Day three started with me standing in the blank space that used to be a kitchen thinking that I had definitely gone beyond the point of no return.
As I worked yesterday I was making a B&Q shopping list and decided that I'd sort out the hole-filling and then head for the store while it dried.
Strangely, I quite like filling holes and gaps. It's a nice job until you realise that you need to do more sanding later - more talcum dust! I prefer the traditional Polyfilla as powder in a box because you can mix it up to whatever consistency you need - thick for slapping it on and runnier for the finishing touches.
The shopping list was just about £60 worth so on day three of fourteen I am already over budget!
One of the items was expanding foam filler to fill the flue hole from the old boiler. I started squirting it in and was very underwhelmed. What it doesn't tell you on the can is that it keeps expanding for about an hour. Okay, now I'm impressed. It has filled the gap and some!
The other job that had to be done today was scraping up the old floor tiles. I put these down about 5 years ago because the original floor was carpet tiles which I don't think is the most suitable choice for a kitchen floor. Some of them came up fine and some of them were awkward sods. Even through rigger gloves I have taken the skin off the outside of both little finger knuckles. It was heavy scraping but they are gone now and I am left with a perfectly flat concrete floor - perfect for laying new tiles!
After another dusty sanding session I was ready to paint the walls. They took five coats which I expected on top of that horrible mustard yellow (what was I thinking?) that I put down when I first moved in. I am quite pleased with the result.
I have painted over where the tiles used to be so that the adhesive isn't sucked into the plasterboard like it was in the bathroom. This should give me more than the thirty seconds I had for that job to place the tiles perfectly.
So another productive day. I am looking forward to having a sink back. As I write I am drinking orange squash from a Chicken Tonight jar and eating dinner fron a paper plate with plastic cutlery. Cleaning the paintbrushes and rollers was a sod too.
Tomorrow, the floor. Watch this space...
Bye for now
