Hallway - To Do List Update No.2

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 
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. 
6. Sort out the dodgy patch on the ceiling 
7. Sand floor (upstairs and downstairs) 
8. Stain and varnish the floor 
9. Sand down woodwork on stairs ready for repainting
10. Finish stripping door frames 
11. Attach skirting board to all walls
12. Prime and paint all woodwork (this is going to be a big job!) - by the end of this week I am determined to have finished this 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 Not sure if we will have curtains anymore - it looks fine without them
18. Buy frames and hang pictures 
19. Build out under the stairs to enclose the space (my first go at serious carpentry!) Not sure if we will do this now, but I've still got a bit of woodwork to do here even if we don't.
20. Install storage system under the stairs
21. Revel in the prettiness of the hallway when it's all done! :)

I'm not going to lie, I've done number 21 many, many times already, even though it's not yet all done! This week I will finish the painting - I have promised myself.  Stay tuned next week to see if I manage it!

We are getting so close now - just need to sort out the downstairs doors now really, but upstairs is all done (once painting is complete!)

Stripping the last of the hallway woodwork

It's taken me weeks and months to build up to finish this job, because it's just. so. ghastly.  I HATE stripping paint, and I really dislike sanding - it's just so dusty.

But as I'm starting to run out of jobs to do in the hallway, I'm starting to run out of excuses.  That and I had bought the carpet so I needed to crack on and get the painting done.

This is how I had left it before I painted the walls, so the majority of the architrave was done, but I still had the doorstops to do.

I tried to protect the flooring a bit with an old towel, but it still made a big old mess.

Years and years of layers and layers of paint...

The greeny coloured layer was really stubborn, to the point where the heat gun didn't seem to be shifting it.  I stopped for a rest and just thought I'd give it a go with the mouse sander with a really coarse grit sandpaper (40), and like magic, it all came right off - yay!  I'd already taken off layers and layers of paint before I got to this point, so I don;t think a mouse sander would have been time efficient without the heat gun first, but just look at this beauty.  Bare, naked wood.  All ready for a fresh lick of pure brilliant white paint.

The mess along the way...

I had to take off the kitchen door to get to all the nooks and crannies, and it's still off its hinges until I finish painting. Probably should get round to doing that...

All in all it took me a whole day to do 5 door frames (and remember that's 5 half, half, door frames really as I was only doing one side, and I had already done most of the architrave bit).  I wore safety glasses and a dust mask, but I think I should have been a bit more careful.  I was so ill that night and for a few days afterwards, that I'm not sure if I fumigated myself or something.  Not good.

But it's done! Finally!

I can;t believe how much I underestimated the job that is tackling a hallway/stairs.  It's just such a huge space as it's so tall, and it has sooooo many doors!  Ours has 8 in total - nuts.  This means lots of architraves, lots of corners, lots of tricky bits.  And stairs also mean lots of spindles to paint!  But I love how far it has come, just the last little bit to go now.

Which jobs have you done that you completely underestimated the time investment?

Motivational Monday - Peaches

Using Frogtape - Top Tips

I haven't used masking tape much historically, but now I have found Frogtape, which is really quite a revelation. I've learnt some lessons from it though, and made some mistakes.

Here's the pros and cons (and how to avoid them) of using it:

This is when I used it on the hallway - on the floorboards and the walls.

It's really important to smooth it down really well at the edge otherwise it's still possible for some paint to get underneath.  It's a bit tricky though if you have a random bump or lump in the walls, but do the best you can.  

The difficulty I found is that when I was trying to put it on, if I went slightly off course, the instinct is to pull it off quickly.  Why do we have this instinct?!  You want to pull it off before it sticks?  No idea, but it's completely unfounded, yet somehow I can't stop myself doing this! It's this quick ripping action which does no favours for the tape, and on some sensitive surfaces, can pull off the paint from the surface beneath.  This was my problem.

It's easy to tear however, and once you have smoothed it down, very easy to paint over.

To pull it off, do it whilst the paint is still wet, and do it slowly.  Pull the tape almost back on itself for best results to prevent it pulling off the paint underneath.  It's the 90 degree pull off that's not good:

But some fine sandpaper, and a little touch up, and all is forgotten:

You'll notice I mostly used the yellow tape - this is for delicate surfaces.  As I was running out of yellow tape I started using the green tape on the floor and it was absolutely fine.

