The Morecambe DIY Project

[accykeef]

The smallest room was also given the same window sill treatment when it had it's makeover.

Once the new window had been fitted and the loose plaster removed. The plumbing for the shower and toilet could be installed


The whole room was plaster boarded and an access hatch to the shower plumbing installed. I thought that this was a good way to stop the women using the window sill but Mrs keef put her foot down.


She still wasn't happy when I made it so the window could be opened.


In the end we settled for a full size window and a sloping sill.


The Shamrock thrives in here and has grown from a wispy twig to a large plant in a very short time. Luckily it was not on the window sill

[WillowTheWhisp]

Is it dangling? Yes I do put plants on windowsills. I've got some rosemary cuttings and some lettuces on our dining room windowsill. ;D

[accykeef]

Oct 30, 2009 19:20:51 GMT WillowTheWhisp said:

Is it dangling? Yes I do put plants on windowsills. I've got some rosemary cuttings and some lettuces on our dining room windowsill. ;D

No - it has it's own little shelf aah!

[WillowTheWhisp]

aah sweet! Is that a Christmas cactus in there too?

[accykeef]

I have been wearing several hats over the past few weeks and this weekend was a chance to wield a sharp knife and play at carpet fitting.

We were given a virtually new carpet which was being replaced and as it was the right colour for us, we took full advantage of the gift horse. The carpet was originally in a similar sized house to ours and covered the living room, hallway, stairs and landing.
The dining room was the first target and a lot of shifting had to be done to get to the old carpet. Once clear of furniture, the new carpet went down a treat and the furniture was replaced.
There was even enough to replace an old nylon carpet in one of the bedrooms.

[trevnhil]

Good morning Keith. That carpet certainly looks good and also the furniture. I have not seen a Dresser with a fixed pane and two doors with turn buttons to hold them closed.

It all gels together and looks fine.

Regards. Trev..

[WillowTheWhisp]

Nice job Keith, nice dresser too. I love dark wood furniture like that. Our dresser in contrast is an antique oak one far more country kitchen than your posh house version. ;D

Those squishy cushions on the chairs look lovely and comfy.

[accykeef]

As DIY season has reared it's head again, I thought I would update our DIY thread.
We decided after much soul searching to change the still draughty wooden door for a pretty UPVC one and here it is.
Ignore the flash reflection in the mirror.



Only problem is, it is still abit draughty as the adjuster cannot be tightened enough - the suppliers are on the case.

The living room is getting a makeover at the moment and a few additions are being made. The fluorescent light, so Mrs Keef can see her spell books better has been planned for a number of years and now it is reality. The starter and ballast resistor live behind the speaker so only the tube is visible. The hands have to be varnished and the tube is going to get some sort of cover round it. I thought of using pipe lagging so there is just a slit on the tube casting light downwards.



I have also had to do my least favorite job of plastering to hide the wires in the wall. That is done so now it is a case of much sanding as I have converted Mrs Keef to Gloss paint from her previous love of all things matt.

[trevnhil]

Hi Keith.
Well it's good to see that your wife has got you working again now. I like the idea of the fluorescent light, and I can see how the pipe lagging idea will work. Is that the good old fashioned wood chip wallpaper that I see you have? No doubt you will be trying to patch it up and gloss over it, Ha ha.

The front door looks good, but it's not long ago since you did all that varnishing and polishing the brass numbers. Bet the postman is not too happy about that letterbox being so low, but I can see that you had little option, and I trust you won't worry too much about him / her ;D

Keep up the good work and keep us informed .

Cheers. Trev..

[WillowTheWhisp]

I like the hands holding up the light. Whose idea was that? I like things a little bit different. I've got all kinds of ideas of things I'd like to do but we never seem to have time to get round to them. Coachman likes knocking walls down and some of his ideas worry me in case the whole house falls down! He's done a great job upstairs though changing the layout of a two rooms/staircase arrangement.

[accykeef]

That woodchip is blown vinyl Trev my old love - just cus you have got some posh gaff in Cyprus doesn't make you any better than us paupers you know!

We have electricity here so there

Glad your bungalow is coming together at last - it might have been frustrating but I am sure it will all be worth it in the end. I am happy for you - no really, you posh &*&&^%^.

