Our French farmhouse build thread.
Discussion
We are now back in France after a break in England. I would like to say relaxing but we spent 2 weeks running around seeing lots of people instead of putting our feet up and enjoying having nothing to do!
Having avoided testing my plumbing before we went I now had to face that demon and get it done. As Millie is off school at the moment I only have cargeekswife for about an hour a day. So yesterday I grabbed her to watch for water leaks as I opened up the circuit for the first time. In that hour we managed to get the cold circuit of the kitchen sink, the dishwasher and washing machine and all the toilets. No leaks there so on to filling the first water heater. As we were doing this a small weep started coming out. All water was switched off and feeling demoralised I went back to cutting the field.
Went to bed last night thinking about it and decided I would test the tightness of the joint before worst case scenarios came into play. This morning I put this plan into action and nipped it up a bit. Tentatively switched the main back on and waited with toilet paper wrapped around the joint. Gave it half an hour and went back to see how we got on. Eureka it worked (wasn’t my actual wording but can’t get past the swear filter on the words spoken yesterday and this morning!).
I filled the first water heater and got on with testing the hot water circuits one side of the building. Kitchen tap worked so in to the bathroom to test the bath. Opened it up and went in to the bathroom to hear hissing as the air was being forced around the connector into the wall. This was then replaced by water coming out but tested the tap while I was there and all appeared ok. Removed the connector and re-applied some PTFE tape to it and as I was putting it all back together spotted that I hadn’t put the washers in the taps to seal.
Grabbed some washers and put them in and switched it back on. Tap was leaking like anything out of the back as hadn’t tightened it down enough but as I am only testing the plumbing up to the taps I left it at that.
With this side done I filled up the other water heater and tested the other side of the building. All has passed I am very pleased to say, but I did have one moment when undoing a tap on one circuit to swap it to another as I hadn’t closed it off at the manifold and got a squirt straight at my leg.
I am now happy to have them all behind the walls which we will be taping and jointing the week after next with the help of a friend.
While we were away Wilfrid has put up our outside lights and installed the last aircon unit. Not sure if he has commissioned them all yet, but we are not far off finishing all the construction work and getting onto decorating.
Having avoided testing my plumbing before we went I now had to face that demon and get it done. As Millie is off school at the moment I only have cargeekswife for about an hour a day. So yesterday I grabbed her to watch for water leaks as I opened up the circuit for the first time. In that hour we managed to get the cold circuit of the kitchen sink, the dishwasher and washing machine and all the toilets. No leaks there so on to filling the first water heater. As we were doing this a small weep started coming out. All water was switched off and feeling demoralised I went back to cutting the field.
Went to bed last night thinking about it and decided I would test the tightness of the joint before worst case scenarios came into play. This morning I put this plan into action and nipped it up a bit. Tentatively switched the main back on and waited with toilet paper wrapped around the joint. Gave it half an hour and went back to see how we got on. Eureka it worked (wasn’t my actual wording but can’t get past the swear filter on the words spoken yesterday and this morning!).
I filled the first water heater and got on with testing the hot water circuits one side of the building. Kitchen tap worked so in to the bathroom to test the bath. Opened it up and went in to the bathroom to hear hissing as the air was being forced around the connector into the wall. This was then replaced by water coming out but tested the tap while I was there and all appeared ok. Removed the connector and re-applied some PTFE tape to it and as I was putting it all back together spotted that I hadn’t put the washers in the taps to seal.
Grabbed some washers and put them in and switched it back on. Tap was leaking like anything out of the back as hadn’t tightened it down enough but as I am only testing the plumbing up to the taps I left it at that.
With this side done I filled up the other water heater and tested the other side of the building. All has passed I am very pleased to say, but I did have one moment when undoing a tap on one circuit to swap it to another as I hadn’t closed it off at the manifold and got a squirt straight at my leg.
I am now happy to have them all behind the walls which we will be taping and jointing the week after next with the help of a friend.
While we were away Wilfrid has put up our outside lights and installed the last aircon unit. Not sure if he has commissioned them all yet, but we are not far off finishing all the construction work and getting onto decorating.
This week we said goodbye to Wilfrid until we are finished and he comes and connects up the last few electrical items. So for the rest of this week I am alone doing my taping and jointing. So far I have a bathroom 2nd coated and half of a bedroom done. Will be doing the final coat for the bathroom tomorrow so I can keep a promise to cargeekswife that she can have a proper bath.
The taps have been shifted to the end of the bath. After gemini’s comments we did reconsider but decided as the bath is a normal shape with a vertical wall at one end and sloping at the other we would leave it as a 1 person affair. Next bathroom we do I think will have a floor standing tap and have 2 sloping ends.
The taps have been shifted to the end of the bath. After gemini’s comments we did reconsider but decided as the bath is a normal shape with a vertical wall at one end and sloping at the other we would leave it as a 1 person affair. Next bathroom we do I think will have a floor standing tap and have 2 sloping ends.
Here we are now a couple of weeks down the line from my last update. I have spent about 2 weeks taping and jointing and had a mate come in for 3 days to help me. As it stands now we have 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms 95% done along with the living room and kitchen.
