The task ahead

I decided to take a few pictures of the garden and what needs to be done!! It will be a big job but will have to be tackled in stages over the next 3 years or so!!!

But if anyone has any suggestions fire them on or any budding landscaper want to test their skills on a new site I am looking to get some layouts designed, will be doing the work myself but could do with the ideas!!

Final Pictures - Upstairs

These pictures are of the upstairs : Probably the most uncomplete part of the house!!

Guest Bed 2 - If you have a good back!!!

Spare Bed 3 - aka GYM!!!

Main Bedroom :

Landing :

Landing Again :

Bathroom Upstairs :

Nice Jacuzzi Bath!!

Final Pictures - Downstairs

Sorry about the delay but I only got around to taking these this week.

Sun Room :

Main Bath DownStairs :

Another of the Main Bathroom :

Guest Bedroom downstairs :

Stairs :

Sitting Room :

Fireplace :

Hall Entrance :

Kitchen:

The break is over

Well as you can see it has been a while, my holiday is over!! ;)

Since I last posted we have moved in, the Friday before the All-Ireland to be precise, we have done little since, hanging pictures, mirrors etc/
Bought some furniture and I did a little cleaning up around the house but bar that not a lot has been done.

No issues as yet, geothermal has been a great success, I have to do another reading of the electric so that I can quantify the usage in the house, must get that done now soon.

We have started the process of planning the garden/lawn/site/dump what ever name you want to put on it!!!

We have also have had a gander at pricing for decking, so the decking and garden are the next projects.

The decking will have to be done first to allow the outside to be used as of yet we have no where to sit so that will be tackled in the next 2-3 months. Prices are ranging from 800-1400 for material only.

I must get some photos up now also as people have been wondering how we finished it.

Thanks to all for the comments, emails etc. Feel free to contact me, I will answer what I can.

back to grouting

Grouting to be finished in the kitchen and the white grout in the bathroom to be redone. Slow job but that is the last large job done.

back to grouting

Grouting to be finished in the kitchen and the white grout in the bathroom to be redone. Slow job but that is the last large job done.

back to grouting

Grouting to be finished in the kitchen and the white grout in the bathroom to be redone. Slow job but that is the last large job done.

2 matches in 1 day

Today was a late one, I had my first match at 12pm for the C team but the ref was late and we did not start until 20 past. So after a mad busy match we won 2-1.
The that finished at 2pm, I got my packet of Jaffa cakes and had 10 minutes of rest before I went out for the warm up again.
The B team game kicked off at 2.30pm and near the end I got cramp, but again we won this 1-0. So I could be he first to get 6 points in one day!!!
Back to the house and the final coats of the stairs!

Drill it

Over about 8am, I gave the stairs another coat and then into town to get the Core bit and drill from Sam Hire for 30 euro to drill through the wall for the tumble drier vernt.
Took about 1hour to get through the block but then I hit one of the studs in the wall so had to cut around this also.
Eventually got a 4" sewage pipe in for the vent.
Then had to drill a section out for the vent from the machine, pain in the head all this.
Took me near the whole day to finish this job.
Got another coat on the stairs and one coat on the back bedroom door.
Off home about 8pm.

Days of varnish

Started varnishing the spindsles again, slow job only 10 done! Gave the stairs another coat
Varnishing!!!!

5th - No training so finished off the remaining 15 spindles and gave a coat to the steps
6th - Varnish varnish varnish!!! cat slow but it has to be done
7th - varnish stairs after training
8th - Varnish stairs and saddles, finally getting there now with this, pulled ship at about 12.30am. Varnishing near the end at the weekend.

Skin sanding

Over for 7.30, sanding again, lose the skin on my fingers at this stage!! all sanding of the steps done bar 2.
Gave the done steps a coat of varnish, off to a match then

Sand, sand more sand

A day of sanding and sanding and more sanding!! From 7am to 8pm. I had a "mouse" sander so that was excellent for the steps.

Sanding

Started to sandt the spindles with over 50 and it taking 15 minutes each this is gone to be slow!!
Dad was over shelving

Flu's out

I could not get out of bed today, the flu has hit me like a wall!! The container has arrived, Dad was impressed with the room inside it.

