We are getting closer!

Another busy weekend and we have some flooring down, carpets chosen and hallway painted!  Things never run smoothly though as the concrete dining room floor has a huge dip in it and will need some extra underlay to stop it bouncing!

The stairs and landing have only had one coat of primer but it took 3 of us a whole day!  I think I will use the spray machine again to try and speed up the process.

Howard from Hyde-Owens delivered our slate hearth, it looks great.  It's not been laid properly yet but I think it will take 4 of us to lift it up again!

Tomorrow the builder will start to dig out the foundations for the new extension!  We may have a kitchen before Christmas after all!

Do you think we should keep the basketball lines?!

Finishings

View of the house and garden from the street!

Fab double doors, Michael spent ages getting them perfect!

I forgot my 'working' trainers this week so I improvised with the overboots that were ordered for protection from the astbestos!

My lovely cottage door in the bathroom, I love the hinges, I have latches to go on them too.

Main bedroom finished

En-suite door

Shabby chic beds for the boys

My able assistants!

The garden looks huge now that the kitchen is down!  We are a bit exposed to the rest of the street though as the whole wall had to come down so the builder can get in with his digger.  

The gas board arrive on Monday to move the gas main pipe then the builder comes in the following week to dig the foundations.

I'm really pleased with my shabby chic beds!  My morning at Rustiques was very worthwhile.  I'm off to another one in a couple of weeks.  This time I come home with a lamp and shade, can't wait!

Demolition day 2!

Day 2 involved demolishing the rest of the walls and disposing of all the rubble.  My father-in-law wanted to let you know that he did not just drink tea all day!  The 3 men even managed a trip to the Three Kings for a cider!

Tea drinking on day 1!

Going, going ...

...gone!

Will catch up with the builder this weekend, it's the gas board that's holding us up now.  We cannot get the foundations done until the gas board move the pipe.  Hoping to get the majority of the painting finished this weekend - oh and get a door on the bathroom!

Demolishing the extension - day 1!

I've not posted for a while because all I'm doing is painting and those photos would just get a bit boring!    Today was an exciting day!  The plan was just to remove the slates and roof but the walls were very unstable without the roof to hold them up so half of the walls came down too!  It is also sad to see this room coming down as it has been there almost as long as the house.  The bricks have had their day though and Michael didn't even need a hammer to get them down!

My dad was desperate to get up on the roof!

Drinking tea again!

Wood for the fire

Slate for the garden

Al fresco dining!

This was an old fireplace when it was the wash house

We are being eco-friendly too.  We are going to use the old slate from the roof on the garden, a neighbour is taking all the wood for their wood burning stove and we are trying to save as many bricks as we can for the fireplace.  

More painting

I think we have used around 50 litres of paint so far!  I will be glad when everywhere is painted!  The windows are the most time consuming.  We need to use 4 coats as the windows were stained and we are painting them all white.  The white windows really change the feel of the house.

Michael has finished grouting the bathroom floor and along with Graham installed the sink and toilet in the bathroom.

This weekend I have decided to take a break from painting and I'm going to frame up the door openings to the rooms upstairs.  The bathroom is now usable but no-one will use it if there is no door!

Another busy weekend!

Jason has made a great job of the bathroom, I love the grey grout.

Architrave painted and ready to be fixed around the bedroom windows

Reclaimed flooring for the living and dining room.  It still has the basketball court lines on it!

Hallway completely finished!

Michael's lovely floor

En-suite shower, I'm really pleased with the blue crackle tiles

I am getting excited!  Things are moving really quickly just now.  I have been painting everything that is nailed down, the plasterer has just one room to go and the tiler has finished.  Michael started tiling the bathroom and ensuite floors - his first attempt at tiling and he's doing a pretty good job!  The great thing about painting at the moment is that there are no sockets or skirtings to be careful around so it gets done really quickly.  We also enjoyed a little bit of the great weather at the weekend by painting the architrave outside although it was drying a bit too quickly!

The reclaimed Junkers flooring arrived from Hargreaves Reclaimed Flooring in Falkirk on Friday.  It came from a sports hall in Newcastle, the Inverurie Academy flooring didn't look so good 15 years after being lifted!

Light at the end of the tunnel!

I can't believe it's a month since my last post.  We have been so busy I don't know where to start.  We camped out for a couple of nights to blast the painting.  I was on my own one night and was just getting dressed when the electricians let themselves in!  Not sure who was most surprised!  The electricians have started attaching the sockets which makes everything so much tidier!

The bathroom has been painted fully and Jason, the tiler, has started tiling so it looks great.  The toilets and sinks have arrived and are ready to be plumbed in.  Michael has been building panelled frames to attach the sinks to so we don't crack our heads of the inlays!  He's also been busy disconnecting pipes and clearing the kitchen ready for demolition.

Hallway panelling and living room door is re-attached

The walls are blue!

Fab tiles in the bathroom

Door handles for downstairs

The plank on the left is from Inverurie Academy gym hall!!

I've nearly finished painting the boys bedroom.  I've been using my paint spray machine which makes the job much quicker!  I've also primed some doors and the panels in the hallway.  The boys helped me to sand down and paint the panels.  Typical boys, they love powertools!  We attached a couple of doors today and all of a sudden things are starting to look nearly finished!

I also had a couple of days away with the boys this week.  We headed to Glasgow first to some reclaimation yards.  I picked up door handles and also reclaimed flooring samples.  The plank on the left came out of Inverurie Academy gym hall!  I really wanted that one but I prefer the colour of the one on the right which came from Newcastle after all the flooding earlier this year.  We then had a lovely night with my friend, Jo, in Dunblane where the boys saw Andy Murray's post box!