Tuesday 13 January 2009

Another visit...

We made another visit to Beacon today to view progress - Neil has made a good start on the bedroom....
Large cupboard to the left as you come in the front doors
We will store the ironing board and any other largish stuff in here."Ironing board"? I hear you cry!! Well, I'm not intending to do much of that (we have bought a little board from the now non-existent Woolworth's just before they closed their doors for the last time) but I thought that we ought not to look like tramps if we want to eat in a posh-ish pub once in a while! Special occasion maybe! I think that I might keep the wrapping for posterity. After all, it might be worth a bob or two in years to come. It could be a family heirloom to hand down to the kids - there isn't going to be any money left after we've paid for the boat!!
We have a couple of directors chairs for extra seating, they will also go in this cupboard, along with anything else that won't fit anywhere else.
Double wardrobe to the right as you come in the front doors - hanging below and three shelves above
This will be the main clothes storage - although I'm not planning that there will be a lot of clothes that need to hang up, so part of the lower section may well be used for other stuff - shelves above will hold t-shirts, jumpers and things. We will also have two small bedside cabinets with drawers in for the undies and sox (not built yet) and over-bed cupboards for anything else (also not built yet)

The cross bed is constructed - this is it in the closed position

Then with one of the extension pieces pulled across

And with all three extension pieces pulled across

Neil has made the extension in three pieces so that it can be put up by one person if necessary. Good idea, although neither of us is planning to spend much time alone on the boat, you never know when circumstances may dictate otherwise. We will have a two-piece mattress. Originally we were going to have one with a hinged bottom (!) section, but that would have meant that the mattress could not be turned to ensure even wear, so we decided on two separate pieces - we won't feel the join through a topper and a mattress cover.

The loo has been fitted, with just a bit of pipe-work to finish. Neil has built a nice little box to fill in the space behind, as we didn't want it too close to the bulk-head. He has also ensured that the vacuum pressure is constant and that there is no air entering through the pipework so it doesn't lose the vacuum - it's been constant now for about 2 weeks, so no problems there.

The khasi in place

The tiles inside the shower have now been grouted and look lovely - so glad we chose them instead of plain white!

I had a bit of a wobble about the tiles that I had chosen for the splashback in the galley, so I persuaded Rog that I needed to go and have another look as we were so close to East Midlands Ceramics in Loughborough We also had a quick look in B & Q which is just over the road, but I didn't like anything in there. I had originally chosen two colours for the splashback, but have decided just to use the one colour with random decorative tiles with a chrome motif (once again we forgot to take photos of them) I'm much happier with them now I have seen them again. Also having a bit of a re-think about using Corian worktops, as the composite is on an MDF base - don't like the thought of MDF on a boat. So Ali is going to speak with her granite man and price up real granite. She thinks that the price won't be all that much different. We shall have to see how it pans out.

6 comments:

  1. Great to see things progressing so well - but have you sorted a Swallows and Amazons flag to hang from your tiller yet?

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  2. Hi Pip and Roger

    Just a thought re Corian cos that is what I am having. I wouldn't worry about the MDF - if the boat is wet at that height I would be more than a little bit concerned !! There is also the weight factor of granite at that height to be considered re ballasting. Although I suppose that you don't have to worry about ballasting like I do.

    Nice cupboards.

    Good idea re pull out sections. Our shareboat had a full length pull out section and it was a royal pain trying to do it solo.

    Kath.
    nb.bobcat

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  3. AH, this brings back memories.. It is so good watching the progress isn't it?
    Looking Good!

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  4. Hi Graygal - no we haven't got round to a flag yet, but a few other ideas floating around at the moment!! Mysterious huh?? Watch this space.


    Hi Kath - thanks for your input about the Corian, weigh wise, apparently there won't be a huge amount of difference - still mulling it over, will put it on the blog when we make a decision. Good luck with the fitting-out of Bobcat - you are one very brave woman!!!

    Lesley - Good memories I hope!
    Hope Fletcher has recovered from his little swim the other day! We've fished various dogs out of the canal a number of times, and once out of a side pond which was covered in green weed - our old lab-cross thought it was grass and jumped straight in! It's not easy - we've decided to buy Cassie a sort of harness thing to wear all the time, it has a handle on the back which makes it much easier to yank them out than doing it by the collar. Hope you aren't stuck on the Soar for too long.

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  5. Watch the height of your bedside cupboards-mattress + topper means non-standard height. Ours are way too low to reach comfortably, which means the cupboard above is too low & I bash my head!!Great to meet you-sorry we couldn't stay.Jill

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  6. Hi Jill and Graham - thanks for the info, we have had the bed built quite low purely for that reason - if it's too high the gunwales get in the way as well, and shorten the length - our bedside cabinets at home are ideal, just about level with the top of the mattress, so we've worked out with Neil how high they should be. It was good to meet you too - we'll have a good old natter next time we meet out on the cut!

    Pip

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