Running a Gite in BrittanyFed up with life in the UK we moved to France for a new start. Left behind the private schooling, traffic jams and housing estates for a better quality of life. We now live in Brittany, France running gites (holiday cottages).Staircase- April 30, 2008 The last major shopping decision is the staircase. I've been toying with the idea of buying an off-the-shelf hardwood staircase and fitting that. The only problem is a standard height staircase is about one step higher than I need. I could cut off the bottom step and adjust the banister etc. to fit, but it's not something I relish. Now that the oak flooring has been ordered I thought I might as well go the whole hog and order a made-to-measure staircase and have it professionally fitted. I've...http://radio.weblogs.com/0136203/2008/04/30.html#a521 Oak and tile flooring- April 28, 2008 Now that the renovation has moved downstairs I had to face up to one of the worst jobs. Shopping. The lounge is going to be floorboarded and the kitchen area tiled, so to proceed much further floorboards and tiles need to be bought and a staircase chosen. I used pine floorboards upstairs but really wanted oak or chestnut downstairs. It's much tougher, looks better and is more in keeping with an old cottage. Looking around the DIY shops, oak and chestnut floorboards came in at about 80 eurosm2...http://radio.weblogs.com/0136203/2008/04/28.html#a520 Lime Rendering- April 25, 2008 Apart from a couple of small bits of in-fill around the dormer windows all the plasterboarding upstairs is now finished. I didn't have any scrap pieces large enough and I didn't want to use up a whole board just for a small bit. Once I start plasterboarding downstairs I can use any larger off-cuts to finish upstairs. The last couple of days have been spent lime rendering an internal cob and stone wall. I could have just stuck plasterboard over it but I thought it would look a little more...http://radio.weblogs.com/0136203/2008/04/25.html#a519 Plasterboarding, and more plasterboarding- April 20, 2008 The blog has been a bit quiet recently because I've just been plasterboarding everyday for the last month and there isn't much to see apart from grey rooms. Almost all the upstairs has been boarded out. Three bedrooms, corridor, landing and two bathrooms finished. The photo shows the plumbing for one of the bathrooms from about a week or so ago. This bathroom also has a suspended toilet and shows the hot and cold water pipes in place before boarding. Each water supply is a single point-to-point.http://radio.weblogs.com/0136203/2008/04/20.html#a518 |