… to the pic of yesterday you will notice a change. In fact I’ve started to add the plasterboard to the walls.
First thing in the morning I finished off the battens and then set up a workstation outside with everything I need to measure and cut the plasterboard. I’ve been cutting it into manageable sizes and so although it looks like a patchwork quilt I can’t see any other way of getting it into the attic by way of the ladder that I’m using.
Terry recommended glueing the plasterboard to the battens but it was a hell of a job getting the polystyrene to stick. It wasn’t possible to put the pressure on at the right places and it kept on springing off. I held it on with some speed clamps but that didn’t work and so I tacked them on with nails – and then I thought “badger this for a game of soldiers. If I’m using nails I may as well nail the boards to the battens and forget about the glue”.
It’s not very pretty but I’m going to have to use filler anyway in the joints so mixing more filler to fill the nail heads is neither here nor there. It’s still going to be quicker than waiting for the glue to dry on each individual panel.
Claude poked his head in and had a look – and he’s quite impressed. The last time he was here we hadn’t finished the roof tiling. That was a month ago and doesn’t that seem like a long time ago? We had sun in those days – not like today. I had to put a jumper on as the temperature has now plummeted. In a valiant attempt not to light the heating, I now have a fleece jacket on as well. The first frost of the autumn can’t be far away.
In other news, at the Anglo-French group yesterday I was working with Antoine Ged. He’s the former postmaster (now retired) and his English is surprisingly good. He lent me a book to read – entitled Managing in Turbulent Times
In one chapter on the subversion of democracies, Drucker (the author of “Turbulent Times”) writes
“such a process (of subverting democracy) is doubly important …in which small, single-minded, often paranoid groups have attained a power out of all proportion to their actual size”
Now I bet you any money that many people are waiting for me to make a nasty and cheap crack about an organisation that many of us know and love. But not a bit of it. May I draw your attention to the key word in the quote from Drucker – a word that has as its middle two letters “NG” and not “MP” and so it can’t possibly apply.
But of course the Open University Students’ Association Executive Committee does in fact speak with a single mind (except when the OUSA President crawls out of her sick bed at the Annual Conference to oppose a motion in respect of which the rest of the Executive Committee is speaking in favour – but more of this anon) but that single (“do you mean “simple?” – ed) mind does not belong to any of the elected members of the committee.
No more graphic example of this that the one that was reported to me by one of my moles on various committees – taking a well-earned break from all kinds of activities at the last Annual Conference – who happened to be present when the much-maligned Turdi de Hatred very generously invited the members of the retiring Executive Committee to dinner at the University canteen.
The waitress approached the table at which Turdi and the members of the committee were sitting and asked
“is madam ready to order?”
“I’ll have the steak!” announced Turdi
“And the vegetables?”
“They’ll have the steak too!”
You’re going the right way with the plasterboard. Personally, I use drywall screws and screw it down with about 1 screw every 18 inches along the edges and maybe a couple along batons in the middle. Most people just nail it. I tend to miss with the hammer rather often so I prefer screwing it down. Plus it’s easier to remove later if need be.
It’s looking lovely, Eric. Thise beams give the room such interest How long, do you reckon, before you can move into it and live there?
You need to tape the joints rather than using just filler. Otherwise as it flexs with temperature changes up there it will just keep on cracking.
I thought you were talking about OUSA for a minute there Krys….
Actually, we put paper tape over the joints then wipe filler over that to make the edges of the tape vanish. Spread on with a spatula then sand down with a sander.
I know, but I was taking it one step at a time so as not to scare Eric 😉
It’s all going to be bound together with that fibreglass wallpaper and then emulsioned over. I think that the fibreglass should hold it together.
And I’m hoping to have it finished for the end of the month.
It takes more than that to scare me, Krys. I used to be married and I also served on the EC.
The joins will show through the wallpaper which is why we say use tape and paste then sand.
You can also do the paste and sand over the heads of any nails or screws to prevent them from showing through. it’s worth the bit of extra work for the effect you’ll get in the end.
I must admit to having had my doubts about the plasterboard for the ceiling because even if it didn’t pull through they may have sagged eventually if you hadn’t fixed them every 6-8 inch or so with those plastic collars that spread the load. So I think your tongue and groove and insulation is a much better idea. Suggestion:- Paint/varnish the boards before you put them up. It saves a lot of paint dripping off your elbow 😉
Dear Eric,
Thank you so much for these kind words you have written towards me !
But let me tell you something :
I have the feeling that an error has slipped into the heading of your site !
As far as I know, your parents called you ” Eric ” not ” Epic ” when you were born ?!
I have always been conviced that ” Eric ” is your proper name…or I am very much mistaken…!
So I think you would be well advised to correct that mistake…!
Kindest regards,
Antoine GED
Dear Antoine,
” Convinced ” not ” Conviced ” !
Regards,
Antoine GED
Thanks for the suggestions Krys. Dunno about varnishing them (they are going to be varnished though) first – it takes far too long. It’s easier to clean myself up afterwards.
And hello and welcome, Antoine. My name is indeed Eric but in a famous if not legendary text message between Carole (who lurks on this blog without posting) and the now-sadly-deceased Liz in which “predictive text” was used, I was referred to as “Epic” and that’s a much more appropriate name.
Ronseal water-based varnish dries much faster than the spirit based stuff and is just as good for interior woodwork. It also cleans up easier, as I found the day I stepped back to admire, bumped the ladder and chucked half a can over everything (accident prone, moi?).