My home in B'ham
I visited my mum's new house in Selly Oak for the first time on the last weekend of March, and I left the place with optimistic thoughts. Work and attention is required, but I'm willing to put my all into this project. The state of the place regressed over the weekend, although that must inevitably happen before it's finished. It's situated within two kilometres of Bournville (and more importantly Cadbury World), and the development of the nearby area will make the house a potentially profitable project. One of Labour's new super-hospitals is under construction nearby, and the house should be whipped up by doctors or nurses when the time comes.
Mum and I stripped wallpaper from what was the lounge, whilst dad drilled a rather precise hole through the kitchen wall to improve the plumbing. The quality of the plaster underneath greatly determined the difficulty of my task, and the coarse cracked stuff above the window proved most persistent. My maternal parental had already done a lot of the work, and we finished it after half a day or so. My dad's inspection may have been slightly over-cautious, but resulted in some rather enjoyable destructive practices. The support over the window was timber (not at all steely), and the fear of dry rot had me bashing off the plaster in front with an old chisel. The air sometimes glowed with a reddy tinge as sunlight beamed through the window, the air thick with plaster dust. Those protective 'sars' masks are uncomfortable and restrict oxygen flow, but I was glad to have one in environment like that. The floor resembled a Martian riverbed by the time I'd finished.
The kitchen/diner is relatively modern, but construction mistakes are glaringly obvious to those with expertise (ie. not me). The cooker and kitchen units are placed directly on top of laminate flooring, which contradicts their non-load-bearing nature. Some of the laminate had already been damaged when the floor boards underneath were replaced to counter rot (something not picked up in the initial survey). One of the boards refused to move as we took up the rest, caused by its position underneath an artificial wall. Kitchen units are one thing, but a wall is is in another league entirely when it comes to load. A nail running down from within the wall's cavity held it in place, and my father had to remove part of the partition so that he could dig out this devilishly elusive piece of metal.
There is this Italian place not far from the house that does original and exciting cuisine at reasonable prices. I had the veal stuffed with Parma ham, and it was a great introduction to this misunderstood meat. The accompanying sauce was deliciously rich and didn't overpower the rest in terms of flavours.
Mum and I stripped wallpaper from what was the lounge, whilst dad drilled a rather precise hole through the kitchen wall to improve the plumbing. The quality of the plaster underneath greatly determined the difficulty of my task, and the coarse cracked stuff above the window proved most persistent. My maternal parental had already done a lot of the work, and we finished it after half a day or so. My dad's inspection may have been slightly over-cautious, but resulted in some rather enjoyable destructive practices. The support over the window was timber (not at all steely), and the fear of dry rot had me bashing off the plaster in front with an old chisel. The air sometimes glowed with a reddy tinge as sunlight beamed through the window, the air thick with plaster dust. Those protective 'sars' masks are uncomfortable and restrict oxygen flow, but I was glad to have one in environment like that. The floor resembled a Martian riverbed by the time I'd finished.
The kitchen/diner is relatively modern, but construction mistakes are glaringly obvious to those with expertise (ie. not me). The cooker and kitchen units are placed directly on top of laminate flooring, which contradicts their non-load-bearing nature. Some of the laminate had already been damaged when the floor boards underneath were replaced to counter rot (something not picked up in the initial survey). One of the boards refused to move as we took up the rest, caused by its position underneath an artificial wall. Kitchen units are one thing, but a wall is is in another league entirely when it comes to load. A nail running down from within the wall's cavity held it in place, and my father had to remove part of the partition so that he could dig out this devilishly elusive piece of metal.
There is this Italian place not far from the house that does original and exciting cuisine at reasonable prices. I had the veal stuffed with Parma ham, and it was a great introduction to this misunderstood meat. The accompanying sauce was deliciously rich and didn't overpower the rest in terms of flavours.