Finishing the timber

I've designed the upstairs floor to be light, in contrast to the dark ground floor and so we try out a few methods of doing this, before settling on a standard wood paint watered down 25% with paint thinner.




Bottom right is a test with beeswax for another part of the project.

The staircase gets clad in timber

Laying solid wood floor

Laying the floor turns out to be breeze thanks to one of the best tools we have used on this job:



The flooring handnailer.
The timber is Poplar, an increｄibly soft hardwood that I wouldn't recommend unless you take your shoes off like us.

Concrete polishing - more

The study and kitchen worktops.

Polishing concrete floor

After lots of research and faulse starts we eventually get a concrete polishing machine that is delicate enough to appear to work. Other machines with diamond discs are way too powerful and grind about 1mm per pass off the concrete - these would be great for a rough old slab but our pristine polished floor needs something more delicate. The machine is a large orbital sander uses diamondpaper (like sand paper but much more expensive).

After about £50 worth of sheets we realise it is much more effective to use a 9" angle grinder. On an 80sqm floor! The job takes ages and is painfully horrible (vibration and dust).








Spent the 3 days it took to do this job cursing the supposed experts at Lazenby contracts and the manufacturers of the concrete curing compound Sika Pro Seal W.

And what a difference a lick of paint makes

Downstairs WC

A last minute decision to go for red on the downstairs loo...

Disaster strikes however

The concrete kotatsu table top breaks at the joint while being drilled prior to installation. We decide to bond it together and try to finese the join later.




*edit in use we have decided to remove this table - concrete is just too unbendingly hard for small children.

The painting party.

Many thanks to the team: Paul, Clare, John, Silke, Dave, Yuka, Makiko and of course the ever present Neil. (sorry for the bad photo Yuka).

31st January more progress images, preparation for painting

Electric UFH in the downstairs loo.




Sliding doors in


Bathroom progress

30th January Progress

Oak Window cill goes in.

Painted mist Coat applied

Note: sliding doors installed using the excellent "straightaway" system.




First seal coat of paint applied which shows up the quality of light in the space. quite exciting, suddenly the house is getting there.


And front door completed by Neil and I. Big job and big relief to have finished it.

Burning oak cladding

For ground floor cladding and door. Photos don't do it Justice, messy job though!