Bathroom update

We have been working very hard these last few months , and are starting to make great strides in the barn.

The bathroom is starting to look like a proper room now. I have plastered all of the walls and ceiling. This was the first time that I had attempted a whole room, and it was quite a challenge. The more I did, the more I got used to it, getting a more polished finish as I went along. It did take a lot of sanding down and re-filling, but we got there in the end.

Tina then took over, cleaning all of the plaster spillage of of the beams, and then re varnishing them. Then she applied two coats of undercoat, as plaster drinks up paint, and can change the colour. This did mean that we got away with only one coat of the actual paint for to finish it off.

We did have some fun and games with plaster bubbling up when it was painted. We think this was caused by patches of plaster dust on the boards, where they had been gut, or stepped on. Sometimes it took 2 or 3 attempts to fill them back in, so now we are a bit more careful about washing the boards down before I start plastering.

The next job was to raise the floor level, so that we could hide the shower pipe. This was quite good fun, as the existing floor was not quite level, and the 10 cm joists that I bought were actually between 9.5cm and 10.2. I bet you don't have that problem with German timber.

I had to use lots of different size bits of wood to wedge it all level, but luckily I have hoarded a pile of crap just for these eventualities.

A couple of the joists were so wet that they were twice as heavy as the others, so I used a lot of noggins, to stop the wood from twisting when it dries.

Now we were ready to fit the shower tray. It took three of us to shift it upstairs, as it was so heavy.

It has now been connected up, and tested for leaks, so soon we will be ready to put the floor down, once we have done all the mucky plastering and painting in the bedroom.