There’s always one

Yesterday, I think we finally did it; we completed the last major job before we start on the garden.

We tiled the conservatory floor. It is mid February and it is cold out, very cold, but if we want our living room back, we need to finish the conservatory. The living room currently has all the conservatory furniture in it, as well as a lot of tiles and it would be good to move it out again.

“What did we learn?” I find myself saying this a lot at work, and so I thought I’d share with you what we learnt doing this in February. We learnt that porcelain tiles are considerably colder than concrete. Kneeling on the floor was cold, but just about bearable when Ian was putting the tiles down. 

We learnt that once the tiles were laid it was not bearable! It was freezing. Grouting became painful, warm water was needed to stop our hands going numb, and cutting tiles outside was positively arctic. 

We also learnt there is always one. One tile that didn’t bed down. Not so bad with an uneven floor and frozen fingers. So here it is, tiled. A beautiful window to the world and will a reminder that summer will come and we will have time to just sit, read, daydream and enjoy our new home.    

We learnt that February is not the best month to do a job like this, but with determination it can be done. 

I leant that a hot bath is the only way to warm up after a day on the tiles.    

It’s coming together

“It’s coming together” is Ian’s most used phrase in the last few months. But, I really think we can say it now with confidence. For a while it kept us going as we coped with a mountain of things to do and no real end in sight. Then as things gradually got done, it cheered us on as exhaustion took over. Now it’s more of a reality than an ambition or motivating thought.

We have however, been busy. The conservatory had a thoroughly good clean, huge amounts of wood dust, plaster dust, and anything else you could imagine related to building work, had gathered in there and the UPVC was filthy along with the windows. It took a whole day, but looked sparkly. And then, Ian casually reminded me we needed to cut the wood for the bath panel.  AGGGHHH. Of course he was right and it was the conservatory or the house, so out came the track saw, and away we went. More tiny particles of wood everywhere. I cleaned again! Then we needed to scrape up the remnants of underlay from the carpet that had been previously laid to prepare the floor for tiling.  I can tell you that concrete floor is cold!  

However, having done that, we can finish the bathroom, in truth I say WE – but Ian did it all. The bath panel is fitted and tiled, the new shelf went up and the flooring issue resolved. Finally the blind goes up and it’s done. The last room in the house finished.

The blinds also arrive for the conservatory, so they too go in. I suspect in the summer we will need them to help shade us from the sun, but that seems a very long way off, as it is more than a bit chilly here. 

I’m really looking forward to the day when this kitchen doesn’t look like this. I don’t think it will be too long.

   

Warmth and privacy

I’d almost stopped seeing the ‘old wall’ in the living room as we have been waiting a few months for the news that the patio doors have arrived from the factory. But now we know they are in the UK and can be fitted very soon. It’s really the last big job in the house as along with the doors comes the trimming for the window’s that will mean fewer drafts all round.

However, before the glazing, the fence is being fitted. We have a perfectly good fence, it is strong and sturdy, but it’s tiny. It’s waist height, and to be honest however lovely our neighbours, we really don’t want to have a window into our lounge exposing our daily life for others to view over the garden fence.

The fence man suggested adding a top to bring it up to normal height which makes sense, so that’s what happened this week. Suddenly we are private, nobody can watch us mooch around in our PJ’s and dance like nobody is watching (when they could!). It’s going to be even more important when the patio doors go in, for now the house wall blocks most of the view, by the end of the week we will have a wall of glass with a much better view to the garden and vice versa.

Now, coping with Teams video calls while you have a wall being removed is interesting, and to be honest, challenging. My work colleagues have been very understanding and the mute button is well used, I have learnt a lesson in only speaking when I really need to, and if you know me, you know I love to talk, so it has been interesting! However, the guys from Stylish Windows arrive and the dismantling commences. To be honest, taking out the wall didn’t take too long, with a big window and only a bit of wood and boarding it wasn’t exactly back breaking. Mind you they did an amazing job at getting the new one in. It’s a big gap and by lunchtime the new frame is there, ready for the glass.

Not too long and the doors are in, the whole room looks so different. The garden really is part of the living room, we can see it all as we sit on the sofa along with the trees and beautiful birds that visit the garden. We knew we wanted to do work on the garden, but now it’s essential. It is part of our room, as is the conservatory. The conservatory really is a glass extension of the house now, not a strange add on you had to go out of the back door, thorough the breeze way door, into the garden and finally into the conservatory to appreciate; that although lovely, really was a strange add on,. Now it is a window to the world, and very obviously needs a thorough clean. But that’s for another day. I need to take the curtains up, but now at lest I can measure the correct length and we can celebrate our warmth and privacy.      

Washing

Over this week the bathroom comes together, the bath goes in, the tiles go on. Damien (the plumber) put the sink on.

