From house to home, Part 2 – guest post by rachel

 

This autumn we are having a house warming party. It counts as autumn because it is not yet December.* And it is the season of mists. My current mood could not be described as mellow, and there is a distinct lack of fruitfulness in the air. However, there is definitely going to be a party. To this end I have laid down the following requirements to PB.

There will be a large room in which our friends from the choir can sing show tunes. (The choir itself is of the principled unaccompanied variety which has a tendency to sing African liberation songs in four part harmony. I am of the firm belief that liberation would be much improved by a few show tunes. I understand that not everyone may agree with me on this point.)

There will be a place where people can eat, drink and be merry. Drinking, in this case, will mostly consist of the highly recommended Aldi Cremant de Jura plus anything people choose to bring. And possibly some champagne to libate with.

There will be a downstairs loo to ease the pressure on the single avocado bathroom that retains its 1970′s period charm.

Said downstairs loo will be functioning in the space under the stairs.  Yes, the one that leads to the large pile of rubble. Therefore, there also need to be steps to reach the aforesaid sanitary facility.

This is the hole that is going to be turned into a beautiful flight of steps.

On the left you can see the gap that was the old pantry.

This is the old pantry that is going to be the new loo. PB has lowered the floor to enable an upright posture.

He is currently placing stairs in the void.

There has been progress.

It is much darker for two reasons. Firstly, the photo was taken at night. Secondly, there is wall on the right-hand side. Wall! These things are very exciting, you know. It may be plyboard at the back of studding, but wait until you see what is on the other side of that wall.

You will observe that the old pipe which ran directly across the void in the first photograph has been replaced by a new shiny pipe running down the wall.  Said pipe bends into the loo to be. You may not fully appreciate that the invisible tap on said pipe was the only supply of running water in the house. It made filling the kettle a little challenging.

Now for the big reveal. The other side of the wall.

To start with, I will present a posed photo of PB considering what to do.  He is staring into a raised box which exists so that there will be the correct head space for the stairs in the basement.   https://www.dropbox.com/s/u061eiiwzapwv10/2013-08-03%2017.39.51.jpg

You will notice that there are several holes in the floor. There is an absence of ceilling. The fireplace in the back right has been opened out. Stuffing has been built to support the wall.

This is what is looked like when the wall was first put in.

Observe the fabulous socket boxes. The amazing plaster board. The way the floor goes from one end to another with no visible gaps. The lovely new pipes for the central heating.

Here is an even better photo.

It’s a kitchen cabinet. A real, honest kitchen cabinet. Assembled by me. Which is going to have pan drawers in it. I draw your attention to the very fine piece of wood on the top. This is reclaimed iroko. It used to be a school lab bench. There is a gas pipe going up the back of the plastered fireplace. At some point in the not too distant future there will be an oven in that space.  And what you may not fully appreciate is the floor.

That floor has been completed with reclaimed Victorian planks. It has been stripped back. It has had its cracks filled in with natural wood filler. It has been lovingly coated with two layers of natural oils and waxes. It is a thing of beauty.

The worktop was also, briefly, a thing of beauty. Here it is. Before a single hot pan, wet coffee mug or spilt water drop had fallen on it.

Being intelligent, dear readers, you will immediately realise that the reason no drop had yet fallen upon it is because the sink has no tap, the socket boxes have no covers, and the general scope for cooking is rather limited. But it is a worktop. Hand-rubbed by me with two coats of wood protector and two coats of top oil. In theory these will protect it from water drips. (Speaking with hindsight, it now has what is known in interior decorating circles as a “distressed” look.)

I think it was at this point that my daughter was about to start her new school and we had found some tenants to move into my current house. Who really wanted to move now, but were prepared to wait a couple of weeks until our new house was ready to move into. Time was pressing.

* * *

* Er well.  It wasn’t.