Motivational Monday - Accomplishments

In the week where I find out my exam results, this one has kept me going for the past few months.  Even if I have failed, at least I tried, and it's not over yet.

Sanding the hallway floor!

Yay! The time has come to make some jolly good progress with the floor.

It started at 7am on a Saturday with a trip to the local hire shop to pick up a floor sander and edging sander.  The local shop allow you to take the equipment from 7am Saturday to 7am Monday for just one days hire - bazinga! I did look into the national firms like HSS Hire etc. but the deals weren't very good at the time I was looking so we just went for the local firm instead.  They were also only 5 mins down the road, instead of 25 mins so more convenient too.

The guy in the shop was really nice and helpful and explained to me how to use both machines.  We also then discussed what the floor was like at the minute, and what I was expecting, so that he could recommend how much and what grit sandpaper to use, as I had no idea.  He even helped me load them into the car - a feat I couldn't have managed myself.

This was a shot 2 seconds are Dan had started with the edging sander.  You can see where it's been already, just to the right of the sander.

Some edging done to get us started. I think ideally we would have taken the radiator off, but given all the palaver over the last couple of months with this radiator, honestly, I couldn't be bothered!  It was ok in the end, and we got as close to the edge as we needed to, but it just meant I had to rub some scuff marks off the radiator at the end - nothing too major.

Fitting the sandpaper wasn't too bad either.

Making some progress with the floor sander.  Note: these machines are so heavy(!) and have a mind of their own!  The whole weekend was a workout for my arms, core muscles, back, hamstrings...

You can see we left the access hatch in and didn't replace these boards.  We insulated from the top here as there was no other choice, but I wanted to keep the hatch in case we ever needed to get under there again.  I've asked Santa for a large doormat for this areas though which should cover it up a treat.

(Ignore the actual stairs - these still need some work!)

I had a go with the edging sander upstairs and it was amazing the difference in made.

How long did it take?

I think we probably did it in about 5 or 6 hours of the both of us.

How much sandpaper did you use?

As the floor wasn't in too bad condition, we used 10 sheets of 80 grit sandpaper on the edging sander and the floor sander each (so 20 in total at 80 grit), and probably 3 sheets of 120 grit each.  I know people who have used 24 grit, but our floorboards really weren't that bad.

We did an area that was approx. 12-13m2.

How much did it cost?

A few pennies shy of £100 (literally).  The hire of the machines came to about £65 for the weekend, and the sandpaper approx. £35.  Obviously the more rooms you plan to get done in one weekend, the more cost effective it becomes.

Did it ruin your body for days afterwards?

YES!!!!!!!

(On the plus, no need for the gym!)

Did you have any problems?

The large floor sander kept on disintegrating (not sure this is the right word... it just made a load noise and the sandpaper would come out all shredded) the sandpaper, for reasons unbeknownst to us.  I had punched every nail in so it can't have been getting caught on anything, so this left us a little confused.  Even though it wasn't hard to change the sandpaper, it was time consuming (and money consuming), so it was very annoying if it needed a new sheet after just a few seconds.

Can anyone do it?

If you are up for a full body workout, then yes!

Preparing the floorboards for sanding

The plan for the hallway floor (upstairs and downstairs), is to sand, stain and varnish it.  But before that, we must prep!  You can look back to when we revealed what was lurking under the laminate here, but overall, it wasn't too bad.

A few floorboards needed replacing as they had been poorly taken up in the past by others so that was definitely on the list.  Also, the nails holding all the floorboards down needed punching so that they sat below the surface.  This was so that they didn't catch the sandpaper on the floor sander.

I couldn't find the right size floorboards in B&Q, Wickes etc... so I headed to our local timber merchant to get some cut to size.

I had to cut them to length at home, but this was no problem as I got to use my brand new toy!

I kept losing concentration and taking my finger off the trigger (not clever!), but it was amazing! Like a knife through butter.  You can see I used a clamp to make a makeshift guide with a piece of scrap wood which worked very well.

I had difficulties nailing the boards down, as I had to check the nails wouldn't be too long that they would end up going through the electrical cables.  I had to make a quick trip to the shops to buy some shorter nails as the ones I had were cutting it far too fine.  I also had to mind the heating pipes too!

I pre-drilled the holes in the floorboards so that they wouldn't split, as many of the nails were pretty close to the edge.  That seemed to work well.

And the finished article:

I know they look pretty odd now, but I'm hoping once stained, they will blend right in.

I also punch all the nails down, with a nail punch I bought from Wickes.  It's not the best to be honest, and it's already deformed at the tip with some light use, so probably not the best for longevity, but it did the job.

Above: Protruding nails

The tools.

Hopefully I'll shortly be sharing with you the sanded and stained floor!

