January 31, 2006

Doctors Visit

Off to the doc, throat and cough is no better and with training starting I need to get back to health

January 30, 2006

Water in the house

I rang Peter to get his lads to plum up the mains water. He did it so that meant we had water in the sinks, another mile stone!
I did not wait long, I took measurements off all the windows and went online for the prices.
I decided to take down all the glass blocks and get some advice.

January 29, 2006

Shaking Off The Flu

I got up this morning and headed off about 10am, it was badly cold. I inteneded to finish the glass blocks but when I discovered that the mortar had not dried and did not look like it would I decided against it.
So I then decided to starting sanding around window, doors, ceilings etc etc, pain of a job but it has to be done.
Siobhan was over and did a bit of painting, her mam & 2 sisters came for a guided tour so 3pm was not coming along too long.

January 28, 2006

Busy Day

Feeling a bit tired today, was home for 4am from Galway Dog races, great nite.
We went to Skye furniture first to get the bed and chest of drawers in the sale, 15% off.
Got to the house for 12, great sunny day. Intend to get the glass blocks built today, but I had 3 visitors which between them all took up near 2.5 hours!
Mick was over for a look at the house but as he said himself the details are on the blog so that is handy. That site for the LCD tv is www.Katronics.de

I had another Mick from across the road over and then Vinny and young Adam came over for a look. Siobhan got some tiles and testers for the kitchen. we had a few sarnies before we tried some tiles, it is hard to match up the kitchen, worktop, walls and black windows, still a great headache!

Actually for Marks sake I who said I put up the wrong name, meet him at the wedding last weekend and then again last nite in Galway, his name is Mark Jackson and he did or timber frame kit erecting!! Sorry Mark!!

I managed to get started on the glass blocks but it is a pain in the arse, had to leave each block lenght ways and width ways and then point between them, only managed 12 blocks, I know useless!!

So tomorrow I might get more done.!!

Plumber has all the house plumbed up for the water but has not connected it outside!!
Spark will be back Monday to finish off.
Geo Brian rang me and said that there was an issue with the pump but he will be back Tuesday.

It is funny now with the lights on in the house, you forget, so long used to having a lead and bulb that I forgot I had lights outside and in!!
Also the door bell works! It is a great buzz when you get to this stage.

January 27, 2006

Just Gone To The Dogs!!

Off to the dogs in Galway with the lads of Celtic B team, excellent nite, there was no house as you can imagine!
Brian was there alright and has a good bit done now. Plumber was there also

January 25, 2006

United On Box

Plumber turned up today, thank fup, not going to be ready for tomorrow, but they will be ready soon enought.
Brian was there working
Nick called over for a look at the house, changed a bit since he was last here!
United on the old TV so off to look at it!!

January 24, 2006

Paper Boy

I was doing papers this morning with Dad. I then went to Hursts to get the 40 glass blocks and 2 bags of adhesive, one burst in the boot!
Dad rang me, he was talking to Sean and he asked if we could move the 3 bales of blocks away from the front to allow him get in with the machine.
I got to the house and took in the glass blocks. Siobhan arrived for a while to do some cleaning up and to admire the kitchen ;)
I managed to get the 132 blocks moved out of the way.
Did sweet feck all after that.

January 23, 2006

Filling The Site

Sean rang me today, he has got his hands on a few loads of fill for our site. Great job, will help to rise the site.
I got tot he house to clean up the kitchen, Brian and John were there 2nd fixing the electric, manged to get our first lights on, great buzz.

January 22, 2006

Sore Head

Called in to see the lights but nothing turned on, not sure why.

January 21, 2006

Wedding Day Off

At a wedding today, sparks meant to be there in house today to wire up and switch on the power.

January 20, 2006

Kitchen nears completion

Paul was there today to finish the kitchen but due to his motor breaking down he did not arrive until late and did not manage to finish it.,
I eventually got Siobhan out to the house and suprised her with the new kitchen.

A few pics of the kitchen, needs to be cleaned up and 2 doors are missing either side of the window.





January 19, 2006

kitchen goes in

Got up this morning early to get the Gas hob over for Paul, I suspected John had been there plastering as I smelt smoke, but biggest give away was the key in the back door!!!
I rang Peter about getting the water hooked up so that Brian could setup the heat pump. I then rang Brian2 to see if we were ready for kick off next Thursday. seems we still are.

Rang Paul to see if he got to the house ok, he did so I let him away with it. He told me he needed the dishwasher on site so that meant a 32 mile round trip home to get the dishwasher, then back over again with it,.
I arrived back at 8pm, Paul was still there and I was very suprised with the work he had done, had all the floor and wall units done, pelmit done, work top finished, doors hung, all in 10 hours! Unreal but hey he is the pro!!
I must say it is money well spent.

Spent a while talkin to a fellow boards and self builder Steven. Learned a bit more about air vents in our house, or lack of them!! My fault!

Brian the spark was still sick but intends to set us up on Saturday.

The next 2 weeks are vital, it could mean we have water, electric and heat in the house. Time will tell!
John had the wall plastered too so we wait 2 weeks, paint it and then put up the stairs, even though i think it maybe longer as I want to totally tile all upstairs first.

