March 2016

A clear increase in pace this month with lots of people on site and a 50% increase in the number of photos to process! Steven and Iain from Atina Developments were back to give us another boost, with a long list of jobs to complete. In no particular order, the prep work in the upstairs corridor (grounds, beadings and ceilings) ahead of the plastering starting:

Ceiling down - corridor beyod doorway - 05032016

Updtairs corridor - laths removed - 05032016

Grounds & bead - updatirs corridor - 13032016

Upstairs corridor - strapping - 21032016

Strapping in upstairs corridor - 10032016

Mesh around window - upstairs corridor - 21032016

Strapping in upstairs corridor 3 - 10032016

Window in upstairs corridor 2 - 13032016

Ceiling in upstairs corridor 2 - 21032016

Ceiling in upstairs corridor 1 - 21032016

Ceiling in upstairs corridor 3 - 21032016

Then a new ceiling in what will become Meg’s study:

Quickly followed by a new ceiling in what will be Caleb’s bedroom, after some investigations from Mike and yet more rot to cut out:

The porch also turned out to be a monster job with yet more rot to tackle, with Steven and Iain having to work around Mike as best they could:

Porch Cornice removal above main door - 10032016

The library (eventually to be Mike’s study) was a bit easier although using a material new to all – wood wool boards.

The final job Steven and Iain were tasked with – and very nearly completed – was laying the new floor in the original master bedroom. Ahead of this the plumbing and insulation had to go in, but Mike was particularly keen to press on given this job used up all of the old flooring from the drawing room, kitchen and also some he had reclaimed from a townhouse in Edinburgh.

Alongside all of this came the renewal of all of the wiring for switches and sockets as well as ensuring the cables for the smoke detection system are in place. Not the most exciting set of photos, I’ll admit!

Switch in mid upstairs corridor - 21032016

Then after all of that prep work came a week of really hard graft from Tony and Logan, putting on the first several coats of the lime plaster. What a difference that makes!

Building up walls in upstairs corridor - 15032016

Building up walls in upstairs corridor 3 - 15032016

Building up walls in upstairs corridor 2 - 15032016

Upstairs corridor - repairing wall - 21032016

Lime plaster - upstairs corridor - 26032016

As if all the above wasn’t enough, more progress was made outside as well. The Small Walled Garden is really coming together, with a new chicken enclosure now they are back from holiday (ahem…) as well as a lot of work digging over the veg patches.

The warmer weather means that the garden is also starting to grow again. We managed to get a first cut of the lawn in, spreading the cuttings around our hedge and raspberries, a lot of sorting out done, Sue did a monumental amount of weeding and we also planted a load of new trees – willows, rowans and wild cherries.