Having worked all through last weekend I was going to have a day off today. I went into the barn to see how all the bits I did yesterday had dried and as the walls were all done I pulled a tile out that will make be the backsplash to see how it fitted in with the plugs. This was a mistake as it highlighted a massive mistake that had been made when building the wall. This was our first wall and we were obviously not as good at measuring back then as all sockets sat at different heights within a 3cm range which meant that 3 of the 4 plugs were in the wrong position. So I canned my day off and set about cutting them out and fitting in new plasterboards with the plugs cut out at the correct level.
While I was fitting the last plug and pulling the wires through I happened to look back at the one next to it. To my horror 3 wires had disappeared from the wall plate. Many F’s later I got it back through and tied the 2 lots together.
Once that was done and while I was playing with electric wires and socket positions I decided to change our double light sockets from horizontal to vertical as this was a design change requested! First up I pulled the switches out and then put my replacement panel in place. I have been very grateful that I bought an oscillating tool as it makes cutting the boards out so much easier and neater.
With that done it came to re-wiring the light switches. This is where I came unstuck! I hadn’t taken a picture of where all the wires go in the terminals on the back. So no lights are going to be working in the kitchen for the time being. Thankfully Wilfrid is coming around soon to drop off his bill and get paid so I will get him to wire those all up.
On to the living room to move the other 2 sockets and detailed pictures were taken and the rest of them went smoothly. Tomorrow starts out with me plastering to blend the new panels in.
Having worked all through last weekend I was going to have a day off today. I went into the barn to see how all the bits I did yesterday had dried and as the walls were all done I pulled a tile out that will make be the backsplash to see how it fitted in with the plugs. This was a mistake as it highlighted a massive mistake that had been made when building the wall. This was our first wall and we were obviously not as good at measuring back then as all sockets sat at different heights within a 3cm range which meant that 3 of the 4 plugs were in the wrong position. So I canned my day off and set about cutting them out and fitting in new plasterboards with the plugs cut out at the correct level.
While I was fitting the last plug and pulling the wires through I happened to look back at the one next to it. To my horror 3 wires had disappeared from the wall plate. Many F’s later I got it back through and tied the 2 lots together.
Once that was done and while I was playing with electric wires and socket positions I decided to change our double light sockets from horizontal to vertical as this was a design change requested! First up I pulled the switches out and then put my replacement panel in place. I have been very grateful that I bought an oscillating tool as it makes cutting the boards out so much easier and neater.
With that done it came to re-wiring the light switches. This is where I came unstuck! I hadn’t taken a picture of where all the wires go in the terminals on the back. So no lights are going to be working in the kitchen for the time being. Thankfully Wilfrid is coming around soon to drop off his bill and get paid so I will get him to wire those all up.
On to the living room to move the other 2 sockets and detailed pictures were taken and the rest of them went smoothly. Tomorrow starts out with me plastering to blend the new panels in.
It’s been a long time between updates and I’m afraid this isn’t going to be an earth shattering one but a few bits have been done.
A lot of taping and jointing has been done and window surrounds have been fitted. 2 bedrooms and a bathroom are now ready to be painted. I want the bathroom painted before I install all the items but the rest of the rooms can wait and all be done together.
While I was moving all the plugs in the kitchen I looked at how badly warped the worktops were and we made the decision to change them as they were so far out of true. This tied in well with Ikea having a special offer on kitchen units. So off we trundled to Bordeaux to get a new kitchen for our house and worktops for both. We had a nice all you can eat Chinese buffet and got all our bits and headed home. The next day I opened one of the worktops to start sorting out to find that it was laminate and we were expecting real wood.
Inside to speak to wife and give her the bad news that she had bought the wrong thing. Along with that we had also had 2 extra drawers put on our picking list by the very helpful but ultimately inaccurate chap in the kitchen area.
We put one of the units together and fitted the feet to see the height. As neither of us are basketball players we concluded that the long feet are perhaps not for us so they were relegated to the return pile too. All of this did not instill confidence in me for a nicely finished kitchen. This all happened on a Thursday and I was not willing to go down on the Friday! Jump forward to Tuesday and we head on down to swap our bits over and commandeer the correct worktop. Ikea don’t do solid beech tops but there are a couple of other suppliers in the area that do. One such place cargeekswife had been into on our Thursday trip and thought she had seen a special offer on them at a saving of 20 euros per worktop. Great we were buying 6 so would pay for the trip. Doing her due diligence this time she called the store to ask when the offer ended to be told that she was in fact mistaken and they are at full price.
After we had returned and swapped over bits at Ikea we headed to the next supplier to get some bits and check on the worktops. To very little surprise we found that they were on special offer and there was plenty available. Shopping done and we headed home.
Wednesday and Thursday was taken up with sanding rooms and then on Friday we decided to treat ourselves to our new kitchen. Cargeekswife was sent off to get some more metal rails as I needed to build a wall for the new kitchen to butt up to. With her out I ripped out the old one. This only consisted of 2 cabinets covered in 2 different worktops. Isolated the electrics in the kitchen and pulled out these along with the dishwasher and washing machine. Swept the floor and waited 2 hours for the wife to return. Then I got the wall built, electrics all re-fitted and we moved the cabinets in and levelled them all up.
