So I finished putting down the floorboards this morning in the dining room. It certainly makes a difference to what it was like before. However I’ve got to get Andy the plumber back again to sort out the plumbing under the floor before I put the final boards down. Just need to then sand and varnish the boards…. 
I also managed to finish the gap in the front room following replacing the rotten joists. Ahh, it’s all coming together….. just another couple of years and I might finish the place…..
Well after nearly nine years of owning a boat the funds finally cleared from Slipway Marine. Although I’ve not owned the boat for a couple of months I was waiting for the marine mortgage to complete before finally allowing myself to close the “owning a boat” chapter of my life…..well for a little while anyway. Owning a boat is like having a cold shower and ripping up £50 notes and was one of the first things I was made aware about being a boat owner…….you could say the same thing about owning a house although I expect to get a return on it someday….
Ian and Pat from Timber, Fire and Stone finished the installation of my wood burning stove this morning and have done an excellent job. I can’t use it until tomorrow due to having to wait for the joining compound to dry where they’ve connected the stove to the chimney liner. Even then I’m only allowed to have a small kindling fire to check that the stove metalwork gets warmed up slowly otherwise having the stove heat up with a big huge hot fire first of all runs the risk of cracking the metal work as it expands to quickly. I’ve also been advised to clean the stove with WD40 and the slate hearth with linseed oil (with a little added white spirit).
I’m very much looking forward to getting the rest of the wooden floor down, sanded and varnished…..
So, Rick has finished putting the rest of the floor together on top of the footings so now looks like a proper floor. I’ve succumbed, and ordered reclaimed boards from Surrey Sawmills as getting new boards made wouldn’t have been that much cheaper. I should be looking at next week for the delivery of the boards and get a proper floor ready to sand along with the front room floor. Meanwhile I’ll make do with putting down loft boards so I’ve got something to walk on.
Just finished putting in the footings for the foundations of the dining room floor. It took a little while to complete but now we’re on the final leg of the work. Once this has dry Rick (The Plasterer / Builder) will build a platform for the floor boards to sit on. Talking of floorboards, I was hoping to put down reclaimed boards but they are around £30 per square yard so will opt for new boards at around £16 to save costs. Anyhow as I’m going to stain and varnish I don’t suppose it matters if the boards are new or not.