Week 8 - What do you get if you cross a cat and cement.......

........ Paw print parquet!

That's right, Claude fancied a plunge into the levelling cement in the kitchen and decided to run all over the parquet in shock.

On the bright side, this means the tiles could be installed once the solution set. We took Katie's Mum and Dad's advice about non-textured tiles but took inspiration from their slate tiles.

The utility room and kitchen now have most of their units installed.

Week 6 and 7 - Plaster, plaster and more plaster

As Katie had started her school holidays, she began some DIY herself in the lounge... removing and replacing mouldy chaulk, preparing the walls with sugar soap and sanding them down ready for painting next week (Thanks Rosemary!).

 

Chris continued the plastering of the entire downstairs (it was very hot, hard work!), including the understairs toilet which we have not mentioned for a while!

 

At the beginning of week 7, the kitchen units arrived in boxes, filling up the dining room completely. Claude had a brand new playground!

 

 

With the kitchen delivered, Chris set about installing the units. Cue phonecalls and trips to Howdens to rectify the units which had been incorrectly sent out to him by the company. Luckily, a branch has recently opened in Filton. Still, we have 6 spare units.

 

 By the end of week 7, the kitchen was starting to take shape. How exciting!

 

 

 

 

 

Week 5 - Fabulous flooring

Week 5 saw the sanding, staining and varnishing of the original parquet flooring that was hidden under the carpet in the dining room. As we had bought a 1930s house, we wanted to keep as many original features as we could. So, we took the opportunity to restore the floor.

 

Lounge newly sanded

 

 

The dining room with stain samples

 

It took 3 long days for the flooring specialist to sand down both rooms, stain the wood then varnish to finish. But, it looks fantastic! No more shoes allowed in the Gadd household.

 

 We opted for a matt finish but it was shiny whilst wet