Day 12: Reinforcements have arrived!

Took delivery of the Svedish continuous belt sander this morning! Brouhahah...



The heating guru recommended these people to me as their machines are all Svedish and not the UK cheapo stuff that you usually rent. True to the sales pitch, the machine is fantastic and makes much better progress than the one I rented from the local tool hire shop for the bedroom.


So spent today sanding away.

There is something very pleasing about seeing the old dirty surface get stripped away to reveal fresh pine. And the really impressive thing is that after 70 years, the original floorboards still produce a lovely pine smell, like they were cut yesterday.

The boads were quite uneven so it still took a few hours to get through the first coarse grain.



Even Paula took a stab at it.

By late afternoon, we were ready to fill the floorboard gaps. To do this you mix sawdust with a resin compound and put it between the cracks.

Today got through Phase I of the living room and part of the entrance. Tomorrow plan is Phase II (fine sanding and prep for varnish) in the living room, then finish the entrance.

After all was done, went upstairs but developed a terrible headache due to the fumes of the resin stuff. Boy those Svedes sure make powerful Viking chemicals. Won't be using the resin anymore thank you. The only way I can function is to get out the trusty gas mask! (I bought it to defend myself against the Russian gas mafia people but actually is more effective agains noxious fumes!) Am I going to have to sleep with this on?