Out of action for next 3 days.

Mayo

DOing the papers again, I was finshed at 8am, then straight over to the house, I had to finish off wiring the double socket.
When I had that done I decided to put in another double socket upstairs in the attic for the 8 way TV distribution box so that I can install the aerial and distribute the tv signal to the other rooms.
Signal when taken upstairs is fine but not great downstairs.
Off home at about 12pm, feeling crap but ready to watch the Mayo match,

Wiring, painting etc

Stumbled into the house about 9, cleaned out the front bedroom so that the skirting can get its final coat of varnish. Also had to pain around the painter cawk on the landing to blend it in with the wall.
Aidan can again to finish and test the alarm. I had to wired in a double socket for Eircom to install the dish for the phone.
It needs a power supply beside the phone lines so I had to wire into the back of an exisitng double socket. I had to run upstairs then to run CAT5 cable from the power point to the gable where the dish will be.
I also had a match so dad came over and we set out 4" solids on each of the corners where the container will be. The container is 8ft by 20ft.
Off to the match, I was not feeling the best before it, lacking energy but played anyway.

A shed nearly there

Had to head out to Gerry in McHales to pay him the rest for the 20ft container. It will be delivered on Monday next.
Siobhan was here again, we wanted to hang the curtains in our room to see they looked good. I finished the flooring in the room upstairs.
We then decided to start cleaning up the saw room, must have been a bag of saw dust! Also a lot of waste timber, so I cut this up on the saw and we moved all boxes of firewood into the spare bedroom upstairs,
The dust was killing herself and we headed off at 10pm, I have work to do for Stevie on the system I am helping him develop.

Cleaning the floors

Dad was over, he cleaned up all floors of the room upstairs and took down the skirting. It is great that we are also getting this room cleared and floored.
Once all the flooring has been done the saw can be taken down from the "saw room" and Siobhan can have it back as a bedroom.
I started flooring the room and due to 2 V shaped angles in the room it was akward but managed to get 1/2 of the room done. Aidan was also here to put the alarm working but mainly to test all the PIRs.

Move them tools

The tools and that upstairs all needed to be moved down, very slow job but with Siobhans help they are all gone down, I put some of the sheets of ply up in the attic.

Paths done!

Sean and the lads have all the paths in now, he also flattened out a big part of the lawn. I could not get into the house because of the fresh concrete. Off Home!!

Sean does well

Sean was there today, he has now cased in all the paths and rose it up around the house.
I had to go to McHales and pick out a container, 1800 cash which is a good price for a container which is in good condition,
Back to the house, the lads had buried the gas pipe from the house under the paths, had to try and dig it out!!

Build them blocks

Papers in late, so I did not manage to finish up until 9.30am, home for a quick breakfast and over to the house, Gerry arrived out and we got stuck into moving the large pile of timber,
It tooks us a good 2 hours to move it all, the back to the othe gable to move all the scaffolding and boards, again another hour but that was that!!
There is just 2 piles of slates to move now with the straps and the digger.
We also built up some of the blocks into a neat pile,

DOn't fret!

Over about 8, Job is to final coat the pres and stain the worktop, again a load of small jobs to do. Sean called and is going to level some of the site so that I can order the container.
This meant panic stations as he wants to start the paths on Monday.
With a truck load of blocks, slates, timber, scaffolding up against the house it all needs to be moved. The table and chairs and the tumble dryer both arrived today.
Had to head into town to get the large 22" grate and fret, had to made in Dineens and ordered through Heiton Buckleys. But feck me the one they make is 26" Have to go back with it.
GOt back to the house and started to move stuff out of the bedroom/tool room up stair stairs so that it can be put int he container and I can floor that room also.
Liam started the leveling about 4pm, Dad came over to give me a hand, but with me having a match @6pm it was going to leave it tight.
Liam gave us a hand with the bucket to shift about 250 blocks in 20 minutes, but that is the main thing to move.
Dad stayed on and moved the timber and other stuff.
I am working @5am in the morning so will have to head over after that to move the rest of the stuff, will be slow but it has to be done. All going well there will be a big change outside next weeked.
It is really dragging on but I think I can see light at the end of the tunnel!!!

