The plasterer arrived on the 1st.
Posted on 30 Sep, 2010 by Lynne Walker | Filed under Blog • General
We had been speaking for some time – measure that in years – about having the ceilings redone. They had been badly artexed by the previous occupants, the taping of the plasterboard seams was starting to part company with the boards and generally things were looking tired and in need of being redone. We had been expecting the plasterer for about a month.
The house had been cleared of many things, the garage was quite full of surplus furniture and other items; we had taken most things from the spare room down to Paul’s Dad and filled his spare room.
As everyone knows, plaster is messy. He had to re-tape the seams, put on two coats of quite thick stuff and we had also asked for a cornice to be fitted on all the rooms except the lounge. The application of the plaster was actually not too bad but the finishing created the dust. We also had some work done outside, involving the removal of the base plaster (below the harling at ground level) and reapplication of a new coat. After three weeks, all the plaster work was complete.
The painting starts.
I was keen to start the redecoration and get the house back to ‘normal’. In my dreams this would take about a couple of weeks. We began with our bedroom and the kitchen. Paul was great about ensuring a good finish on the ceiling and around the cornice. I got going with the orbital sander after filling the holes in the walls. The bare plaster required a primer of diluted emulsion and it just sucked this in. We had decided on the same colour for walls and ceilings so there was no need to ‘cut in’. For most of the house this is ‘Gentle Gold’ while the kitchen is ‘Jungle Fever’ (a pale green). We used a mixture of soft sheen emulsion (most walls & ceilings), eggshell (the hallway and kitchen) and a satinwood for the woodwork.
Meals were basic during this time; we were also sleeping in the lounge, bringing the mattress through from the spare room each night. Weekends away were looked forward to!
I am a level 4 orienteering coach and a qualified Assessor & Coach Educator. I have been orienteering for xx years and have coached on many foreign tours.