Author: peterb51

26th April 2018

There was plasterboard everywhere, Louis and Andy were on fire, well not Andy so much, more a smoking stick. The adhesive was mixed and everything was stuck, a good day finished with all the remaining walls boarded. The guys had made good on their commitment, but realistically when they can work fast they can, now I will gauge if the same exists with the plastering.

I went round all the walls and ceilings filling in divots and sanding out lumps, there is still a lot to do.

I had a call from the Travis Perkins driver to say he was at the top of the road with a delivery of “boards”. I did have to think about it having ordered them at the beginning of the week, that was a long time in the building trade.

When I got back to Ryan and Louise’s hoping for a quiet evening I was asked to look at a bath tap that had reduced to a trickle. Of course there is no simple job, and this was no exception. The screw holding the tap thingy would not budge, and that needed to be removed before the column could be removed. As I unscrewed the shroud, thick black muck oozed out like some alien slime creature, nasty.

In the end I had to drill out the screw, and with a little fiddling about managed to get the tap working again, so Ryan could have a shower after his football. Of course I will now have to find a replacement part to make good the job.

25th April 2018

The colour transformation continued. Nicola arrived to help, she is a dab hand at decorating, so with rollers rolling off she went.

The neutral colour, and the feature wall of lemon yellow reflected the light, and it was quite emotional to be at this point in the project.

Andy called in sick, with his cracked rib, and the painkillers did not have much effect, I didn’t expect him to “float” in anyway.

I had contacted Louis to try to get more help with the final boarding of the big wall.

He wrote back saying that he and Andy would be there in the morning.

24th April 2018

The task today was to dig out the channel for the LED light. This is positioned in the old fireplace area to provide additional lighting above the new sink. The channel was created by setting two pieces of plasterboard apart so that the lighting extrusion would fit perfectly. We took time to set the panels, but when Andy plastered the panel, he skimmed over everything. I was not concerned because he said he would rake it out. Fast forward to me trying to “rake” this plaster that had dried like a rock. It was a nightmare, it took several hours, and a lot of chipped edges to complete. I was really angry at Andy for cocking it up. If he hadn’t cracked a rib playing rugby I might have had to inflicted the same injury.

23rd April 2018

Just when I thought nothing could go wrong, I had a message from Andy saying he was at the hospital with a suspected cracked rib. That’s what you get playing rugby and coming off second. That means that the completion of the tall wall isn’t going to be done as planned.

That hit me hard, the timing is so tight, so I spiralled into a depression. I managed to apply a thin coat of white emulsion to the ceilings and walls. That was a bloody mess, splashing over everything. I know why decorators wear white overalls now.

Once there was some colour on the ceiling, it changed everything, slowly it started to look like a home.

22nd April 2018

There was devastation from the badgers visit during the night. Colin had built some defences from previous attacks, but they had just moved to another portion of the fence and burrowed under. The bird table had been pushed over one time too many, and was laying in a few pieces. This was going to be my project for the day, so I set about the repair and reconstruction.

There was the obligatory visit to B&Q for supplies of cement and hardcore, so Colin was set to build his version of the Berlin Wall. I suggested searchlights and bells, but that was ignored. My job went a little easier, and by mid afternoon the resurrected bird table was complete.

21st April 2018

This has been a successful week, so I just wanted to rest. I reflected on the progress made, but I was hit with a larger than usual invoice. Guess that’s a trade off I had to endure, everything costs. As I tot up the running totals, I have to believe it is worth it.

There has been a few times when I have question my decision, but I am in this spiral, and one day it will be finished.

20th April 2018

Another trip to Wickes in Trowbridge to purchase another six bags of plaster. The Shogun groaned as I loaded the bags, I have given the vehicle a hard time, but it has been brilliant. I have carried a variety of things from bags of rubble to grandchildren to school, and it feels like a workman’s truck, but without the copy of the Sun on the dashboard. I get the knowing nods from my fellow builders as I groan loudly with each twenty-five kilo sack I load. I haven’t yet mastered the skill of carrying the sack on my shoulder like a sleeping child, I’d rather hold it close to my tummy like an extended belt.

The air was cool, and the mist was hanging in the valley, and I was gasping as I carried the plaster to the cottage. Six times I scaled the dreaded slope, my body has to be getting used to this? Would I ever get a six-pack? I doubt it now, I’m lucky that I haven’t had a heart attack.

Later in the morning I had a delivery of timber for the bathroom floor and skirting boards, at last a job that I can do.

I struggled up the slope with this oversize load, the sun beating down on my already red bounce.

I set up my chop saw to cut the skirting into the different lengths to fit the room. I worked around Andy and Ollie and marked the pieces that I then cut. Each piece was then labelled, and loaded into the truck.

As the day drew to a close, I surveyed the progress. The high wall next to the stairs still needs to be completed. I celebrated by opening a can of black currant flavoured cider, it was disgusting.

Loading my glowing body into the truck, I set off for my weekend retreat.

19th April 2018

The cottage was full of plasterers slopping the pink stuff about, I don’t know what a collective of plasterers are called, maybe a “Tub of plasterers”. Each chap had a large plastic container, for which they would mix shit up with a giant food blender, that they would have to wash, then pass it to another, who, would go through the same procedure. However the process worked and soon most of the two rooms were transformed. This was an expensive day, three bodies, but at least most of the downstairs is finished.

There was not a lot for me to do at the cottage, and I didn’t want to get splashed with plaster, so I decided to finish Ryan and Louise’s pavilion that I had started last August. It could not be completed at that time because of a shortage of 11mm OSB. The sheets had been delivered a month after I was in the US, so the building was covered in a tarpaulin for the winter. As summer had hit the UK today it was perfect to do the job. At the end, the top of my head was like a radish, I was dripping like a tap, but at least I finished it. I still have doors to fit, but that is another day.

18th April 2018

I was beyond the valley of happiness as the walls turned pink as the plaster was applied.

It has been a long time, but it’s getting there, and more progress should be reached tomorrow. As I walked around, after the guys had left for the day, I noticed they had scribbled “Thursday ” on various walls. I have always known that certain tradesmen pace themselves to squeeze as much money as they can from their clients, and there is little that can be done to avoid it. I had set Friday as the deadline for completion of the plastering, and it looks like they will stretch it out till then.

On the whole I have been satisfied with the quality of the work the builders have done. I have been amazed at the cost of materials, nothing is cheap anymore. There has been a lot of soul searching, and comprising, but I wanted a finish that I would happy with, and hopefully I will achieve it.

Nicola and Colin came to help with cutting up a rotten fence covered with more ivy that had fallen into my next door neighbour’s garden. This led to four trips to the dump, for which I can now drive in my sleep, and where the prospect of driverless cars seem appealing.

17th April 2018

The insulated plasterboard was installed today, the last of the exposed stone was now covered, and now the place is ready to be plastered. This has been a long journey, and driven me to the limits of frustration, but the end is in sight.

I managed two trips to the tip to dump six more bags of ivy, soon all trace of the hedge will be gone.

On a lighter note, Kelli informed me that it was snowing in Holland, shame.