Chamonix studio renovation - build thread
Discussion
Gruffy said:
I'll have to float the idea of coming back out for a week before the season and see how that goes down.
Lead balloon would be an understatement. I'll have to see what I can do to make it habitable by Tuesday. I think we'll be seeing in the new year with a bare concrete floor and an untiled wet room.I'd recommend Maltby Street Market if you're looking for that kind of thing. Coffee @ Bermondsey Street is great for kicking back and reading the papers with a brew. For a sit down breakfast my favourite is a little cafe/restaurant on Bermondsey St. I can't remember the name of the place but it has a brown front and is opposite Tanner St Park on the west side of Bermondsey St.
Day 34
I'm on my own for the weekend, but Maurice will be back on Monday for the final push. This morning was an early start to go and find a 180x200 mattress. Nobody stocks them at all, but I've managed to buy one and arrange for a collection on Dec 23rd; the day after I arrive back in France. We'll sleep on the sofa-bed the first night. I also collected the stone counter for the bathroom. I had to leave the fireplace hearth with them as it needed a bit more refinement. It's yet another bank holiday on Monday so they've agreed to leave the piece outside somewhere I can pick it up over the weekend. And I bagged what I hope will be the last supply run. More mortar, SLC, some wee drill bits for drilling into the cistern frame and some bits and pieces for the consumer unit door.
The first proper job of the day is to lay the underfloor heating. Take 1 didn't go so well. The cable can't be shortened and the mat was much too big for the space.
The solution was to pull it off the mat and lay it freehand, a little closer together, but still within specified limits. I still had to break a rule about not laying it anywhere it will be covered. It's only a laundry basket under the counter so I'm sure it'll be fine.
A quick brush over with adhesive primer.
And it's time for another point-of-no-return. The self levelling compound is going down.
A quick lesson on installing laminate flooring.
The noise curfew is really strict in the residence and the sour faced caretaker is ever-present, so the hardest part about starting the flooring was trying not to get busted. That meant a hand saw. Tapping them into place was super noisy though so I had to knock that on the head until tomorrow. It's easy enough though.
Kitchens, wetrooms, plasters. There's literally no end to my DIY abilities.
Three days left before I have to head back. The race is on to get the bathroom to a functional standard so that we can live there while I finish it off over Christmas.
I'm on my own for the weekend, but Maurice will be back on Monday for the final push. This morning was an early start to go and find a 180x200 mattress. Nobody stocks them at all, but I've managed to buy one and arrange for a collection on Dec 23rd; the day after I arrive back in France. We'll sleep on the sofa-bed the first night. I also collected the stone counter for the bathroom. I had to leave the fireplace hearth with them as it needed a bit more refinement. It's yet another bank holiday on Monday so they've agreed to leave the piece outside somewhere I can pick it up over the weekend. And I bagged what I hope will be the last supply run. More mortar, SLC, some wee drill bits for drilling into the cistern frame and some bits and pieces for the consumer unit door.
The first proper job of the day is to lay the underfloor heating. Take 1 didn't go so well. The cable can't be shortened and the mat was much too big for the space.
The solution was to pull it off the mat and lay it freehand, a little closer together, but still within specified limits. I still had to break a rule about not laying it anywhere it will be covered. It's only a laundry basket under the counter so I'm sure it'll be fine.
A quick brush over with adhesive primer.
And it's time for another point-of-no-return. The self levelling compound is going down.
A quick lesson on installing laminate flooring.
The noise curfew is really strict in the residence and the sour faced caretaker is ever-present, so the hardest part about starting the flooring was trying not to get busted. That meant a hand saw. Tapping them into place was super noisy though so I had to knock that on the head until tomorrow. It's easy enough though.
Kitchens, wetrooms, plasters. There's literally no end to my DIY abilities.
Three days left before I have to head back. The race is on to get the bathroom to a functional standard so that we can live there while I finish it off over Christmas.