Both the yellow and green tapes are for emulsion paint and water based paint (which my Johnstones Acrylic Eggshell Paint was), but there is also an orange tape for oil based paints too.

Frogtape has definitely changed my life - my DIY life anyway!

What products have you used that have changed your DIY adventures for the better?

The stair carpet is finished!

We finally have stair carpet!  Yay!  It's like walking on a cloud :-D

Let me tell you the story....

Sometime back in November time, we were in a retail park and stumbled into one of the big furniture shops that sells everything from dining tables to carpet.  We had a good stroke of all the carpets (sounds creepy but a bit of a must!), and the hubby picked the one he liked.  It got the thumbs up.  I wasn;t sure of the colour to start with but it grew on me the more I thought about it.

But at £26.99 per metre squared, I was left reeling at the price!  We didn't need much to make a runner, but because of the roll widths of the carpet, we would be looking at £200+.  Eek!

I took the name and the colour of the carpet though, and did some googling on the way home.  I found out some online stores that give the same carpet a slightly different name at a much reduced price. Around £14 per metre squared - much more tolerable.

I went into a local carpet shop to enquire about getting the edges whipped and getting it fitted.  The guy in the shop then went on to tell me all the pro's and cons' of getting the carpet whipped vs. folding the edges under.  What I though was going to be a straightforward conversation then left me spiraling with more decisions!  The main con which he kept emphasising was how easily the edge of the whipping can start ravelling if you catch it with the hoover or something.

I went away and ummed and ahhed and decided to go for the folded option.  But then we struggled to find a fitter!  At last yesterday we had someone round to fit the carpet.

Let's just remember what it looked like before:

And now!  The pile is quite deep which gives it a bit of colour variation as some parts are flattened and others aren't.  I don't think I mind that, but it was a slight concern when we bought it as I wonder how it will look with time. I guess only time will tell!

I must admit, the first thing I saw when I walked in was the bottom step:

Where it has been nailed at the bottom, it doesn't look quite right, almost like it has been pulled in slightly the wrong direction.

Apart from that, I'm really pleased with it, and it's a great way to start progress on the house in 2016!

Total Costs

Carpet - £89 incl. delivery

Underlay - Free, left over from our bedroom carpet

Carpet grippers - Free, left over from previous project, and we retained the ones we took off the stairs for re-use.

Fitting - £50

TOTAL = £139

How are your projects coming along?

Motivational Monday - Two quotes today!

As it's the first Monday of the year, I've got two for you:

Also, I found this list on Pinterest and I like most of the things on this list. Personally I want to aim to do a lot of things on this list.

Happy Monday! x

2016 House Goals

What have we got planned for 2016? We have a few personal goals, but we have a good few house goals too :) 

1. Start demo-ing the living room

There is a lot to do here.  I hate, hate, hate this room. Take off all the wallpaper and cheap coving. Replaster the walls and ceiling. Sort out/ replace the fireplace. Make some built ins. Replace the flooring. I'm not expecting to finish this project this year, mostly due to funding, but some good progress would be a fab start.

2. Patch up and repaint the front of the house  

The holes where insulation had been put in the cavity walls (before we moved in) are so obvious, and there are a few cracks that need patching up above the living room window due to the lack of lintel above the window (which we fixed this year).  It's also a bit patchy in colour so I think a quick lick of paint will do it wonders. 

3. Finish the hallway!

We aren't far off, but a few weekends are needed to push this one over the line. A few Christmas gifts  will also be good finishing touches.

We also need to get the carpet fitted for the stair runner, but I've just had a text from a recommended fitter so hopefully that should be lined up to be done soon.

4. Get the garage water tight

The old asbestos cement roof is pants. It leaks. Like crazy. Dan also spends a lot of time in the garage so the asbestos worries me...

I got a quote for £2000 to get it replaced, which is waaaaay over budget.  So, we are going to do it ourselves for significantly less.  I'm aware of the dangers of asbestos and the necessary precautions to take when handling it.

5. Learn how to plaster!

I've only gone and booked myself onto a plastering course in Feb/March. Yay! I figured I've not been totally happy with the plastering that we have had done to date so why not give a go myself? 

The course is two full weekends (4 days) and is very reasonable at just £200.  It's also nearby at Newark so I don't have travel too far.  Watch this space!!

What have you got planned for 2016?