A revealing week

Well it's been good to have Keith Duerden working at the house - he's been painting all the window reveals. Good to see some crisp lines. We also turned the garage into a temporary spray booth so Keith has also been spray-painting our plywood sliding wardrobe doors.

We also have had the zinc roofers back - we got them to roof the little log store I built. I also made a table using off-cuts from the oak sleepers as legs and they put a zinc top on it

Back to Monocouche

We have had some great weather lately and Stuart has been putting it to good use back outside using up the Monocouche render which was left over from when we had the house walls done. Stuart's got a new string to his bow (we didn't use the same renderers as before)

Unfortunately it looks like the weather's about to break so Stuart will have to dodge the rain this week to try and finish off. Don't think we will have enough bags to do the whole of the side passage but at least we will have enough to do the bits that show

A long story!

Well it has been a long story!

One I won't go into is that in the end Stuart finished off the tiling - well I say finished - there is still a bit of mastic to put on but too many other things became more important!

One of the important things we had to do was to choose a kitchen sink so Stuart could put it in place

After that we could finish making the frames for casting the concrete worktops (leaving a space where the sink & hob will fit)

Stuart welded steel reinforcement mesh in place and then we carried them out to the garage - I mixed the concrete and Stuart filled the mould (well until lunch time when I was reluctantly forced to go to the pub for a meal with friends after which Stuart did it all on his own!!!)

The importance of getting this job done is that it now takes about 30 days for the concrete to cure so that we can polish it.

Another thing I did over the weekend is construct plywood to both hide some ducting and to create a storage/cloak room space in the hall way. Eventually these will be hidden behind sliding doors.

Meanwhile Sue has been touching up paintwork, and now that the tiles are on the bathrooms it meant that Elliot could come back for his last day to put on the rest of the skirting boards.

Another trade

Dean has been here tiling the bathroom, ensuite and downstairs WC. The trouble with large tiles is to get the tiles positioned in aesthetically the best position you end up with a lot of cut tiles and wastage so although we thought we had over 10% extra we ended up being short of tiles so Dean won't be able to finish until next week,

We have got the slate chippings for the raised beds now - it's quite uplifting going into the garden - or even just looking at it through the windows

Taking advantage of a sunny day to cut some wood outside 

Woodn't it be nice!

Well it's mostly been about wood just recently. I have been routing wood to make skirting boards and architraves, and Sue & I have been painting them. Elliot has been fitting them along with the doors, and fitting handles etc. So the house is beginning to look less like a building site and more like just a very cluttered house.

Stephen came up to get the old render off the passage way so we can  Monocouche it to match the house - some of it was really loose, where the frost had got behind it but some was really tough!

Stuart is on holiday - he finished laying all the slabs for the patio before he left - even had a few friends stop by for a cup of tea!

This section is awaiting astroturf

Woodn't it be nice! - We do get on very well with our neighbours (Small Faces)

Making progress

Well the floors are done - the guys did a good job. I've covered them all up with cardboard now so whilst they don't look beautiful anymore it's nice to have a level surface to walk on

House is looking good outside. The front is blooming and Sue has given the raised beds a coat of paint in the back and we have started planting it out. Sleepers are in place too. Stuart has almost finished the paving.

Carl has connected my wiring up to the new consumer unit now - he just has to come back to wire up the central heating boiler/Under floor heating

The boiler is fitted and working though thanks to Max & Quinn, 

...and Elliot has started hanging doors

So lots of decisions to make - trying to choose tiles at the moment