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Getting plastered, and painting the town, erm, matt contract white


Crofter

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Since the last update, the interior of the cottage has come on leaps and bounds. The rather unusual partitions and ceilings were all framed up and then plasterboarded. I was sensible enough to enlist help with some vaulted ceilings, having learnt the hard way that a 9.5mm board balanced on your head is quite liable to snap in half.

 

I had originally planned to simply tape and fill, but at short notice heard that a plasterer was up on the island and available for work (his original contract had been delayed). So it was a mad rush to finish all those fiddly little window reveals etc and then watch the amazing transformation as the whole interior received a full plaster skim. It's made an enormous difference to the feel of the building, turning it from the untidy patchwork of plasterboard to a lovely smooth dusky pink uniformity. You can now truly get a feel for how the space works- and the feeling is good!

 

My electrician was a little less pleased than I was, because we hadn't quite finished all of the wiring yet, but it was nothing that some educated guesswork and some poking around with a bit of bent fencewire couldn't resolve. I did put one hole in the wrong place, and was pleasantly surprised to find that polyfilla does actually work, creating a perfect seamless repair. I'd only ever used it on plasterboard surfaces previously, and you just can't quite hide the edge between filler and paper.

 

Next step was to get on with painting- it seems to make sense to do this before installing flooring, kitchen, doors etc. The new plaster is fairly gobbling up my contract white paint, but I'm sure it'll only take a few more coats before I can switch to the final finish. The worst part so far has been the section of wall which will have the woodburner flue running in front of it. This is boarded with cement fibre board and the plaster has taken on a noticeably darker tone, which the paint has not entirely managed to hide.

 

It feels as though the end is very much in sight, but of course the remaining interior work- paint, tiles, floor, skirting, doors, kitchen, bathroom, plumbing- is a huge amount of work, and then there is the outside jobs that have yet to be completed.

 

One last piece of progress has been my electrical connection. Originally I had been quoted around £2000 for this, and the work had proceeded up to the point where the cable would enter the house, but no final connection was made. A few months later I was told that my quote had expired, and I received a partial refund to reflect the outstanding work. Fast forward a few more months, and when I tried to get the remaining work done, I was once again quoted the full £2000. It turned out that they hadn't updated their records and thought that no work had been carried out yet. There followed several emails and phonecalls to various different people, but this morning I received a revised quote which, in their words, had 'come down quite a bit'. Indeed it had- it was now for under £300, as expected. So, that was time well spent. If in doubt, always query the bill!

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Looking good.

 

I would appreciate (by PM?) the name and phone number of the plasterer and if he might be up this way ever? Plasterers are thin on the ground here, I only know of one.

 

Also how much did he charge you?

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On 6/30/2017 at 23:45, Tennentslager said:

Aww he was still in the oven when this all started?

Looks great will you get any lets this season

 

This season is slipping away... the plan is to get it basically habitable and then stick it on AirBnB at a nightly rate, just to get some money coming in. Remaining cladding, decking, and various fiddly little bits and bobs can wait till next year, when we'll likely switch to weekly lets since it will be far less work. Although that will depend on the job situation as well- I might find I'm better off staying at home and running the cottage full time.

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What a funny wee place... that's just along the road from me so I'm surprised I don't recognise it. I'm amazed that they're charging the same sort of rates that I'm thinking of, given they are 18m2 and my place will be 43m2. There does seem to be a market for glamping type properties though. Have I made the house too big??

 

I've heard good reports from both AirBnB and Booking.com from various people I know on Skye. Right now almost every accommodation provider seems to be turning people away. Hopefully the boom will last long enough for me to finish my place...

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Certainly sign up for both, there is no fee to you, they both work by taking a commission on bookings through them. Air BnB pay almost straight away for each booking, Booking,com settle their account monthly one month in arrears.

 

I can see you now splitting your house down the middle and making it two semi's.  I would certainly prefer to book an individual house like your rather than one in a field of sheds.

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