Adding more layers

More pictures, less text.

The back of the house got its first coat of plaster last week, making it less Lego-like.

Meanwhile, inside, I experimented with Putzschiene and Eckschiene (I think they're called beading and corner beading in English) as a means to get an even surface on the gable wall of the living room. This wall bellies outwards a bit, so it needed to be evened up before receiving internal insulation boards.

First, fixed up the beading at each end of the room, then when it had hardened, strung a line between them as a guide for the rest. Corner beading along the inside of the window opes, and continue the vertical line with the regular beading. The resulting straight edge meant a plaster depth of about 7mm at the top and bottom of the wall, and 2-3cm in the middle.

Beading set.

To fill that larger gap, lumps of mortar were thrown at the wall and allowed to harden before plastering and finishing using a 2m-long aluminium featheredge. Job done.

A dash of mortar

Fresh plaster done

On the front of the house, Enver, of the Bakan Clan (more of them anon), fitted sheet metal to cover the step in the wall. Basically, we wanted this done as when it rained, water would fall onto a horizontal surface and could seep in under the main beam running along the front of the house. Now it's sealed. It's a bit shiny, but perfectly fitted (I gut the chase into the beam, which was not pleasant work), and when it weathers to a dull grey it'll match the facade just fine.

Back in the kitchen, the plans are coming along, and today we more or less completed the desired layout, so all that is left to do is to choose equipment, fronts and handles, and get a good price! To help get to grips with the spacing, I sprayed out the placement of the units. This actually helped a lot in figuring out how people would move about the kitchen, and identified some bottlenecks. The post in the middle is a nice feature, but takes a little planning around.

So, moving along, but still too slow on the inside for my liking, but that's down to my own energy levels, which are currently low. Still, the living room is coming along nicely. Just a little more plastering to do before the base wiring and plumbing can go in!