Mike's ext'n & renovation (solar panels)

[Mike G]

I have so much drawing work to do at the moment that I can't get a good run at the house, but over the last couple of weekends I have made a start on the bathroom.

To re-cap, the bathroom is going in the middle of the upstairs of the old part of the house, wrapped around the stairwell. The first job was to get all the plumbing into the floor, and leave "tails" up to connect to the various bits of sanitaryware in due course. I can't say plumbing is my favourite thing on the planet.

Anyway, here is the completed plumbing. In the following photo, the hot and cold feed come through (well, under) the white wall at the top left of the picture. They're in 22mm copper, and we'd just poked them through into the floor void when we were doing all the work in the new part of the house. As it happened, they weren't in the most convenient location. The general principle here is to use 22mm for as long as possible, and with long swept bends, so that flow rates particularly for the bath, remain high. This picture show hot and cold running along the wall, and two feeds for the shower tee-ing off in 15mm (they're going into a wall, so there is no choice in the matter). The two tails sticking up nearest the camera are for the hand basin:



Stairwell is on your left in this photo, and it shows the tails for the basin (nearest us), and then on to the bath supply on the far left of the view:



After the bath (nearest), the supply heads off to serve the downstairs toilet, and the cold (capped) will run around to the loo in time (too much stuff in the way at the moment):



I mainly used traditional end-feed fittings, with a few old Yorkshires I had left over here and there:



When I had checked everything, drained the system down, and made the final connections, it was time to refill and test. I didn't need to run a dusty finger under each joint to find leaks, in the normal way. No, it was spraying against the wall like a pressure wash! That meant racing to turn the water off again, drain everything down, mop up the puddle which had run through the floor and ceiling into a puddle downstairs, get everything dry, heat the joint up a bit, apply copious amounts of flux, and then heat it properly and add some more solder.........all the while hoping that there wasn't remnant water at the joint which would render the joint useless. Anyway, it worked, and nothing else leaked. Phew..........that's a nasty job behind me. Insulating was a 5 minute job (you need zip ties), and you can see the pipe benders in the foreground):



Time for the floor:



I used new hand-made nails:



The old floor is all over the place. The joists are all over the place. My new boards were much thicker than the existing boards. So all in all, much messing around trying to get a semi-reasonable floor:



This is all I needed to put down to enable me to start on the walls. I'll fill in the missing boards later. I then built the wall between the landing and the bathroom, using 3" (70x45 PSE) timber:







The above photo shows the raised bit above the stairwell. There will be a short sloped ceiling over part of the stair, which will have a shelf and cupboard over it in the bathroom (and forms a useful pipe-run for the basin waste).



Finally, I'm going to have fun sorting this ceiling out:

 

[jules70]

Some nice pipe bending there and swept bends.

Not a plumber but learnt every drop of water needs to be out the pipe before re-soldering any joints !

Seeing all the copper, what are your thoughts Mike on plastic ?

 

[RogerS]

Keeping 22mm pipe on some of our runs was the worst decision I made. For example, the run down to the kitchen made use of existing 22mm pipe. Oh how I wish I'd ripped it out and replaced it with 15mm. It takes forever for any hot water to come down to the kitchen tap and then once you've turned the tap off, you've got all that hot water sitting in the pipe wasting the energy used to heat it up in the first place.

I should have bitten the bullet and put in a secondary return like I did in our last place.

In reply to Jules, my take on plastic is positive...with the caveat that you always potentially have the risk of a rodent deciding it's thirsty. Modern barrier pipes are much better than the original ones. 22mm plastic is a right ballache to use, though. You need to check that the rubber rings are inside each fitting. I didn't and one had either been removed, never fitted in the first place or simply lost. Result...one weeping joint.

Interested to hear Mike's take.

 

[Mike G]

I'll be using plastic for some of the plumbing. The shower feeds through the stud wall will be in plastic, and radiator flow and return from the lounge ceiling into the bathroom and bedroom will also be plastic. I wanted to do as much in 22mm as possible, and with the tight bends and nooks and crannies I was working in, plastic wasn't an option. The fittings are really chunky, too, meaning they're unsuitable for tight spaces.

