Grouting about

Friday 9 May 2014

By Friday the tiles had been laid for a week, so we decided to go for it with the grout.  Dave mixed up a bucketful and armed with our modified rubber gloves we started under the stairs in a hidden corner of the pantry. 

 Yoghurt pot measurements: 3 fine sand, sieved; 1 part lime, sieved; dollop of PVA glue; enough water to make gloopy, spooned into rubber gloves fitted with a cut-off funnel end, and squeezed painstakingly into each crevice. 

 Turns out this job is back-breaking.  But what job isn't?

 To avoid going back over the grouted tiles we did an area, then wiped the excess and moved on to do another area.  After falling over each other too much, Dave went back to the external plastering and left me grovelling around with the grout.

Why won't the cat just drink out of the fresh water drinking bowl?  Maybe short of calcium?

Wonderful wildflowers

7-8 May 2014

Now we just had to wait, to give the lime mortar a chance to go off before we walked on it.  So Dave did more of the external wall plaster and I pottered around helping.  And took the time to look at some of the new flowers that have sprung up this year.

 Wild marigolds

 Not a clue - strange curly edges, but very pretty

 After extensive research, found out this is called Love in a Mist and it is the most amazing flower - or so we thought, until we saw the seed pods - even more amazing - they're huge, the size of very large grapes

And we are in the middle of exuberant cereals - these are either wheat or barley, with wild oats just visible behind.  This is on the path to our front door, we have to scythe our way in.

Experimental grout and a new door

Tuesday 6 May 2014

Having taken it easy, with a bit of boaty stuff to do, over Sunday and Monday, by Tuesday we were keen to try a bit of grouting.  Dave was holding firm to eco-principles and wanted to make the grout himself.  We had some fine sand, which we put through the kitchen sieve (sigh!) to make it even finer, then mixed with lime and a touch of PVA glue.  The fine sand is almost black in colour, so the grout was going to be grey.

Dave made a little mix measuring everything in yoghurt pots, just enough to do a few lines accessible from the doorway.  Our one remaining problem was how to apply the grout.  The internet was saying we shouldn't apply in the same way as on ceramic tiles, where you just wipe the grout over the tiles, instead we had to squeeze out lines using something like an icing bag.

In the UK you can buy Grout Bags for this.  In Greece you can't.  This was our first attempt to make one.  Rubber glove with cut off end of a funnel taped into the finger.  It was okay for a while, but then kept jamming.  We worked out there were little unsaturated lumps in the lime so it had to go through a sieve too. 

The homemade grout bag - and a handful of tiles experimented on.

Then Rowan called in unexpectedly, with our new door for the music room.  We had designed a more interesting shape than a square, and Rowan had also made this guitar cut-out blue glass panel.  He's going a way for a few weeks, so no more for a while.  Very nice to have this one though.  

Terrracotta tiles, hurrah!

Saturday 3 May 2014

Hangover notwithstanding, we were up early, ready for Neil at 9am, with the mixer mixing, and the tiles in their boxes stacked up raring to go.  Actually, Dave was all ready, and I was drifting around zombie-like trying to look helpful while not, in fact, doing anything.

Neil was laying tiles like there was no tomorrow, and we were onto the second mix in no time.  Then Dave got a call from his brother asking him to help move a boat, and suddenly I was all on my own.  Not recommended with a hangover, loading buckets of sand into the mixer.  I kept getting distracted and forgetting how many I'd done.  Still, Neil kept a wicked pace going, so there were no options.  Eventually, I started to wonder what was keeping Dave, when I got a call - he was 'just having a beer with Pete ...'  I explained calmly and reasonably why this was not a good thing under the circumstances...!

No time for photos as the work progressed.  I only remembered the camera at the end of the day, after Neil had left.  Here's the finished job, only the grouting left to do.

Sweeping up

Saturday 2 May 2014

Last day of prep before Neil comes to lay the tiles, so I spent it sweeping and clearing up.  All done by 4pm.  Dave had done a morning on the outside wall, then gone to do boaty things, so I was left to my own devices - quick chance to lay out an approximation of the kitchen floor plan.

 From the outside door to the kitchen, looking across at the pantry - door aperture with micro-columns.

From the pantry looking towards the kitchen door, line to the left shows placement of kitchen sink and countertop, square to the right of the outside door will be the fridge, and the nearest rectangle is the space for the cooker.  Can't wait now, just want it to all be done ...

