Sorry folks, somehow we missed out on photos of the painting of the laundry. You'll just have to believe me when I tell you that the laundry was originally white...ish and had all the plumbing coming in on the wall where the big double-sash window is now. Thanks to the services of Phil the Plumber, all our water now comes in through the western wall, where you see all the taps. Thanks to Keith and Jon the Electricians, our fresh green walls also sported new powerpoints, and thanks to Llick and Click everything was freshly painted. Thanks to Slick, the room finally had the natural light it had been starved of. For when we first bought the property, there had only been a very small window to let light into the bare, dark room that did for a laundry. And very soon after our arrival even that little window had been removed - along with the asbestos cladding - and closed up for security reasons. It was glorious to see that sunlight streaming through the windows into a fresh, clean room.

Our next step was to tile the floor, and May 15th, 2007, was the day we did it.

 

 

This door leads into the back of the garage/shed/workshop (we call it all these things).Those stacked boxes contain the slate tiles we were about to lay.

 

 The external door, which is almost directly opposite the current kitchen door.

 

To begin the tiling process, we measured the walls and strung string-lines from the centres of each. This gave us reference points with which we could start the tiles off square and straight.

 

They are actually slates, not tiles, bought at a bargain price because they were the last of the supply. We had just enough to do the laundry, plus a box or two left over.

Because I have no more photos, I communicate the rest of the process by text. By completing the  room systematically, working from the quarter of the room furthest from the door, we managed not to trap ourselves into a corner! We had tiled too many times before to make that mistake, and finished the tiling by the end of the afternoon.

The next day we grouted with dark grey grout, and it did look good. Once the grout was dry, we washed the floor a few times to remove the remaining surface grit and oxide. Clean and well dried, the floor then received a coat of smelly, but effective, slate sealant, which brought out all the subtle colours in the stone as well as seal it from the water that it would later have to endure.

From raw concrete, splotched with old white paint, industrial and ugly, to an attractive, dark floor that set off the bright walls and brighter ceiling - the effect had to be seen to be fully appreciated. This room was no longer a rough afterthought or a dark little utility hole in which clothes were supposed to become clean, it was now a sunny room with a character and feel all of it's own; a place that felt clean and businesslike, without jarring the senses. The laundry was transformed, and now all that it needed was its furniture.

Our washing machine was brought back in, a set of sorting shelves built for the dirty laundry and a deep sink installed next to the washing machine. We were in business!

A few images of things from February, 2007.

 

Llick, working in the garden down in the front yard. Notice the new crushed granite path? Oh, and do you see the lamp-post down at the gate? There is another behind Mum, too, just across and up the path a bit. Slick took advantage of the trench that the plumber dug to run the electricity.

 

Picturing the back of the house, from the upper corner of that side of the property. The clothesline has been moved - did you notice?

 

And again, from slightly further up the hill, on the drive. The hedge is growing healthily, despite being young and coping with the full heat of summer. The thick bank of mulch around the roots made a huge difference.

How many people do you know that have used their volleyball net as a washing line? There are nine of us - sometimes the hills hoist just doesn't hold enough! Now we have an extra clothesline, and the net is retired.

Actually Mum really didn't like using the net, and it didn't last terribly long. It was good for socks though: see those white and coloured blobs that appear almost to be hanging in mid air? That's what they are.

(Picture taken July 28th, 2006)