 

[Mike G]

Keeping 22mm pipe on some of our runs was the worst decision I made. For example, the run down to the kitchen made use of existing 22mm pipe. Oh how I wish I'd ripped it out and replaced it with 15mm. It takes forever for any hot water to come down to the kitchen tap and then once you've turned the tap off, you've got all that hot water sitting in the pipe wasting the energy used to heat it up in the first place.

I should have bitten the bullet and put in a secondary return like I did in our last place.

Agreed that this is an issue. My circumstances were somewhat different as the pipe runs are actually very short, but the convoluted route would have impeded flow in smaller bore pipe.

 

[RogerS]

Did you consider using a booster pump? Knowing LOML's likely choice of taps I knew that the dribble of water from a cold or hot water tank would mean basins took forever to fill owing to lack of pressure.

 

[Mike G]

No need, as we have a mains pressure hot water system, and have good mains pressure. The thing is, having got the benefit of good pressure, I didn't want to give it away again by a constricted pipe runs with lots of elbows.

 

[wallace]

I love the way you only add what needs to be i.e most people would have ripped up the original floorboards and laid new, whereas you just filled the gaps keeping the original in place

 

[Mike G]

Apart from its location, I bought the house because of those floorboards.

 

[Mike G]

It's weekend work only at the moment, so not much progress recently. I've also lost a dozen or more photos (which may or may not be a good thing!).

I thought I would start with a plan of the bathroom, so that people can have a better idea of what I am doing, and where stuff is going. It is much less easy to see in photos taken inside small rooms. So, this is the proposed bathroom plan:



The hatched area in the middle is the area of low headroom, because of this ceiling:



The photos I have lost were of plasterboarding the studwork wall to the landing, and building and plasterboarding the wall between the bathroom and the adjacent bedroom (to the left, in the above plan). These left an opening which was in need of some oak........so here are the top of the oak posts to the bathroom door:





This is the door head, upside down. You'll see that there is a half-lap on the left hand end, because, from the plan, you'll notice that the adjacent bedroom door shares the same corner post:



It was a bit of a balancing act to get the frame assembled leaning over and partially on the lower floor level, and here is the result. This is the view along the landing from the top of the stairs, before and after:





Note the little bit of sole plate sticking out past the stud wall end. This has a corresponding mortise in the foot of the post, to lock the post into place. Note also the half-lap to the top corner of the door head.........and the temporary floor. This floor was the next job.

This is one of the boards, before and after. Not the crudeness of the underside, and the length-wise relieving cuts to help reduce curl:







And finally, after a coat all round (yes, underneath as well) of Osmo PolyX oil (I really dislike the stuff now), this is the in-situ raised landing floor. Note the hand-made nails:



The reason I dislike the Osmo is evidenced in that photo. The left hand of the 4 boards was oiled a year ago. It's a nasty stale urine colour now.

The floor had to be done before I could do the door to bedroom 4, because the posts sit on top of it. So, on with that next doorway:







That last shot shows the old bedroom wall about 3 feet behind the new one. This will be removed in the next week or two. The battens etc for the little gap to the right of the post had to be pre-fitted, because there is no access for a screwdriver or hammer to be able to fix the once the post is in place. Obviously the sloped ceiling complicates things somewhat.

The real complication is that I couldn't get a fixing through the doorhead into the sloped ceiling, so I planted on a steel plate and screwed this through the lath-and-plaster into a rafter end behind:



Next job was the stairwell, here:



You can see I have already placed a pair of joists across the opening (this will be supporting one leg of the bath, so need to be meaty). What you cant see is that I chamfered most of the bottom edge away from one of them, as the 2 metre headroom rule is really really tight over this stair. Anyway, here is the end of the "rafters" over this opening:



And here they are in place:



Looking back the other way, from the loo location back towards the door:



And finally, looking down the (temporary) stairs:

 

[Karookop]

Mike, this is regards from SA. Missing your posts and seeing your exceptional vision on how to execute rather difficult challenges. Always keeping the "long eye" on future activities, designs and builds.
Hope your Spring comes soon with a vibrant garden and.....gathering some energy to build a lekker braai!
Keep well and regards from the South! bscene-drinkingcheers:

 

[Mike G]

Thanks Karel. I'll be posting a big update in a few days time. Quite a bit has happened, albeit slowly.

