Just how long does it take for fresh plaster to dry? Well, it very much depends on which website you look at. Plastering pundits quote anything from 3 days to 21 days but in this cold, damp wintry weather and with no radiators in the bedrooms then your guess is as good as mine.
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| Downstairs hallway now plastered |
It’s
been almost a week since the first room was plastered and damp patches are still
in evidence. I’m loathe to put any paint
on the walls even a mist coat for a few more weeks much to the frustration of
the head builder who insists it’d be OK to paint after 3 days and is chasing me
to do so. I’m standing my ground on this
one matey.
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| Drying very slowly |
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| Mist coating the walls behind the radiators |
This
is one of the downsides of having a company taking care of your entire project. They have a schedule to keep that fits in
around all their other jobs so you end up feeling rushed, press-ganged into
doing things before you are ready to.
Work in progress
The
benefit of managing your own project piece by piece is that you retain control
of the timeframe giving you a bit of breathing space between phases and time to
slowly gather ideas/supplies and funds for each bit. I think for Phase II this will be our
approach.
Also contrary to the internet, I might add that there does not really appear to be a great financial benefit of getting in a refurbishment company to do it all in one big project unless perhaps you are doing up a whole house where you may reap the benefits of economies of scale say in the plastering or electrical work.
For
example, the electricians we’ve had in seem to apply ‘a fixed price per piece’
formula in their estimating rather than a standard day rate so size of job
doesn’t really matter but number of items to be added/changed does. This makes it far more lucrative for them as
from what I’ve seen most of the electrical work so far, it could have been done
in about 2-3 days making a standard day rate a much cheaper option for us.
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| Pathson Industrial lighting |
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| Hexagonal ceiling rose |
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| Scolmore Click Deco in polished chrome |
The other disadvantage of having a refurbishment company is that their ‘cut’ is most likely added on top of the cost of the individual trades again pushing up the cost of your project. If you have the time and the skill to manage your own project then this would be my advice especially if money is tight as you can shop around for tradespeople to meet your budget and keep more of a handle on the overall project budget and work each phase at your leisure.
And now for some crocuses...
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| Spring has arrived |
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| Our back garden is bursting with colour |
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| And crocuses |
2 comments:
Arrrrgh! Refurbishment Companies..Heaven forbit..! :(
It may be a Sicilian thing, but over the years of
growing up, and especially in my later years, l've
always made sure l have people/friends/associates in
my back pocket..!
I've done a lot of things to help people over a period
of time..so if l need something, something done, l just
pick the phone up..Job done! :).
I've read/seen enough in the media to steer clear of
companies offering so called fantastic deals..anyone
doing a job for me..l know..l know them, l know their
family and friends..
So the important thing..l save a great deal of money!
The crocuses look lovely though..love crocus, and
snowdrops, my favourite though are still pansies! :o).
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/14119922/frog-hitching-a-ride-on-tortoise/
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