The Plasterboard Cowboy is Back !

In the early 90's Jan and I were renovating a Georgian Town House in Portsmouth, room by room. Most of the rooms were recipients of new walls and ceilings and my good colleagues at digital (DEC) bestowed upon me the title of "Plasterboard Cowboy". Well, he's back. Twelve sheets of 8' x 4' were delivered yesterday and two of them are now attached to the roof timbers in one of the new bedrooms :

Unlike in those days of hammer and nails, I now use drywall screws and an electric screwdriver, which is much quicker, and less violent. In fact I remember when boarding up a soffit in the Portsmouth house, every knock of the hammer seemed to dislodge another tile on the roof outside ! The drywall screws have a very thin shank (3.5mm), a sharp point to cut through the board, and twin threads to pull into the timber. The heads are "trumpet" shaped in order not to tear the paper outer skin of the plasterboard.

Prior to this momentous advance, further studwork was added to (nearly) complete the wall. The door opening is now formed, as is the "dog-leg" that will form an alcove in the bedroom :

I still haven't worked out how to attach the board around this alcove, but I have enough studwork now to board the main inside faces, so I will worry about the detail some other time.

I resisted the urge to make the frame for the door an exact size to accommodate the door lining. The linings that I have seen before are always fitted with spacers to take up any irregularities in the frame construction, and I have done the same, allowing about 1cm all the way around.

Now for an update on the electrics. I managed to speak to the electrician and he is returning to our project on Monday, which is good news. In answer to the specific questions posed in my previous blog :

1. There is no longer any electric in the garage
   He thinks the PIR (light sensor) for the outside light is faulty and it failed the circuit tests as a result.
2. Two double sockets in the existing house no longer work.
   These are on circuits that were not re-connected, also as a result of failed circuit tests.
3. Using the dishwasher when any of the fridge, freezer or washing machine is also running causes the RCCD to trip.
   This is probably as a result of the poor quality earth and should be resolved once the electricity board (E-On) have enabled PME (Protective Multiple Earth) for us. Actually it hasn't been a problem recently.
4. We asked for MK componentry, and he has installed Crabtree.
   MK did not do a domestic box with a sufficient number of slots, so he went for the Crabtree, which in his opinion is of equal quality.