Nice unit

Dad had made a cupboard unit with the IROKO worktop for the utility so this means that it is all kitted out, looks really well.
I had to undercoat the unit and stain the worktop, headed off home about 9.

match

Match this evening so no work done.

Work holds progress

another late one at work, getting too much of the habit. Just had time to paint the unit in the utility. All done now!
Dad was over cleaning all the shee hit of the windows. So no sign of Sean, I will have to chase him up now.

Handle it nicely

Was off today and got to the house and put the handles on the units in the kitchen, I also filled the screw holes.
A bag loads of small jobs.

Utility taking shape

Was working late again but got to the house and dad was there, he assembled the unit for the washing and tumble dryer. I put on the shelving on the unit.
Then gave the unit a coat of undercoat.

Mayo cancel work!

Mayo playing today so I did the paper run for my dad @6am so decided to take the rest of the day off.

Bye bye rubbish

Left Damo off to work for 8am and then into the house. It was time for the final move for all the rubbish which has been gathered up around the build.
I needed to move all the bags to the gable, ended up there were 110 bags!! Could not belive it. I rang Burkes again and he said it would be more like 235 euro for the lot.
He then rang me back and said he could collect today.
I ran into town to get a mirror for the wardrobe, a 48" by 17" is 35 euro. Bit more expensive that I expected.
Back to the house and I gave an undercoat to the cupboards in the utility, slow job.
Burkes arrived and we loaded up 1.5 tons of rubbish, cost us 300 euro, more that I expected but it is gone now!
So back inside to watch the GAA, then back into give a first coat of the final color to the cupboards. AGain it took the guts of 2 hours.
Off at 8pm to give DAmien a life home.

Recylcing and cleaning

Arrived in the house about 6, Dad was there, working away on shelving the cupboards in the Utility room. We wanted to utilise all the space around the heatpump and cylinder but also to enclose it.
We decided that in order to allow us to recycle as much as we can we split up the shelves to hold 6 containers, for glass, paper, tins, etc etc.
This has now changed the whole utility room, now need to put in the rack for the washing machine and tumble dryer!!
Marie and Siobhan were there to clean up the bedroom and ensuite and try and get rid of the mounds of dust that has built up.
I finished the shelving in the cupboards and started to gather all cardboard together for the recylcing run.
I contacted Burkes bags to see if they would do a run to collect the bags of rubbish at the back of the house, about 40 bags. Said it would be about 150 euro.
I have to go and count them to see.

Road drilling

I got a hold of a crowd who will drill under the road for the telecoms, 300 euro. I am not overly impressed with having to use a line of sight for the telecoms connection so I prefer to use a straight connection.
I have to talk to Sean as he had to co-ordinate with them;
Dad was over again and he was doing some shelving in the utility.
I got another coat on 5 more doors. so down now to about 5 doors to finish, with 2 of them up on 3 coats.

Work holds me up

I was at work until 8.30. Dad was over to finish of some 2nd fixing and put skirting in the utility room.

Ward Robe on it's way

Another day another coat of varnish. Dad was over, he did great work in the walk-in wardrobe to add another shelve and clothes rail underneath.
He asked put up the skirting in the front room. Another great load of jobs done.
I continued on with my varnishing to 5 of the doors. I am of course giving the door 2 more coats than I intended but it leaves them clean, tough and like a mirror.
Was talking to Sean, he hopes to arrive next week to finish the ground work. Mick my engineer is due to arrive this week to sign off the house.

Dad & John working away

Monday - Match this morning but arrived over @ 8am. Opened all the windows to let the sunshine and fresh air in and then onto more varnishing! Had friends of the family over @10am to see he house
Then onto the match which we won 3-0.
Dad and John were over to do the door and frame for the utility room, then the walk-in wardrobe shelves. 2 great jobs done.
Myself and Siobhan assembled our bed and took all the wrappers off furniture.

Never ending

Over @ 9am. Again it was a day of varnishing, there was a match I went to and then back to more varnishing!! Have 7 doors given 4 coats and another 7 1 coat.
Back again tomorrow for more of the same!!

Varnishing to death!

