h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It's been a while since I've done an entry so I thought I'd get things up to date.

My living/dining room is looking much better these days as it has a floor for one thing and the walls and ceiling help also
The underfloor heating works a treat, the fire surround (hand carved mahogany) which reputedly costs £2.5k to buy (I didn't pay that much for it) looks absolutely fantastic. The dado rail was going to be oak but funds ran out and is pine with an oak stain (took a lot of elbow grease to do that ) which looks a treat. I have a nice levelled and bump free ceiling (papered) and the walls are mostly papered (lining paper) also, I say mostly as I can't paper the lower half of the walls as yet.

I also have the luxury of stairs at last
(the ladder has been relegated to the garage)

There's still a big to do list:
Paint ceiling
Paint walls above dado
Lay oak flooring (enginered boards because of the floor heating)
Fit skirting boards (also oak stained pine)
Paper the walls below dado
Paint walls below dado

Done in that order so as to do the least amount with the flooring layed down.

The stairs need finishing as I have purposely not fitted the banister rail as yet so as to keep it as clean as can be before putting a finish on the stairs.

I have toyed with a few ideas of how to finish the stairs, carpetting them was just one of them but as I like the look of wood (you'd never guess would you) I'll give them a wax finish. I was going to stain them with the oak stain but I think there'd be much too much oak about and have decided to just give them a clear waxing, as they are piranha pine they look good anyway and will give the room a nice mix of wood shades with oak, pine and mahogany.

I still need to decide on what paint colours to use which for me is always the difficult part as my artistic talent (if there is any) lies in other areas.

I wish I hadn't started this entry as I now realise just how much there's still to do
I was happy and excited thinking the place was looking good for a moment there

Hey bed!

That sounds fantastic!!! Well done you for getting it done, mostly by yourself! (I know it's taken a while but there is that satisfaction when you look around and can honestly say 'that was me!')

DDD, being a bloke, has asked me to ask if you can post a few piccies (perhaps on CDaq?) so that he can have a look at all your hard work too!

Congratulations and here's a for you!

When it's a bit more complete I'll put up some before and after shots of it.

I've got some before shots on file somewhere and should have some without the floor.

You're correct about it taking time but that's 'cause I work for a living (allegedly) and can't spend as much time as I'd like to doing it.

I should also state that my brother has played a major part in doing a lot of the work. Without him I most likely wouldn't have started it.



Remind me to thump my brother the next time I see him

Well, it all sounds damn fine to me.

I reckon it's gonna be the 'best little house in Thetford'. (Perhaps I'm thinking of something else there... )

Post the pictures when you are done Bed, I'd really like to see them.

Now that's a confusing fact:

I have an Ipswich postcode (I wouldn't mind but I don't even live in the same county)
A Thetford address

And I don't live near either of them

I mean I live a lot closer to Thetford than Ipswich but still too far away to have it as part of my address but there it is.

And I wonder why I'm confused

I'll post some of the pics showing the floor heating tonight (if I can remember how) so you can see the "race track" before I covered it in concrete.