiplied.  They were still dropping out of the light fittings and the window edges where the double glazed units need tidying up.  Three sprays later we were getting about 5 a day on two window sills.

We've got the main bedroom done now.  Plastered, painted, sockets in, light moved, skirting boards on etc.  The bed is in and we're sleeping upstairs. The IKEA student wardrobe is still in the sitting room, but hey, one step at a time.

Fast Forward to late July

MG too busy with chickens to get the photos uploaded til now, and festivals and visiting and stuff.

We got the sitting room finished with TV on the wall and moved in properly at the end of July.  We had the bed and settee in there, with scraps of carpet in the hall and bare wood on the stairs.

Then the wasps came.There were a lot of them.  More every day, everywhere.

Hot weather plastering

Dad's doing a good job plastering the living room.  On Sunday he went for the ceiling, starting with full boiler suit and all, but the hotter it got...

Stuart did a great job of greenhouse clearing. 
Now we're getting the living room done.  We're going to put the sofa and a bed in there then move in as soon as we can so the insurance is OK.

Mostly we've been mortaring and plastering.  I did the bricking up the fireplace with only one problem when dad noticed I was putting the air brick in wrong. 

The boys are plastering and MG is upstairs ripping up floorboards and tracing cables.  There's a lot to go in round the fireplace before we plasterboard the chimney breast.

good times and bad times

Between the Bank Holidays.

More progress and a little setback.

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The bathroom's been coming on fast - most tiles on and grouted.  Doves were amazing and replaced the cracked basin no bother.  Phew, thanks doves.  Installing it was a bit tricky - a leaking tap connector - turned out dad had wrecked an o ring trying to tighten a joint enthusiastically.  Then a leaking trap because of the waste pipe being wedged too high in the floor.  The shower trap leaked a bit but he sorted that out with his favourite grinder and a bit of sealant.  The nice corner toilet had no problems until we left it overnight last Sunday.  That was when we found out about how water pressure in the pipes increases at night when everyone's taps are off.  Oh and about the toilet design that has the overflow above the level of the holes in the cistern where you fix it to the wall.  Thanks doves. 

Monday evening after work it was sunny and we were cheery as we drove over.  I took the nice clean towels ready for finishing the tiles off.  Good thing too.  There was water peeing through the kitchen ceiling.  It had been for a while too.  So the laminate (not suitable for bathrooms or wet environments) floor was soaked and the underlay was too.  That was the towels wet then, trying to mop up.  After 3 days there's not been much evidence of drying despite heating turned up.  at least it isn't smelly - yet, though that could be relative because the ceiling still exudes eau de pee.

MG joined freecycle and posted the greenhouse on Tuesday.  Wednesday morning there were 13 emails.  weds evening, stuart came around to squirt WD40 on the fixings.  friday he's coming to take it away haha.

Bank holiday surge

A lot happened in the bank holiday.  The cooker and hob are connected and working after a bit of wiggling and threadin wires and drilling extra room in the cabinets.  We tiled the bathroom floor including the plywood base, we bought taps and a shower.  The grout was too dark, so I scraped it out and put white in instead.  I think I've removed my fingerprints though.The taps were reduced at Screwfix and are nice and chunky, in stromg cardboard overpackaging.  Then when we moaned at the woman that the shower we want isn't in the new catalogue, she found the code from the old one and there was one left in the country - so we collected it on Tuesday.  It had to be a built in thermostatic valve and fixed head because the shower enclosure's too small for one of those hose and rail things.  It's Mira so should be good and the valve plate matches the tap shape - kind of waisted.

The bath legs went missing so MG got onto B&Q who promised to deliver new ones asap.  They turned up later where I'd put them out of the way.  Then when we opened the big cardboard box to get the basin out it was cracked: seriously cracked like it's had a Humpty Great Fall. Never mind, the bath fits in place, with a bit of dad's extra plaster removed and the wastes will be in the right places for the kitchen ceiling joists.

Meanwhile, Colin has the new maps for calling Judy (call of duty - its a game) so he is distracted and we're having a night off.