Hearth Complete

Laying the slate tiles for the hearth was relatively straightforward. After all, there are only four of them and they are cut to fit the space. The concrete was relatively flat and level, with just one low spot. After laying they were left for a day, then grouted with a black grout. This was a powder mixed up with water and felt a bit of a risky job. I was sure it was going to stain the slate, but it didn't. It certainly wouldn't have washed out of the carpet though, so we took precautions. Unfortunately it did stain the inside edge of the wooden beading, but in practice you can't see this.

Lastly the tiles and grout were coated with a sealer and then the fireplace was fitted. Here is the finished result :

You may be able to just pick out the lugs on the sides of the fireplace, which are used to screw it to the wall. I did my research about "how to fit a fireplace" too late. It should have been done prior to the plastering. The wall is then plastered up to the fireplace and the overmantle. This has the double benefit of making a gas-tight seal, should the fireplace ever be used for a fire, and also covering over these screw-lugs. We could not face hacking off the new plaster to fit it properly, then having to "make good" again, so ours is fitted for decorative purposes only. We had a fireplace in our bedroom in the old house, and never used it in 16 years, so I don't think this is a big issue.

With this, the last of the "messy" jobs finished, we were able to hang some curtains (though they need adjusting for length), hang a picture, and move in some furniture :

There are still a few jobs to do - the small window is lacking curtains, the pelmit does not fit, the window cill is not fixed, and there is the small matter of no doors, but it is another room that has been brought into use. A major milestone.

This has meant that we now have an opportunity to start preparing our old bedroom for Adam to move in. The room has been cleared, and wallpaper stripped :

(note it was not Adam, but his sister doing the work here !)

The plaster is not in great condition, and is "blown" in some places. The plasterer is coming tomorrow to give us his opinion whether it needs to be redone completely, patched or skimmed.

Finally, for those of you who enjoy the excitement of an auction, the old staircase is up on eBay this week. There have been 98 visits so far, and 11 people are "watching", but no bids yet. Just wait for the frenzy to begin at 21:30 on Monday !

I actually tried to give the staircase away on my local freecycle group (a mailing list to help save stuff from going to landfill, that someone else in the locality might want), but it generated no interest at all. Mind you, neither did anything else I posted that day, so maybe I caught all my local free-cyclers on a day off from their eMail.