Groundhog Day

Before I get to what's new, here's a nicer shot of the outside of the house, after the sun came out on Wednesday.

As Thursday was a national holiday here, I took Friday off too with the intention of getting back into the kind of work readers would hope I'd be finished with, not to mention me. Our friend Siggi popped down from Bonn to help, and I'm sure he was sorry also, as he basically spent 2 days looking at a ceiling, with a brush sander in hand.

Our bedroom has been neglected for the past few months,. The beams didn't even get the sand-blasting treatment, as originally I thought I'd plaster over the whole lot, but the more wood the better, or so I'm told.

First, a look back, starting with late 2010, just after we'd bought the place.

Step on to September, 2011, and the plasterboard/dry lining has been removed, as well as the chimney, leaving a new hole into the kitchen. Note the clay plaster on the ceilings, and the white-painted main beam.

By May this year, the old plaster had been removed from the ceiling and walls, and the initial paint removal done (horrible, horrible work)...

...which looked quite nice, leaving only finer cleaning of the wood to be done. Below is the old door frame into the room.

And as of yesterday, much cleaner, showing details in the grain of the oak that I really like.

Not to mention the door lintle is holding up the main support beam running across the room.

Siggi got the blackened dirt off the ceiling beams, and we both worked on cleaning up the main beam, which also showed some interesting hidden textures.

This beam feels like the hardest substance on earth, and takes a lot of time to clean or sand off. Too much force or speed, and it clogs sanding discs, resulting in friction burns that need to be sanded down with care. Basically, it's a pain in the ass, and this is the second one on this level to be prepped.

Fairly pleased with this, but some additional polishing is needed before we can start plastering the ceiling.

Meanwhile, it's been raining for 2 days almost non-stop, and there's some seepage into cellar 2, despite the new gutters and drainage behind the house.