Plumbing and framing downstairs

After a VERY chilly few weekends Michael has nearly finished the pipework for the radiators upstairs and plumbing in the bathroom and ensuite!  The joiner has also been busy framing downstairs, I think it may be finished before Christmas after all!

Framing in the hallway through to bedroom

How tidy does that pipework look?!

The framing in the living room through the space for the double doors.

We are watertight!

The leaking roof is now fixed so we are wind and watertight ready for the winter!  Michael and his dad were doing first fix of the pipework for the bathroom and en-suite yesterday.  We need insurance for Alf; he had cut his finger within 5 mins of arriving then bashed his head on the car door coming back from the deli!

The joiner is in Cyprus (lucky him!) so downstairs hasn't moved on yet.  We would like to have the framing finished by Christmas but that is only 6 weeks away!!!!!

Can anyone recommend a good plasterer in the Huntly/Keith/Buckie area?!

We have some rooms!

We now have one bedroom, bathroom and ensuite plasterboarded upstairs!  Sorry about the photos, they were taken in the dark!    We have knocked all the walls down downstairs now so it's looking very open-plan at the moment!  At the house again tomorrow to finish off the cementing, pull out a million and one nails from the ceiling and start sanding down woodwork.

Louise and Graham were up the other weekend putting in the waste pipes for the bathroom and ensuite.  They enjoyed a meal at the Crannach and local entertainment in the Three Kings!!

We now also have a roofer (after 2 months of looking) who hopefully will start this week, we will then be watertight, yay!

By the way let me know what you think of the new layout, I'm still not sure!

Main bedroom 

Into the en-suite 

En-suite

The very last of the 100 year old wallpaper!

From dining room into bedroom - the wall facing will be a partition wall.

From the bedroom through to the dining then living room.

Lots happening!

Insulation - the room will be lovely and cozy in the winter!

More insulation!

Boys playing in the mess! 

The space where the wall was between the living room and dining room!

Well, lots has been happening since my last post!  We have pulled down the wall between the living room and dining room!  We think we are going to put in french doors.  The electricity cables are in upstairs (called a first fix I am told!)  One bedroom upstairs has had the insulation started too - it's starting to look like a house again, yippee!!

Off to the auction house again tomorrow!  Have my eye on a wee cupboard!!

Bits and bobs

A Gumtree purchase for the boys bedroom.
The brown part isn't wood it's paint!

After 1 coat of Nitromorse, we removed 4 or 5 layers of paint!

Items found under the old floorboards!

One of my auction purchases.

Another auction purchase!

I discovered Sunnyside Beach last week.  It's between Sandend and Cullen.
You have to walk for over a mile to get to it but it is so worth it.

The doocot by Sunnyside Beach.

Progress!

The outside ground level is higher than inside in this room so was quite damp but this clever membrane keeps all the
moisture out!

The membrane continues out into the hallway

The new joists and damp proofing in the living room.

Bare ceiling in living room!

We were unsure why these openings were here but we have discovered
that the left one was where the original box bed was and the right side was a pantry!

Our 2 'helpers'!  They loved hammering the plaster and helping Michael with the cementing!

Framing starts in the boys bedroom

Framing for the en-suite and bathroom

Framing in the main bedroom.  Disappointed that we are covering up the fireplace but
we would have nowhere to put the bed!

The rebuild begins!

Hooray, we are starting to put the house back together!  Charlie from CEB Property Maintenance has been in and put in a damp proof course in the bedroom, filled in the hole in the dining room floor and has lifted the living room floor.  He said the living room floor was dangerous and was only a matter of time until someone fell through it!  He is back today to replace the joists and the new floor goes down on Monday - yay!  After that he can get the woodworm treatment done and that's his job done.

Off camping to Aviemore this weekend but going to have a look in on our way home on Sunday.  Back to school Monday :-( and my baby starts school Tuesday :-((

Photos as promised!

Original wood cladding and Victorian fireplace upstairs!

Wood paneling on stairs which was hidden under ply!

Wood paneling upstairs

The door I thought was a 60's door...

It was the original cottage door covered up!!

Partitions between study, bathroom and bedroom now down.  I love my new tool - a crowbar!!

We are still here!

Sorry I have been a bit lax at my blog!  We had 2 fantastic weeks in Italy  (thanks Claire and Andy!) and have been busy pulling down all the lath and plaster walls at the house so not had much time for blogging.

We have been told by the builder that the kitchen is unsafe and needs to come down.  We were not expecting this but no point plastering up the (very huge) cracks.

Downstairs the external walls are totally exposed.  We discovered more beautiful wood paneling underneath plasterboard and ply.  The boys room is totally wood paneled which looks fab!  We uncovered a fireplace upstairs complete with ironwork.  Michael gave it a nudge and it fell apart!

Thank you also to our dad's who really deserved their trip to the Three Kings for a cider after filling an enormous skip!  After the skip was filled I had a day on my own and uncovered the original cottage doors upstairs - they are fab and even have the marks where the original large hinges have been.  Photos to follow!

Next quilt!

When we are not at Cullen I am working on a new quilt.  I love the way they go together, building up the blocks bit by bit!

Where do we start!

Not sure my dad is too impressed!

Fireplace in dining room

Michael stripping the dining room

The lovely shutters!

Kitchen

Well we have started to pull the lath and plaster off the walls.  The wall in the kitchen looks worse now the plaster is off!  The dining room has a great fireplace and we uncovered the original shutters in there too.  It looks like we will have all the original shutters downstairs.  We are a bit disappointed with the fireplaces in the living room and bedroom - I was hoping to uncover a treasure!

And the demolition continues!

We have come across lots of great history in the house this weekend.  Wood panelling has been uncovered on the staircase and the boys bedroom.  The fireplaces are disappointing, they have been badly damaged when they have been covered up.  Michael pulled off a panel from a door and found the original underneath!  Pity it is so badly damaged.  There was lovely painting on the panelled doors and we also found it on the living room wall!  In behind another panelled door we found a piece of what we think was part of an RAF kit box from WW2.  It has the name SGT Marland written on it but we cannot make out anything else.  Google has brought up 2 Sgt Marland's neither of whom lived in Scotland but both flew with the RAF in WW2!

Michael also met with another joiner yesterday who told us the reason for the ceiling being lower in the centre of the house was because that was where they stored their fishing nets!  I love uncovering the stories!

The mess, the mess!

Kitchen is out, carpets are up, I know it's going to be a lot worse before it gets better!

Demolition has started!

I finally found the cable to download photos!  We spent Saturday at the house ripping up carpets and looking behind walls as well as meeting with builders, sparkies and plumbers!  I found 3 layers of lino in a bedroom, probably dating from the 40's or 50's.  I have attached pics of the different designs!  I also found the most beautiful floral wallpaper in the room which will be the boys room under a layer of woodchip!  I'm going to rescue as much as I can and back photo frames.