Week Sixty-three

Week beginning 14th August 2023.

We had the weekend off to celebrate our granddaughter Caitlin’s birthday with a family meal. On Sunday we took her and her friend to the EICA at Ratho to try out some rock climbing.

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It’s another week and once again we are hoping for the scaffolding to be taken down and the first fix electrics to be finished and the final fix in the shed to be done.

Our task for today is to make a start on boxing in under the eaves on the west mezzanine. We have a plan but our first task is to have another look to make sure our plan is feasible.

We are making frames for the plasterboard using our corner clamps which makes it quite easy and fairly quick as long as we measure accurately.

We have started on the south side of the mezzanine because there is no roof window to work round, making it a bit easier, but this is where the ventilation system is and we need to make it look neat where the manifold meets the ducting.

We have built the framing and it has gone quite well, it’s a bit of a squeeze getting into the small space at the end of the manifold for screwing the timber in but we have managed.

Measuring and cutting the plasterboard for the face is easy but the pieces for the mainfold are a bit trickier. It hasn’t taken us too long to get this done so we are stoppimng for a late lunch.

Back to work, we are now going to do the framing for the north side of the mezzanine and this one is a bit different. We have decided to have the first section jut out so we can use the space inside for storage but from the roof window to the wall will be set back further. This is so we can use the window space to put a desk in for Pete to work from and because of the position of some wall sockets. Originally we had wanted to have storage either side of the roof window but that isn’t going to work here.

It’s late afternoon and we have done all the framing but we’ll leave the plasterboarding for another day because we need to pack the car with all the bags of plasterboard cut-offs and take them to the dump to keep order and room to move.

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It’s Tuesday morning meaning it’s Pete’s work day so Molly is heading to Oban to take our off-cuts and other rubbish to the dump. While she’s there she’ll get some supplies for the week.

Molly’s back from Oban and we’ve had lunch so it’s back to work for Pete and Molly is going to plasterboard the framing we did yesterday.

We have come up with a simple idea for accessing the storage space under the eaves. We are going to make removable tops out of pallet wood that can be lifted out to give access. No hinges or other hardwear needed, nice and simple which is a bit like us.

Molly has finished boarding the framing on the north of the mezzanine and done a nice job of it.

Pete has finished work and has come to join in. He has realised we haven’t left a gap between the bottom of the boards and the floor where we have boxed in. He is using the multitool and a bit of wood 12mm thick as a guide to cut a strip off the bottom. It’s proving quite easy but noisy and a bit time consuming but it’s good that he noticed. The gap is there to prevent the plaster getting wet when you wash the floor or if there is a spill.

That’s another day and now the boxing in under the eaves on the west mezzanine is done and ready for Jeff the plaster, who is coming in a fortnight.

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Molly’s sister Ishbel is coming today to help her get on with the house while Pete is at work. It’s much better if there are two working together on the house than working on your own.

While she is waiting for Ishbel to arrive Molly makes a start on cutting the plasterboard for a couple of book shelves we are fitting into one of the mezzanine walls.

Ishbel and Molly are building the frames for under the eaves on the south of the east mezzanine. This is the most straightforward of the areas needing boxed in and will provide us with quite a bit of storage space for things we only occassionally need.

Molly and Ish are working well together and are making great progress on the framing. Molly is teaching Ish how to use some of the tools and equipment and they are both enjoying the building work.

It’s late afternoon and Pete is joining in, now that his work day is over. The framing is finished so Pete is measuring up the plasterboard for this section.

The plasterboard is on and the boxing in here is done. Just one more section to do but that will have to wait until Friday because we are off to Edinburgh for the day tomorrow, Molly has the dentist and Pete is on a training course for work.

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It’s Friday and Pete is free to work with Molly on the house. We are making a bit of a slow start because yesterday was a long day and we are tired. There has been no sign of the scaffolder or the electrician so we are also contacting them and the guys who have helped with the plasterboarding.

Simon K has answered us and says they will try and come at the end of next week to do more plasterboarding and that they are committed to getting the job finisherd before Jeff gets here. The scaffolder also got back to say he is catching up on work after being ill but we haven’t had any contact from the electrician.

Pete also has to do a bit of work for his job so hopefully that won’t take long and hold us back.

Before we can do anything we need to move the timber from under the cutting table into the house so that we have easier access to it, it was impossible to pull the timber out from underneath the table because the lengths were too long. So we are having to move everthing around again!

With that done we can start working on making the framiing for under the eaves on the north east mezzanine. This one is complicated by the plumbing pipework that is there waiting for the heat battery that will heat our water.

After a bit of head scratching, we have come up with a plan to leave the last section until afterwards and make sure we learn how to do the final bit of plastering ourselves. This means Jeff can get on with his job and Des, the plumber, will have enough space to do his work. It will also probably mean we can get a better finish than if we boxed it all in now.

Having prepared the frames we need to attach the thin strips of facing wood that will cover the taping between the double truss before we fix the frames in place.

Pete keeps having to go off and check his work emails and do little bits of work.He is finding this both frustrating and stressful because there is a deadline on the work for his job but he really wants to be working on the house. He now says he’s not going to agree to working outside his hours again unless there are exceptional circumstances.

We are expecting Zadjil and Carolyn this evening as they are coming for a few days to help us so we need to make sure we leave enough time to tidy up and get the dinner on.

We have almost finished the framing, though it has taken a while with all Pete’s toing and froing, and it is looking good. While Pete finishes up here for the day Molly is finishing plasterboarding the book shelf spaces she started on Wednesday. We don’t have enough time today to finish the frame and plasterboard it so that will just have to wait for another day.

Pete is tidying up and Molly is off to cook dinner ready for our visitors.

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It’s Saturday morning and it’s another slowish start but we are ready to start work. Molly, Zadjil and Carolyn are going to work together to plasterboard the kitchen area and Pete is going to finish the boxing in on the east mezzanine.

The plasterboarding team are starting by fixing plasterboard to the underside of the bulk head before fixing the boards on the walls. They are now going to fit the ceiling boards in the area above where our cooker is going to be. This section has a ventilation pipe coming down so they are having to work out where to cut the hole for it. They are having to be very accurate so that it is a neat finish for Jeff to work to and it’s not easy because they have never had to do this before.

It’s taken a few goes to get it right but they have done a nice job and you’d never guess that they are novices.

Meanwhile, Pete has been working on the framing and is now fixing the plasterboard. This is looking good too so we are all happy with the way things are going.

Pete has joined the rest of the gang to do the plasterboarding. As we are discussing where to start boarding we realise we need to put in some dwangs (additional timbers) first. These will be for fixing the kitchen cabinets as you can’t get a really good fix with screws and rawl plugs through plasterboard. We are researching what height to put the dwangs and then we will need to mark up exactly where they are to go and work out how to attach them without penetrating the house envelope and so compromising our airtightness.

It has taken a while to do this and we are running a bit behind so we are stopping for the day and getting ready for dinner. Tomorrow’s another day so, with Zadjil and Carolyn’s help, we can get on with the plasterboarding then.

Tonight our neighbours Cate and Steve are coming for dinner and are bringing a contribution so it’s going to be a bit of a mix and match meal that we are all looking forward to.