Over about 8.30am, a day of varnishing ahead, doors, architraves and skirting, coat after coat after coat. Up to 4 coats on the doors downstairs.
Had to get the wardrobe railings, 4 4ft lenghts. Also I got paint to blend in the unit in the utility room, I gave Albany a piece of wood with the color of our kitchen,
the put in under a scanner and created the paint for me.
I had to go to a funeral so headed off early.

Varnish

Had to take out the TV to see if it worked, sure enough no bother!! Started then to varnish the doors, coat 3 to the dining room doors, bathroom and closet.
Coat 4 to sitting room door and coat 1 to the kitchen.
Headed off about 10

TV ready to watch!

Match today, TV arrived but did not get chance to look at it. Dad and John are making the units for the walkin wardrobe, had to get a load of timber.

Late but something done

Working late but manged to get a coat on the doors in the dining room and closet. It take 30 minutes per door.

Nothing Done

Training tonite and headed off home

TV near ready

LCD is ready, picked up today so time will tell if it is ok!
Dad was over and did the skirting in the hall. Also replaced the architrave upstairs.
More coats given to the sitting room door and dining room doors.

Varnish

Up at 7.15am, started to finish the final coats in the closet and ripped through that. Also wired up the aerial and boosters.Off to the match @ 10.30 and we beat the top team 5-2, there first defeat in 10,Back to the house and then started the touch up of paint in the dining room, slowly but surely it is getting there.Siobhan was over and she touched up the walls in the sun room while I varnished the doors in the dining room.Tasks down to 55!!!

Lots of jobs

Over at 7.30 to finish off the hood, the glass needed to be put on but the flutes who wrote the manual seemed to think that the actual extractor should be attached before the glass hood but no.So I had to take down the extractor and then put the glass up, took me 2 hours to change it all around!! I had to head to town and bought an aerial and booster set to see if can get any good pictures for the TV.

I also purchased some bulbs for the wall lights and put them in, poor design on the to be honest.Then it was onto varnishing the architraves, before I left I gave all the timber in the closet an undercoat ready to be finished in the morning.I had to head over to my mother in law to sand and varnish the front of bath for her, gave it 6 coats with a 20 minute drying interval, 2 coats at a time.Got home about 8.30 - also have match tomorrow for the C team, short on a keeper.

Dad was over and has made a great job in the closet, all the pipes, mainfold and pump are sheeted in and out of harms way.I have a list of about 70 odd jobs to do before the move in, varnishing dominates the list.


One job which had to be done was the Island hood/extractor fan.This was an unknown to me as I had thought I had bought this as a vented less extractor but soon discovered it was not.#I had to work out exactly how to put it up, then had to drill a hole for the vent hose, get into the active and feed it out to the soffit vents.
There is a need to fix a holder to the ceiling, fix the vent to it, then there are brackets which grip the hood and are screwed onto the holder. Once I had figured it out by 11.30pm I had it all up bar the glass hood which was at home.Busted tired, but great to get it out of the way.

No work

Match tonite and after complete domination we only drew, league is slipping away from us.Dad was over alright but I did not manage to see what he did.

Shelves again

I started the shelves in the closet, had to put in 2 shelves and a hanger for jackets. Siobhan was over and she has started cleaning the rooms. Bathroom cleaned nicely.

Training

Training tonite but I wanted to get the skirting in the front bedroom steel wooled and varnished.

LCD

I started to finish off the landing, had to finish off the cut in and then start the final full coat. Had to cut in the 2nd coat but at least it is another job out of the way!I transfer the 1400 euro to Techsplosion for the 40" LCD, a cracking price considering my mate paid 2200 here for the same screen!!

Shelves

Had anniversary mass for my gran today and out for a bit of lunch with the family so did not get near the house until 5pm.I decided to finish off shelving the hot press and put 2 sets of shelves in there, at least we can away the quilts!!

Time 2 say adios!

Up before 7am, over to the house and aim was to get any white grouting done. This was the splashback in the bathroom and also the tiles around the bath.The downstairs and grout the glass blocks for the last time, all of them had to be washed 3 times.Off into town to try and get some contact lenses but I found them very hard to insert and take out again, I have to go back to them again next week.