Motivational Monday - Idiots

Ever start the day feeling good, but then feel crappy before you have even got to work because of other car drivers, people on the bus, that jerk in the coffee shop...? Deep breath, and let it go!

New Artwork

So, the hallway still has a long way to go, but I've already hung up some pictures because even though it's only small progress - it really makes me feel in my head that we are still moving forward with the room.

I got some prints for my birthday, which I had lusted after in this post, so I was delighted to get two for my birthday from my parents:

These are from HamMade, and the frames are RIBBA ones from Ikea at £7 a pop. [I've also been told that santa might be bringing me a third which is why they are a bit uncentral on the wall].

I've also hung this one, which you might recognise from one of my Motivational Monday posts.  I've got a few prints that I intend to change in the frame regularly.  I find if you keep looking at the same thing, you don't see it anymore, so I want to keep this one fresh - it's directly in front of you as you go down the stairs.

Do you like them?

Fixing the Shower - No more dribbles!

So when we originally did the bathroom (read all about that here), the shower was never quite right.  The flow control (to turn it on and off) was always very stiff, and once it was wet from having the shower on, it was even harder to turn.  It also leaked around the flow control knob and you had to kind of hit it in a certain way to make it stop.  Hard to explain to guests...

And when my nanny came last Christmas to stay she actually had to ask for help to turn the shower off because it was that hard.  To be honest I often struggle myself.

The shower was from Triton and even when I bought it, it was a bit of a bargain (about £60 in the sale). At the time the budget was tight, so for a thermostatic mixer shower from a reputable brand it seemed like a good punt.

I had called Triton just after Christmas to see if they could come out and take a look at it.  It was, after all, covered by a five year parts and labour guarantee.  They said they could come and take a look, no problem, but then proceeded to send me a long list of T&C's which said if it was an adjustment or there wasn't a fault they would charge me a call out fee.  Given that it didn't leak all the time (only most of the time), I was concerned I was just being special, and that almost guaranteed it would work (without leaking) fine on the day.  At the time money was a bit tight, so I wasn't willing to risk it.  So we put up with it.

Until the other day, when I just decided I had had enough with it.  Enough was enough.  If I had to pay a call out fee because I hadn't done something blatantly obvious, then so be it.  But something had to give.  I booked online, and arranged a service visit for a few days later.

When the man came round to have a look, he admitted straight away that it wasn't right at all.  But unfortunately he didn't have the right parts on the van so we would have to arrange for another visit.  Also, we had no way of isolating the shower from the rest of the water in the house.  Triton do say in their T&Cs that a condition of service is that you must be able to isolate the water pipes to the shower.  So fair enough.

But it was a right pain in the bottom nonetheless.  We paid an arm and a leg to get this shower plumbed in just 18 months ago by a professional plumber, who should have known full well that it's good practice to put in isolating valves.  So the fact that there wasn't any, was a bit of a blow.  But yet another opportunity to practice my plumbing skills!  So here we go...

Everything was plumbed in rather rigidly so the amount of flexibility I had to fit the isolation valves in was very limited.  Compression valves weren't an option as I couldn't push the copper pipe out the way to fit one in.

I researched the products that were out there, that could work in my particular situation.  For a long time I came up blank, but finally I came across these bad boys:

These are pushfit flexible connectors at both ends, with an isolation valve built in at one end.  At £10 each they were not cheap!  The only other solution was a compression flexible connector, with a normal compression isolation valve.  But I didn't  have enough length of pipe before it disappeared up behind the tiles to do this.  So pricey push fits it was.

First of all, I had to make space around the pipes to get my pipe cutter in.  The plaster went almost right up to the back of the pipes, that I got out my trusty bolster chisel (this was actually a new one as I had returned my dad's one to him) and club hammer.

Except that didn't really work. There just wasn't enough space. So I got the drill out and tried that.  Much better.

Slow progress, but I got there eventually.  I couldn't access the second one, but I figured once I got the first one out, I could access the second one a bit easier.

First pipe cut

I put some tape over the pipe to stop the plaster dust going down there and clogging the shower pipes.

All pipes cut and ready to connect up.  I made sure to deburr the ends of the copper pipe too.  As the pipe cutter squeezes the pipe, the deburring tool helps get rid of any lip in the pipe as well as getting rid of any sharpness which might damage the rubber seal in the flexible connector.

You can see where I mark the pipe to check the pipe has been pushed on as far as it can go.

All done!

I called Triton again and it did take them about a week to track down a suitable part.  Our shower actually went out of manufacturing (which is probably why it was on sale!) so they had to get parts from a slightly different shower.  We had the Valdi, and they used parts from the Thames.  It's very similar, but the styling is ever so slightly different.  

They just changed the whole unit, and bought us a spare shower head, slider rail, soap tray etc. etc. as well.  Awesome!  Unexpected freebies!  It was swapped in minutes and the man was on his way.  No fee at all.