January 18, 2006

Getting kitchen to be installed

I contacted Regina In Alpha kitchens for a few numbers I managed to get a hold of Paul, rang him and he was free tomorrow, no price mentioned but I know it will cost us about 600 euro for the 3 days work.
So I have to get the plans to him for 9am.
I did not go near the house today as United were on the box and my dad is out and home so headed for the heat!

January 17, 2006

Paint - Plaster, Flu, kitchen!

Thomas rang me today, kitchen doors are ready and he reckons it will cost me 700 euro to get the kitchen installed. Now anticipated but I think I need to get it done.
Got a hold of John, he will be over this evening to check what has to be done.
Heat pump not due now until Thursday week.
Regina and Tommy arrived about 7 with the doors, one was damaged so they took it back. Doors look nice.
John called over about 8, was in the middle of painting, went through what had to be done, he hopes to tackle it before weekend.
I painted the 2nd coat of the main bedroom upstairs, a bit of touching up to do around edges, ceiling and sockets.
Headed off about 10, totally fupped now with this flu, might have to pay a visit to the doc.

January 16, 2006

Slowly Moving!

Arrived in at about 7, decided that I would seal the porcelain flooring, this is a tin of sealer which is applied with a cloth.
I am now seriously considering getting Thomas to install the kitchen, without dads help I will not be able to do it on my own.
Tried ringing John to get him to plaster inside the door but no dice.
Moved up to the front bedroom upstairs and painted the 2nd coat of the final coat. Want to start ticking off each room as regards painting now.

January 15, 2006

Short and sweet

Still freezing but sin e! , I was working at 5am this mornin, doing the papers for my dad, got absolutely drown wet but managed to wrap it up fairly rapid and got back into bed at 8am.
Did not raise my head until 12! Headed over and put up the plasterboard around the door. Said I would try and sand down the recess light holes. Then it was time for a clean up in the hall, brutal after all the sanding, planing etc.
I headed off again at 4.30, a big indian feed to look forward too!!

January 14, 2006

Door goes in!

I headed over about 9.30am, bleeding cold again today, Brendan will be over about 12. I decided to cut in the front bedroom upstairs, had to sand around the sockets also.
I got the door area ready and cleared up for Brendan and we set at it when he came. We had to make sure the hinges were ok, which they were.
The door needed planing on the top of and side but it closed a dream. We then had to take some off the bottom so that it would close ok.
We then put down the draft excluder and the lock and keeper, all in all it took us 3 hours, way more work to it than I expected but when you are a carpenter he made it look much easier!
There is 4 glass panels in the timber door frame, I do not yet have the double glazed glass so I had to cut out 4 panels of timber to pin them.

I have to cut out the plaseter board for it and put it up around the door and it will be ready for skimming, excellent, have to get onto John now.

January 13, 2006

Glass Walls

Not much done today with the house, I arrived on site about 6pm, the door issue is still bugging me, wheather or not to hang it myself or not, with Dad out for what now could be up to 5 weeks this really has messed things up, but I as long as he is ok and today op went well that is all that matters.
I had one glass block to put in, the reason I left one was to see how strong and solid the other were with this FIXIT adhesive. It was spot on.
I decided to pain the final coat in the back bedroom upstairs, Siobhan had the walls done but not the ceiling so I scooted around it with the roller and painted the ceiling and gave the walls their second coat.
During my work I had an idea about the door, a neighbour of ours had offered to do some work when I had fixed their PC one nite, so I rang him and he said he would be over in the morning.

Headed off about 9.30

January 12, 2006

Back to the soccer

Meet shane at TileSavers at 9am, there was no one there but we waited and they arrived about 5 past.
I had all the measurements worked out for the new order, decided to go with a different tile for the ensuite now and use the London Marfil in the two bathrooms when they come in.
So i left in the order and Shane rang me later on, the order was going to be 300 euro more now as the border tiles were dearer so we left it. Have to wait for the other tiles

Decided to go back training tonite, soccer at 10pm on the Astro so I decided to head home and get some dinner into me.

January 11, 2006

Tiling Mess

I did not do much today, had to go out to Shane with the cheque for the tiles. When i arrived out Shane said that the order on that tile only would not be in for 3 weeks, great not!
Have to rethink what we will do.
Home to work out measurements and ideas again!

January 10, 2006

Light - Well almost!

God said let there be light and there was, sort of! The ESB rang me this morning
I arrived at the site about 7pm, still have this flu but will hammer ahead anyway. I decided to complete the glass blocks in the ensuite wall and then paint around the edges of our bedroom.
Took me 2 hours to rap it up!

January 09, 2006

Nothing done again

Dad in for his op today, should be off home today but they discovered someit when they were at him and said they needed him for more tests, it is not serious but he will be operated on Friday and will be out of action for up to 3 weeks.
He is not happy at all!! BUt what can be done
I had a busting migraine so did not get near the house, I rang ESB, still no cert, I got back onto the spark to send it in AGAIN!

