Tuesday 24 December 2013

Attic




Switch/plug covers

There's been some faster progress these last two weekends (at least from my personal point of view ;P), and that is motivating!

Insulation delivery, a truckfull!

We received a large delivery of insulation. We decided to do the roof insulation ourselves instead of letting the roof workers do it, so they can focus on other roof tasks, and we can do the insulation the way we want it to be. We are using different materials, which turns out to be a little more expensive, but we will have a higher insulation value, and a finished interior too (we are again using an insulation foam with the plasterboard attached, plus extra insulation between the beams).

Very fat insulation boards with plasterboard attached, for the roof ceiling.

This weekend Pim placed most of the first layer of insulation between the beams.



First layer of insulation between the beams


Even though there are still some gaps here and there (which we started filling with canned foam until we ran out - messy stuff!), the temperature difference is already very noticeable, even when we turned the little heater off. I even found my very thick woolen sweater to be a bit excessive. We think we were working at about 15° C, which is a great improvement. It was much colder downstairs!



These days are unseasonably warm (rarely under 4° C at night), it is not nice of me to say, but it has been to our advantage. However it is raining quite a lot, so the plaster and paint doesn't dry very well! Saturday I forgot to wash my roller, and I found it all fresh and ready to be washed on Sunday…

White, bare, stained

Saturday I tinted the switch plates. These are a bit challenging since they are beech, a wood that takes stain rather blotchy. I had experienced that before when I dyed my workshop desk, but had mercifully forgotten about it… I diluted my alcohol-based oak-coloured stain to 50% and gave a subtle layer to the plates. After sanding a little bit, especially the end grain which gets a bit raised, it is not too bad.

I lacquered the bedroom plates in white and we really like it. With this lacquer you can still subtly see the wood grain. I had bought it for the staircase balusters, which are gonna have to wait indefinitely.  

For the oak-coloured plates, my plan was to tint, then varnish. The varnish we had bought doesn't satisfy though, so I want to try the same lacquer I used for white in an oak tone.

The two on the bottom right I varnished, this tinted varnish is the
right shade (the wooden swatch underneath is the same than the
windows), but I do not like at all the blotchiness and finish.
It is an outdoor shed varnish, so I guess that's no good for this.
Checking the fit. This wood is bare.
My friend says this is Wall-E.
Our electricity outlets and switches are
from the Catalan brand Fontini.


The wall (insulation + plasterboard) where the attic radiator wiIl be placed got painted (light grey for this room), Pim installed the brackets, and it'll get installed soon.

Progress by the end of the weekend. The brackets on the left are for the radiator.

I also started finishing around the plasterboard joins, corners and edges with plaster. The chimney in particular was very wonky (the attic was a hayloft made without a lot of attention to detail), so the boards went on a little wonky as well. Over a chimney, we attach the boards directly to the wall with sticky plaster. On a regular wall, Pim attaches some timber to the wall first, then the boards to the wood. This leaves extra space for pipes, cables and extra sound insulation.

We decided we didn't need this weird corner in our life.

I am trying to fix the unevenness with plaster, which is turning out better than I though! a lot of work to do, still.

Plaster patchwork.

Some metal bits were sticking out of the wall, so Pim cut them off:

Sparkles!