More DIY flooring fun.

We have been struggling a bit as time goes on.  This is what we have been up too in the Living Room.

I've been pulling up the cracked concrete from our floor.  There have been a few repairs in the past that were a bit thrown together....not that ours is going to be terribly professional either!  It is only cracked in front of the windows in the front and back and a bit on the outside wall.  (This has been funny because Rich and a couple other people think when I say outside wall I mean Outside THE wall....funny.)  I took the hammer and a couple of bolsters to the floor and made a tidy job of it I think.  I realized that I needed to put a barrier up and decided the best thing was cement board, so I bought Aqua board used for tiling.  I cut it to size and used this foam adhesive to glue it in. This is what it looked like.  Not a great pics.

 This work brilliant in the front window, but not so well in the back....there was some weeks in between and the foam adhesive seized up.  Rich took a little screw driver to it....and yep you guessed it foam adhesive ALL OVER THE PLACE.  We ended up putting it in a black bag in the garden.....that was one full bag of foam!  I went to buy some more and they didn't have what I needed, so I went for a regular adhesive like sealant.....stupid!  The foam worked so well, because it didn't matter how level the area was....but the sealant did!  Plus, we didn't have a very good gun (again with the scrimping!) and Rich ended up busting a blood vessel trying get the stuff out of the gun!  I have now bought the most expensive gun Screwfix had!  It is WONDERFUL!

Then I started to pour the self-levelling compound......not as well as I thought.  I made a bit of a meal out of it.  So now what to do.  It wasn't too bad, but I forgot to prime the area again with PVA after the first layer.  It bubbled really badly because of that.  Then for some reason it buckle a bit.  So how to fix.  I've been thinking it over and decided to block off the whole area that I'm going to tile with the tile frame I was going to use anyway.  I'll glue that down with more adhesive sealant (at least this time it make sense) and I'll put the self-levelling compound the whole way.  This will help anyway, because as I was taking the old tiles up, I found more areas that weren't very level.

While I've been doing this, Rich as been painting, painting, painting......  Three layers on the inside wall at the moment.  We have also had some guys out to give us quotes on windows....and found another problem outside with the wall above the back French doors.....needs a new lintel and more mortar.....ah well.  All this fun stuff to do!

So what else have we been doing???  What Dawn and Rich...isn't the living room enough???  NO! 

Because the builders are coming back on the 16th to plaster over the Artex on the wall in the hall way and re-plaster the little bathroom downstairs,  we needed to do some re-arranging.  We recently bought a really nice Arts and Craft looking dresser for the kitchen remodel.  This has been in the hall way but we needed to get it out of there.  So this meant:

1. Taking out a pantry cupboard and a wall cupboard.   All the stuff that stored there in boxes.
2. Take off the counter top with microwave and etc on it put into boxes.
3. Take up nasty lino from years back and also the carpet because it was too dirty to clean after years of not being able to get under the cupboard and dryer.
4. Move dryer next to stove.
5. Move frig against the wall were the cupboards were.  (Not that great a fit, can open all the doors, but not fully and condenser dryer water reservoir can't really be taken out....will have to think about that one!)
6. Move VERY HEAVY dresser into the kitchen....couldn't have done if it was in two pieces!
7. Now take out plates etc from the cupboards that were left up and put into dresser. 
8. Clear out boxes etc and put SOMEWHERE! 

If nothing else, this will cure me of hoarding.  I'm so tired of getting rid of stuff and wading through stuff that I need to find a home for.  Not bad stuff, just don't have room for it!  Sigh.....

Anyway.....that is where we are now.  Next weekend will be pour more self-levelling compound.  Gutting the little bathroom leaving only the toilet.  More wall patching.  Tiling - finally!  I've got a few days off with the builders, so I hope to get a lot done.  Especially, since we got a call from the furniture place and our couch and chair will be ready this week.  They said they could wait a week......hmmm........