Interior Works - Two
A little late with the update this week - my project manager forgot he now needs keys to get into the house when he visited on Saturday; so he had to wait until the builders got back on site today to let him in!
Work has proceeded well over the last week. Weather is not an issue now for the internal fit out. The week has seen the start of the internal insulation being applied to the exterior facing walls. Over this will go the battens and noggins for attaching the plasterboard, before everything is skimmed and subsequently primed.
There is a lot of insulation to be applied, considering the full height of the house up to the eaves. It seems to be going on in several places at once as evidenced by the photos, so I think we have three builders working independently on the separate rooms - I'm sure they will come to work together when they start reaching up to the full height of the living space and mezzanine.
Also work has started on the 'fireplace'. This is a shelved area that very loosely surrounds the log burning stove. The rough design of this was taken from some images I found on the web; and this has been interpreted by myself, the project manager, and of course, the builder, who has full licence to play with concrete, blocks and formers.
Looking at it, the surround will provide a couple of benefits - it will act as a heatsink and retain heat, even after the fire has been allowed to go out. Additionally, it will provide the important function of stopping the TV , games console and computer from melting!
Aesthetically it will provide some niches to place a few ornaments. Although I want to keep things quite minimal, I do have some family keepsakes that I would like to cherish and display.
So, lets have a look at this weeks progress:
The blue-green insulation being installed in the kitchen. The builders are on lunch break:
It is good to see they have installed a makeshift dining table, and are feeling at home.
As you can see, they are making a very tidy job, with a nice tight fit around the window frames. The insulation will keep the place snug in the winter months and cooler in the summer, as well as acting as a vapour barrier against condensation in the high humidity.
This will be the bathroom side wall, with the outlet for the washing machine (at least I think so).
Here is the fire surround under construction, with a mantle, cubby's and shelves either side. It looks pretty rustic now, but once rendered it will be superb and a really nice feature of the living space. Imagine this with the log burner, and the pipe coming out of the top to join the chimney above... I notice what looks like a box of wine on the makeshift lunch table :).
So, in conclusion, great progress and with another three weeks until I fly out, we should be getting there.. the faster we can get the floor tiles down the better, as it would be good for that to happen before the container turns up shortly. I have been unofficially informed that we can leave the container on the dockside for a week or so, which gives a little wiggle room....
Next Up: Interior Works - Three
