I have a Dilemma

I have a dilemma. That is i saw a program on renovating a property and at the end they showed the house. Around the top of the walls they had put lighting and i must admit it looks great. The problem it's only a bedroom and the first picture seems a bit over the top.

I like this but with white light and maybe i could have done this in the lounge.











However this looks great nice colour and the lights are set behind the coving. Also i have enough lights in stock and all is ready to go. But what should i do top or bottom.

Times come for the ceiling

Today was the day that the ceiling got it's plasterboard put up. My friend Robin came round to give me a hand but instead took over the job and i ended up just the labourer. Robin has done this before and being younger, fitter makes the job simple. I would have put up my scaffolding tower and when i got the plasterboard lifted on to the top of the tower it's not to difficult but Robin had other ideas.

I must say i would have taken so much longer without the valuable help i had. This is the end of the day lights and ceiling fan all wired in and waiting for the fittings and fan. But i will wait till the walls and ceiling are painted first.

To work at night i have a temporary Light setup just where the ceiling fan will go.

There is a gap of 5cm on each side of the room as the plasterboard was 2.5 metres long and the room las 2.6 metres wide. I am putting up coving all round so the 5cm gap each side will be hidden.

Floor almost ffinished

It's been a long day today, it started with finishing sanding the floor first, then i wired in all of the sockets. Chestnut with a Pine floor will look a bit odd so i am getting a pack of flooring timber from Leyroy Merlin and use that for the skirting.

That Karcher hoover is the best bit of kit i treated myself to it works perfect so good i got one for my daughter when her Dyson died.
As my Mouse sander has passed away i now have to use my red orbital sander for the edges.

Now the floor

I am still waiting for the promised help to lift the plasterboard to the ceiling. Instead of wasting valuable time i have started on the floor. A touch of bad luck is my edge sander has decided to play dead and refuses to work so it maybe time for a new edge sander.

This is a result of a good afternoons work but it's hard on my knees but it needed to be done at sometime so today was as good as any to get started on the floor

I will varnish an area to see if i need any stain to give the best result.











It's unfortunate that the floor boards are not perfectly flat so it makes sanding a longer job. The kind of floor sander you can hire in the UK would be no good here because the floor has high spots and low spots. A little hard work done now will make the floor look great when it's all done.

Sockets another job done

While i am waiting for the plaster to dry enough so i can prepare for painting i started on the sockets. I have put in 8 double sockets in total. When my friend calls i can put up the plasterboard on the ceiling sadly the boards are to heavy for me to lift on my own.

 
I put 8 double sockets in because at this stage it was easy. To fit any later would be difficult that's why i fitted so many. I won't wire them up until the walls are finished.














I used to stay with a family before i moved into my house and the bedroom i was in had sockets that when you pulled the plug out the socket came away from the wall. My socket back boxes are all screwed to the wall as are all the sockets in every room.

Just got a new friend

While looking over my fruit trees this morning i spotted someone guarding them and i took a picture for you to enjoy.

He doesn't have a name yet and he is guarding my Lime tree.

Plasterboard up now for the ceiling.

All the battens are now up and the insulated plasterboard is now going up. Gone are the days when this room will be cold in the winter. The hard part is putting up the plasterboard up on the ceiling. I think i will get the scaffolding up and lift the boards up onto the top of the scaffolding where i find it easy to the put the boards up on the ceiling.

This was the easy part but the ceiling is not so easy.

It's tiling time again

If it's one thing i dislike it's doing tiling. The wall as i go up the stairs was covered in a cement render and it was very rough to the touch. Removing the render was not a problem but replacing the render was going to be a problem. What do i put in it's place, a nice new smooth render or find another answer.

Looking through the spindles i need something that is really eye catching stead of the usual white that everything seems to be.

While in Leyroy Merlin i found some really nice tiles. It's not easy to imagine how they will look till you get them home. After putting some on the floor and on the stairs they looked how i imagined they would. Now the wall has to be insulated and then plaster boarded before the tiles go up.

Battens soon put up

It's such a nice day today so when i got my wall battens i decided to get started straight away. 

There is a slight gap at the top of the battens to allow for the ceiling to be lowered. Even the ceiling has to be insulated but first i have to lay in the cables for the lights and ceiling fan.

It got real dirty

I have ordered timber to batten the walls in the bedroom i am insulating and i ordered some extra battens for the wall as you go up stairs.  because the width of the stairs is not to great i removed the render from the walls.

When i batten the walls and put up the plasterboard i should end up with the width still the same as it was.

Food cost in France compared to Portugal

I have a friend who while travelling from the UK to not far from me called in Brittany for a few days to visit a family member of his. I mentioned to him about a cafe i called in and had a bowl of soup for a late morning snack. He told me he paid about 5€ for a bowl of soup and 7€ for a pint of lager. He is lucky after being here for a while house hunting he knows how cheap prices are. In the cafe i went to where i paid 1.10€ for a big bowl of soup and a bread roll to go with it.

Who knows how much a bowl this size would have cost in France. Also what good is bread if you buy it in the morning and by early evening it's hard as a lump of concrete.

Public school

I have a friend who has this weekend left the UK for a new life in Portugal. As he was about to leave he had some money outstanding for his temporary stay after he sold his house. He tells me the lady who owned the house he was staying in was educated at a private girls school well if that's the best she can do in her adding up i am glad i went to a state school.

Stair edging

Before i create the molding for the edge of the stairs i am making up some trim to get an idea of what it will look like finished. I am happy now with what i see so i will have to go downstairs and make the moldings for the stair edges.

I had posted a picture of the timber i was using before i made the moldings but changed it when i made the new molding. It's had one coat of varnish and after a fine sanding it will have another two coats and then it's finished.

Work goes on

Making the window frame for the upstairs bedroom window demands that as it's the first thing you see as you come upstairs there must be something to see first. First i had to laminate two pieces of wood together and that's the picture on the left.
The picture on the right is the two pieces laminated together but only sanded down and not varnished yet.
To me it's all about the end product and the look i get.

 

R.I.P Dave Pinnington

This afternoon i was told that Dave my best mate had passed away. There is still a chance he will outlast me. Dave has donated whatever organs the doctors can use how unselfish is that thinking of how he can help others.

I will miss the funeral as i want to remember all the times we had over the last nearly 40 years. There is a lot to remember over those years, lots of very good advice and help.

R.I.P Dave Pinnington.