LA STUDIO - Autumn 2022 October-NovemberVisit

SATURDAY 15th October 2022 - Door Jambs

I arrived on Thursday for another months visit, that should see most of the work on La Studio completed and here below is the Task Plan:

I started by a visit to Gedimat to collect an order for extra guttering items needed and to order 4 large sacs of Gravel.

On Friday I visited Leroy Merlin first thing to collect an order of 2 lengths of Oak to be used to create the Door Jambs for the vertical opening edge of each of the doors I create during the last visit.  These will create a straight edge on the Stone Walls and allow me to create a clean render edge.

Today, I cut and secured each Oak Jamb to the opening walls both down and upstairs, using screws and expanded foam that creates a firm fixing and good edge for the rendering, before I leave.

Down Stairs

Upstairs

So now on Monday I will start applying another coat of plaster to the Insulated PB on the walls and fill the gaps on the ceiling boards, before sanding and applying a first coat of emulation to all the walls and ceilings, if all goes well!

MONDAY 17th October 2022 - PB Joints

Good day and managed to get another coat on all the Insulated PB walls Downstairs and the ceilings boards.  Still been to fill the edges of the ceiling between the beams, but need to use the strong "sticky" mud filler on the, before the fine plaster finish and then sand.

DownStairs East Handle

DownStairs West Handle

Also, secured the internal Oak Door Handle and now just need to fix the door latch to the stone wall and have started to create a flat surface to get a proper base for the to be to leave and firm.

TUESDAY 18th October 2022 - PB Joints

Another good day in warm conditions.  Succeeded to get another coat on all the lower level Insulated PB walls Upstairs and some of the ceiling boards.  Work went better than I expected and should the second coat tomorrow, including the sections under the Purling Beams that I also added more expanded foam to. 

Looks like some of the areas I did yesterday need more time to dry, but should be able to do all the sanding this week and  then apply another thin coat, if needed.

Will do some photos at the end to the week, when hopefully all will be finished.

WEDNESDAY 19th October 2022 - Odd Jobs

Got the all the boarding joints plastered and used up the tub.  it seems the plaster is slow to totally dry so did some other jobs.

Having installed the upstairs oak doo jamb, I needed to plane the edge of the door to reduce the size, but need to adjust the wood plane more to finish.

Took delivery of 4 large Gedimat 1 tonne sacs of Gravel Stones for the paths, rear patio area once the work is complete.

Started to fix the guttering Support Brackets to the front roof struts, so now tomorrow will do some adjustments and fix the supports to the rear,  Can then fix the down pipes into the drains.

THURSDAY 20th October 2022 - FRONT GUTTERING

Clean up inside today and decide to leave the Joint Plastering to totally dry and sand next week, before skimming again.  So finished the fitting of the internal Oak Door Handles.

Upstairs West

Downstairs Latch

Upstairs East Latch

Front Guttering

Then completed the cutting and light fix of the Front Galvanised Guttering, although some level adjustment is needed and then will need to weld the fixing points to seal and strengthen the lengths and down pipes next. 

Looks like La Studio has its Jewellery on!

Just need to practice how to touch weld now before doing the guttering.

FRIDAY 21st October 2022 - REAR GUTTERING

Succeeded in fitting the rear guttering today and did some soldering on the ends and downpipe bends. Having  started on the east side end fitting the supports, I realised that the level above the rear door wasn't right and the guttering level was too low for the required door clearance.  After some consideration, I decided to raise the second 4m length above the door and all this second section would drain onto the first section.  Just need to wait for rain to check it all out!

Door End 

Downpipe

East End

MONDAY 24th October 2022 - CEILING FILLING

A full session today, filling the gaps in the Downstairs Ceiling Insulated PB in between the beams.  I use the Gedimat Plaster Adhesive they call Mud.  This dry's rock solid and will survive any small movement.  

I can now move on in the next 2 days to sand all the Plaster Board joints, ahead of a plaster skim to hopefully create a smooth and acceptable surface to paint.

Once done, I can give a 50/50 emulsion coat, before apply a finish coat and then move onto fitting and wiring the Fuse Box and give the Exterior Stone Walls a render coat to the current mud mortar.

TUESDAY 25th October 2022 - SANDING & SKIM COAT

Had to fetch more sanding paper but got all the joints sanded down and up stairs this morning, as well and a skim coats on the downstairs joints.  Looking good and no doubt a bit of touch up will be needed after the 50/50 paint coat, but I am pleased with how it has gone so far.

