7.11.2022 Lounge major upgrades!

 ~~

 Monday 7th 50F. A wet and windy day is in prospect. Up at 5.30. 

 Plans for today? Highest priority? Shopping. Finishing the grouting in the entrance hall.

 I have been advised by two family members not to paint the pine, internal, glazed doors. Both also suggest I fit skirting boards in both halls. 

 The southern lounge window surrounds are [my] shuttering boards and painted a dark grey-green. These boards acted as a reference level for my rendering. They were never removed but my wife had painted them at some time. White paint on these boards would bring in much more daylight for very little effort. 

 Horribly untidy image of the southern lounge wall using flash in poor daylight. The 22' long lean-to greenhouse rests against the outside of this wall and the kitchen. 4 meters is 13' in olde money.

 This same lounge wall is still grey cement. Which has never been painted since I rendered it two decades ago. A coat of white paint would really lift its appearance. 

 At the moment the narrow, dividing walls between the three windows are merely dark grey, featureless silhouettes. The upper wall is still very rough and receding above the windows on the right.

 The original idea was to add a board as an artificial "beam" at ceiling height over the very rough original beams. Then render the upper wall to the same level as lower down. Which would provide a uniform appearance. This would require the removal of the large Asian carpet and most of the furniture at that end of the room. So quite a lot of work would be involved.

 Simply painting the lower wall white up to the tops of the windows would be quick and easy. Providing a real improvement in brightness without too much effort. I can then finish the rendering on the upper wall when time and conditions allow.  

 I have just been studying this problem wall again. Using flash photos because it is still very dark. I think a 20cm deep [8"] board would do most of the work. In hiding the original, very rough timbers and receding render. The board would be painted white before it went up. To match the newly painted wall below. So that it would all simply disappear into the fabric of the building. 

 My original plan was a pretend beam [board] only 10cm or 4" deep. Hence the desperate need for so much more render. An 8" board would avoid this messy work. I was thinking in terms of 2" thick timber at that time.

 When it is light enough I'll use straight edges and my long builder's level to see what can be done. Some feathering of the lower edge of the board might be needed. I'm not quite sure at the moment. Though it certainly looks doable.  I have all the tools I need now. Where a simple [thick] plank would have been very difficult to fit in the past.

 I remember that it took me many hours. Using only a lump hammer and 2" broad chisel. To cut back one rock hard beam in the top left corner. Which was very badly skewed relative to the wall below. Otherwise the overhang would have made it impossible to add a board over the top. I can no longer remember why I stopped work on this particular project. Though it was usually the result of some criticism by my wife. Who would then blame me [unfairly] for never finishing a job.

 7.30 It is finally light enough to walk safely on the edge of the road. It is blowing a gale again. A hood will be required.

8.15 Just my routine half hour walk to the lanes in very windy but dry conditions. Lots of activity from crows out on the fields. A harrier lifted off the newly ploughed prairie. Perhaps it was looking for worms. The farm workers arrived in huge tractors to do more ploughing. Large scale fields need large scale implements to be economical.

 10.00 53F. The wall where I intend to fit the pretend beam is flush on the left but hollow [set back] on the right. I'll buy a suitable board. Then prop it in place to see if I can simply pack it out with blocks where it doesn't reach the wall behind. I'll have to move all the junk and furniture below to avoid damage. Not to mention improving access. A board of these dimensions will be quite cumbersome and probably weighty.

 The pine ceiling has really darkened with time since I put it up. I'd like it white but painting it overhead is hard and messy work. Perhaps I should take down the boards again and paint them on trestles. They really ought to run with the long leg of the L-shaped room too. At least they should according to the rules of interior decoration. Though that would be even more work. If they were white they would just disappear. Several problems solved at a stroke. Except for the painting. Or taking them down. Or both. 

 I could even run cables to [presently] non-existent lights while the ceiling was down. There have never been any ceiling lights in the lounge. Nor in the bedroom immediately above. All lighting is done with distant wall sockets at the moment. Meaning the use of torches to find them in the dark! 

Or [more usually] leaving lights on in adjoining rooms to be able to see anything. With the inevitable flex trailing up walls, across floors and ceilings. A remarkably common sight in Denmark. Where hiring electricians is so expensive. That even commercial premises open to the public. Have trailing flexes running everywhere.

 Two-way switching at both lounge doors would be my most sensible upgrade. Requiring more work from those expensive electricians. The more unskilled work I can do myself, before they arrive, the shorter their hourly work required. 

 11.30 Back from the shops. My need for a 20cm wide board was not easily met from stock at the builder's merchant. Fortunately I saw some thin, 10cm/4" wide, T&G boards. If I glue those together I will have my 8" wide board. With the added benefits of being lighter, more flexible and twistable if needed. Cheap as chips too. They were returned stock. I am going to paint them white anyway.

13.30 I have glued the two 4m lengths of board together edge to edge at one tongue and groove. I still have to saw [or plane] the spare tongue away from the other edge. It might be sensible to saw the boards a little narrower on the table saw. 

 If only I could reach it at the back of the shed! I will have to detach the DW table saw from its supporting trestle. Then I can carry both units outside and clip them back together again. I can't exactly saw a 4m length in the shed anyway. I will need both roller supports as well. 

 Getting the combined width right the first time would be sensible. I already had to push the boards through the lounge window to get them indoors. I don't want to be running back and forth making small, repeated cuts! 🙄

16.45  I managed to drag the table saw out of the shed. Then its work stand and feed rollers. I cut the tongue away first and then made the board 21cm wide. There is a slope of over 1cm difference along the length of the joist where it rests on the top of the wall but I ignored that. 

 Trying to saw a taper freehand on a 4m length of board is just asking for trouble. The board already wanted to fly like a glider in the wind. As I walked it back to the lounge window for reinsertion. Then the struggle to lift and replace the table saw back in the shed.

 I used the DW oscillating, multi-tool saw to clean up the shoulder of the joist against the brick wall. Where I couldn't reach it with any other saw twenty years ago. Lots of smoke from the saw blade but it cut neatly enough.

 I'll push some projecting screws into the top, window shuttering board to support the wide board. That will save me having to manually hold it up while I check for fit. I can't be everywhere at once.

18.30  The image [above left] shows the top half of the double board fixed in place. I had to separate the two boards. Because the brick wall is bent like a banana. The joist under which the new board sits is out of level and also sags. So I need to bend the lower board to match the top one. It also needs to be narrower over the right side window. 

 There is packing behind the right hand side to bring the board flush with the lower wall. The white board looks harsh in comparison with its grey surroundings. An indication of how bright that wall will be when it is all white.

 So, despite my protestations I will need to mark and cut a taper freehand on the table saw anyway. Though I could use the jigsaw and plane the bottom edge smooth. That will have to be tomorrow now. It is pitch black outside and raining.

 Dinner was a salmon pasty, pasta, peas and tinned tomatoes. I had a rare nosebleed this evening. Probably from lifting that heavy table saw!

  ~~