Progress report on the Dining room #1

I’m the first to admit I’m a bit behind on actual renovation update. But so much has been happening and it takes a bit of time to sort it into a logical whole. So if you look closely you might even see some sneak peaks of other progress.

When it comes to the dining room I left you after we finished the demolition of the dining room. And ever since things are moving fast!

Plasterboards and insulation

The dining room has a bit of a funny shape. Its a fairly square room (with one corner ‘cut off’) and it has a bay window. It also holds the en suite door.

So one of the first tasks was to reinstall the en suite door and finish it with plasterboards.

Below you can’t see the door, but it’s behind the plasterboards.

Here you can see the en suite door popping out a bit. And you can see the ceiling has been plasterboarded as well.

Unfortunately for the ceiling to be installed properly, we had to remove hundreds of small nails that held up the straw ceiling before.

So using our trusty crowbar we ended up with a floor full of nails.

The bay window has all kinds of angles and trims, plus this part also needed to be insulated.

Stucco

Downstairs it was finally time for some smooth stucco! And as with other rooms, I entered a room completely coverend in red primer.

In this next picture I’m shooting from the living room, looking through the dining area to the kitchen.

Because the wall was in poor shape and the masonry is a bit wonky (in some parts it looks like a drunk person did the bricklaying haha), the stucco had to be done in parts and in a fairly thick layer.

First up was the wall where you enter the room:

Working around the room clockwise.

The master Angelo at work (he’s getting his own post at some point, promise!).

Drying times are hard times

As with the rest of the house the stucco starts out wet and greyish.

So at that point it’s just a matter of waiting for it to dry. But man this was cold!!!

We had no central heating, it was still winter and at some moments the temperature was just five degrees C during the day. We just couldn’t get warm anymore. Not my favorite time of the renovation I must say.

We got a small heater to get a bit of the cold out.

The big reveal of the dining room

The dining room was one of those rooms that we hardly used. It was mostly a dumping ground for bags of debris, tools and furniture.

Now that it has been cleared and the walls are smooth and white(ish) we can finally get a feel for the room.

There is still a lot to be done, but at least it looks like a proper dining room now!

So here you see the en suite door reinstalled (that will be a challenge when I get to painting it!) and the door to the hallway.

The stain on the floor is just water we used to clean the floor somewhat.

The bay window still needs a lot of love when it comes to the paintwork. But it is insulated and finished nicely. The wall on the right holds the en suite door.

You also see the central heating installed. But this would not be working for a while… Still icy cold.

On this picture you can see the new ceiling as well (spoiler). But all about that later.

The corner on the left we kept. Not just because it was meant to be this way and adds to the feel of the room, but also because it is part of the sturcture of the house. Removing it would cause a snowball effect of very serious issues.

We like it this way, so I think we’ll put a nice painting on it at some point.

Before and after pictures side by side

There is still lots to do. But this makes a big difference already.

When you’re reading this we have started to use it as an actual dining room!