Rain or shine, as the case may be, the work wasn't going anywhere without us. Today was the former, in large quantities that sometimes came through the ceiling in places. Anyhow, we came armed with new heavy duty dust masks (you can never be too careful) and new overalls (for all that Hard Yakka we’re doing.)
In case you have ever wondered.... ripping up floor boards is not as fun as it may sound. I’m all for destruction, but levering them up carefully with a massive crowbar was more back-breaking than enjoyable. It was mildly satisfying, but the best part about this task was revealing the myriad of bones and other mysterious items that lay underneath amongst the dirt. More on those later.
Dad provided some assistance by rendering some cracks in the wall and threading a rope through the pulleys in a window sash - don’t know the technical term for this, but I was glad I didn’t have to do it.
Lucy and I continued to dig out three large rubbish bins worth of dirt from under the floor, which was all the rubbish bins we had, so there remains a large pile for another day. I played archaeologist and found about 5 marbles which was pretty much the only thing that kept me going with the shovelling. We also found two old medicine bottles, half a comb and a lot of little animal skulls. There were a staggering amount of bones under there- none of them human (I'm a tiny bit disappointed.)
We rolled off two thick, wet, heavy layers of carpet from the living room, and left one more, as well as THREE layers of lino and two of newspaper; all of which conceal the floor-boards below. That's cushioning one's feet in the extreme.
Then it was more wall scrubbing -I feel I am becoming something of an expert- before knocking off early (at 6pm). Four consecutive days of work have left my body feeling more than a little exhausted.
Posted by Alice
Returning to the kitchen with fresh eyes, and my new orbital sander in hand, I decided to sand the room in preparation for painting. Work proved relatively simple, however let it be said that it’s no easy task holding a vibrating sander above your head for 2hrs whilst dust/dirt/grit showers down into your eyes. Very satisfying though! Alice proceeded to mop the living room ceiling (again, at my request) before abandoning me.
The carpenter came to have a look at laying a new floor in the kitchen...this is where the bad news began. The ‘damp problem’, we discovered, stems from the fact that the beams supporting the wooden floor are placed directly into the dirt! Great! Rotten beams and rising damp, and now the thought of digging down 200mm before the floor can be done. The good news is it means more demolition!
Whilst waiting for mum and dad to arrive to lend a hand, I decided to give the brown fireplace a quick scrub...not too filthy. Alas the sticky, brown paint wasn’t actually paint, but some nasty mix of smoke, cooking grease and the original, cream paint. Yuck.
Dad arrived, promptly removed the window and took it to the glaziers before repairing some cracks. Mum shoveled some dirt, then together we took up the kitchen floor. Fairly time consuming but enjoyable - so we left half for Alice to do tomorrow!
Posted by Lucy
The morning light did yesterday’s hard work justice; the walls of the former-filthy kitchen practically gleamed! ..but made the coffee-coloured living room look all the filthier in comparison. The question of what to do on day two was thus quickly resolved!
After a quick scrub of the fireplace in the kitchen (neat Sugar Soap is pure liquid wonderment!!) and removal of the remaining plaster on one of the kitchen walls...the suits, masks and face shields went back on. Time to begin the scrubbing, however cleaning the ceiling proved to be quite a challenge, especially considering Alice and I both lack what is needed to actually reach the ceiling (not ladders, we have plenty of those.....height). I never thought I would have to mop a ceiling - but that is exactly what we proceeded to do!
By the time Mum arrived for lunch almost half the room was done...however at this stage Alice and I both looked like we’d made a trip to BodyBronze, and come out with a Hawaiian sunset...and then gotten caught in a thunderstorm. Filthy brown goo covered our entire bodies, despite the ‘protective suits’. Nothing a scrub of a surgeon’s standard couldn’t fix! We celebrated our progress with a trip to Bunning’s; coming home with 15 litres of paint, render, an orbital sander (!!) more sugar soap and scourers...and some nice burgundy-coloured watering cans - a motivational purchase for the garden-to-be!
Putting the new items safely out of harm’s way we donned our now-brown gear and climbed back up the ladders. While the grunge did come off after applying neat Sugar Soap...rinsing the walls proved to be the hard thing, especially as the light was beginning to get low and we could no longer really differentiate between filthy and cleanish walls.
Time to go home...discovered many, many strange bruises and all sorts of aches and pains. Alice’s “tan” did not wash off after a shower. Awkward.
Posted by Lucy
We begun by tackling the kitchen. Did I mention the former occupant was a smoker? What I mean is the former occupant was a SERIOUS SMOKER. If you've ever wondered what 35 years of smoking inside looks like, see below… Sugar Soap came to the rescue + elbow grease, in equal proportions. We scrubbed.
I be-friended a sledge-hammer and a crow-bar and knocked off a whole wall's worth of plaster, and DEMOLISHED three cabinets and set of cupboards: satisfying. Our plumber also made a hole for us that shall one day be the door between the kitchen and bathroom. Body seizing up: home time.
Posted by Alice
Just to give you a conservative overview of what we're working with here; some images of the house in its original condition. There are nice parts (lion heads in the hallway) and nasty parts (syringes in the bath). The house has a lot of potential, I know this because I am highly optimistic and maybe even psychic (and because I’ve seen the neighbours’ house, which is a mirror image of ours). The place wont be in this state for too much longer so watch this space.
Posted by Alice
