The Floors
This past week has seen rapid progress: The push has been to get the floor tiling done in time for the arrival of the container next Tuesday. Popping up to the house every other day has been a joy, as each visit there was something new approaching completion.
With the white paint work out of the way the coving was applied to the rooms that have a standard flat ceiling, and painted in. This gives the finishing touch to the wall décor.
Here we can see the coving applied to the dining area, making for a seamless join between walls and ceiling. At this point all the wall and ceiling painting has been completed.
This, taken from the dining room shows just how nice this looks. Also worth noting is the look of the fireplace as shown below:
Ideally, this will have glass surfaces fitted to protect the finish - although I have not mentioned this to the builders, as it more of a 'finishing job' for later.
The picture above shows the wiring boxes for the house...three of them! I do hope the doors for them look attractive, as they take up a significant wall space in the lobby.
Upstairs had also received the final coat, so also ready for the laminate flooring to be laid.
I'm really very pleased with the amount of light coming into the house, as illustrated in the two pictures above; in hindsight I think keeping all the décor white is the right decision. Bear in mind there is no illumination in the house at all at this point, apart from natural light.
It's a hole Jim, but not as we know it....
Under the stairs there is a large storage cupboard, which will be fitted with double louvered doors.
The storage area is large enough to hold a couple of bikes!
The picture here shows a cutout made for a recessed LED light and a switch below. I bought the light here in Horta from the local lighting shop - a bargain at about 9 Euros... pictures when fitted....
The next time I went up to the house was a couple of days later.... so meanwhile here are some pictures suggesting the passing of time...
Welcome back.
Meanwhile, the floor tiles had been delivered and stacked at the side of the house:
Needless to say, they didn't stay here long...
The floors had been leveled and prepped, I completely missed this because when I next arrived I was greeted with the sight below:
Really, just in time to see the last couple of tiles go down in the open plan living area... at this point there where two men working on the tiles - one cutting outside to templates for the edges, and the other laying the floors with great skill and precision.
Here the builder is laying the last two tiles in the dining room before moving through to tile the bedroom and dressing room. As you can see the tiles are very large at 600mm square, so progress was pretty fast.
Here's the open plan area floor laid, ready for grouting and skirting...
Visiting the following day saw all the tiles down and the grout applied. The skirting tiles being fitted and the floors being washed down and mopped, although I think this is going to take a while to be truly 'clean'.
That looks like a pack of laminate flooring on the mezzanine :)
Shown here are the skirting tiles going in place - a really practical solution, meaning you can mop the floor out without fear of the water getting to the walls. Also very stylish.
Meanwhile, another of the builders had been busy in the bathroom; the tiling finished and the grout being applied. The floor tiles have been laid, but these are currently covered by protective sheets (cardboard!) whilst other works and trades continue.
Super smart with dark blue grout applied to the tiles, first day of grouting...
And here is the final finishing grout going on, second day...
So, that brings us up to date for this weeks build blog. What jobs for next week? Well, as mentioned, the container arrives to be unloaded into the house, so the hot water heaters will be available for plumbing and light fittings will be available for fitting. Also, the log burning stove will be available for installation as well as the white goods for the kitchen. The kitchen itself, can now be fitted as the downstairs floors are complete. I'm looking forward to that.
My guess is that the mezzanine floor will be next on the list...
Next Up : A Box Full of Goodness...
