The guy we had lined up to plaster let us down on the morning he was due. We frantically searched around and did manage to find another plasterer who could fit us in that week which was very lucky and a relief.
4 days later, 2 chaps had completely re-plastered the main part of the house.
It was during a cold snap so the plaster took ages to try - I think we left it for nearly 2 weeks!
After it had dried enough, the White wash started. What a mission that was! As chief painter, I had to brave the scaffold tower and paint the ceiling. Given the roundness of the room, the paint roller only works horizontally not vertically so this added extra time. Going up and down the scaffold tower to get a better position added more time. There were parts too low down for the tower and too high for standing so add in having to go up and down a ladder to the equation and I think you can get the point. It took HOURS to white wash that bloody room.
After the White wash dried, I possibly made a school boy error and decided to do another White wash, but with more paint and less water. I did this because I read online it was a good idea and would make the final paint job look good.
Again, HOURS!!!
After that coat, a coat of pure white went on. Andy helped me with this coat, but he hates painting so I did most of this coat too. This coat we decided to start on a Saturday night after coming back from visiting my Dad.
We finished painting at 2.30am Sunday morning.
After that nightmare, we still has the colour to then put on. My good friend Jo, who likes painting, came round to help and we managed to get a coat of colour on in a few hours.
But - we ran out of paint with just a small section to go which was unfortunate. We were using the Velspar paint from b&q as I was being very fussy about the colour. Their biggest tin wasn't quite enough to do the room so I went back and bought two more big tins. Which cost a fortune. The chap in b&q assured me because the paint mix was to exact measurements, there shouldn't be a colour difference. I will hand it to him - he wasn't wrong!
Andy agreed to help with the final coat of colour and I can confirm last weekend we finally finished the painting!! What a relief.
And the results:
It looks amazing. The paint shop is superb - if I do say so myself!
Now - I just want to point a few things out.
Firstly - yes, the colour is light grey. It needs to be light because the only real light that comes into this room is from the back. You might think a lot of effort was taken to make a room look similar to how it did before - but it's a big difference.
Secondly, yes, I know there are white sections at the bottom. This is because the kitchen units are going here so I didn't see the point in painting all the way down.
Thirdly, if you look at the pictures and think you see a "patch" you are wrong. It's just shadow. Believe me, I have checked!
And finally...yes...we still haven't finished the cladding...and that window isn't staying so will remain looking tatty for now.
With all that out of the way, we have begun the task of sanding down and varnishing our ebay scaffold boards we bought which will be our flooring. I really want a floorboard look and feel but reclaimed floorboards are pricey where as scaffold boards are not! And they look really good once they are done up:
After that, we need to get the plumbing pipes laid, flooring down and then we can put the kitchen in! Once that's done, we can turn our attention to the extensions.
You may be wondering why we haven't started since we've had planning approved. Well, that will be because we didn't realise we had planning conditions which need to be met before we can start.
I don't want to bad mouth West Berks Council in case their spies are watching, but they put what I believe are conditions that they have no right to put on us.
My main gripe is a condition where by the council want to see detailed plans of what our garden will look like once complete - including plant species etc. last time I looked, we were applying for building planning consent - not garden consent. I don't know anyone who has ever had to say to the council how their garden is going to look after their extension is finished. It's absurd.
Anyway, they have a bee in their bonnet because we cut down the trees and are trying to tell us we shouldn't have done that. Even though their website clearly says unless trees have a TPO or you are in a conservation area (which we aren't according to the council website map) then one is fully entitled to cut down trees on ones land. Which one did.
But now they want us to replant replacement trees even though they know we have a small plot and any tree we plant will become invasive. The reason we cut those trees down was because of the damage to the house they were doing.
Another one that has ground my gears is that the council want us to pay to put up some sort of protective fencing around the trees. You may be thinking "but your trees are cut down?" And you would be right. They want us to do this for trees nearby that are not on our land. I mean...what???
We are building on our plot...if the tree isn't on our plot...it's not getting touched!!
There are more standard conditions but these are the two that we are pushing back on.
Technically, we can't start doing anything until these conditions are satisfied. We aren't quite ready, but we will be soon so I hope we manage to get this resolved or we may just start and see what happens. What's the worst that can happen? Are they really going to make us rip down a completed extension because I decided last minute to add a frigging pond to my garden?? I'd like to see them try.
If anyone reading this does have any genuine advice on challenging the council - please email me: teags86@hotmail.com