Got a few things in heiton buckleys then back to the house.I started to do the final cut in on the landing but Shane arrived and waited for over an hour so I then decided to start shelving the hot press.Headed off at 4pm as we were off to a Boceilli concert in Galway

Another room to finish paint

I was working late at work so only got to the house after 6. I decided to paint the ceiling and walls in the bedroom upstairs. This left only the skirting for doing in this room.Siobhan was over and she cleaned up our bedroom.We now have our bedroom, the sitting room, ensuite and bathroom upstairs fully finished. So ploughing along nicely.

Run rabbit run

fully hour of endurance training so puffed out!

More varnish

I decided to start on the varnishing, skirting, architrave, doors. I also put a coat on the beam in the sitting room,I finished the skirting in the bedroom, bathrooms, architraves in them 3 rooms, along with the wardrobe, ensuite and did the door in the mainbathroom. Slow work!

Sand

Had to go to Galway in the morning, we spotted a tv unit which was ideal, but it would not be here until Sept!, great but sure it looks the part.Back to the house and it was time to go finally finishing the sanding the skirting in the dining room, sitting room and bathroom downstairs.

Expensive glass

I had to go to Castlebar, have to get contacts for playing football, then into Hursts to pay the bills and pick up a few lids for the sewage manholes.

Off into get pin nails to put in the glass in the dining room doors. Had to pick up the 4 panes of glass from Lawless, 140 euro.Then back to the house but I had to leave again as it was hitting 28 degrees out the back and almost as much inside!! So back to help my da paint the school walls, time to top up Sunday "Tan"!!!

Up Mayo

Connacht final day so nothing done, Up Mayo!! ;)

Bog and LCD

Out in the bog again @ 8am, took me 2 hours to finish what was there, again the heat was up in the mid twenties. Have a christening this afternoon so did not get near the house.Got in contact with 2 couriers to see if they could collect the LCD panel, have to wait for prices.

Could not handle heat, so off to bog!

I decided to leave the house when I got there, the heat was unreal so I decided that it was time to head to the bog to start putting out the turf for my dad, with the wheelbarrow.Waited until 9pm with a nice bit put out.,

Hard to work in mad heat

I had training this evening, I had to give final coats to the access door in the main bedroom and also paint up around the sockets and lights. Killing warm in the house.

Basing it!

Dad was over, he cleaned up around the hall and started the shelving and cupboards in the closet. That will be a big job.I went over all the rooms and sanded all the filler.Then I needed to base coat the access doors and attic doors. Then varnish around the architrave surrounding them.Slowly but surely. Had to try and get access to the glove box of the car. After surfing the net I found out how exactly

Training

Training 7pm to 9.20pm so did not go near the house.

Nearing the end of flooring

I had a go at timbering the wardrobe and managed to get it pulled tonite. So a good bit of large jobs done now.

Ceiling it

Over early as I have a match, decided to touch up the ceiling in the hall that I had splattered!! Then onto filling any remaining holes around the house. Had to head at 1pm for the match

No show

A sore head on me today, bit too much wine out for dinner last nite, throw in a few Guinness and Red bull and it was a disaster.Up at 8am, got a breakfast sandwich and it took another hour for me to wake up,The rain had started but I needed to get out to move all the stuff from around the house for the lads to put in the footpaths.

Dad came over but since Sean had not apppeared with the digger it was akward to move.Sean arrived over and he told us that the ground was not high enough and that we would have to move back all the stuff!!We called it a day as we had to go to a birthday party.

RE COMMENT JULIE - Email me on aidangill@gmail.com and I can answer your questions.

Dinner time

Out for dinner tonite so did not get anything done. Sean was there and put in the sewage line so that is now done. Trying to get my hands on a 20ft container to use as a shed, found the best price to be from Tyrone for 1800 euro delivered.

nothing doing

Heavy trainin session so nothing done today.

Part time

Party for my sis so I did not get near the house

Working late

In work at 9am and did not get out until 8,30pm, again under major pressure so did not get near the house. Again the migraine was pinching at me.!!

Sick in the head!

Dad was over today and fair play to him got all the boards done on the back of the stairs and the skirting done.