Saturday morning and a friend turned up with his worktop jig and we set about sorting the worktops for both kitchens. By 4pm all were cut and ready to be installed. Said goodbye to my mate and then pulled all the surfaces off to cut holes for the sink and the hob. Re-fitting is relatively straight forward and after over 2 years of making do we have a kitchen in 2 days.
We found some dog toys!
On the right hand side of this picture where the stool and small chair are we decided to put a small telly linked up to a DVD player under the worktop for Millie to sit and watch films while mummy can be working at the desk.
A lot of taping and jointing has been done and window surrounds have been fitted. 2 bedrooms and a bathroom are now ready to be painted. I want the bathroom painted before I install all the items but the rest of the rooms can wait and all be done together.
While I was moving all the plugs in the kitchen I looked at how badly warped the worktops were and we made the decision to change them as they were so far out of true. This tied in well with Ikea having a special offer on kitchen units. So off we trundled to Bordeaux to get a new kitchen for our house and worktops for both. We had a nice all you can eat Chinese buffet and got all our bits and headed home. The next day I opened one of the worktops to start sorting out to find that it was laminate and we were expecting real wood.
Inside to speak to wife and give her the bad news that she had bought the wrong thing. Along with that we had also had 2 extra drawers put on our picking list by the very helpful but ultimately inaccurate chap in the kitchen area.
We put one of the units together and fitted the feet to see the height. As neither of us are basketball players we concluded that the long feet are perhaps not for us so they were relegated to the return pile too. All of this did not instill confidence in me for a nicely finished kitchen. This all happened on a Thursday and I was not willing to go down on the Friday! Jump forward to Tuesday and we head on down to swap our bits over and commandeer the correct worktop. Ikea don’t do solid beech tops but there are a couple of other suppliers in the area that do. One such place cargeekswife had been into on our Thursday trip and thought she had seen a special offer on them at a saving of 20 euros per worktop. Great we were buying 6 so would pay for the trip. Doing her due diligence this time she called the store to ask when the offer ended to be told that she was in fact mistaken and they are at full price.
After we had returned and swapped over bits at Ikea we headed to the next supplier to get some bits and check on the worktops. To very little surprise we found that they were on special offer and there was plenty available. Shopping done and we headed home.
Wednesday and Thursday was taken up with sanding rooms and then on Friday we decided to treat ourselves to our new kitchen. Cargeekswife was sent off to get some more metal rails as I needed to build a wall for the new kitchen to butt up to. With her out I ripped out the old one. This only consisted of 2 cabinets covered in 2 different worktops. Isolated the electrics in the kitchen and pulled out these along with the dishwasher and washing machine. Swept the floor and waited 2 hours for the wife to return. Then I got the wall built, electrics all re-fitted and we moved the cabinets in and levelled them all up.
Saturday morning and a friend turned up with his worktop jig and we set about sorting the worktops for both kitchens. By 4pm all were cut and ready to be installed. Said goodbye to my mate and then pulled all the surfaces off to cut holes for the sink and the hob. Re-fitting is relatively straight forward and after over 2 years of making do we have a kitchen in 2 days.
We found some dog toys!
On the right hand side of this picture where the stool and small chair are we decided to put a small telly linked up to a DVD player under the worktop for Millie to sit and watch films while mummy can be working at the desk.
WOW - Only just found this post and its annihilated my working morning and lunch time reading every page.
Awesome project and Ive enjoyed every part of the updates. What a find, great property and will be an AMAZING property when finished.
You could turn that field into an amazing camp site :-)
Bookmarked and loved.
Awesome project and Ive enjoyed every part of the updates. What a find, great property and will be an AMAZING property when finished.
You could turn that field into an amazing camp site :-)
Bookmarked and loved.
croakey said:
I found doing mine that the section of "behind scenes" decorating feels like an endless marathon through treacle.
Luckily once you get to the top layer of decorating ie final costs of paint and carpet/ flooring it improves by the minute.
Keep plodding along!'
I am plodding away, but by the time it gets to decorating I shall be putting my feet up a bit as the wife enjoys painting! Sure I will do a little bit though.Luckily once you get to the top layer of decorating ie final costs of paint and carpet/ flooring it improves by the minute.
Keep plodding along!'
CoolCurly said:
WOW - Only just found this post and its annihilated my working morning and lunch time reading every page.
Awesome project and Ive enjoyed every part of the updates. What a find, great property and will be an AMAZING property when finished.
You could turn that field into an amazing camp site :-)
Bookmarked and loved.
Sorry about your morning! If you want to come and pitch a tent in the field go for it but I won't be running facilities out to it with all the stone in the ground. Get tent pegs in might cause a few issues too.Awesome project and Ive enjoyed every part of the updates. What a find, great property and will be an AMAZING property when finished.
You could turn that field into an amazing camp site :-)
Bookmarked and loved.
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