Sunday 10 November 2013

Chipping away

Lester, bless him, bought me these...


.....so I could start doing this...



So here is the lounge,
and the big patch you see
is the start of the new project,
and that is to get all the old lime render
off the walls.
I fear it is going to take quite some time.

We hoped that we had decent stone walls,
but it looks like we don't.
And I don't know how the walls have stood,
being made of bits of stones and tiles,
how they have stood, 
I ask myself,
for over two hundred years.



Anyway, this is how far I got last night.
At least I had started.
Lots of chipping away to do,
so best to do an hour or so per day,
don't have time to do more,
don't want to do more,
because of the number of times
I missed the head of the chisel
with the mallet,
and hit my thumb.

Not to worry,
found some thick work gloves,
which seemed to stop the sting
when I inadvertently hit myself,
which was not often
as I got better with my aim.



It took me an hour to from the first photo,
to this one. 
Ah well, at least we have started the lounge,
which is good. 
I should also build up some good arm muscles,
eventually.
Little steps get the job done!
Hope you have a good Sunday,
Vx

6 comments:

John Going Gently said...

I think I would have preferred chocolates

Vera said...

John, actually....so would have I! Then paid a nice builder man to do the job for us, but we are on a budget, so no choccies, just sensible tools!

Kev Alviti said...

I've seen the french cold chisels like you're using and the bit you hold and hit is quiteflat - the english version is much better as it's roun and easier to grip and a bigger head to hit! It's never a fun job - why not use a light SDS drill on hammer and see how that goes - much easier than doing it by hand!

Denise said...

We did 'painting the kitchen' yesterday. And I inadvertently made a bit fall off a wall when I poked some crumbly plasterwork on the demolished fire place because I thought it looked 'a bit wobbly.' Nowhere near as impressive as your demotion job!

Diane said...

Men love to buy presents like this it seems ha ha. Hope the thumb is on the road to recovery, don't hit it again. the render is off. We also have some odd areas but I prefer the stone look. Take care Diane

Vera said...

Kev, thanks for the advice. Our builder wanted to use a drill to get the plaster off the walls when we asked him for a quote to do the job!

Denise, oh dear, not to worry, you have now added an artisal look to your fireplace wall!

Diane, oh glad someone else has removed the render. Most around here, if not all, either plaster over the walls, or cover them with plaster board. Don't know what we are going to do at the moment, wait and see what else we find as we continue to chip away!