Edited by Gruffy on Saturday 9th November 20:46
Day 35
Quite a productive weekend. First thing this morning I shuttered off the shower area in the bathroom and poured the second layer of SLC. The first layer hadn't set particularly level. I mixed it well but I guess the cold affected it, or I was too slow getting it down. The second layer went down much better, so it's OK.
Then it's back to the flooring. Wow, it's easily 3-4 times quicker when I can use power tools to cut the lengths. I got the mezzanine floor done, up to the glass and staircase anyway. The supplier gave me the wrong profiles so I'll have to go back for the stair trim before I can lay the final row. The floor was immediately covered with old blankets, salvaged from the apartment before it was gutted. I knew they'd come in useful for something!
I attempted to start work on the fireplace but once I planned it out in a bit more detail I realised I needed a couple of different sized blocks, so that'll have to wait til Tuesday when the shops re-open. At least I have a plan now.
I had a bloody good tidy up, tucking all the odds and sods into the downstairs storage and generally trying to clear as much floor space as possible. This meant I could sweep up more thoroughly and we wouldn't be walking quite so much crap upstairs onto the finished flooring.
Time to have a crack at the wardrobes. Three units spanning 2.5m.
Pah, whatever.
Breezed through those, with one exception…
A couple of pieces needed hammering into place - proper wallops too, not just taps - so I had to make a midnight run to the station car park for a hammering session, otherwise I doubt my neighbours would have been too pleased.
Just two days left, but I'm feeling more optimistic now. The key challenge is still the bathroom. The tanking takes quite a few processes, each with their different drying/curing times and it doesn't leave much time for tiling. I think it can be done but it is really, really tight. I'll have Maurice back in the morning so I'll have him working on the bathroom counter and shelving. I'll finish off the wardrobes once I can start hammering the back boards in. I must also remember to get some mortar into the space behind the shower drain first thing so that it dries in time to be filled and then tanked with the rest.
If at all possible I'd really like to get the flooring down in the ground floor on Tuesday. Again, it's asking a lot but I think it could be possible. I'd probably have to leave a gap next to the fireplace and I very much doubt I'll be able to tackle the stairs, but we'll see.
Quite a productive weekend. First thing this morning I shuttered off the shower area in the bathroom and poured the second layer of SLC. The first layer hadn't set particularly level. I mixed it well but I guess the cold affected it, or I was too slow getting it down. The second layer went down much better, so it's OK.
Then it's back to the flooring. Wow, it's easily 3-4 times quicker when I can use power tools to cut the lengths. I got the mezzanine floor done, up to the glass and staircase anyway. The supplier gave me the wrong profiles so I'll have to go back for the stair trim before I can lay the final row. The floor was immediately covered with old blankets, salvaged from the apartment before it was gutted. I knew they'd come in useful for something!
I attempted to start work on the fireplace but once I planned it out in a bit more detail I realised I needed a couple of different sized blocks, so that'll have to wait til Tuesday when the shops re-open. At least I have a plan now.
I had a bloody good tidy up, tucking all the odds and sods into the downstairs storage and generally trying to clear as much floor space as possible. This meant I could sweep up more thoroughly and we wouldn't be walking quite so much crap upstairs onto the finished flooring.
Time to have a crack at the wardrobes. Three units spanning 2.5m.
Pah, whatever.
Breezed through those, with one exception…
A couple of pieces needed hammering into place - proper wallops too, not just taps - so I had to make a midnight run to the station car park for a hammering session, otherwise I doubt my neighbours would have been too pleased.
Just two days left, but I'm feeling more optimistic now. The key challenge is still the bathroom. The tanking takes quite a few processes, each with their different drying/curing times and it doesn't leave much time for tiling. I think it can be done but it is really, really tight. I'll have Maurice back in the morning so I'll have him working on the bathroom counter and shelving. I'll finish off the wardrobes once I can start hammering the back boards in. I must also remember to get some mortar into the space behind the shower drain first thing so that it dries in time to be filled and then tanked with the rest.
