Week Seventy-seven

Week beginning 20th November 2023.

Another week begins and we are aiming to get the floor finished by the end of the week. If all goes well with the polishing, the machines can go back on Wednesday and we can start the process of densifying and hardening the surface.

Pete is getting on with polishing the floors with 100 grit diamond polishing discs fitted to the machine. It’s the same routine, first going up and down the rooms then across the rooms.

Molly is taking a load of plasterboard scraps to the dump in Oban and will take the opportunity to go for a shower and do the shopping.

Pete has managed to do the whole house with the 100 grit polishing discs and is moving onto doing the same with the 200 grit diamond polishing discs. Before he can start he is sweeping the floors but there is practically no dust being created now that we are down to the finer polishing discs. It’s great to be coming to the end of a very messy job and with any luck this will be the last big messy job of the whole build.

Molly is back from Oban and Pete has made the final pass with the machine so we are tidying up and moving both machines out of the house. We are giving them a good clean ready to be picked up and returned to the hire company.

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Pete is going to take some time back today since he had to work extra last week due to the event he and his colleague hosted on Saturday.

Today’s task is to go round the edges of all the rooms and get them polished to match the floors. We have decided not to do a wet polish since the edges Pete did last week aren’t looking so good as the sludge has dried in and it’s all grey. So the plan is for Molly to suck the dust away with the vaccum cleaner as Pete polishes, a bit like when you go to the dentist.

It’s almost lunchtime and we have nearly finished the edges. Carolyn has just arrived to help us for a few days because Pete is working tomorrow and Thursday and Molly can do with the help. Carolyn is staying out of the way while we finish off doing the dirty work, there’s no point in all of us being covered in dust and we don’t have enough masks for her anyway.

We’ve had lunch and we are now getting back to work. Pete is going to fill an unneeded waste pipe in the ensuite with concrete repair cement mix. Carolyn and Molly are removing the tarpaulins from the two staircases before we start the process of cleaning the floors in preparation for the densifying and hardening application.

With that done the sweeping and washing can begin, we will have to go over and over the floors to get rid of as much dust as possible.

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Pete is working away today so it’s just Molly and Carolyn left to get on with the floors. Carolyn is protecting the return stair case with cardboard just like the straight staircase and while she is doing that Molly is grinding and polishing the fix Pete did yesterday. With that done Molly is fixing a few wee holes in the floors rady for grinding and polishing later.

Molly and Carolyn are now sweeping and washing the guest bedroom and shower room before applying the densifying and hardening solution. This is done with microfibre dusting mops and involves applying the solution and making sure that the floor stays wet by going over it again and again for a full 25 minutes.

That’s the first coat done and it just needs to be left to dry, you can walk on it after two hours but it needs 24 hours to fully cure.

They are now going through the process of thoroughly cleaning the master bedroom and ensuite ready to be sealed tomorrow.

The good thing about the densifying and hardening process is that you know exactly how long it is going to take and 25 minutes isn’t too long even if the work is a bit tedious and repetitive.

Molly and Carolyn are off to our container to collect some clothing and a few other bits and bobs that could be useful.

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It’s Thursday and Pete is away again today. Carolyn is planning on leaving after lunch so they are getting stuck in with a view to getting as much done as possible before she has to go.

It’s lunchtime and Molly and Carolyn have been working hard – they have managed to apply the second coats to the guest bedroom and shower room, the first coats to the master bedroom, the ensuite and the boot room.

Carolyn is about to leave and we are really grateful to her for all the time and effort she puts into helping us build our house. Thanks Carolyn.

With Carolyn gone, Molly is cleaning the main living space. It’s quite a big space, 28 square meters so takes quite a bit of time and effort to get clean enough for the sealing process.

It’s just after four and Pete has arrived back from work so there is enough time to do a first coat on the living space floor. It needs both of us to do it because it is such a big space and it might be a bit much for one person to keep the whole area from drying out before the 25 minutes are up.

That’s every room except the hall done with at least a first coat now and we are pleased with our progress so far.

We can’t work on the house tomorrow because we have a funeral to go to and then Molly is heading off to Edinburgh for her book group Christmas get together.

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Today we are off to the funeral of a family friend of Pete’s. Dot (Dorothea)Robertson sadly passed away in Oban recently. Dot and Big Pete were very good friends to Pete’s parents and were very kind to his family at an important time in their lives.

It’s a very clear evening and the moon is almost full so Pete is going for a moonlit walk down Glen Strae.

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It’s a very frosty Saturday morning and Molly is still in Edinburgh so Pete is on his own and keen to get on with it.

Pete is working his way round the house, applying a first coat to the hall, and additional coats in the bedrooms, shower rooms and boot room.

Molly has just called to say she missed her bus connection in Glasgow. She will get the next bus heading up to Argyll but this one will only take her as far as Tyndrum so she’ll need a lift from there.

Pete has decided to give the main living area a second coat, even though he is on his own. He reckons, if he works hard and fast he’ll manage.

Pete has finished just in time to go and collect Molly but it was tough going doing that big space on his own. Sometimes it might be better to be patient and wait until there is help for a big job.

With Molly back and the weather being so good we have decided to go for a walk. Pete enjoyed his moon lit walk yesterday so much he is keen for Molly to get a similar experience.

It’s dusk and the moon is out and Glen Strae is looking so beautiful, but it is very cold.

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It’s Sunday again already and it looks like we’ll manage to finish the floors today. We are pouring the third and final coat on the living space together and the hall needs a second coat too.

We have just given the floors a sweep and there is practically no dust to sweep up, that is a real joy for us as we are sick of all the dust that we have had to deal with this last week or so.

Doing the big floor together is so much easier than one person trying to do it alone and now that the big room is done Molly is going to second coat the hall and Pete is going to prepare the car to collect the big shower tray from the container.

We are at the container and have just cleared a space so that we can lift the heavy shower tray into the car. We bought this shower tray way back at the end of 2021, far too early but it looked like a bargain at the time. It is very heavy and has been a bit of a burden all along, first when we kept having to move it around our flat in Portobello as we redecorated ready for selling and then we had to carry it down the flight of stairs in our tenement when we finally moved west. But now it doesn’t seem so heavy, maybe that’s because we have become a lot stronger since we started building our house.

With the shower tray moved into the house, ready to be bedded in by Des the plumber, we are now moving things from the mega-shed into the house – kitchen worktops, kitchen cabinets, doors, shower screens and the kitchen sink.

Molly is air-tight taping up around the pipe where the electric cable for the entrance light is to go, another necessary wee task.

Our last task of the week is to tidy and reclaim our mega-shed, it has been filled with all the things we had been storing in the house before doing the floors. It is so nice to get our mega-shed back!

We are looking forward to next week when we are expecting some huge strides forward!