Our French farmhouse build thread.
Discussion
Photos that were missing from the previous post as half of them were sideways when I tried to post yesterday.
Living/dining room
Kitchen
Stairs to landing
Landing
Bedroom 1
Ensuite 1
Bedroom 2
Ensuite 2
Other bedrooms and bathroom has not changed since I last posted photos of them.
Finally the garage light
Living/dining room
Kitchen
Stairs to landing
Landing
Bedroom 1
Ensuite 1
Bedroom 2
Ensuite 2
Other bedrooms and bathroom has not changed since I last posted photos of them.
Finally the garage light
Over the weekend I got working on one of my side projects in the house and wired up a sensor in the hallway so we have a light come on automatically in the middle of the night. The end plan will use much lower wattage lights as it is just to be a guide if you need a pee in the middle of the night. At the moment it is a rather bright light.
With this came a shift around of the chest in the hallway and a little decoration under the stairs to make it a little more us.
We also managed to get all the undercoating finished today before the Easter holidays start.
With this came a shift around of the chest in the hallway and a little decoration under the stairs to make it a little more us.
We also managed to get all the undercoating finished today before the Easter holidays start.
Back from a break in the UK and have got the 3 bathroom ceilings painted so next week will be in to start tiling, hopefully, while the wife carries on the painting.
During our “holiday” in the UK I finished off the laundry and cellar cupboards for the in-laws that we started at Christmas. Having completed this it means every visit, I think, I will have jobs to do!
As pictures of dried paint aren’t really what I want to post I have done a couple of other bits in our main house. First up was to replace all the surface mount plugs that we re-used from the original kitchen with new flush mount items. Having built the wall and wired it up with only small holes for the wires to poke through I was a little concerned about dropping the wires down the back as I drilled holes for the news plugs. After sweating about this for a week I came up with the solution of drilling holes below the current plugs where we would eventually tile so I could grab the wires. Worked a treat and made the job a much simpler affair than I had built up in my head.
The chosen tiles for doing the kitchen where small tiles in a sheet. Nice and easy I thought. I put the first sheet on the back wall that isn’t particularly straight (has more waves in it than Brighton beach) and saw them follow the contour of the wall. Scrub that for the time being and moved on to my nice straight wall. What a pain in the backside they are! I ended up with spacers between every tile for the vertical and horizontal. It looked like an oversubscribed graveyard by the end. Now all I have to do is straighten out the back wall were the tiles will go and then lay them before grouting.
Other project is lighting in our entrance hall. I have now started hanging the lights. It will take a while to get them all up at the right height so it has the desired look from a few different perspectives. Also have various different wattage bulbs. The blue lamp shade is the sensor driven ones that we are experimenting with to get the right light levels so as not to blind you one the night time bleary eyed toilet run!
During our “holiday” in the UK I finished off the laundry and cellar cupboards for the in-laws that we started at Christmas. Having completed this it means every visit, I think, I will have jobs to do!
As pictures of dried paint aren’t really what I want to post I have done a couple of other bits in our main house. First up was to replace all the surface mount plugs that we re-used from the original kitchen with new flush mount items. Having built the wall and wired it up with only small holes for the wires to poke through I was a little concerned about dropping the wires down the back as I drilled holes for the news plugs. After sweating about this for a week I came up with the solution of drilling holes below the current plugs where we would eventually tile so I could grab the wires. Worked a treat and made the job a much simpler affair than I had built up in my head.
The chosen tiles for doing the kitchen where small tiles in a sheet. Nice and easy I thought. I put the first sheet on the back wall that isn’t particularly straight (has more waves in it than Brighton beach) and saw them follow the contour of the wall. Scrub that for the time being and moved on to my nice straight wall. What a pain in the backside they are! I ended up with spacers between every tile for the vertical and horizontal. It looked like an oversubscribed graveyard by the end. Now all I have to do is straighten out the back wall were the tiles will go and then lay them before grouting.
Other project is lighting in our entrance hall. I have now started hanging the lights. It will take a while to get them all up at the right height so it has the desired look from a few different perspectives. Also have various different wattage bulbs. The blue lamp shade is the sensor driven ones that we are experimenting with to get the right light levels so as not to blind you one the night time bleary eyed toilet run!
Thanks for the good comments. Glad people are still enjoying it.
We have now started putting colour on the walls. The bathrooms have been painted and the kitchen has its first coat on. The living room is just also getting its first coat.
Now for an admission of not researching and finding a massive mistake! Having never fitted a shower before I thought it would be a case of sticking it to the floor by magic and sealing it in! Having now done my research I know it isn’t held in place by magic but by a mortar base or you can get ones that sit on feet. This does not fit with the vision and as we are not tiling the floor after it is fitted I have had to cut out all my well laid flooring to sink it below the floor level so it doesn’t sit too high. Pictures will be taken of my progress in this, as I correct what is hopefully the last major cockup I make! Thankfully all the waste pipes sit low enough to allow me to countersink.
We have now started putting colour on the walls. The bathrooms have been painted and the kitchen has its first coat on. The living room is just also getting its first coat.
Now for an admission of not researching and finding a massive mistake! Having never fitted a shower before I thought it would be a case of sticking it to the floor by magic and sealing it in! Having now done my research I know it isn’t held in place by magic but by a mortar base or you can get ones that sit on feet. This does not fit with the vision and as we are not tiling the floor after it is fitted I have had to cut out all my well laid flooring to sink it below the floor level so it doesn’t sit too high. Pictures will be taken of my progress in this, as I correct what is hopefully the last major cockup I make! Thankfully all the waste pipes sit low enough to allow me to countersink.
