The Extension – Update 7 (Will our house ever be clean again?)

Last Updated on 13 December 2023 by Colette

This week has definitely been the toughest week of the build so far from my point of view – I’m sure Dave would tell you digging out the footings or carting concrete and bricks about in the height of summer was pretty tough and Dad would definitely rate the regular drive from York or sleeping on our sofa as a massive pain in the backside however for me, until last month, everything was just going on outside.  

Yes it has been hard having the contents of the garage stacked up in the dining room or big power tools stored in the living room.  And yes there have been days where it has been pretty dirty in the house from sawdust or brick dust floating about outside but really . . . nothing could have prepared me from this weekend. 

Yesterday my Dad took down a section of the ceiling on the landing to create a shaft up to the roof where he has fitted a Velux (this is to compensate for the loss of the original window and will allow some natural light onto the landing).  It would appear that taking ceilings down is a pretty filthy job . . . Dad was absolutely black, as was my bathroom, hall, stairs and landing.  All I can say is it’s a jolly good job we’re going to be getting new carpets at the end of this!

Dad left yesterday afternoon with instructions to get the rest of the ceiling down and to take all the plaster off the walls on the stairs before Monday.  Simple enough jobs but big if you see what I mean.  Dave started work on the stairs after lunch (so that Amy could still get a good sleep in this morning) and finished just as the kids had eaten their tea.  

This is what our stairs looked like at lunchtime: 

The plaster wasn’t in great condition – I think the term Dad used was that it had “blown”.  Basically it was coming away from the walls so if the plasterers had just skimmed it it would have just ended up falling off.  So armed with a spade Dave launched his attack.

And this is what stairs look like tonight:

Grim.  The whole house is just covered in a fine mist of dust which is playing havoc with my asthma.  The kids have been confined to the living room all day yet were still like little chimney sweeps when we put them in the bath tonight.  I think really I should have made plans to take them out for the day or even the whole weekend!

At this moment in time I feel like my house my never be clean again.

You can see previous updates here:

The Extension – Update Number 1 (Goodbye Leaky Garage)

The Extension – Update Number 2 (Digging the footings)

The Extension – Update Number 3 (Getting out of the ground)

The Extension – Update Number 4 (Actual Walls)

The Extension – Update Number 5 (More walls and a roof)

The Extension – Update Number 6 (Lots of progress)

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