If at all possible I'd really like to get the flooring down in the ground floor on Tuesday. Again, it's asking a lot but I think it could be possible. I'd probably have to leave a gap next to the fireplace and I very much doubt I'll be able to tackle the stairs, but we'll see.
Progress is slow on the bathroom framework and we didn't have enough plasterboard to build a perimeter today. It's yet another bloody national holiday today so I can't get more until tomorrow, which means I won't have time to tank and tile the bathroom before I have to leave. Frustrating.
The wardrobes are in. Blue, to match the kitchen
Unfortunately it turned out one of the mirrored doors was cracked, so that's another item added to the IKEA snagging list.
And the first of the actual furniture is in. Unfortunately it's flagged up that the sockets in the bedroom are too low to fit neatly with the bedside tables. Bugger.
Now, at 00:45, I have to crack on with some design work for a proper client. Then pack. Then be at Sallanches for 07:30 to pick up the stair sub-profiles I'm missing and the (hopefully) refined stone for the fireplace.
The vermiculite and the glass for the fireplace are both due to arrive tomorrow via TNT. Haven't had much luck with TNT so far, so fingers crossed it's third time lucky.
The wardrobes are in. Blue, to match the kitchen
Unfortunately it turned out one of the mirrored doors was cracked, so that's another item added to the IKEA snagging list.
And the first of the actual furniture is in. Unfortunately it's flagged up that the sockets in the bedroom are too low to fit neatly with the bedside tables. Bugger.
Now, at 00:45, I have to crack on with some design work for a proper client. Then pack. Then be at Sallanches for 07:30 to pick up the stair sub-profiles I'm missing and the (hopefully) refined stone for the fireplace.
The vermiculite and the glass for the fireplace are both due to arrive tomorrow via TNT. Haven't had much luck with TNT so far, so fingers crossed it's third time lucky.
Day 37
Another very long day. My last full day for this phase. I drive back to London tomorrow.
Ruddy cold this morning.
But beautiful in the late morning sun.
The flooring is in, up to the final rows on each floor. Unfortunately Maurice had to leave earlier in the afternoon and I was only left with basic tools. I have enough to live on until I can get back later in December to finish off.
The bathroom is unfinished. The framework is done but I've not had time to tank or tile, which means nothing's actually functioning yet. That's quite a blow. There's enough there to get a good feel for the final space but I hate to leave things unfinished.
A wider shot to show the position of the recessed 45° lights. The shower is connected for now, just to seal off the pipes.
And the other side, using the reflection in the wardrobe to get a wider shot of the counter side.
Very late night clearing, cleaning, dragging in and assembling furniture.
Another very long day. My last full day for this phase. I drive back to London tomorrow.
Ruddy cold this morning.
But beautiful in the late morning sun.
The flooring is in, up to the final rows on each floor. Unfortunately Maurice had to leave earlier in the afternoon and I was only left with basic tools. I have enough to live on until I can get back later in December to finish off.
The bathroom is unfinished. The framework is done but I've not had time to tank or tile, which means nothing's actually functioning yet. That's quite a blow. There's enough there to get a good feel for the final space but I hate to leave things unfinished.
A wider shot to show the position of the recessed 45° lights. The shower is connected for now, just to seal off the pipes.
And the other side, using the reflection in the wardrobe to get a wider shot of the counter side.
Very late night clearing, cleaning, dragging in and assembling furniture.
There's a 100mm extractor pipe that's got a decent amount of suction even without a fan. The building was designed to be used without fan-assisted extraction. You can see it in this pic above. I've found a good looking cover plate for it at Leroy Merlin, which is an hour's drive away. I'll be going there in December when I collect the shower screen anyway.
Day 38
I'll call this a working day as I managed to get 3-4 hours of tidy, transporting and assembling in before setting off for London.
I've now got my black belt in IKEA and can handle three-man jobs on my own.