Mrs Keef does a lot of reading and the hands holding a fluorescent light was an idea I had a few years ago. I started them a few years ago and they have been around for quite a while partly finished. I still need to sand them to shape and varnish them but I will get there.


Time for a change we thought so get rid of the purple and enter our pinky red phase.



After doing only a small part, it was clear that the red paint would need some help covering the purple up, so an undercoat was applied. After undercoating all of the paintwork (which there is a lot of) I glossed it after a few drying days. The door is going to be grey as it would look like the door to a brothel if it was all red!



It was then that disaster struck - no idea why but these craters started to appear in various places and looked a real mess. This is the middle of the window bottom and there was only one thing for it - take the paint off.



This was the state of play after a couple of days drying and let me tell you, I was not a happy bunny



There are numerous ways of getting paint off but the router seemed a reasonable method so I put my goggles on and set to work.



After much cursing and a hell of a lot of dust, the wood was revealed.



I made a lot of mess but was past caring and just got on with it





Sammy, the not very good sander, was brough out in an attempt to get the wood smooth again and eventually the surface was back to something useable. Still not sure what caused the craters and the chap in the paint shop was just as mystified.




Unlike the main part of the window bottom, the back edge was sound so decided to leave the old paint on.





The rest of the room seemed OK but when I was fine sanding the wire cover and shelf under the telly, I discovered more of the uncured paint and had to remove a small patch of that too. The picture below is before I started sanding, it looks OK but even after 2 days, small patches of it are still tacky.



After taking it back down to the bare MDF in places, it was time to start again.





One other thing I was not happy about was my dodgy plastering by the window. I buried some cables under the shelf for the strip light and when the traces were cut, a lot of plaster came off. My plastering skills could be better and I decided that the best way to get a decent finish was to platerboard that bit. It looks a lot better now and I am happy with it. I have also painted the door today and while I had the grey paint out, I have finished off the doors on the landing. All good fun but I had thought that the job would be done by now.

[trevnhil]

Hi Keith.
It's good to hear, and see haw the Morecambe DIY project is coming along.
So you spotted my deliberate mistake about the 'wood-chip' Of course I knew that you would not be allowed to have that in your lounge.

It is coming along now, but of course it is a shame when you get setbacks like craters in your paint. Like your supplier I have not seen that before, it must have been very disheartening. It's bad enough doing a job once let alone doing it twice.

Our place is not a palace and all our walls are plasterboard on the inside.

I didn't know what you were talking about when you said you would prefer to have Grey doors instead of Red, as I have not been to those places you describe. However thanks for enlightening me.

I liked the large (posh) TV screen. We still have the old steam CRT jobbie, not had to change a valve for ages now.

I also liked the view of the snowdrops outside, a sure sign that Spring is just around the corner.

Keep us informed with Pics and words...... It's looking good.

Best wishes. Trev..

[accykeef]

Top marks to the keen eyed snowdrop spotter!
Been rubbing down the shelf under the telly and the widow bottom today as well as creating the base for my next work of art, to hide the large speakers within the shelves. More info and pictures on that will appear soon but the there is a delay - more details to follow. The big telly is a great thing and although we are not really telly fans, it is great to pretend we are in the cinema - just need a way to stop Mrs Keef from throwing popcorn around and going to the toilet during the good bits - any suggestions?

[WillowTheWhisp]

Did those craters appear as it was drying? It looks like it didn't key onto the undercoat for some reason.

[accykeef]

We have started with the fencing but progress is slow.


The nasturtiums are growing faster than the fence at the moment


In the land of optical illusions, the post looks crooked but it is as vertical as I can get it. I had been using one of those angled post spirit level things but I discovered it was way off vertical so I have binned it and gone back to the traditional straight one.


This hole should have been easy to dig as it was at the back where there is no concrete


After much digging it is now ready


Althought should one hole have so many stones, pebbles and concrete in it?


The next ones involve breaking through the concrete and I just know there is some hard graft ahead. The side is no better as there is a small matter of the trees to consider. The roots of the privet in the corner were deeper than the post and concrete. Looks like there are good times ahead at Keefy Towers.