Renovations - Part Twenty-Four

Bringing you all the latest progress updates a little later than normal this week as I have been so busy working on the renovations myself this week.

We came to the realisation that getting the whole of the interior of the building painted was going to cost a LOT of money as the surface areas are just so big. So, we've decided to give it a go ourselves.

Like with any new task I started with lots of energy and excitment but after 5 full on days the novetly is fading and I'm just feeling really tired. A good start has been made though......

In the room upstairs (soon to be the studio/workroom area), all the walls and a good chunk of the ceiling has been painted with its first coat of white wash paint onto the new plaster.

To get right up to the apex of the ceiling we need to build a double tower of scaffolding which is just a bit more awkward (and scary) but its just that section that needs its white wash now.

The other big huge massive job that we have both been working on is stripping the wooden beams in that room and it is one massive job. I thought painting was tough but it seems easy now that we are trying to clean up the beams.

The picture below shows both the big old original A frames and beams - covered in layers of paint and so much dirt and dust. The one closest hasn't been touched yet and the one in the background is now pretty much finished. Its such a long heavy going process to clean it up....Heat gun the top 3 layers of paint off - which leaves this sort of stucky, gummy brown stuff. Then a special chemical gets left on for an hour to strip the rest of the stuff off. Then the hardest part - removing all the gunk which is so messy. Que lots and lots of scrapping and rubbing with wire wool, scrubbing with detergent, then, finally, sanding it.

The picture below is just before I scrap off all the guncky stuff....

Then......after (with the wire wool, detergent and sanding and cleaning still to go!).....

The horizontal beams and the top sections of the A frames hadn't been painted as they used to be in the loft area. So no paint stripping there - just a heck of a lot of dust and dirt to scrub off!

Even though I had specs and a mask on I was still completely covered in dust and dirt!

It' s come up really well so far. I just need the double scaffold tower to get right up to the top.

On the ground floor, the picture rail has started to go up this week too. Its funny how what seems like quite a small thing can have an impact on the room. I can't wait to start painting this room too!

Out in the court yard things are starting to look a lot tidier. The first coat of render has gone up this week so hopefully it won't take too long to dry (in these freezing temperatures) and the top coat of white render can go on next week. The walls were so patchy before and the brick work damaged with what used to be the interior plaster.

The plan for next week is to keep ploughing away at the A frames and beams up stairs as well as painting all the new plaster. I've recruited my parents to help too so hoping to make some good head way with it all!