Feels like a house (maybe)

It's been a while since I last wrote, and more than a week since we were last up there to meet with the project manager, inspect progress and plan the next few weeks of work. End of tax year and preparing the documentation to go to the Heritage Council has been higher priority than the blog - sorry!!

Since the last blog, there has indeed been progress.

In this pic there's still scaffolding (for the flueing), but a door or so upstairs at the front (sealed for safety of course since they currently open onto a drop rather than a balcony)!
The doors have design including fanlights as per original and have been handcrafted in cedar to fit... as all the doors and windows need to be where we cannot salvage the old ones. This building was 'hand made' so no two of the fittings are quite the same size!

...and now the scaffolding has gone.

and more doors are in - there's even windows now, but you'll have to wait for the next blog to see those!

...and don't you just love the green temporary drainpipe??





Now the focus is on the inside and getting a few rooms towards finished so they can be commandeered for use to put together kitchen and bathroom cabinets, and for storage, so we get at other things that are still stored in the garage!



There's still a way to go in most rooms - but now architraves are surrounding all the upstairs windows and they look amazing. The cedar will darken slightly when we oil the architraves but the grain will be more obvious and they will still look amazing!!

The ones we have salvaged still require attention though.

The slight imperfections in the walls became visible when they were skimmed, then the fine tuning plastering could be done prior to painting...looks like crazy paving!!

Since we were there last we have raided the paint shops and agonised over colours to find the right one; to be light in shade but not a 'nothing', and to tone with the warm colour of the cedar.

We then shortlisted...and finally selected (though also giving our project manager and heritage adviser the final say on its suitability when seen ON SITE!)

The pic shows the windows sealed and stacks of paint ready to go! After the first coat was on the verdict was a resounding positive. Whew - sighs of relief!!

Next steps include the door jambs and then hanging some of the 29 doors we acquired way back at the beginning. That too will release some space in the garage. Then the skirting boards. They are on site and being prepared for attachment, so won't we see a big difference on our next visit...

The rooms of course won't be really FINISHED - there will still be floors to polish and fireplaces and mantels to fit, but at least there will be floors, and painted walls and ceilings and skirting boards - and before too long there'll be the power points and light switches we've been selecting! Hopefully some of the lights can go up too. We have managed to acquire many lights that we hope will work well in the building - old style and not so small as to look inconspicuous in large rooms with 16 foot ceilings, but not too fussy either (we're not the chandelier type and don't feel they would be appropriate for this old sailors doss house)!

It is really starting to feel more like a house than a building site - at least upstairs. Downstairs is another stor(e)y, though we have a couple of floors now, and the drumming check has revealed that the walls are in better condition than those upstairs were.

Still wet areas and a lot of finishing to do upstairs but the progress continues.