WEDNESDAY 26th October 2022 - UPSTAIRS SKIM COAT

Pleasingly gave a skim coat the upstairs Plasterboard Joints today and it is clear hat another will be required to some.  Whilst most joints are level, there are some that are not where the beams were not level.  These need multiple coats to cover, as they take days to fully dry and crack.  When I return next week from a trip to the Basque Region of northern Spain, I will give the final coat and sand, as well and the Mist Coat.

I also secure the Fuse Book Frame to the wall downstairs and ready for wiring up, again next week!

TUESDAY 1ST NOVEMBER 2022 - BACK WALL RENDERING

Returned from my weekend away and having looked at the weather forecast for the week, decided to make a start on the Back Wall Rendering and got 3.2sqm covered ether side of the rear door.  I used 1 bag of the render to get this covered and have another 3 bags, so should get the rear covered, providing the rain does not alter my timings.  This will allow me to properly determine the number of additional bags I will need to get to do all the walls.

I will do more inside plastering when the expected rain arrives!

WEDNESDAY 2nd NOVEMBER 2022 - BACK WALL RENDERING

Did another bag of Render to the rear wall today and managed to cover 3.4sqm today, with another 4 sqm to cover.  The coverage usage varies, depending on the gaps and stone sizes within each sqm.  I suspect I may not cover all of the wall tomorrow with the bag left, but I now have a good indication of how many additional bags needed to cover all the remaining external walls.

Rear wall Comparison

Rendered Area

THURSDAY 3rd NOVEMBER 2022 - BACK WALL COMPLETE

Despite the weather turning and starting to rain, I continued with the plan to finish the back wall rendering and erected a tarpaulin on the guttering to the  Walnut Tree to provide some protection.  

Her below are a couple of pics of the finished wall, having been able to render 3.8sqm with the final bag.  This was because of the size of the stones in this end of the wall and less gaps.  The rain also held off until I had finished, so all worked out well.

FRIDAY 4th NOVEMBER 2022 - Rear Patio Base

The rain and colder weather arrived last night, so I am pleased I managed to get the rear wall rendered.  Went to Tout Faire in Gueret this morning to get 15 more bags, but they only had 2 and need to place an order. Hope they arrive next week in time to get the Front and East Apex Wall completed.

So, this morning I managed to prepare the patio base and will spread some of the Grey Shingle Stone I have had delivered to finish this area next week.

Back Wall

East to West View

SATURDAY 5th NOVEMBER 2022 - Extra Gravel Down

Easy today, installed a length of rolled chicken wire in the guttering to limit the build up of leaf fall.  I have used this before and it is the easiest and cheapest solution.

Also, spread some of the grey stone onto the path/patio area to the front and used 1/2 of one large sac so far, so will be able spread thickly from now to create a deep compact patio at the rear next week.

Barn Path

Guttering Drainage Path

Courtyard Area

MONDAY 7th NOVEMBER 2022 - Patio Gravel Down

Got all the gravel down at the rear of La Studio to create a patio area and have now use 2 of the Cu3m bags.  The result is pleasing and the pics below show the full result.  Have another  bags, that I will use to lay later this week on the courtyard and front driveway to add depth to both.

West End

East End

Back View

View from Garden

TUESDAY 8th NOVEMBER 2022 - COURTYARD GRAVEL

Courtyard Gravel Down

Managed to get a lot of small tidy up and finishing tasks this morning, in addition to adding the new Gravel to the Courtyard area that looks near finished now.  Used 1/2Cu3m that will help drainage run off.

FRIDAY 11th NOVEMBER 2022 - FRONT RENDERING STARTED

Did many small finish and tidy jobs the past couple of day and then collect the 15 bags of render I ordered.  So, today made a start of the Front of La Studio and managed to get half of the wall completed.  Hopefully, will finish tomorrow and then might be able to get the East Side wall done by the time I leave on Wednesday!

SATURDAY 12th NOVEMBER 2022 - FRONT RENDERING FINISHED!

Managed to complete the rendering of the Front Wall today, although is took 7 hours to do the left side and used 2 bags again!  The work went well and looking good, especially next week when it dries fully.  So now all the holes are filled and and the stone will be fully secure. Some minor additional work needed, but not until both East and West sides are complete.

West Side View

East Side View

Have decided that work for this visit has finished and will focus on the garden now before returning to UK next week.

__________________________________________________________