Week 26 - Six months in: decorating, floor tiling.
Entry posted by Benpointer in General
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It’s now six months since we broke ground and it's fair to say we’re very pleased with the progress since we began. We have of course been very lucky with the contractors we’ve had working on the project, right from the start with the great groundworks team and that’s continued pretty much throughout. And we’ve largely avoided unexpected surprises and delays.
That was until a couple of weeks ago when we found that our screed was not dry enough to start laying the floor tiles https://forum.buildhub.org.uk/blogs/entry/1122-week-24-juggling-with-the-plan/
Never mind, our decorator Steve Brady rescheduled some other work and came in a a week early.
Decorating
It took Steve and his son Tom just three days to mask and spray throughout - and what a transformation! If you are willing to have one colour throughout this has to be the quickest way to go.
Our thinking is that we will no doubt repaint rooms or individual wall in a range of colours in time but to allow us to move in as soon as possible we were happy to stick to one colour. Steve and Tom sprayed a mist coat of diluted Armstead trade white straight on to the plaster followed by another coat of Armstead, then two coats of Dulux Diamond Matt, mixed to ‘Dimity’. He then rollered over the walls which should help if we need to touch any paint up in the future (touching up spray finished paint by roller or brush doesn’t really work apparently).
The results look great and we feel that it gives us a really solid paint job. Spraying does use a lot of paint though, especially with our vaulted ceilings and high walls: 80 litres of the Armstead and then 80 litres of the Dulux.
Steve and Tom our decorators:
The final rollering:
Tiling
Finally, by Thursday this week the screed reached a level where our floor tiler Steve Hillyard felt it was safe to start laying. The relatively drier weather we had last week has no doubt helped, and with the MVHR system running and the UFH on low the air humidity in the house dropped below 40% (the day the plasterers finished it was 98%).
Our delays have no doubt disrupted Steve’s schedule and he’s worked through this weekend to catch-up, which we really appreciate. The first tiles are looking great. They are 900mm x 600mm Italian porcelain tiles from Pietra Wood and Stone near Bath.
Focus for the next two weeks
Floor tiling
Bathrooms - my brother is with us for two weeks to make a start on out bathrooms.
Cladding - the scaffolding we need the high cladding is now in place.
Deliveries - bathroom, kitchen, appliances, door casings… all planned for delivery in the next couple of weeks.
2nd fix electrics - should start in the next two weeks.
Dashboard:
Contractor days on site this fortnight: 14
Contractor days on site since build start: 396
Budget: No change - still a bit over budget but within contingency.
Plan: Still on track to move in by Easter 2026.
Issues and worries closed this fortnight:
The screed is dry!
Current top issues and worries:
Nothing too concerning, which nice.
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