Feeling A Bit Chuffed With My Panelling .....

  I've had a bit of a moody on it, during the last week. Well; Basically, I bought a couple of new packs of panels! That helped a lot!

 One side of my 'hallway' is now completely panelled. I just have to finish cutting and screwing on the architrave at this end. I'm already working on the preparations on the other side of the hall too. 

  It's having that one, straight run wall fully panelled though. It does look absolutely fucking amazing! Even with it half done, I never guessed it would look this good, when it's 'finished'.

 I'd love to show ye photo's. But it's not finished, yet. Have to put the skirting board on the bottom and get a bit of concave, quadrant trim for the top. And just finish cutting a bit more architrave and screwing that on. No screws, see?

  Anyway, screws are in my book now. Another pack of panels and a strip of wood I need to use for studs for the panels. Pick them up, in town.

Then spend another few afternoon sessions, figuring out how to get round the constant stream of niggling little problems the kack handed, pissed clean out of plumb building of this place throws at me, every turn I take!

 Great fun though! I'm a bloody rat catcher. Not a carpenter or builder. Fuckin' trier though. I take my time and think about every pin and screw. Figure out what might go wrong, in advance.

 Tell ye; I wouldn't thank ye for a team of builders and decorators turning up at my gate, for free, tomorrow. I had the professionals put the doors and windows back in this place. Now, it's up to me to do the rest.

 The feeling of achievement and satisfaction all this is giving me? Fucking Priceless! 

A Long Story ~ Part Two .....

  So, back to this:  I've got this tool, called a " Pin Pusher ", see? Cool piece of shit. Looks like a screw driver. Only, on closer inspection, the shaft's hollow and it has no head.

  Instead, it has like a barrel which ye slip a panel pin into. It's also spring loaded. Idea it that ye pop a pin in there. Put it against the spot ye want that pin. Push. 

 It's a bit like one of those dummy knives, in reverse. It shoves the pin into the panel anyway. So much easier than fucking around with hammers!

  I cracked on then and started on my 'hallway'. I'm one of these guys who'll plan and think about a job for six months. Then do it in six weeks.

 That's just because I'm not that good at shit. And fucking up, through lack of planning, is a bitch on so many levels. I hate doing that.

  Here's the ceiling panels going up. What this shot doesn't show ye is the absolutely geometric 'cut out' it's all leading to, on the right! 

 But, yeah, the 'wall' to the right was a right fucker. I had to measure, mark and cut out a virtual 'lightening streak' shape from a length of panel. Plus, it needed to slip over the square of a vertical run of plastic, electrical conduit.

 Took me a fucking afternoon to make that one strip of panelling the right size and shape. But, be fucked; I did it, in one go! God, I was pleased with myself! 

  Here's a not very good or expressive shot of the result. Ye can see the conduit. But, the quirky shapes of all the other shit I had to fit to, 'behind' that, doesn't show in this shot.

 Now, here's the thing. Right? This is important .....

 I's ask ye to scroll back up again and have a closer look at the first photo. Look at the top, right hand corner. See that silver thing, jutting horizontally into the photo? That's a galvanised steel piece of trunking.

  That trunking runs, out of shot, to the right. To the domestic fuse box. Nerve centre of my nice, new rewiring job.

 Right angling 'Back' from it, towards the door, is a fuck off great cable. It's about an inch wide ~ compare That to any cable attached to any electrical appliance in ye entire home, eh?

 It's that big because this is the cable that carries the Muvva Load! That bastard runs directly from the Main Fuse to my 'Fuse Box'. This fucker can comfortably carry enough whack to power an entire fucking mansion during an electricity using party!

  I'll leave it there. For now. The ground work is now firmly laid. 

A Long Story ..... Part One .....

  OK. I'm finally sitting comfortably. So I'll begin. But, this one's liable to get so fucking involved, I'll have to break it up into bite sized instalments. Otherwise, it'll become tedious as all hell for all of us.

  All started, really, a year or two ago now. When I finally got my payment and was able to have windows and doors fitted in this place. And have the ancient electrics completely replaced.

 I got the sort of windows and shit that the original people would have considered the norm. Only, mine are, or course, made of UPVC and glass such as never existed a century ago. But, the style's the same. 

 My front door, however, is 'posh'. Ye front door, out here, is a Feature. It's an opportunity to make a statement. Show a bit of flash. So, I got one that my neighbours openly admire the shit out of.

  See; I'm wanting to not just 'renovate' this place. Rejuvenate it. I want to 'restore' it to what They would have had, if they'd had the spare cash to give it all the Traditional trimmings.

 And I know what's 'authentic, period' too. Because, as a bit of an " Urban Explorer ", I've crept through and wondered at my fair share of genuine, left as they were, abandoned farm cottages. 

 That's the way here, see? Or, I guess it was, before the Celtic Tiger rolled over, farted and died. 

 Ye'd grow up in the home place.  Suddenly find yeself living in a boom time. Get yeself a nice little place built on ye auld ones land. Move in.

  They'd die. That was it. Ye'd Remove them to the cemetery and close the door on their cottage. And leave it to rot down.

 Anyway; So, I'm making this place 'Century Old Posh'. And that's where the Panelling comes in. This is the True start to our story. My beloved, accursed fucking panelling!

 It started with the 'Back / Kitchen Window'. Let's get with the pictures, eh? Here's how it 'originally' was. Site of " The Leitrim Experiment "!

 

  So, I had that blown out and a nice, 'Typical' Back Door put in. The builders made a passable job of preparing the hole for the made to measure door. But, the 'Doorway', being just some lashed up fibre board, left Everything to be desired:

 And that's when I decided to get cracking and give my kitchen / lovely new back door a bit of the Bling I feel it deserves. I knew what a wealthier 'Farmer' of the old days would have got done, to impress his guests. 

  It's by no means finished yet. It needs that smoothing touch. Then I have the paint and brand new brushes here to paint it. I'll be using almost exactly the same dark, corn / cream the original paintwork displays. But, here's my back door, pretty much as it stands today.

 All 'Panelled Up':

  There. Wasn't too painful, was it? I mean, I hope it wasn't too much like me showing ye my 'Holiday Slides'? I just needed to lay the ground work. Get some subtle little points into ye subconsciousnesses.

 Trust me. It'll all pan out. I'm not just doing this to brag about my own, mediocre, DIY abilities. Now that I've got the ground work down, I'll be more inclined to feed ye further stages in what, believe me, became Quite the fucking experience!

 I'll probably try to pop in bits and pieces on other issues ~ As the mood takes me ~ in between chunks of this one. Otherwise, again, it may get to be too much like work, for all of us.

 Stay tuned .....