Tuesday 23 February 2016

Good flooring for a narrowboat?

We were just talking last night about the flooring we are using in the house.  We think it could be a great option in a narrowboat.  It's actually from a UK company called Karndean. The boards are vinyl and just get laid straight down onto the level surface beneath.  The product is called Looselay.  At first we were a bit skeptical about the idea of it not all being glued down but having seen it successfully used in a commercial environment we were sold. The perimeter of the room does get stuck down and in our case we need to use a special two pack adhesive in the bathroom and laundry to comply with wet area regulations.  The rest of the house the boards can be lifted back up and replaced or swapped around if necessary.

It has turned out to be a pretty easy installation with very minimal waste.  They told us to allow up to 10% wastage when we ordered it but it won't be anything like that.  We have been using the off cuts from one row to begin another row so that the joins will be staggered.  The only time an off cut can't be used is if it has been cut by us at both ends.  It needs to be the perfect factory edge that meets the next board.  We have about half a dozen pieces left over like this now (halfway through the job) but even they won't be wasted.  We figured we can use them under the feet of the bed or other furniture that might mark the flooring.

Saturday 20 February 2016

House - Floor in progress

I took my car to the dealership this morning to have a minor issue dealt with.  I got home to the unexpected start of the floor being laid.  When Mick gets an idea in his head there is no stopping him.  So that was the rest of the day taken care of.  Mick cutting and laying boards and me opening boxes and sorting boards so we had a good selection. So now the 2 bedrooms, hallway and walk in robe are finished and they look great.  Klara wasn't impressed with being locked out of the house.  She couldn't work out why should couldn't come in today. At the end of the day we let her in and she walked around sniffing the new flooring.

Not the best photos..... my camera battery was flat so these are taken with my phone.








Monday 8 February 2016

House - busy Monday

Today was a huge day of progress on the house!

The Caesarstone benchtops arrived.
The split system heater/cooler was installed.
The last of the lights fittings were put in.
The power was connected.

I picked up parcels from the post office..... a very heavy box containing all the cupboard/drawer door handles.  After searching high and low for what is a very common type handle but being unable to find it anywhere in chrome, we ordered them from a UK company!  Sad isn't it when you can have them shipped direct to you cheaper than buying them in a shop. 

In the afternoon Mick and I went to Bendigo to knock off a few items from out list.  We ordered the blinds (paying a hefty deposit), ordered a shower screen, bought a new shower head (the plumber put the outlet so low that the previous one we bought is now so low we can't stand under it!), and finally bought some LED globes for the pendant lights in the kitchen.  When we toted up the financial damage for the day we discovered that in one day we're paying out near on 10% of our total budget. Ouch!!!




Sunday 7 February 2016