Well I guess that's the Pause button pressed on the works for a while. Prior to our arrival the kitchen fitter had laid the lovely, engineered oak flooring, the worktop company then came to template and went away with a promise to return in a week with the worktop.
They returned along with our fitter to install the worktop. We are hugely grateful that he worked late that day, the eve of the PM's announcement of a shutdown, to fit the hob, sink, dishwasher and washing machine. We can live without cupboard doors!
We had been surviving on microwaveable meals and the soup-maker (a brilliant device). We used to eat out occasionally for a bit variety, now not an option. However doing all the washing up in the tiny handbasin in the bathroom was getting very tedious. Also we used the local laundry which meant trying to build up full loads whilst not running out of knickers and socks. Now we have a viable home we can stay up in Penrith and not have to return to London.
We were isolating ourselves upstairs for the day while the workmen were in to fit the worktop so our kitchen fitter WhatsApp'd us this video from downstairs to show us the work in progress.
The kitchen floor was raised to match the level of dining room. That necessitated a replacement window as the old sill would have been below the new worktop.
Outside that left a gap awaiting a new windowsill once the danger of frost was past.
The new windowsill and gap filled with local stone plus re-jigged pipework for the new sink and dishwasher.
The surround to the new back door (previously a window and before that a door) has been plastered but the final skim will have to wait.
Meanwhile I was not idle. I fitted 15 metres of picture rail all round the upstairs landing to put an end to filling pinholes when Mary decides to rearrange the pictures. I borrowed the builder's laser spirit level (an excellent toy!) to mark out the line from the front bedroom architrave. It really showed up the difference in floor and ceiling heights.
Of course none of the walls were even.
A panorama of the completed rail.
Pictures hung.
Also on my to-do list was fittings for the downstairs shower and loo.
The access panel to the under stairs void needed painting as well.
And finally we have a fully working downstairs shower and loo.
Until restrictions are lifted and the workmen can return, "That's All Folks!"
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