Well, it’s all been happening today. In the midst of a bit of a snowstorm, two of the decorators arrived at 8.00am to sand the filler on the walls ready for painting to begin. Almost immediately the whole building was filled with a fog of white powder and an ever-deepening layer on the floor. Inside was starting to look spookily similar to outside.
Then came the arrival of a big flatbed lorry loaded with pallets of sandstone slabs. Robert and Richard offloaded them by hand, remarkably quickly, and then failed to make any headway with the empty truck back up our snow covered driveway. After a bit of futile slithering and sliding, I towed them up with the Land Rover – diff locks on and in low ratio reverse gear. Nae bother. There’s nothing like having the right tool for the job...
Two of the pallets of sandstone slabs
Half an hour later they returned with the final couple of pallets, arriving at the same time as Donnie the plumber, with shower tray and shower fittings. He was quickly followed by Chris the joiner, here to build the bulkhead that goes at the end of the shower. Much measuring and discussion went into us all agreeing the exact positions of the shower valve and the shower heads. I think it took less time to fit them!
The start of the shower installation
The shower tray (yes, it is white under that blue wrapping) is an even lower profile than I expected, which is a nice surprise. By the time the floor tiles are laid, the step up into the shower will be less than 20mm.
The multi-skilled Chris will be working tomorrow, Saturday, to begin tiling the bathroom. His attention to detail is brilliant, and that’s before he starts. Everything is planned, measured and marked up so that the floor tiles will be laid first, the wall tiles will be aligned with the ones on the floor, and the wall tiles will arrive at the shower valve with symmetry. I’ll be impressed when and if that comes to pass.
Skye Express, our local carrier, had brought the tiles over here from Inverness several weeks ago. They kindly agreed to hold them in their depot in Portree until they were needed. When Chris went to collect them this morning they were not in the depot. Early this morning, with the main roads on the island covered by fresh snow, Skye Express had put the pallet of tiles into the back of the delivery van heading up to Staffin - as ballast. They liked the idea of that half ton of extra weight over the back axle to help the grip! The van arrived back in Portree this afternoon. Chris had them loaded onto his van and got them to the top of our drive. From there we shuttled them down the icy slope in a wheelbarrow. They are now stacked safely in the bedroom.
The 'Ballast'
By close of play the sanding was finished and all the walls are ready for the first coat of paint. The decorators may be working tomorrow as well.
For the past 24 hours it has been much warmer in the extension than it has been here in the house. There have been two free-standing heaters running non-stop to help dry the filler. The temperature they are achieving is a good sign that the insulation is working well. Perhaps we should take chairs and torches through and sit in there this evening.
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