 

[mjdewet]

Mike, I'm in agreement with Karel:

That garden needs a decent 'braaiplek' Not a bbq-thinga-machgick...

But you'll have to import some decent firewood then...

One never wins do we?

 

[Mike G]

In an experiment which only you guys can be the judge of, I thought I would only update the thread when I had made substantial progress. This because I have typically only been working on the house at the weekends, so progress has been slow. Well, I think I've got enough to post now (about 100 photos!!). Let's start with the first 30 or so.

Here's where we left things. I was working in the bathroom:







You've seen that. So, the new stuff:



I then insulated that for sound (as I do all around a bathroom No-one wants to here what goes on in a bathroom.....).

Then I thought I might stick a little low level wall out into the room in the middle of nowhere, just for fun:





You'll also note some framing above the slope. All will become clear in due course.

It was becoming really really difficult to work, because the bathroom is too small and awkward, and the room next door, the 3rd bedroom, had 2 parallel walls 3 feet apart, with doors openings at opposite ends, and packed solid with bits of wood, plasterboard and so on. It's worth bearing the following in mind. The dashed line running top to bottom to the left of the bathroom wall by the shower is the line of a tie-beam, but also an original cottage wall. This shows the 3 foot wide corridor quite wall, if you imagine that dashed line as a wall. Anyway, it was in the way, and it needed to go.

Here's a view along the length of that "corridor". this is the "before" shot:



You've got to start somewhere (well, after you've cleared a bit of space):



After the first swing of the sledge hammer it was clear that the bedroom side of the wall was cement rendered in absolutely rock hard inch thick foulness. Behind it though, was a 300 year old wall, painted with the original limewash. It was obvious that the original wall had been plastered on both sides of the same lath, so was in effect only an inch thick:



I paused for a long time, sorry to be taking down such history. I've beaten myself up over this wall for the last couple of years. Anyway, here's the original:



The near side is modern, and the ochre-coloured stuff is what the original occupants of the room would have seen.

Demolition proceeded:









There was no sole plate. The bottom of the studs were nailed directly to the floorboards:



Lots to clear up:



All gone:





Now you can see in through the new doorway, and get the first glimpse of the enlarged bedroom:



And a view from the other end, showing the tie beam with a bit of modern softwood (painted black) planted on it's bottom edge with some lath & plaster above. Since doing this demolition we've decided on a change of plan with this beam, and that plaster will be coming off.....but that's for later. Here's the beam:





Right, now I'd got a place I could keep tools and materials, I could now get on with the bathroom.

Refer back to the plan:



The hatched area crossing the middle of the room is an area of lowered ceiling (only about 1780 high.......5-10"), between two tie beams. It used to have the chimney going through the middle of it, and is the reason for the slightly unorthodox layout of the bathroom. Clearly we couldn't have any sanitaryware underneath that lower area. You can't clean your teeth if your head is banging on the ceiling! Anyway, it was something of a mess, so time to do a little work on it:







If you look very carefully in that last image you can see a piece of blacksmithing, which was nailed to the tie beam and bracketed over the wall plate on the outside. It was this at the end of each tie beam which had held the house square for 300 years. Anyway, it was about the get hidden again. First, though, a series of ad hoc battens, packing and fixings where I could, pulling everything tight up to the tie beam, and bridging the hole left by the chimney (demolished probably 3 years ago:



The ceiling all over the upstairs in the old part of the house is in a parlous state. I toyed with a number of different ways of dealing with it, but settle on this:





I'll probably be screwing a couple of hundred of these in place eventually, but there's only 40 or 50 in the bathroom, tying the weak laths nice and tightly back to the cured joists. It's a horrible job, drilling out for each one, as it sprays lime and grit all over you, and the room.

There was far, far worse to come though..........

 

[Malc2098]

Fascinating.

 

[Jimmy Mack]

... gah, cliff hanger!!! I'm not sure what to expect, a lot of 'live' detached ceiling?

Quite a bit of wall mess Mike, the hardest part of that kind of bashing is maintaining enthusiasm, with all the debris and dust sticking to your face...eugh... Well done getting through that stage.