Here's a panorama taken from halfway up the stairs. The blue-green paint on the facade of the mezzanine is adhesive primer, ready for the stone veneer.
The vermiculite delivery finally turned up just as I was locking up for the last time, three weeks late. I had a few errands to run in the valley (cleaning the rented place, laundry, cutting and distributing duplicate keys etc) and was quite late getting away at 4pm. That left just over 1,000km to cover back to London. The Scooby performed brilliantly and helped me yomp across France in less than six hours, arriving back home just before midnight.
I think I'll be back in mid-December to finish off. Until then…
I'll call this a working day as I managed to get 3-4 hours of tidy, transporting and assembling in before setting off for London.
I've now got my black belt in IKEA and can handle three-man jobs on my own.
Here's a panorama taken from halfway up the stairs. The blue-green paint on the facade of the mezzanine is adhesive primer, ready for the stone veneer.
The vermiculite delivery finally turned up just as I was locking up for the last time, three weeks late. I had a few errands to run in the valley (cleaning the rented place, laundry, cutting and distributing duplicate keys etc) and was quite late getting away at 4pm. That left just over 1,000km to cover back to London. The Scooby performed brilliantly and helped me yomp across France in less than six hours, arriving back home just before midnight.
I think I'll be back in mid-December to finish off. Until then…
Maintaining the thread has been a really useful source of advice and encouragement - especially when things have got tough - and the routine has been helpful to maintain sanity. I'm also keen to have a journal of the build to look back on once all the hard work is done and the scars have healed. Thanks to everybody reading and contributing so far. It has been really helpful.
Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. The intermission is coming to a close and the performance is about to restart.
Day 39
I'm back for what I hoped would be the final push. A sequence of bad luck means that I'm unlikely to have it finished by Monday morning, when I fly back to London again. But, I've gathered the tools and most of the materials I need and the Alps are looking spectacular, as always.
The electric shutter has been installed while I was away and they've done a great job. I briefly toyed with the idea of supply only and taking on the install myself. Bloody glad I didn't now. Apparently it took three of them three days to fit on account of the size (4.5m x 4m). I've also tanked the wet room, late last night, in preparation for tiling today.
The tanking hadn't dried until later in the afternoon which meant I didn't quite have enough time to cut the final floor tiles before the pesky noise restrictions stopped play. Very frustrating as I was hoping they'd dry overnight ready to be stood on for tiling the walls.
The self-levelling compound did an awful job and the floor is absurdly uneven. The 10mm drop I'd added was completely negated and, in places, even reversed. Consequently I've used an enormous amount of tile adhesive to build a drop into the shower area. We'll see how long that takes to dry!
Possibly the biggest annoyance at the moment is the lack of space. I wasn't expecting to get a pass to come back before our winter season so before I left I tried to make the place as habitable as possible. Unfortunately now that means I've bugger all space to work in and have to work doubly hard to keep the mess down to a minimum to avoid spoiling our furniture/flooring/walls. Here's my makeshift tile-cutting area. The saw is great but it does spew a lot of water everywhere.
Day 39
I'm back for what I hoped would be the final push. A sequence of bad luck means that I'm unlikely to have it finished by Monday morning, when I fly back to London again. But, I've gathered the tools and most of the materials I need and the Alps are looking spectacular, as always.
The electric shutter has been installed while I was away and they've done a great job. I briefly toyed with the idea of supply only and taking on the install myself. Bloody glad I didn't now. Apparently it took three of them three days to fit on account of the size (4.5m x 4m). I've also tanked the wet room, late last night, in preparation for tiling today.
The tanking hadn't dried until later in the afternoon which meant I didn't quite have enough time to cut the final floor tiles before the pesky noise restrictions stopped play. Very frustrating as I was hoping they'd dry overnight ready to be stood on for tiling the walls.
The self-levelling compound did an awful job and the floor is absurdly uneven. The 10mm drop I'd added was completely negated and, in places, even reversed. Consequently I've used an enormous amount of tile adhesive to build a drop into the shower area. We'll see how long that takes to dry!