He also bought in a load of timber to make shelves for the closet, hot press etc.I was at work until 8pm, mental busy and no time for anything, had a busting migraine also so had to head.

Matching it in the heat

I have a match today so have to split the day up. Went over at 7.30am. I wanted to get the skirting and timber for the back of the boards sanded and varnished.I managed that alright but it took the guts of 3 hours. I went back to trying the bath panel, pain in the arse trying to put on a rounded bath panel.

Headed off to the match and drew in what seemed to be serious temperatures, was with the C team so I am not as pushed at winning the league with them as the B team.Back to the house and I decided to test drive the power showers!!!

I said since they were all cleaned up and hot water was there, what the hell!! Reminded me of a hotel shower with the power of it!Back to the boards and skirting, final coats and they are ready for Dad to tackle tomorrow.I decided it was time to also sand and varnish the skirting in the 2 bathrooms. Headed off at 7.30pm

Splashing about

Over about 8am, I got stuck into the splash back, had to glue some it and screwed in the rest of it.

?Nothing done!!

Was working until 6pm then came home, intended to grout the tiles inside the door, get the splashback done and grouted around the fireplace but had 2 sets of visitors until 10pm!!

Match

Was playing a match tonite in Achill so nothin done. We lost with a pox goal, my first conceeded from play in 6 matches.

Late @ work

I was working late again but went for an hour to get in the final piece of timber in the sitting room and bedroom so that is all the flooring done bar 2 more boards in the closet which is a five minute job

Lights up

Brian was there today, he hung the dining room light, put up the 4 wall lights in the rooms and then put the lights in the stairs.We had training so I left it tonite as it was a tough session.

Still floored

Dad was over again, moved all the spare slates and pallets from the side of the site to allow Sean to eventually move in.I worked on the flooring and have it down to 2 boards to be put down to complete fully the downstairs.

Dismantlers in the heat

I slept it in until 9am and headed over then. I wanted to try and get all the akward cuts done around the bull nose of the stairs and the bottom of the stairs.I managed that and then @ 2 I moved outside to finish off the final panel.

That took me 2 hours to do and pile up all the timber. All tanalised timbers so worth keeping.I moved into the hall again and worked away until 6pm. I have now left it with 3 lines to do.

Late nite, but no drink!

Did not get to the cot until 3am but was not drinking so easier to get up!!! I got up about 8am and wandered over. Time to start flooring the hall. Had to clean it up and then had to cut and angle the houseing for the timber around the tiles.

It took a good while to get the timber laid out and by then Brian had arrived to commission the Geothermal and sign off the system.Dad arrived over and we decided we would start and dismantle the timber panels at the side of the house, as they were in the way.

So with nail bar and hammers we got stuck into it and after 3 hours we had 2 of the panels done.Was 6 bells so Dad headed off and I moved inside to continue the timber. Also timbered into the closet so that was done also.There are 20 lines of timber to go down and I had 10 done by the time I left @ 10.30. A long day but the work is getting done.

SUPRISE!!

Nothin done, Siobhans birthday so we had a suprise party tonite.

Match nite

Had a cup match this evening, let in a clanger, one to forget!!Dad was over alright and started putting down the saddles at the doors upstairs.

Painting come to an end!

Had to hang back late at work tonite until 7pm, we are totally up the walls.Got to the house and dad was finishing off the main bedrooms skirting. He has it all up and screw holes filled, matter of sanding it and touching up.I went and gave the hall its second and final coat, took me the whole evening to do and pulled out about 10.Picked up the splashback and glass tiles trim. So have to put them on at some stage.

Self leveing

Precision rang me the splashback and the trim for the glass blocks are ready, 250 euro, mad expensive but it has to be done!I went to Heiton buckleys for levellign compound, got another 2 bags should see me through.
Training at 7 so went to it and went back to house, took down the skirting and labelled it, swept and hoovered the floor and started mixing. I was very suprised that it took all 5 bags and just about had enough but it should do the job now.I also purchased 4 wall lights on the internet, got them for 40 euro a piece.