The original framework does look lovely, I can see why you paused for so long.

I'd never think of insulating the bathroom for sound, I don't think I've seen it... Though pan tinkling is clear as a bell from the bathroom above our lounge, so it makes total sense to me!

...

Sent from my Moto G (5) using Tapatalk

 

[Mike G]

The tie beam and its associated ironwork was covered with plasterboard. You can now start to see how curved and uneven it is:





Note in the top right corner of that first photo the washers I just described holding the old ceiling nice and tight to the joists, firming everything up (you could previously push it up and down by hand in places). The white pipe is a ventilation duct.

Everything is now geared towards getting the room ready for plastering. I did a window board:



I've long known that there was a weird hard shiny layer to the walls and ceilings despite them being lime plastered (which is soft and dull). I was confident that this, in an angle grinder, would soon deal with it:



It didn't:



You can still see the shine. You can also see the hatch pattern I'd scratched laboriously in the surface to help provide a key, and the darker marks where the wire brush had just polished the surface up a bit. This finish was nowhere near being ready to accept plaster. It would just fall off into a heap on the floor. I went and invested in a couple of these:



Now, note in the background the 4" black pipe. That's the toilet waste pipe. It was about to play a big part in proceedings. I had 2 layers of sheeting stapled across the door, and across the corridor outside. I stuffed cloths into all the crevasses leading to the outside. I squirted expanding foam around smaller gaps. I got in my expensive rubber mask with removable filters, and donned goggles and a cap, and cracked on. Within seconds I was operating entirely by braille as the dust filled the room, and went backwards and forwards across the entirety of all the old walls and ceilings. Considering I couldn't see a damn thing I did a pretty good job, and the new knotted wire brush was much more aggressive:





Five minutes before I finished (it was hard, hard work, and sweaty, filthy and horrible, my wife came home. She opened the front door, and yelled. She could barely see her hand in front of her face for dust. Nightmare.

Now, bear in mind that there was a handmade wedding dress in one of the bedrooms (I'd sheeted up that door, too), and all sorts of other stuff that doesn't need 5mm of dust lying on it, and you can understand why she turned around and headed back out again.



Disaster. But luckily, the room with the dress in it was fine. Everywhere else, particularly downstairs and my office next door, was smothered. I spent 5 hours cleaning the house from top to bottom, 3 times over. I had used up a few brownie points.

-

Anyway, back to the bathroom.

Time to plaster. I came to the decision to use lime plaster on all of the external wall, and the old ceilings, and Universal onecoat for internal walls and plasterboarded ceilings. The latter looks similar to lime if you don't polish it up, and is much easier (and cheaper!) to apply to boards than lime, which isn't that easy to use. Photos of plastering in progress are a bit dull, so here are some "after" shots:









And the dust? We're still finding it. Every book on the bookshelves in the study. Every piece of clothing hanging in our cupboards. All our bedding. All our furniture. The source for the leak.........I cut a 120 diameter hole for a 110 diameter pipe. It also got out through some gaps in the floorboards, and around radiator pipes. Guess what? The bathroom is the smallest of the 3 room which are going to need similar stripping.

 

[jules70]

It's unbelievable how dust manages to escape and get literally everywhere.

One of the man reasons I vowed never to do another house up whilst living in it. And if someone asks for a full electrical rewire whilst still in residency, its also a no. Unless of course they want all surface run/ conduit !!

Have spent far too long cleaning up after myself + its also lovely to just put your tools down at night where you have just last finished using them and pick them up to carry on first thing in the morning.

 

[Rod]

Sterling work but a pity about the dust.

I had a similar experience using a disc cutter to cut out a new doorway through a cavity wall.
I’d cocooned myself in with plastic sheeting to contain the dust but found I not only couldn’t see but I couldn’t breathe even wearing a face mask.

Hope the bridegroom is not following this blog!

Rod

 

[RogerS]

Good progress, Mike. Brought back memories of our black-and-white refurb....so much out of whack.

Did you not think about simply applying Blue Grit to the walls rather than go through all that trauma ? In the words of the well-known glue...'It sticks like S...'

