This cold is getting worse, and has now moved decisively to my chest, giving me a hacking cough that is keeping me awake at night. I’m feeling pretty sorry for myself, even though I know it’s just a bog-standard winter cold. But I’ve had a strong incentive to get up and get going the last few mornings, as I’m using my tried-and-tested tactic of getting someone in to do work on the house, thus ensuring that I’m up and decent (if not technically dressed!) first thing in the morning. Once I’m up, it’s then much easier to keep going.
Rob, my trusty decorator, came around yesterday morning while I was having my breakfast and slapped a coat of sealant over the dodgy brown water stain on the hall ceiling – the one that was due to the leaking valve on the hot water cylinder. That bit of the job took him literally ten minutes, and he was gone again by the time I’d finished my toast, but it needed a full day to dry out thoroughly before he could top-coat it. He then came back today and spent the day painting the hall ceiling, and it looks so much better – you can’t tell now that there was a problem.
While he was here, I asked Rob to also paint the ceiling in the shower room in the extension. I’m a bit annoyed that it needed doing at all, as it’s only a few years old. However, it has the best shower in the house by far, so I use it every day, and hence it needs de-moulding from time to time. But when I went to wipe the mould-stains off the ceiling, the paint came away too, like a layer of dust! Rob says it’s because the builder will have used “contractors’ emulsion” which is suitable for putting onto fresh damp plaster, but has very little vinyl in it. So it doesn’t form a good strong layer. It looked good initially, but wasn’t properly bonded to anything. He’s put three coats of proper paint onto the ceiling, and that should be more permanent.
So, all in all, he’s done a good day’s work today, and the ceilings look a lot fresher. That’s another job to cross off the list…….
