Where did I put that sink?

I've done the tiling. The epoxy grout fully lived up to my expectations. It was very difficult to do. And as I didn't have the right type of spreader I've managed to leave some little bits of black rubber embedded in the joints. The only surprise was that it has taken fully 24 hours to harden completely. I'd expected something that set like concrete after half an hour.

This is what it looks like now:



I've not been able to put the sink in as this is a complicated bit of plumbing. The hot and cold pipes are in an inconvenient location and I need to approach it with plenty of time to spare. I think I will have to drain down the whole piperun for the house. And I am missing one or two cheap but essential items (the trap, for example). I would have photographed it with the sink in place, but once it's in it will be very difficult to get out. The sink is very slightly flexible, and this makes putting it in easy, but pushing it back out risks knocking half the tiles off.

Here's a detail of the pretty inset panel. The new white tiles are called 10cm x 10cm, but in fact they are 9.5cm square, to allow for a grouted joint of 5mm: that way ten fitted and grouted tiles measure an exact meter. The picture tiles actually are 10cm, so they couldn't be put simply into the tiled wall without some cutting of the surrounding tiles. Nevertheless the end result is very attractive.



And yes, the grey border (5cm x 5cm tiles) over the picture went a little crooked there, but it is difficult to make such small tiles stay where you put them while the mortar is setting.

The wall above the grey border looks a bit messy, but once it has a spot of paint on the new mortar it should look fine.

And of course before this project is finished there are all the doors and drawers yet to make.

Starting the tiling

I've got some of the tiles in place. It doesn't look very tidy, but I hope that when the grouting is done it should look a bit more consistent.



I have bought some remarkably expensive epoxy grout. This stuff has a terrible reputation for being almost impossible to put on properly. In particular it sets completely hard within 20 minutes of mixing, and in that time you have to clean it off the tiles and make sure it stays in the gaps. But if it is put on properly, it's hard (harder than the tiles!) smooth and quite impervious. I shall give it a go, but if it turns out to be as bad as they say, I may restrict it to the area immediately around the sink.

still at it

I've cut and cemented the Wedi board. Cutting was very easy, cementing less so, and I used a surprising number of screws - a couple of hundred I'd guess. Anyway I ran out and had to improvise with plasterboard screws, which are not a good substiture. They don't penetrate chipboard at all well.



As I have a day or so to wait while the tiles and the special waterproof grout arrive, I've had a go at making one of the cupboard doors. I think this door took about a full day's work, so it's not likely I'll get them all done by the end of the week.

This is a haunched tenon joint:



The wood on the left is the vertical piece, called the stile, and the inner edge is grooved to take the panel. The "haunch" part of the tenon (on the end of the bit of wood on the right) is the raised section that fills the groove in the stile. A good carpenter would make the tenon a good deal deeper, but this was hard enough.

The thinner panel that goes into the groove was made from a thick unplaned plank (3cm): I put it through the circular saw to split in half. The circular saw has a depth of cut of only 7cm, and the wood to be cut was 9cm, so I had to take it out and put it back in upside down to finish the cut. I still have my fingers, but it's touch and go (as they say). After that I planed it down to one centimeter thick. The benefit of doing this is that the grain pattern matches nicely: one side is a mirror image of the other.

It all went together reasonably well:



but whether I'll have the patience to do the other four doors the same way remains to be seen. However, three of these are bigger, one a lot bigger and the other two a bit bigger, and they may be easier to do. I've had to work cutting joints in quite short bits of wood (the "rails") and gripping longer ones will be easier. I hope.....

self assembly

Self assembly as I can't get anyone to do it for me.

Here's the progress I've made so far. There are two coats of varnish on the wood, which is now finally glued and screwed in place on the framework. And I've cut the blanking piece in front of the sink. To the left and right of it I plan to have drawers with fronts from similar single bits of oak. Underneath there will be doors, which I expect to make framed with a recessed panel.



I went to Figeac to get the wedi-board this morning. This unlikely-sounding product ("I'd like some wedi-board please" "Wouldn't you prefer something more robust, sir?") provides a waterproof layer for tiling onto. I'll be cutting it to size next. It will then be both cemented and screwed into place on the chipboard. The cement is a special flexible type (or that's what it says on the packet).

Getting warmer

Still grinding away at the work surface - more correctly, sanding away. I've now finished both the interior framework and the exterior oak cladding, the facade that you'll be able to see when it's done. I assembled the facade loosely in place this morning, but without most of the framework. You can see on the left hand side there's one piece of wood that needs to be trimmed to length:



After this, I took it all apart again and cleaned and sanded all the surfaces that will show. This is in a sense the last bit of preparation. These bits of oak started off as 3cm thick sawn oak planks, which I have planed to 2cm and then cut to size. The joints were what really took all the time, though now I am almost finished (what about the cupboard doors and drawers, eh?) I can do them a bit quicker. Here is a flat-pack version, exploded view, after cleaning it all up:



I then spent the rest of the afternoon painting the inner surfaces with a first top coat, and tomorrow - after slapping some emulsion on the walls (I've just realised I'd be better doing this before assembling the wood, as I won't need to mask it all up first) - I should be able to do a second coat, with the final fix in place set for Friday. We'll see .....

A pinch and a punch

for the first of the month. February already. I did a bit more on the utility room, but I'm afraid it will be a case of "spot the difference": it doesn't really show much.

Here it is ....



I have swept the floor and moved the tools out of the way for the picture. This made me feel as if I was the kind of carpenter I'd prefer to employ. Apart from that, there's a bit more of the framework now in place. I'm not quite sure whether the framework supports the chipboard or the other way round. But it all holds together. And shortly I'll start painting the bits of the chipboard that won't be tiled.