Flooring dining room

Headed to the house at 7. Dad was there and we moved the furniture back into the sitting room. Dad has all the skirting up in the sitting room which is excellent.I started at the dining room. I had 6 lines down with another 17 left. I put the pressure on and got 16 lines done which is twice what I was doing at the start.Eircom rang me, they were there to put in a pole for the line.Some mesing with stones later and the wanted to try a line of sight so they are bringing in someone to test this!

Painting

Over about 8am. Decided it was time to paint the hall. It took me the whole day with different cut ins around 5 doors etc. Siobhan was over and she gave the back room a 2nd coat.Dad continued with the boards on the back of the stairs.

Speaker Cable

Up again at 7am, wrecked tired but want to press on with the floors. The electricity was gone so no porrige so I will need to refill some time in the morning otherwise I will be wrecked for the match @ 12.I started with the area near the sun room so that we at least have a full board. I managed to get 7 lines of the 22 down before I headed off for the match @ 10.45.It was a tough game which we won 1-0, ended up with a badly swollen knee cap after a hefty challenge. Ref gave me no protection. It was cracking this evening badly so I am not sure of the full damage. I got back to the house at about 2 and decided to watch the soccer and sand a varnish the skirting. The skirting for the sitting room and dining room skirting are now completed.I had bought speaker cable for the 5 speaker system way back but forgot about it so I had to take a slip out of the bottom of the plasterboard and behind the skirting.I taped in the cable. It was 7.45 when we left. A decent weekends work. Hopefully by this time next week I will have the flooring finished.

Great Progress

Dad rang me last nite to say John wanted to give us a hand with the floors. I got up at 6.45 and was in house of 7.30.Had to go to town for more self levelling cement and screws and caps for the splashback. Aim before this wasa to get around the fireplace totally finished and I achieved this by 11am.
Using the stiff underlay as a template and cutting around the stone to get the exact shapes and angles.Pieces were taking me 20 minutes to cut around the hearth alone!So I got the 6 bags of leveller and was back in time for John. After the guided tour of progress we decided to work together and get the sitting room pulled and with one measuring installing and the other cutting and gluing we put in the final 11 lines in 2 hours.
Delighted to get it done so fast.

A bit ahead of myself now.Dad was over and he put up all the skirting in the back bedroom downstairs and filled the screws. The screws we were using and were useless were not threaded to the head and this meant that we had trouble driving the screw in.John had other screws with a full thread and they worked a treat.Myself and John decided to move the chop saw into this room and clean up the dining room. With the skirting off and numbered and the room hoovered I started with the leveller. It took 3.5 bags of leveller.

So I will start flooring that in the morning. I have a match at 12pm so that will break up the day.When I had that done I decided I would make a start on sanding and varnishing the skirting in the sitting and dining room. At least it will mean that we can put up the skirtingin these rooms.After a long day and my legs falling off I headed about 8.30

Selling the Motor

I had to meet a girl to see if she was interested in buying my old car. She had a look and we have struck a deal so she has to see if she can raise the cash. So that is great if she does as I need to give back the mortgage money!! ;)

Then back to the house, aim this weekend is to get the sitting room floored. It was going to be extremly difficult due to the corner fireplace with the semi circular hearth so as you can imagine the cut are on a jagged stone curve!The self levelling cement had dried but it was not a great finish, not sure if it was down to the cheaper brand levelling compound or not.
Also a tip if u are using this stuff, tape around the edges between the floor and insulation as there were some gaps betweens ours which the leveller flowed into!! So a bit of masking tape will stop this and keep the floor level.I started the floor about 7pm, I knew it was going to be slow but by the time I left @ 11.30 I had 7 lines completed and was 1/2 way around the hearth.

With the dormer window and its angles it made it even more difficult to close the gaps between the joints and get leverage but a nail bar aided in this.At least its a start and all going well tomorrow evening it will be finished.

Levelled the sitting room

Match this evening so it was going to be late before I go to the house, arrive after 9. We won 4-0.I was in Claremorris tiles and got 4 bags of 25kg levelling cement for 80 euro. The plan was to get the sitting room levelled tonite and after 1 hour it was wrapped up.If I can get that room sorted out in 3 days I will be happy out.

