Sanding

So, I've stripped, sugared and now I need to fill and mask. The sanding is incredibly hard work - I have to go over each of the holes that we've filled and make sure that they are level with the wall surface. It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it, and by the time I'm finished I look 10 shades paler than I did already, I'm covered in polyfilla dust, it's gotten everywhere!

With the sanding complete, I then set about clearing up the mess it has produced and vacuum the hallway completely. I also vacuum the walls to remove any of the dust which has got on to them.

A brief break for lunch and then I set about masking off all the wood work that I want to protect from stray paint splatters and the like. It's amazing how much wood stuff we have in the hallway, but finally (after I've used about 1 mile of masking tape) I'm done. All I need to do now is protect the carpet.

We picked up some plastic drop sheets the last time we were at homebase, and so I place them down on the carpet and stick them in place with more masking tape to make sure that they don't move too much with me walking around on them. The are a good idea, but require you to walk barefooted on them so you have some extra grip, rather thank going arse over tit as you would if you had just socks on for example.

So finally I'm ready to start putting on the base coat of paint. We haven't gone with just a cheap old white, but instead we got some Polycell Base Coat. This is kinda like paint, but it has the added advantage of covering up minor blemishes in the plaster, it also will cover the quite horrid purpley/brown paint which we stripped down to.

By the time Phil comes home I'm in a right grumpy strop. I'm covered in paint, I'm dripping with sweat and to add to the misery I keep sticking to the plastic drop sheets. I have however managed to do 80% of the hallway with its first coat of base coat.

I have to say my mood isn't improved much when I hear the dreaded words "Do you want the bad news?". It appears my car has developed a puncture, and considering the tyres are Bridgestone Runflats I've already got an inkling that getting it fixed is not going to be cheap.

I then help Phil with his troublesome anti-roll bar a bit more, and as I'd managed to pick up a hexagon key which may well be the right size we get a bit further in tightening the loose bolt which is causing the noise. We take the car out for a spin after we've tinkered a bit and indeed the noise has lessened a little, but it's still there. Whilst we're blatting around the sky has gone incredibly dark with the sound of thunder in the air, I think we're gonna have a pretty big storm at any moment.

We get something easy for tea, I really can't be arsed to cook, but before we eat we go and measure up the back seat and boot of my car. We're picking up a plasma TV at the weekend, and because you can't transport a plasma laying flat on its back (something to do with the gases in it) we have to know if it will fit the right way round in the back of my car, otherwise I'll have to hire a van. Luckily though, it seems like it might just fit if we lay it across the back seats and belt it in.

The storm is really kicking up a fuss now, it's almost as if lots of storms are all converging upon us, and the lightening and thunder show is quite spectacular, resulting in the electricity flickering lots and the satellite signal going haywire - so with not much to do we go for an early night... and I am most definitely ready for it, big style.

Posted by Abi on the June 28, 2005 9:59 PM

sjon at July 1, 2005 6:48 AM