loft conversion update

It's getting quite exciting,really.  The cork underlay has been stuck down with PVA glue to stop it slipping.  I bought a couple of rolls of cork, and it's so much thinner and more fragile than the cork tiles I've handled previously!  It tears more easily than paper - hence the need for an adhesive.  Without any it would have torn to shreds as we walked on it to lay the floor!

The reclaimed oak tiles presented more of a problem than we had anticipated - no surprise there, then!  There are about 5 different sizes/thicknesses, not to mention the blocks which were trimmed to fit the factory floor.  But we like a challenge, oh yes, we do:-)

We discussed various styles of laying them; initially I had thought I would have a simple "brickwork" style, nice and simple, I thought.  No, not with all the differences it wasn't.

Eventually I decided that a simple block pattern of 3 x 3 would probably be best, so that's what we did.  However, there were insufficient blocks in any one size to complete the whole floor area - of course!

Necessity being the mother of invention, so they say, David suggested laying a border of the longest blocks around the patterned area.  How sensible!  And it looks good, too.

The oak blocks had been painted when they covered the factory floor, so now the really messy part was due.  We looked on the internet to see if we could buy a second hand floor sander at a reasonable price, but, as is sometimes the case, nobody was selling just what we wanted at a price that seemed reasonable.  So - David decided to try using the hand sanders to see if they would do the trick.  We have a couple of belt sanders and also those shaped like an iron, the detail sanders.

The dust!!!!!!!!  Oh, the dust!  All my lovely magnolia paitwork is begrimed with the stuff, and those ultra expensive Velux windows are shrouded in it.  I can't bear to think of how I'm going to clean it all:(  Hoovering the floor is easy, but the walls, ceiling and windows, it's not a pretty thought!

But aren't they looking wonderful?  Such a warm, glowing shade:-)  And, fortunately, the hand sanders are coping with it - though poor David's back would rather it was all over with, I'm sure.


Along the back wall, under the fire-escape window, we're running a bank of simple cupboard doors, which I picked up for 50p each from a bankrupt sale warehouse about three years ago.  They're not fixed as yet, but you can see what they will look like - ish!  I think  they're stunning, but then I would, wouldn't I?