"Mum, Daddy's broken the house again...."

Well work has been continuing on the house, we are once again at the messy stage. The kitchen is as done as it can be, I'm still waiting for a windowsill and curtains but that's not a big problem and will soon be sorted.

The next job to be tackled is the laundry/utility room. This was in desperate need of a revamp as we had a flood some years ago from the bathroom above and the ceiling came down. As we were in the process of extending the house outwards and increasing the size of the laundry room it was decided that the ceiling and some of the walls would be plastered and painted when the extension was finished and the two rooms joined up; that was around 6 years ago!!

We don't like to rush things but the room was a place I continually apologised for! If you ventured that way I would hastily say "Oh please excuse the mess, we're having building work done" After 6 years it was wearing a bit thin!

One of the jobs needed was to take up the floor to install a new drain, not an easy job in a small narrow room. The trench had to be deep which meant a "gun" was needed - the type of thing you see when workmen are digging in the road. Oh yes, it was ever so slightly noisy and ever so slightly dusty!

This is how it went....

And this is where we are today, no washing machine, no drier, no spare fridge and a soil floor. At this point they went to cricket and left me standing with my mouth hanging open!!

Hopefully tomorrow the new floor will start to be laid. We originally used quarry tiles in here which were very practical but didn't really go with the age of the house. Renovating the second time around we're trying to get it "right". The house had an original Norfolk pamment floor laid on soil when we bought it, they were around 200 years old and well worn. (The link is the new replica tiles and explains a little of how they are made). They were however very beautiful and we re-laid them where possible, we have them in the kitchen and hallway. They are around 2-3inches thick and are porous unless sealed, they make a lovely floor and hold the heat really well.

We have managed to find some handmade replicas and are going to use them in a mix of shades to hopefully match the originals. They'll never match the wear of 200 years though. The new ones are just less than an inch thick which we needed as the ceiling is so low in here.

So another job progressing well, I'm getting excited now!

Oh and by the way Little Miss did get an award for her school overnight camp, not the same one as last year so I'll show you when the certificate comes home; needless to say we're very proud!! (and only slightly embarrassed!)