14°C, bright sun, much cooler 0 cloud.
To finish a busy day decorating, I got the road before it got dark. This was the most satisfying day of lockdown. Morning, I wallpapered another wall and prepared the remaining walls. In the afternoon, I rebuilt a wall in the bedroom. My neighbour donated mortar so I could get the job done. In lockdown, most DIY materials are difficult to get.
I slept soundly.
11°C, sunny.
I have to say, I’m happy with the plastering job. I’ve never plastered anything as big as the chimney breast bit this worked. I can smooth my hand over for that satisfying feeling. Okay, so I tweaked it with a little polyfiller but still….
The HDR app is handy here for looking for flaws. Here is one looking abstract.
7°C, fog.
Following that experience in the early week, I have yet to return to cycling. I rode a meer 25 miles and felt dreadful by the end. The last few days, I cracked on with the decorating. The hall is half done and you can see where it’s going.
Once more, stripping off wallpaper revealed loose plaster; this time, right next to the front door.
The underlying bricks have a fault, there in a crack in the mortar which now needs attention from outside. I wonder whether this fault it caused by slamming the front door. The door is a tight fit in the frame this winter. Perhaps it does this every winter when it’s damp.
Another item for the to-do list; plane the door down to give clearance.
Later, I’ll ride. The legs are fizzing again.
6°C, becoming greyer but still dry.
Much as I hate DIY plumbing, this one job has to be done. The kitchen radiator has left little puddles beneath when I get home. The system pressure would drop enough to shut down the boiler by the end of the the week.
After trying loosening and re-tightening the nuts on the valve for no improvement, I bought a replacement valve. This is a basic thermostatic valve and looked like the right size to fit onto the same nuts and olives.
Here is the old valve without the thermostat. Water leaked from the centre of the black top
Now that the heating system is a closed loop combi-boiler, draining didn’t take long.
The pipe looks scruffy but I can clean it up when I decorate. Perhaps Emery paper then varnish it to keep the copper colour.
Cost of repair? Just over £6.50. Boom!
At the same time, I have put together an emergency pipe repair kit: some pipe, compression joints, PTFE tape and a pipe cutter. Oh and a flexible pipe, that should be enough should the worst happen this winter.
Why is this, I wake at 02.30, wide awake so get up for my usual night-time herb tea. Back to bed for more ceiling staring. I don’t get it, I’m not stressed, don’t have any worries and it’s been 12 hours since the last coffee. What’s going on?
Here is the plaster in the kitchen. And here it as was a week ago:
I suspect that the heat may have played a part it that plaster becoming detached. This is where the boiler used to be mounted and those pipes carry very hot water. I’ve not decided how to box in the pipes. Should they have insulation.
Is this a cold causing sleep disruption? the current cold has hung on a while just entering its third week. I’m so frustrated by this.
A day spent house-making. The old cooker is out, the new one in place. Radiators are ready and waiting for the plumber.
Soon to be hidden under wallpaper behind a radiator is this sketch.. Drawing over polyfiller is not as easy as plaster. The texture is too rough which made subtle marks difficult to achieve. Perhaps a hard grade of pencil would suit better.
19°C rain.
Back home, decorating. Some pressure is on, a new heating system is to be fitted next week I’m taking the opportunity to fit column radiators. The old flat radiators are off, leaving the wall exposed for redecoration. Repapering the hallway was easy, the old paper came off easily in large sheets.
A sketch, now under wallpaper.
Preparing the living room was not so easy. It started off without difficulty, the paper peeled away in large sheets. This soon revealed a problem. The plaster has long cracks that criss-cross. I decided to lever off a loose bit. Then a huge sheet fell away.
There is a gap between the sill and the top course of bricks so I injected polyethylene foam. Later the same day, the base coat of plaster was in.
This photo shows the skim coat. It’s not as flat as I’d like but it will be hidden by the new radiator (and under lining paper).
Very warm, sunny and close. 24°C.
Before:
It leaked, left rusty marks and was difficult to remove. I ended up removing the whole sink to get at the rusty bolts.
How much better is this? A clean route, new pipes and tap-set. The job was slowed by not having the best tools. Especially a screwdriver that can reach awkward corners out of sight.
9°C rain all day until evening.
Decorating: finished stripping the wallpaper in the master bedroom. The aim is to get the walls perfect so wallpapering is a doddle. The plaster round the new electrics needs a skim then I’m ready to start pasting up.
The first layer is off in the small bedroom revealing this 50’s style paper beneath. Before I paper over the good walls, I’m tempted to draw something onto the plaster in pencil. Somebody will find the drawings in a decade or two. Watch this space.
Here the sun sets on a satisfying day.
8°C, rain all day.
The old techniques are coming back. Since my skills are rather rusty, I decided to buy base coat plaster and then layer skim coat over another day. That skim needs to be smooth and that’s the difficult part.
Once finished, I ventured into the loft. There is the largest wasps’ nest I have ever seen.
It’s about the size of a full rucksack, so around 40 litres. However you look at it, it’s a fine and beautiful object. I see no reason to remove it.
Micycle 