We grout overnight (who doesn’t want to be grouting and washing it off to get beautiful lines at 11pm on a Thursday night) so the shower can go up before the weekend. Damien has done all the tricky bits, and done an amazing job, so he fits the radiator and then leaves us to it. The least contact the better with others over lock down, so now it’s over to us. 

Ian’s doing well, and although he has to be really careful, he can paint and do most things, so he does. I’m really busy at work, so can’t do anything to help, except tidy up in the evening, but it really is looking good! I know I have said this about most areas of the house, but we love it. The bath, the tile colour, the fancy cupboard where you wave your hand and the light comes on, as well as the waterfall taps. They all make it feel very special.

One thing we have learnt is that the extractor fan and the pesky tubing we refitted doesn’t work well. Basically as the loft is cold and the house warm, water just drips from it into the bath all the time as it gathers the condensation. The reality is, we have a window, so we decide to take it out and use the window. The bathroom really doesn’t get very steamy, so we think it will work fine. Better than a dripping extractor anyway! So back to the loft I go to detach the hose and fill the gap with plasterboard, leaving the hose as further ventilation (that is clearly working well up there, it’s freezing with a breeze).

Once more there is filling to be done, so Ian sorts out the hole left behind and also fills a big crack in the living room wall, and one in the hall where rather enthusiastic tile removal in the bathroom impacted the other side of the walls. It had to be done and at least we are a dab hand at filling these walls.

We struggled to decide what to do with the flooring in the bathroom, we wanted to ensure we have vinyl in key areas, but are also thinking about making a sort of ‘fitted shower mat’ our floor tiles are rubber backed and OK for bathrooms, so we could use them, but we don’t want them everywhere in there. We may do a hybrid, like the kitchen, for now we have vinyl, covering most of it. There isn’t enough for the whole floor, so something magic will happen I’m sure. 

The house is covered in dust again, so more cleaning, wiping and washing, but now we have a beautiful almost finished bathroom we can shower in, and it’s heaven! Washing Heaven.

One thing I have noted on the washing front is that after weeks of blue sky and sunshine (cold, but sunny) Ian put my new washing line up in the garden. It has rained ever since. Seriously, every day! I may remove it.

Man down!

 

Well that didn’t go to plan. A couple of days after I posted the last blog Ian had an awful accident. There we were getting a few things out of the garage ready for the plumber (Damien), in fact the loo. And a beautiful loo it is too. This is it, a couple of days after the fateful day, our new throne; so much better than the horrible old one.

However, there was a slight delay in getting it fitted as Damien was locked out of the garage for several hours where the rest of the loo was stored, because Ian tripped over the doorstep. Now that doesn’t sound too bad, until he hit the floor. It’s usually me who does these things, so it was a huge shock to both of us. Somehow we are used to me hitting the deck and snapping things, but no, this was Ian’s time and he did it in style. We aren’t really sure what happened, but we do know he dislocated his little finger and when he looked (scroll down, look away if of a nervous disposition) the bone was completely through the skin and his finger looked like it had come off. Fortunately it hadn’t, but it certainly looked as if it was only just attached. 

There was no point in calling an ambulance, we know there are hours delays due to Covid and Agy was in no fit state to drive with things everywhere and locks and alarms galore.  To be honest I was also in a right state, I cope really well when I have bits dropping off, I cope well when other people do, but Ian, no, I didn’t. I was a mess. Fortunately we knew one of our neighbours (who we had got to know quite well when meeting up was allowed) had been staying home and had also been a policeman. He would cope with the gruesome sight would probably be willing to take us to hospital and be as safe as we could with current challenges. And he did. We are so lucky, He has been amazing.

It was a very painful journey for Ian but fortunately ‘minor injuries’ was reasonably quiet, so after a quick assessment and pain killers, Ian was examined, X-rayed and there it was (as we thought, but it does look dramatic) dislocated, but luckily not fractured.

With a fair bit of gas and air it was soon back in place, re x-rayed, and dressed avoiding all needles much to Ian’s relief. It’s a very nasty wound, but it should heal. How functional Ian’s finger will be, we just don’t know. It’s taken a couple more visits to fracture clinic and very careful use of the damaged hand, but hopefully it will get back to normal. 

We haven’t of course been able to get out on Fanny (our bike), so that will have to wait, but we have progressed with the bathroom. To speed up the lost time, and help get to a functioning bathroom as soon as possible we added to the layers of tanking to waterproof the walls around the shower and filled the joints in the plasterboard joints, as well as plaster boarding the window so when Damien returned after the weekend, he could get on with fitting the bath and sink. 

As you can see, Ian isn’t one to stop just because of a hand injury, oh no, the sanding needed doing and Ian sanded – a lot. In fact he went grey in the process! Not great when you don’t have a bathroom to clean up in!