Well overdue for an update. The showers flooring is now ready, all we need to do is get the sand and cement to make the mortar base. Unfortunately when we went away for a couple of weeks, the back door of the truck was slightly open so the battery was completely dead, so much so that the battery chargers won’t even recognise it!
Once it is sorted we will get our next supply of building goods. In the meantime, I have tiled the first bathroom and will be grouting it tomorrow. Apologies for all those who posted their opinion on how the tiles should be laid. The wife had the final say and chose to stack. All 3 bathrooms have their towel radiators fitted and wired in.
Every wall has paint on it and the double height wall and landing have had a 2nd coat. With the double height wall finished I started to put the light fittings in for the landing light along with fitting the second wall light. Where I wanted to put the junction for the light I had the misfortune to drill into the metal work. Not the end of the world but took a little longer than a hole in plasterboard. Along with this I had to chase out a bit of the plasterboard, so my finished wall is no longer.
3 more lights have had their fittings put in the wall without incident. No matter how many photos you take it is never quite enough to show you where you have framed when you want to drill a hole.
Work in the kitchen has included putting up and extractor fan and starting to tile the back splash. I have also stuck in the back box for the light into the stone wall. Now all I need to do there is point it to fill in the gaps. Will soon be at the point of mixing some more lime mortar to fill around the switch, render the bottom of the trough and fill in around where the new windows were broken in.
4 lights have gone up in the living/dining room. We have the 2 wall lights that match the upstairs ones and a collection of lights that hang over where the coffee table will be placed. The dining light is in the ceiling but will be secured to the beam when we know how the dining table fits so it can sit over the centre.
That’s the progress so far. We are definitely now on the home straight.
Once it is sorted we will get our next supply of building goods. In the meantime, I have tiled the first bathroom and will be grouting it tomorrow. Apologies for all those who posted their opinion on how the tiles should be laid. The wife had the final say and chose to stack. All 3 bathrooms have their towel radiators fitted and wired in.
Every wall has paint on it and the double height wall and landing have had a 2nd coat. With the double height wall finished I started to put the light fittings in for the landing light along with fitting the second wall light. Where I wanted to put the junction for the light I had the misfortune to drill into the metal work. Not the end of the world but took a little longer than a hole in plasterboard. Along with this I had to chase out a bit of the plasterboard, so my finished wall is no longer.
3 more lights have had their fittings put in the wall without incident. No matter how many photos you take it is never quite enough to show you where you have framed when you want to drill a hole.
Work in the kitchen has included putting up and extractor fan and starting to tile the back splash. I have also stuck in the back box for the light into the stone wall. Now all I need to do there is point it to fill in the gaps. Will soon be at the point of mixing some more lime mortar to fill around the switch, render the bottom of the trough and fill in around where the new windows were broken in.
4 lights have gone up in the living/dining room. We have the 2 wall lights that match the upstairs ones and a collection of lights that hang over where the coffee table will be placed. The dining light is in the ceiling but will be secured to the beam when we know how the dining table fits so it can sit over the centre.
That’s the progress so far. We are definitely now on the home straight.
Bathroom has now been grouted, plumbing fitted and around the bath has had silicon sealant done. Now awaiting a shopping trip to go and get more silicon to finish the job. It’s not quite the same having places that are an hours round trip at least instead of just down the road.
The living room and first bedroom have now had their last coat of paint on. Backsplash in the kitchen has now been finished and today I will be cleaning the floor up in the kitchen to test lay the floor. The travertine we bought at a very good price and is to be laid in the opus or versaille pattern. That should keep me on my toes getting it right. At the moment it is stacked up in the trough after moving it into the barn yesterday.
The living room and first bedroom have now had their last coat of paint on. Backsplash in the kitchen has now been finished and today I will be cleaning the floor up in the kitchen to test lay the floor. The travertine we bought at a very good price and is to be laid in the opus or versaille pattern. That should keep me on my toes getting it right. At the moment it is stacked up in the trough after moving it into the barn yesterday.
Shower screen is now up and sealed in. Still need to seal a couple of bits around the bath when I next get the silicon sealant out.
Shower trays are in in the other 2 bathrooms so next job in there is to tile.
The ladder that is to hold the lights is up in the stairwell and awaiting the wife to decide what heights she want the 3 lights at.
Kitchen floor is going down. I have now reached the point where I need to render the trough and then finish of. I also have a little square that I have to level off before tiles go down there. Pleased with the results so far and only broken one tile when I trod on it with a little bit of debris under it.
Friday we had a day trip to Paris to apply for mine and daughters Australian passports. Detour on the way back to pick up a Sheen Paraffin flame gun for weeding. Should be fun and games doing all the weeding now!
On Wednesday we have a delivery of calcaire and then on Thursday our gravel is being delivered so the drive can be finished. It is due to rain so I should be kept cool while shifting the 15 tonnes around.
Once this is done it will be time to arrange another Sunday Service.
Shower trays are in in the other 2 bathrooms so next job in there is to tile.
The ladder that is to hold the lights is up in the stairwell and awaiting the wife to decide what heights she want the 3 lights at.
Kitchen floor is going down. I have now reached the point where I need to render the trough and then finish of. I also have a little square that I have to level off before tiles go down there. Pleased with the results so far and only broken one tile when I trod on it with a little bit of debris under it.
Friday we had a day trip to Paris to apply for mine and daughters Australian passports. Detour on the way back to pick up a Sheen Paraffin flame gun for weeding. Should be fun and games doing all the weeding now!
On Wednesday we have a delivery of calcaire and then on Thursday our gravel is being delivered so the drive can be finished. It is due to rain so I should be kept cool while shifting the 15 tonnes around.
Once this is done it will be time to arrange another Sunday Service.
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