Top notch servicing from Triton.  Absolutely A+.

And it works amazingly well!  No leaks, and you can turn it off and on with just one finger! Bliss!

Motivational Monday - Worth it?

Hallway - To Do List Update

So, two and a bit weeks on and how am I getting on?

1. Get the radiator back on the wall.
2. Take up the laminate flooring
3. Cut back bathroom flooring upstairs to fit nicely in door threshold in prep for floor work Post to follow soon
4. Insulate under the ground floor (I'm fairly sure this hasn't been done, but who knows!) 
5. Replace loft hatch, and sort out plaster around it. Making progress
6. Sort out the dodgy patch on the ceiling 
7. Sand floor (upstairs and downstairs) Post to follow soon
8. Stain and varnish the floor Making progress
9. Sand down woodwork on stairs ready for repainting
10. Finish stripping door frames (firstly, I need to figure out where I'm going to stop!)
11. Attach skirting board to all walls
12. Prime and paint all woodwork (this is going to be a big job!)
13. Paint the two internal doors downstairs
14. Fit new handles, hinges etc. to the downstairs doors
15. Carpet runner for the stairs
16. Make blind for upstairs window Supplies purchased - just need to find time to make it!
17. Make curtains for front door
18. Buy frames and hang pictures 
19. Build out under the stairs to enclose the space (my first go at serious carpentry!)
20. Install storage system under the stairs
21. Revel in the prettiness of the hallway when it's all done! :)

Sooo much still to do! I'm hoping to make some good progress this weekend before the in-laws come to stay next weekend.  I've been trying to do stuff in the evenings too but work has been so busy that I don't always feel like it.  I think I need to read more of my motivational monday posts!

Insulating under the floorboards

Unfortunately for Dan, the time quickly came round to insulate under the floor boards downstairs.  I'm not going to lie, he wasn't looking forward to it.

But B&Q had a fab deal on loft insulation (on a roll) - just £9 per roll (about 8 sq. m of 100mm thick insulation), so this really encouraged me to get it done.  I also picked up some weed control membrane whilst in B&Q as well for £12, so total cost to get this job done = £21.

They did have weed control fabric for only £5, but I chose this particular one as it had visible (very small) holes in it to let the air freely circulate.  I also thought this would have less chance of tearing as it seemed a bit stronger.

The idea was to push the insulation up between the joists, and then staple the fabric on top of the joists to keep it all up there.

I had received a great tip from a friend to cut the insulation whilst it was still in the packaging.  This made quite light work of it.  We also found it was easier to cut the sections wider than the width between the joists because then it almost stayed up by itself so Dan had his hands free to concentrate on the fabric.

I cut the insulation with just a normal saw:

Dan measured how big the fabric needed to be too and I cut that into manageable sections.  To start with we were too ambitious and Dan struggled with the size of the pieces so we had another go at it and cut them smaller, approx 1m x 0.40m. 

I actually used the floorboards to line up cutting the fabric!

FYI, we were both clad up with PPE: glasses, mask, full length sleeves and trousers, gloves, and Dan had a disposable boiler suit on too.  Insulation is not so nice stuff, very itchy and you certainly don't want to be breathing a lot of it in.

And here is the finished look:

We didn't quite finish - we have one more small strip to do, the one that contains the access hatch.  That also has an air brick in it too, so we need a little more thought on how to deal with that one.  The key is to not block them up to allow the air to flow through so moisture doesn't build up and make the wood rot.

Motivational Monday - Do It

I'm so stubborn, that when people tell me I can't do something, or won't be able to do something, I try even harder just to show that I can do it!  Prove those people wrong!

Updating the loft hatch

I wasn't particularly happy with how the plasterer had left the loft hatch, and it certainly requires some work to get it to a finished standard.

This is what I was starting with:

I planned to completely change the door, and I have in fact had a new door cut out of plywood for probably about 6 months.  I've just never gotten any further...

But I also needed to sort out the plaster around it.  I knew I'd put some trim around the edge of the door, but I didn't want the trim to be too wide so I needed to sort out the plaster work a bit.

I went back to my trusty filler friend.  I actually used deep gap filler as that's all I had lying around, so I thought I would give it a go.  

I started with a filling knife:

But it really wasn;t working out for me.  The filler seemed too dry so I had a look at the instructions, and it recommended adding a few drops of water to it.  I did this, and also cracked out an old card. And it went on waaaay easier than with the filling knife.  

I had no intentions of getting it perfect first time.  But I have had a good go at it.  I'll follow up with some more filler and then sand it flush with the new plaster level hopefully.  Then when I mount the new door, I'll mount it a few mm lower than existing so it's also flush.

It's certainly not finished, but it's progress nonetheless. #smallprogresseveryday