Possibly the biggest annoyance at the moment is the lack of space. I wasn't expecting to get a pass to come back before our winter season so before I left I tried to make the place as habitable as possible. Unfortunately now that means I've bugger all space to work in and have to work doubly hard to keep the mess down to a minimum to avoid spoiling our furniture/flooring/walls. Here's my makeshift tile-cutting area. The saw is great but it does spew a lot of water everywhere.
I know. I was absolutely methodical and precise with the mix. I even made the second batch thinner than recommended, to no avail. I don't know if I had a bad batch, or if the cold affected it, but it seems to have just settled wherever it was pushed and then made a token effort at levelling itself.
Day 40
I finished the bathroom floor tiles this morning. Because of the self-unevening compound debacle, it needed around 20mm of tile adhesive in places. I've had an electric fan running on it for 24 hours now but it still may not be dry by tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed. I really hope I'm wrong.
The framework for a box-out to cover the bathroom plumbing, rodding point, vent, UFH transformer etc. I'll make a seat pad for the top and turn it into a bench/dog bed.
Finally got the stone veneer onto the face and lip of the mezzanine. I would have loved to have done this in a single piece but didn't think I could wait the 12 weeks quoted for an oversized piece to fit. Some of the joins are better than others – the material is an irregular thickness and shape - but nothing a bit of delicate sanding and filling can't tidy.
If you thought the tile-cutting station was a disaster waiting to happen, check out my Friday the 13th work area. You can also make out the concrete block fireplace taking shape at the back. I have a full 30cm of space to work in there
Other little jobs tackled: switch boxes deepened, kick boards fitted, entrance shelves finished, kitchen blanking plates fitted.
The vermiculite boards that arrived just as I was leaving last month turned out to be the glass when unwrapped, not the vermiculite. I've no idea where the vermiculite is and I don't think I can wait any longer so I'm going to build the fireplace using just aerated concrete. The stonecutters are correcting a mistake in the fireplace piece. I hope to collect that tomorrow afternoon and then finish the fireplace. Then I can get on with finishing the flooring. Assuming the floor tiles have set, the rest of the time will be spent tiling the bathroom walls.
I finished the bathroom floor tiles this morning. Because of the self-unevening compound debacle, it needed around 20mm of tile adhesive in places. I've had an electric fan running on it for 24 hours now but it still may not be dry by tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed. I really hope I'm wrong.
The framework for a box-out to cover the bathroom plumbing, rodding point, vent, UFH transformer etc. I'll make a seat pad for the top and turn it into a bench/dog bed.
Finally got the stone veneer onto the face and lip of the mezzanine. I would have loved to have done this in a single piece but didn't think I could wait the 12 weeks quoted for an oversized piece to fit. Some of the joins are better than others – the material is an irregular thickness and shape - but nothing a bit of delicate sanding and filling can't tidy.
If you thought the tile-cutting station was a disaster waiting to happen, check out my Friday the 13th work area. You can also make out the concrete block fireplace taking shape at the back. I have a full 30cm of space to work in there
Other little jobs tackled: switch boxes deepened, kick boards fitted, entrance shelves finished, kitchen blanking plates fitted.
The vermiculite boards that arrived just as I was leaving last month turned out to be the glass when unwrapped, not the vermiculite. I've no idea where the vermiculite is and I don't think I can wait any longer so I'm going to build the fireplace using just aerated concrete. The stonecutters are correcting a mistake in the fireplace piece. I hope to collect that tomorrow afternoon and then finish the fireplace. Then I can get on with finishing the flooring. Assuming the floor tiles have set, the rest of the time will be spent tiling the bathroom walls.
Day 41
Bit of a broken day today. I started off on tiling the concealed cistern but got the call from the stone-cutter to say that the piece for the fireplace had been corrected and was ready to collect. I looked at the clock and realised if I was quick I could get there (30km) and visit the other two stores I needed supplies from before they all closed for the traditional 2 hour lunch.