Nothing done again

Dad in for his op today, should be off home today but they discovered someit when they were at him and said they needed him for more tests, it is not serious but he will be operated on Friday and will be out of action for up to 3 weeks.
He is not happy at all!! BUt what can be done
I had a busting migraine so did not get near the house, I rang ESB, still no cert, I got back onto the spark to send it in AGAIN!

January 08, 2006

Filling to hoooles

Still cannot brush off this cold, was over about 10am, freezing cold and fog so not very nice, had to call into see Dad, he is off to Dublin for his procedure.
I finished off putting on the trim on the timber ceiling.
I then moved into the sitting room and attempted to try and get the holes from the recess lights to look ok but this is harder than I expected!
Too me about 1hour to do the work, then I decided to move into the main bedroom and start installing the glass blocks in the wall, said I would do 6 blocks today and 6 again as they were been built one on top of the other.
Again took maybe an hour, have a rapid set glue which I used to set them, have to add a timber trim later on.
It was time to measure the 2 bathrooms and sun room for tiles and trim, have it all measured up so hopefully it will be spot on.
Went home about 2om as it was killing cold and my throat was at me,

January 07, 2006

Timber, painting etc

Woke about 9am, cold seems to be gettting worse but have to plod on or we will never get in!! Had to go to Dunnes Stores to get some hospital gear for dad. then into Heiton buckleys to get screws for the jams.
I also picked up the trims for the ceiling in the sun room.
HAd to head to Castlebar tool hire and got 3mm drill bit to drill the screws for the hinges.

I manged to get to the house about 12am, got my hands on a bottle of special mix for the cough...

With motivation levels at an all time low I started to sand the ceiling in the sun room, got the "mouse" sander, it looks better now. It was as well to paint around the edges before I starting putting on the edging,
Herself came over, also got the cold so it was not a great idea, She decided to start to undercoat the final room in the house. In fairness the house it moving along nicely, but it is a lot of small steps.

I moved into the sitting room and go my angle grinder to sand the recess light holes, this is really tunrining into a nightmare but hopefully it will be sorted.
Had Marie and Emmet out for a look and once they had gone I decided to start and put on the trim, herself headed off home to get the dinner.
Trim was easy enough to do, had a mitre box so that helped with the angles, I left about 3 small sections to do, each lenght is 8ft long (costs about 8 euro per lenght).
Headed about 6 thirty or so.

January 06, 2006

Door Frame goes in

Manged to make it to work but was not in great form, Dad and Damien decided to take on the door frame and door. First off we noticed that the door is Mahognay, not teak as I asked for but it is too late now, seems we may have to paint it!!
They had a real issue that it seemed the frame was off! ~So that was there biggest issue, when I got to the house they had the frame in, Dad was not in the fred west of humour, Beaumont rang and told him that there might be a bed for him on Sunday, but to ring at 1pm!! What sort of
health service have we got, they expect someone to drive for 4 hours, then to be told there is no bed!! Give us a break

We got the hinges cut out and the door up but then the 2 battery screw drivers we had ran out, then two of the screws in the hinges we cut not get out and they broke!!
Soo in the end the door was just put up and pinned in place. This is going to delay us again but what can be done. Dad hopes to be able to get back to it in a week.

January 05, 2006

Back to the IT

Back to work whipee! Not, talk about not wanting to be there, not that I really want to be there even when I am in full health!! I chased up the spark about the ESB, he said the cert is gone in! We will see,
I decided I would finish off the little bit of tiling inside the door in the utility room, the cracked tile inside the door also had to be replaced, I would have gone lu la if I left it!
I then also put down some of the tiles at the back of the utility room, area will never be seen but the heatpump and cylinder still need a levelish area!
Off home now to cough and splutter!!

January 04, 2006

Sick as parrot - Part 2

Off again today, still got the flu

January 03, 2006

Sick as Parrot

spent the day in bed sick, think I should have taken it handier than I did over the last few days!

January 02, 2006

On to the tiling

No feeling too good at all, really should be in my bed but the pressure is on (self inflicted some may say!!) but I want to get the tiling done in the utility room and the kitchen.
Damien was with me so we headed off about 10am. After the first 2 lines I soon realised that I was going to run out of rapid set so I went to TileSavers and got 4 bags, costs a bomb, 50 quid a bag!!
It took us near on 4 hours to do 4 lines, don't really know why but it was a killer to do!!
Moved onto the utility room and it too was a dog to tile, ended up using every single tile, also I cracked one tile inside the door with the diamond blade on the angle grinder so not impressed!!
Gerry and Emma were out and Larry and his dad called so that spent some time.

But it was great to get that done, at least we can now progress to installing the kitchen.

One thing that i was thinking of last nite was how much the self build completly consumes your thoughts and life, I even forgot to go to a funneral of a local man, something usuallly I would have done.
99% of things are put aside as you set targets on the house, it is gas really, something that self builder will understand.

January 01, 2006

Happy New Year To All

Happy new year folks, hope it is a happy and healthy one for you all.

Dying again today with the flu, but I had to pull more of the floor, we were due for dinner in Siobhans parents house at 2pm so I had 4 hours to do as much as I could
I managed to get 4 more lines done so 13 down, 4 to do!!! The floor is relatively level, but there are a few areas which need more adhesive but at least the back is broke on it!!