 Later that evening, Steamboat Rooster were playing at a friend's birthday party at a private villa across the valley from us.  Lovely party, but I forgot to be sensible, and fell victim to the demon drink ...

... not a good idea with a day of mixing lime mortar for tile adhesive coming up fast!

Me and Geordie Andy enjoying the moment.

Last pantry panels

Thursday 1st May 2014

Another full day of pantry wall-building. 

First off, I plastered up these four internal wall panels on the left,

then tackled the sections under and around the little window.  The plaster in these is straight onto the bales, and as it was going to be in the pantry, I didn't worry about the finish being set a few centimetres back from the wood frame.  In more public spaces, we're going to have to come up with a way of bringing the final surface closer to flush with the wood, like it is on internal walls.

Meanwhile, Dave started the third and final coat of external plaster on the bale walls - must be time this job was finished!

Last chance

Weds 30 April 2014

We had seen Neil earlier in the week and he asked if we could push back the floor laying until Saturday.  Well, that suited me, as I still had lots of walls to build, so we agreed.  Three work days till Saturday, so no time for hangovers ...

 Dave finished up the scaffolding, then used some leftover plaster to do this panel on the stairs, not high priority, but lovely to have it done as we see it from our tea-break chairs.

 I scrabbled around everywhere to find enough plywood to fit panels under the stairs.  After using up one of my drawing boards I was still stuck and decided to use this not-quite-right painting of driftwood to finish up.  These panels are insulated too - the idea is to keep any heat in the house out of the pantry.

Here's Dave's panel, all cleaned up and looking very smart

The walls beside the door are almost but not quite finished

Sections to the right finally insulated and finished, even the fiddly little ones.  The plaster looks lovely when it's done - very Tudor half-timbered.  The finish isn't particularly smooth, and doesn't need to be.  I like to think it's 'got character'!  I bought a tin of paint that claims to be 'eco' (EU certified, so I hope it is accurate), trying to get a colour exactly like the lime plaster - not successfully.  But it brightens up the plywood panels.

And the last sections to be lathed are all done, complete with insulation and wiring for lights and sockets sorted out on the other side.  This bit to plaster tomorrow.

Wine Tasting

Tuesday 29 April 2014

Apart from a day of rest on Sunday, we've kept on working.  Dave is feeling a little better, finally starting to perk up a bit, and I've kept at wall construction around the kitchen.  But on Monday I got a call from Jessica, asking if we would - as a favour - take part in a wine tasting for some Danish friends of theirs who are opening a wine bar on the sea front.  Well, what can you do, if a friend needs your help ...?

We were asked to taste a range of 15 wines: 8 white, 2 rose and 5 red, and make notes about which we liked and why.  It turned into rather a marathon, especially since we started around noon, and I hadn't had a big breakfast, but undoubtedly good fun - we all got a bit giggly by the end!

Later that same day, we had a birthday party to go to: Trish at 50 - the band should have been playing, but a draconian new law about live music in bars has terrified all the bar owners and cancelled the gig. 

 At the end of a happy, boozy day - slumped on the sofa at the Yacht Club.

 

Bee Tragedy

Friday 25 April 2014

We'd got to the stage where we had to change the top level of the scaffolding for a taller one, so Dave could get right up under the eaves.  But when we took the aluminium tubing down we were shocked to see a number of dead carpenter bees fall out of each tube.  We worked out they must have flown in in search of a good nest site, and been unable to climb or fly out. 

So I took the time to put blue masking tape across every hole in the tubes that we don't need to keep open.  Although it's a bit late, as most creatures have found nest sites by now.  I've found three - one hornets' nest in my wardrobe, and two wasps' nests by the bathroom shed.  While I welcome bees, I'm less happy about sharing living space with either hornets or wasps, so they had to go - while still only small.

Plastering

Thursday 24 April 2014

And even more of the same.  Dave now at the top of the scaffolding, able to do about a metre square each day, then wait three hours for it to be ready for sponging, then move the scaffolding for the next patch next day.  It's far too much hassle to move the scaffolding on, then back, for each section - lots of time goes into levelling and stabilising and it needs both of us.

My patch is coming along nicely, if not very quickly:

 Door area fully lathed.

Wall by stairs partly lathed and insulation starting to be installed.  We're using a polyester insulation, not cheap, but eco-friendly and nice to handle.