I managed to get pretty much everything I went for but the stone piece still isn't right. The 4mm glass arrived and it doesn't fit in the '5mm' slot they've cut in the stone. It's 5mm in places but the glass could not be persuaded. So it'll have to go back for a fourth round of corrective work. It means the fireplace will definitely not be ready for kick-off next Friday. Shame.
So, tiling the cistern wall was the priority as the throne can't be hung until the tiling is complete there. I'm bored of having a coffee every time I need to answer the call of nature.
I made a start at tiling the shower area - the second priority - but once again noise restrictions stopped play at just the wrong time. I forgot to trim 10mm off the bottom of the last tile of the bottom row, only realising after the curfew. Ordinarily I'd have chanced it but I'm not in the caretaker's good books at the moment and we're not really supposed to be working at the weekend anyway. The tile cutter is ruddy noisy too.
The little bench for the entrance area is fitted. The top panel is loose and I'll be topping that with some foam and wrapping it in cow before screwing the two panels together.
And the bench/plumbing and electrics boxout/dog bed is also ready. The seat pad has a peg on the underside that slots snugly into a frame so that you can easily remove it to access the electrics, plumbing and a rodding point for the somewhat windy network of waste pipes - just in case. I'll wrap this in foam and cow too. I reckon it's just large enough for Scruff to sleep on. He loves my reindeer skin in London so hopefully he'll take to cow hide too.
Treating myself to a pizza and a beer, and access to the adjoining estate agent's wifi. It's nice to be able to relax with a bit of space, cleanliness and warmth in the evening!
Last day tomorrow. Then I fly back to Blighty. Fingers crossed I can get the essentials sorted. I'll be driving down next week with SWMBO and the pooch, arriving Friday. It'll be school holidays from Monday which means no noisy work at all until early January, so the pressure is on.
Bit of a broken day today. I started off on tiling the concealed cistern but got the call from the stone-cutter to say that the piece for the fireplace had been corrected and was ready to collect. I looked at the clock and realised if I was quick I could get there (30km) and visit the other two stores I needed supplies from before they all closed for the traditional 2 hour lunch.
I managed to get pretty much everything I went for but the stone piece still isn't right. The 4mm glass arrived and it doesn't fit in the '5mm' slot they've cut in the stone. It's 5mm in places but the glass could not be persuaded. So it'll have to go back for a fourth round of corrective work. It means the fireplace will definitely not be ready for kick-off next Friday. Shame.
So, tiling the cistern wall was the priority as the throne can't be hung until the tiling is complete there. I'm bored of having a coffee every time I need to answer the call of nature.
I made a start at tiling the shower area - the second priority - but once again noise restrictions stopped play at just the wrong time. I forgot to trim 10mm off the bottom of the last tile of the bottom row, only realising after the curfew. Ordinarily I'd have chanced it but I'm not in the caretaker's good books at the moment and we're not really supposed to be working at the weekend anyway. The tile cutter is ruddy noisy too.
The little bench for the entrance area is fitted. The top panel is loose and I'll be topping that with some foam and wrapping it in cow before screwing the two panels together.
And the bench/plumbing and electrics boxout/dog bed is also ready. The seat pad has a peg on the underside that slots snugly into a frame so that you can easily remove it to access the electrics, plumbing and a rodding point for the somewhat windy network of waste pipes - just in case. I'll wrap this in foam and cow too. I reckon it's just large enough for Scruff to sleep on. He loves my reindeer skin in London so hopefully he'll take to cow hide too.
Treating myself to a pizza and a beer, and access to the adjoining estate agent's wifi. It's nice to be able to relax with a bit of space, cleanliness and warmth in the evening!
Last day tomorrow. Then I fly back to Blighty. Fingers crossed I can get the essentials sorted. I'll be driving down next week with SWMBO and the pooch, arriving Friday. It'll be school holidays from Monday which means no noisy work at all until early January, so the pressure is on.
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