Decorating 6

Saturday: I went for a hike [http://pathofthestorm.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/a-walk-in-two-dales.html], 

but that didn't mean nothing was done on the house.

OH spent the day filling holes, where we had taken out screws etc, such as up the stairs where one of the stair rails has been removed. He also took out the rather rubbish shelves in the wardrobe in the back bedroom, and removed a wall cabinet in the kitchen where we need the space for a fridge-freezer. There are some damp patches in the back bedroom wardrobe, so he sprayed that with a mould killer - the patches all seem completely dry, so it is just a cosmetic exercise (I hope), but the original source needs to be checked to make sure it doesn't become damp again.

Of course, things are never as straight forward as you would hope - the wall against where the end of the kitchen cabinet had been has never been finished properly, so we need to plaster a fair sized rectangle.

Monday: The carpet man came to measure the relevant rooms and to give us a price for the carpets, underlay, gripper rods and fitting. It wasn't too bad in the end; under £800 for the hall, stairs, landing, bedroom, and bathroom. All we need to do is make sure the floor is sound (we will need to cover it in plywood if it isn't) and clear the rooms of furniture. As no-one will be living there for another few weeks, lack of furniture isn't really an issue! In the afternoon, I went down to the carpet shop to pay a deposit and get the carpets ordered. Thankfully, all the ones we have chosen were in stock, so there will be no delay: a wine coloured carpet for the hall, stairs and landing; a lilac-grey coloured carpet for the bedroom; and a pale green marble effect tile-effect cushion flooring for the bathroom. The fitting is now scheduled for 16th November, which doesn't give us too much time to complete the decorating.

Meanwhile, I also painted the whole of the woodwork in the hall, stairs and landing, including all doorways and skirtings. In addition, I put some primer/undercoat on the wardrobe doors.

Tuesday: Progress seems to be so slow! Today I painted all the woodwork in the back bedroom and the wardrobe. I seemed to be on forever doing the doorway. I had to put the step ladders inside the cupboard to reach the bit at the top, which was quite a squeeze!

I also washed the damp patches to remove the mould growth and sprayed it for the second time with a mould killer.

The wardrobe doors were a challenge. They were dark brown varnished plywood, so we decided they needed to be white. I removed the handles that were covered around the edges with brown varnish, filled one of the two holes (the previous handles had used two screws to hold them in place), and then painted the doors in white gloss, using a roller. It looks like they will need a second coat, but they are looking good so far.

I went to the DIY store and bought some hooks and new handles for the wardrobe doors. There are two other pairs of doors in the front bedroom that will need similar treatment, so I bought a pack of six brushed steel door knobs. I will need to get some longer screws, or else counter sin k the ones that came with the knobs - they seem to have been made to be used as drawer handles, rather than wardrobe doors with full thickness doors. I will post a photo when they are in place, but the doors need another coat of paint before I fit the handles.

Wednesday: OH fitted a new ceiling in the wardrobe. The mould and damp had eaten through the surface and so there was a hole. 

This picture was taken before I started to wash the ceiling.

I discovered the hole when I washed the mould off yesterday and realised all that was holding things together in one corner was actually only old wallpaper. As the paper got wet with me washing it, it gave way to reveal a hole behind. So we fitted a piece of plasterboard over the whole ceiling and sealed the edges. It's looking good so far.

At the same time, I painted some of the walls in the back bedroom with a stain blocker.

There is evidence of historic damp on the window wall, as well as inside the wardrobe. I don't want the patches to bleed through the new wallpaper/paint, so it was expedient to cover it up with a blocker.

Once that was done, I started on the papering of the hall, stairs and landing. 

First I gathered all my gear together, and set up the pasting table. There isn't a lot of room on the landing once the table is opened out! I am not fond of my pasting table to be honest. We have had it forever and it is now convex instead of flat and has lumps and bumps all round the edge, making it unhelpful when trying to pull paper across it. So later on this afternoon, OH went out and bought me a new one.

We are using a blown vinyl, that will be painted afterwards.

Beginning with the short wall dividing the landing from the stairs, I then papered the awkward shapes down the stairs. Instead of being a single drop from top to bottom, the wall is divided into sections - there is a wooden rail going diagonally up the stairs, on which the stair rail is attached, then for some reason there is a horizontal wooden beam too. It is decorative, but it seems like I had to paper that wall three times over - once for each section.

When that was done, I hung four sheets of full length paper, this being the only straight forward thing I have done all day! 

The third and fourth sheets went round the corner of the stair well. Apologies for the blob in the top centre of the photos; if you have read my other blog, you will have discovered that my camera has died, so I have to use my phone. It seems to be a problem with the aperture/focusing on the lens, rather than the camera itself. I do have another lens, but it isn't as wide angle as the usual one, so it is not easy to take photos with it in restricted spaces. 

We worked out that at the present rate, it will take eleven days to complete the paper hanging - and we still have a load of painting to do.

I was offered some help from a friend and her daughter, but while it is taking a long time, we only have one pasting table and other necessary tools, so until we start painting the wallpaper, there isn't really anything someone else could do. The paper obviously can't be painted till it is on the wall!!

On average, I am spending about 6 hours a day there, working on the decorating, yet it feels like nothing is ever going to be finished. First there was the paint, which took much longer than I thought it would (I was beginning to hate the inside of the back bedroom wardrobe by the time I had finished!). Then the paper is going on so slowly - one long sheet every half an hour or so. Finally, when the paper is all on, it has to be painted. Instead of decorating once, it feels like I am doing the whole house two or three times over!! However, as long as I get the hall, stairs and landing, and the back bedroom finished before the carpets arrive, the rest will be a bonus. Of course, I would like to do the whole house before the furniture arrives to clutter it up, so we are working on that! If the front bedroom isn't finished, I won't be upset, but I'd like the rest to be done before moving day.