 

[Mike G]

Yes, I thought about it Bob, but I decided to be as authentic as possible, and particularly, to return the walls & ceiling to the flexible breathable state they should be in. Leaving a hard crust on the plaster will only lead to more cracking.

For the life of me, I have no idea at all what the hard shiny coating is. All I can think is that it is some sort of reaction between a paint and the lime plaster. It isn't a modern paint. Its much harder than that. It's like a really thin, rock-hard crust, and when you break through it you gouge out large scoops from the soft lime plaster below. Just to add to the really odd picture of what is going on with the inside surface of this place, the lime plaster on the ceiling is the only stuff in the entire house other than the very first 2 courses of bricks in the plinth which have been made with sand. All other plaster, render and mortar has been lime mixed with chalk, but for some reason they thought sand was needed on the upstairs ceiling (downstairs is chalk).

Anyway, I've come up with a cunning plan for the two remaining rooms which need stripping. Well, not so much stripping as preparing. It may be slow, but it will be thorough and clean (er).

 

[Mike G]

For the sake of continuity I presented things slightly out of order. Order on a building site being somewhat more chaotic than one might expect. Let me return to drains for a second.

I installed two soil pipes. The most complex one is in the cupboard in the adjacent bedroom 2 (see the drawing):



From the floor up this has the toilet waste (large pipe, 90 degree bend with rodding eye), then the handbasin waste (small white pipe on the right), then an air admittance valve (Dirgo/ Durgo.....not sure of the spelling) as this isn't the head of the run. That soil pipe drops through the downstairs loo, below, where the bath waste drops down to join into it:



The other soil pipe takes only the shower, and drops down in the corner of the dining room:



After installing that latter stack I did the boxing behind the shower which was to hide the pipes:



This drain connection (shower to stack) was the shortest of any drain run, and the most complex. Well, not so much complex as "how do we make this work?". We were having a very specific shower base shape (a quadrant, which is a square shower with one of the corners radiused), and they are only available with the waste in a couple of locations. I looked at hundreds. Unfortunately, those locations were all the wrong side of a joist in the floor, or were too close to it and fouled it. This meant that is wasn't possible to have a tray at floor level. Really disappointing. We had to have a raised tray instead:



Looks easy, huh? There is an inch drop from the boxing at the back to the front edge of the tray, so each piece had to be scribed, taken out to the workshop and cut out on the bandsaw, offered up, checked, and adjusted if necessary. My little block plane got a lot of use.

I glued & screwed some MR t&g chipboard flooring over that, then laid a bed of mortar:



And then lowered the shower tray into position. That's easier said than done, as it is very heavy, and you can't stand on the mortar. Anyway:



Next, the floor. unfortunately, I didn't take a "before" photo. You'll just have to imagine what it was like after 3 or 4 days of plastering, mixing mortar, and so on. These are the nearest to before photos I've got, taken after I had scraped with a 4" paint scraper, vacuumed, and sponged down a couple of times:







I just cleaned and clean and cleaned. In the end I scrubbed it at least 6 times, including a couple of times with sugar soap, which was really effective. I also used a scraper and a chisel sharpened to a hook (to use as a scraper), to haul off huge amounts of carpet clue, paint, plaster, and various unidentifiable splodges:



My scraper is from a scraper plane I made years back. The bradawl was for cleaning out holes and gaps between boards. The wire brush is copper, so soft, but firm enough to get accreted crap out without raising the grain.

I fitted a few "Dutchmen", and did a little filling:



And washed again:



I knocked nails home, added extra ones, and used screws where I had to. I cleaned again. In the end, after letting it dry thoroughly for a week, it was time to apply the finish. I had purchased some water based lacquer from Smith & Rodgers (Aquacoat SP). I'd ordered matt, and didn't notice until after I'd finished that I had in fact received satin. It's very easy to use, very forgiving, doesn't smell (much), dries quickly (an hour or two) and it didn't change the colour of the floor (I tested it along with a couple of alternatives on the floor under where the bath would stand). Just the job. I applied 2 coats, then carefully filled gaps between the floorboards with brown Decorators Mate (a flexible sealant which accepts finishes), then applied a third coat. You just brush it on. It took less than half an hour per coat.





