Week 8 only had 4 days due to the Bank Holiday, and started well enough on Tuesday with the laying of the floorboards where the pantry used to be.

They stick out like a sore thumb at the moment, but once the old boards get sanded and then the whole lot stained, they should blend in nicely.

newfloor

Also over the weekend the local handyman had been to cut the grass, (I can’t do it as my mower is needed at the cottage) which made a huge difference to the overall look of the garden, and the sun was shining too. So on Tuesday things were feeling good and looking even better. Could it last?

grasscut2

Wednesday saw the welcome arrival of the plumber, who ‘plumbed’ away upstairs all day, only venturing downstairs long enough to disparage my tea-bags! So we didn’t see much of him really.

Thursday didn’t start particularly well as Adrian reversed his truck into one of the brick gate posts and demolished it. Still, if you had to choose anyone to destroy the brick pillar that makes up one of your gate posts, it might as well be a good builder!

However, the day soon got a lot better as slowly but surely the staircase was installed.

staircaseb

staircase1

The job took all day. The bannister and spindles are still to be fixed, but you can begin to see how it will look.

adrianand stairs

Elsewhere I began the mammoth task of painting all the walls white, the idea being to give them all a ‘base’ coat in matt white emulsion. This will also serve to show up all the imperfections in the old plaster so they can be easily located and filled. Then proper (coloured) painting can begin.

Friday should have seen the return of the plumber, but he never turned up, in fact no contact from him at all, perhaps it was my tea-bags.

However, all the tiles got delivered, and lots of other small stuff got done, including some clearing up to make way for the cast iron radiators which should be delivered on Monday.

Meanwhile Peter did what he’s best at. Supervising.

Monday should be a busy day, because although Adrian is on holiday next week, Danny and Lee will be on site all week joined on Monday by the electrician and hopefully the plumber.

Onward and upwards.