Levelled the sitting room

Match this evening so it was going to be late before I go to the house, arrive after 9. We won 4-0.I was in Claremorris tiles and got 4 bags of 25kg levelling cement for 80 euro. The plan was to get the sitting room levelled tonite and after 1 hour it was wrapped up.If I can get that room sorted out in 3 days I will be happy out.

Clearing the dining room

Dad came over this avo, his knee is at him badly so I was not to happy with him lifting but it was a job we needed to do.All the furniture in the sitting room had to come out into the hall so that I could level the floor.

Took down the skirting all around and hoovered out.He headed off again and I went into the back bedroom and steel wooled the skirting and gave it it's final coat of varnish. Took the TV with the German match on it upstairs to the main bedroom.Time to started finally putting in place the skirting. Slow job and with a stud finder(which cost 70 euro but is shi*TTTE!!!) and a drill with a small bit to find studs I on;y managed to get 5 pieces in place before my battery died a death!Off home about 11 again.

Tough training - hurts the bod!!!

A serious tough training session and I was almost going to head home but I headed in and sanded the skirting in the back bedroom downstairs and then applied a coat of varnish

Getting my block made!

Work is mad busy and I have a 2 week project to do. I rang Gerry and asked him to see if he could make me a steel knocking block. I collected it off him but realised it was not right!So off to the house and see how far I was going to get with a broken knocking block, it meant it was going to be hard to close the gap between the timbers.I managed to finish off that bedroom and move in the furniture which arrived. Off home at 10.30

Long night!

Hard to get up this morning but I made a decision I was not going to go drinking when we went home last nite. So when we got home at 3am I was happy. Alarm off at 8am so off over again.

Time to finish the landing flooring, this was a pain in the arse and took me near 4 hours to finish!! Siobhan came over with some food and I sat and watched the match and then steel wooled and varnished all the skirting again.At 5 I moved downstairs to the bedroom, worked out the cuts and withing 2 hours I had 10 lines done in the room which was excellent. The only problem was that I smashed the knocking block!!

Very good progress

Up early to try and get a big schedule done, not sure if it will happen!!Started with the bedroom downstairs as it needed to be cut in with 2 coats. The ceiling also needed to be touched up. Got this done and headed off into town.Had to pick up another roll of the special UFH underlay. 120 euro for the roll.Then off to Sam Hire to pick up a belt sander so I could sand the oak beam mantlepiece. It cost 35 euro.

Then off into Arrow to pick up some self levelling cement @ 20 euro per 25kg bag.Back to the house, Siobhan was over so we took down the skirting in the bedroom, labelled it and then she cleaned up the floor. I headed out and started sanding the beam. Took me an hour once I figured out how to put on the sandpaper!!I does look well thought. I then headed up stairs to have a bit of lunch and also the watch the soccer.

While I was up there I also decided to put up the frosted contact on the window Sean asked up to blank out as it was looking down on their sitting room. In order to watch the match I then decided to sand and varnish the skirting off our bedroom and hall.Off downstairs again and got stuck into levelling.
The mix is mixed very watery so that it can flow over the room and it is encouraged into corners and sides with a steel float. It took all the bags I had bought but it means I can start that room tomorrow.Off home about 7 as I had to go to Larrys mams anniversary mass.

Car viewing

I had to bring the Focus for a viewing today and then head to a funeral so I did not manage to get much done.

Training

Training so nothing done.

Visitors

We had visitors out for 1.5hours so It was late when I started but have it now down to the remaining 4 birds to be done.I rang about the fret and grate and Heitons should have it tomorrow; The splashback and trim for the glassblocks will be ready on Friday also.I got 3 bags of 6kg self levelling cement from Arrow Home Depot so I can level the back room anyway.

Timbering away

I had training until 9pm but I went to the house after that. It was extremly hot there, how I am going to work in it will be a challenge!I managed to get down another 4 lines to bring me near the end of the largest part of the floor.

Busy schedul!!

Match so had little time, we are off to a wedding tomorrow and the off to Kildare for a suprise party for Sat and Sunday. Then engagement party on Monday.This means nothing will be done for all them days!!!I called to the house anyway and I measured up all windows for blinds and curtains, took me over an hour!! slow as hell!!