As you can see from the last photo, I couldn't wait to bring the sanitaryware in and stand it in position (once the floor was thoroughly dry). The bath in particular had to be offered in, and the position of the feet and waste carefully noted. I then propped it out of the way to prepare for its fitting:





You will note the added bit of boarding, plus of course the pipework (supply and waste). Before adding that board, I reinforced the floor with an additional joist. The floor in that area was weak because two of the joists had been set directly into the brickwork of the old chimney and they had rotten somewhat at the end in the brickwork. So, after a big struggle, I got a new modern joist in directly under the location of two of the bath feet:



I mentioned before how things have to be done in a certain somewhat chaotic order, and this is a good example. I wanted to board the hall ceiling downstairs months ago, and plaster it, but until the bath was in with its reinforced floor, I couldn't do it. Anyway, I digress.

You can see here the bath waste located precisely, with the rodding access point of the U bend facing the access. I have also extended the tails of the supply pipes ready to connect the taps. Further, although you can't see much evidence in that photo, I had made the final connections to the radiator on the little wall at the head of the bath. We were ready to finally position the bath:









Note the flexible connectors with isolating valves for the supply, and the black crinkly pipe which connects the bath overflow into the trap. Here's the radiator I mentioned:



Next I made a framework for the bath panel and boxing behind the toilet:



With the loo positioned, I carefully made a template. Here it is with the loo out of the way:



It was at this point that I called the Building inspector in, because once the loo was fixed permanently the drains would no longer be visible, changeable, or accessible. She was perfectly happy, and spent more time chatting about the ducks on the pond across the road. Time to fit the loo, and the bath panel:





The above shows me offering up yet again to locate exactly the hole for the water supply to the cistern.









Again, it wasn't quite as simple as that, as the first syphon system in the cistern was faulty (the shut-off valve wouldn't shut off), and I stripped the plastic connection thread on the replacement. I therefore had to mix and match between the two and make one that worked.

I then had my first bath for 3 years:



_

I added a loo seat. My wife started to domesticate the place:



I have described elsewhere the restoration of the Edwardian washstand we'd found in a friend's barn locally. Here it is in situ, with the (unfortunately) cut down tile splashback (note the newly delivered hand basin):



Time to make a replacement. I found some old bits of architrave:



I ran them through the router:



and made some new ends:



Glued them together:



Added some turnings rescued from the original (you can see the tiles offered in):



Painted it grey (chalk paint):



Fitted the tiles and the ply backing, and stood it in place:



Soon most of the washstand will be painted to match.

I stuck a few tiles onto the shower walls:



I want the tiles to finish flush with the outside of the shower screen, which I haven't ordered yet, so that is as far as I could go.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, brings us up to date.

 

[9fingers]

Always impressed with your progress Mike!
Maybe put loads of sound insulation round the soil pipe to avoid the "woosh- thwack" sound effects in the dining room.
We have a soil pipe with no insulation but it passes through the utility room which is more acceptable than a dinging room :lol:

Bob

 

[Jimmy Mack]

That's a lovely bathroom Mike, a well deserved and very satisfying bath I'm sure, with the Brownie points back in the bank.

If you have to grind walls again have a look into the Festool Renofix (hire).

Great update [emoji3]





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[Mike G]

........Maybe put loads of sound insulation round the soil pipe to avoid the "woosh- thwack" sound effects in the dining room.......

Oh yes!Having suffered in a previous house that was ALWAYS on the agenda.

 

[Mike G]

That's a lovely bathroom Mike, a well deserved and very satisfying bath I'm sure, with the Brownie points back in the bank.

If you have to grind walls again have a look into the Festool Renofix (hire).

Great update [emoji3]......

Thanks Jim, and that's a great tip. I was planning to borrow a friend's "chaser", set it very shallow, and make repeated passes. I'll pop into the local tool hire shop and see if they have a Renofix or similar, and if so, how heavy it is. I really struggle working above head height, with dodgy old shoulders.

 

[Jimmy Mack]

That's a lovely bathroom Mike, a well deserved and very satisfying bath I'm sure, with the Brownie points back in the bank.

If you have to grind walls again have a look into the Festool Renofix (hire).

Great update [emoji3]......

