Monday 28 March 2011

Progress upstairs - ceilings and stud walls

We have a new secret weapon on the build - as seen in this picture. He is a certain newly recruited (self recruited no less) occasional member of team 'build the house' who has offered us a helping hand - which we've happily accepted.
He came down for a couple of days to help Sam put the ceiling in upstairs - and he's been great (and is a super skilled and speedy worker - just what we needed).


So, the ceiling is now pretty much complete upstairs.

Himself and Sam got it sorted last week (while I was up sorting the animals - I haven't actually been on site for a couple of weeks).

Here's what they got up to.

When they started there was ceiling on the north wall up to the joists (which are covered below in green plastic - as there will be blown in cellulose insulation laid to the depth of the rafter - once the ceiling is up).

In the picture below they've started boarding the top section.


Now, the top is done.


Then they moved in to the south side - trickier because of the velux windows.


All done now.


As they got the ceiling up so quickly, they decided to make a start on the partition / stud walls upstairs.

Here they've laid out the wall for the walk in wardrobe in the bedroom.


Here we are, looking the other way - through the bedroom - with the walk in wardrobe to the right.


This is the bedroom wall as seen from the outside, upstairs landing.



Here you can see the stairs and the bedroom beyond.



I can hardly wait to get down to see it for myself. I'm relieved that it looks well - it was really gorgeous when the upstairs was just one big open space .. but I'm not one for open plan living - I like a bit of separation of rooms, so, the walls must go up.

Upstairs will consist of our bedroom - as seen above, the large landing (with the library (i.e. bookshelves) near the velux windows (and a chaise longue for lounging in - if my fantasy world comes to pass), then past the stainless steel stove flue will be the office on one side and a guest bedroom the other (I'm planning on having an opening partition between those rooms so I can use them both as the office, but partition 1/2 off as the guest bedroom when people come to stay). The upstairs bathroom will be the other side of the stairs.

I think I may have to put up a couple of 'plans' of the house interior up on this blog - so people can have a sense of where all the rooms are - ditto with the garden.

Of course, I'm still busy sowing seeds and getting plants ready to bring down to the garden - more on that later (there's been lots to blog about - just not a lot of time to do it in lately).

For now, it's just nice to be able to show some actual, physical, real PROGRESS.

Happy days.

12 comments:

  1. Looks absolutely fabulous. How are you going to coat those timber boards? A light stain and wipe-off would draw out their natural grain beauty and leave a low lustre sheen?

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  2. Hi John, good to have you drop by. Great to see you back.

    We have oil and a coloured pigment to coat the boards in. For the ceiling we'll mix a small amount of white pigment in, just enough to lighten it subtly and keep the grain showing up well.

    Then, on the wooden floors we'll use the same white pigment, but a bit stronger.

    If we didn't oil them, they'd start to discolour. I think oil is more subtle than varnish or heavy colouring - we shall see.

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  3. This is great! How exciting to get started again. And I love all that wood.

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  4. Hi Mary - it is exciting to be back on the job now. I love that we are able to have proper wooden floors and ceilings - I so love natural materials. As the house kit came from Sweden - they had a great deal for getting the ceiling and floors as part of the kit. It was an offer I just couldn't refuse.

    It'll really feel like living in a woodland to me.

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  5. Yeaaayyyy for progress! It looks beautiful and I'm so excited for you. The natural look is very warm and inviting. Great decision!

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  6. Thanks Claud - its great to see things take shape. I'm looking forward to the fun of decorating and making it homely as soon as I can.

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  7. Looking good, wood looks cosy. I'm with you on open-plan living, I don't like it, I like different zones.

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  8. Yes Bridget - I love having different spaces in my home. I think I may have doormouse tendencies - I just love having little places to 'nest' - to just read a book or sit and look out at a view.

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  9. Hi Ferris, how fabulous to see the house taking shape, and yes please, plans would be great! I fell for wooden ceilings when we lived in a log cabin for a year, I think you will have a lovely welcoming home. Hope you get your chaise...

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  10. Hi Janet - I'm pleased to say that the plans are up now, so you can get a better idea of the layout etc.

    I'm looking forward to admiring my wooden ceiling for many a year to come (the knot work in them is always lovely and unique .. I could stare at it for hours - silly me).

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  11. Wonderful - and you have a larder! I dream of a larder... Beautiful setting, I love your veg garden plan too. Look forward to seeing it all come together.

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  12. Ah - I'm glad you are a larder appreciator. You'll maybe understand when I tell you that I'm already dreaming of all the home grown squash, pumpkin, potatoes, onions etc that will proudly take their place in there.
    We even have a vent going under the floor of the pantry to the outside, so that it stays nice and cool in there.

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