Thanks Jim, and that's a great tip. I was planning to borrow a friend's "chaser", set it very shallow, and make repeated passes. I'll pop into the local tool hire shop and see if they have a Renofix or similar, and if so, how heavy it is. I really struggle working above head height, with dodgy old shoulders.

Here are the details... As you'd expect from Festool it costs an arm and a leg!... Another option might be to sweet talk a Festool rep into lending out a demonstrator.

http://www.powertool-supplies.co.uk/fes ... duct/39398

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[Malc2098]

Sterling, as he said, absolutely sterling.


FWIW, my bathroom is in a dormer, (60s chalet style bungalow) and was the coldest room in the house, and showers or baths were not the pleasant relaxing experience they ought to be, not did condensation disappear with the windows open.

A couple of years ago, I took all the walls and ceiling back to studs and insulated with PIR, reboarded, then tiled floor to ceiling, and replastered the ceiling. I didn't want to break through for an extractor fan.

The result is that sounds are reduced, but even with the little window open while showering, it's warm enough to still be very pleasant. After a quick squeegee down of the tiles round the shower/bath, all other condensation and splashed water disappears within about half an hour with no marks on the sealant corners.

 

[RogerS]

Could you hire one of those dry-ice (I think) 'sand' blasters ?

 

[wallace]

Cracking job as usual Mike, I was going to suggest some kind of wall chaser but I see your already onto it. I did a similar dusty job in the house and used a chip extractor with no filter and just had it venting outside to keep the room clear. I think it helped stop any dust permeating through tiny gaps by making the room slightly negatively pressurised.
One critique with the bathroom would be, I would prefer to see oak in place of the soft wood. unless its getting painted.

 

[Mike G]

It's getting painted . You'll not see unpainted softwood anywhere in the house, I don't think.

And negative pressure is an important factor in my planning for the next couple of rooms. I have a cunning plan.....

 

[Mike G]

Could you hire one of those dry-ice (I think) 'sand' blasters ?

No, a specialist team comes in with that kit (it includes one of those big trailer-sized compressors). It's about £1000 for a days work, and it might not work anyway.

 

[Woolf]

Would a scabbler not do the job? Although these are usually quite big multiheaded machines for doing floors there are smaller handheld versions available.

While googling the subject I came across this which looks quite nifty.

http://trelawnyspt.com/products/whirl-a ... y-scabbler

 

[Mike G]

Yep that's the one. About £100 per day to hire.

 

[MJ80]

Looking great Mike. Love how well the floor has come up, bet you enjoyed the bath. :text-bravo:

 

[Mike G]

I have been rather busy on the house for a week or two, but, frankly, plastering ceilings and limewashing walls don't make riveting photos. Let's just show a before, during, and after of the limewashing:











Three coats of traditional limewash with tallow. You have to apply when it is cool, dry, and cloudy, so that it has a chance to dry slowly. The longer it takes to dry the less dusting there is afterwards.

I also tackled the downstairs loo, which had only been a temporary set-up previously. I forgot to take a before photo, with the temporary plumbing. Here's a little sequence:













The last photo show the waste pipe from the bathroom above. I was just going to box it in, but thought that might be a bit boring. Besides, I fancied some workshop time, so I decided to add a little cabinet:







That's now plasterboarded and ready for plastering tomorrow. It's very hard taking photos in such a small room, but I'll try to get on of the rounded boxing.....quite an attractive feature.

I also cleared the front garden, and we took the decision to plant it up with a green manure ground cover plant to keep weeds at bay. We simply aren't going to be ready to do the paths, little wall and iron railings, and the box hedging, this year, so suppressing the weeds until we're ready next spring seems like a plan:



It's not long back that the entire front garden was covered in oak, bricks, blocks, and bags of sand, so having it clear like this feels a bit of a luxury.

 

[Malc2098]

Nice.

 

[StevieB]

Looking good Mike - has the house gone from white to grey or are the photos after then before in that order?

 

[Mike G]

Green! It's gone from white to green.

 

[Phil]

Looking very good Mike. :eusa-clap:


Question -
Are you going to box in the bottom of the wash basin to hide the piping? Sort of angled in.

The porch roof - is that a Mexican wave or just the photo?

Walls, nice shade of green.

Phil