Day 221 - 222 May 8 - 9. Day 2 and 3 of Glass Sliding Door Installation

 .....and so the installation continued. Macin and his men worked steadily to fit what is, in fact, a first for the company. Little did I know, they'd never made doors this big or in a five door combo, with one slider going one way and two the other.

Securing the track and fitting the fixed panes was not easy.  
 

Steel packers to make sure track is level to the nearest mm

One large oak frame waiting in line to be fitted

Amazingly, the frames are in. Who'da' guessed?

Inspector Walt checking out the frames

Inspector Walt's been 'off games' for a few weeks. He's back to work and on form

'So, what do you think, Inspector?'

Door fitters work table

Happily, since the South Elevation was re-opened to the elements, the weather has been kind to us.
May it continue to Day 4 installation.

Love
BarnGirl
xx

Day 220 - May 7. Glass sliding doors (16.5 metres of them) are on a truck on the high seas heading for the barn!

There's an air of anxious excitement on site today. The glass sliding doors for the south elevation are finally on their way and are due on site at 10am today!  As luck would have it, Highway Maintenance decide today would be a perfect day to close the lane, dig up and repair the massive pot holes. When would they hit the entrance to the barn? Which end of the lane would they start? Will the Polish truck driver understand 'Road Closed' but passable?! Would BarnGirl's enormous panes of glass survive the thumping and bumping along the 'uneven surface'?

BarnGirl takes a call at 8am from Andrew, the UK installation manager, who indicates he's minutes away. Phew, they're early, or so BarnGirl thinks. Alas, Andrew is one part of the installation team, the rest are on their way from Poland, including the owner of the factory.

10 o'clock comes and goes. Then a dusty grey car, with Polish plates, arrives on site. Two slim chaps emerge from the car to stretch their legs, after a 10 hour drive from Poland. They are the advance party of experienced installers. Shamefully, BarnGirl and the BarnBoys extent of Polish is nil; the installers' English is 'hello' and 'thank you'. There seems to be a lot of nodding and overly loud 'you...like....cup of tea or da coffee?'.

A few phone calls later......'They're held up and will be here at 11.30am'. Ok. The road repair guys are still far enough away.  12.30pm disappears. So does 1.30 and 2.30. Eek, the road drills are getting closer!
Meanwhile, Boss Jon does a few last minute rehearsal manoeuvres in the telehandler.  Just to remind you, Jon, you volunteered to fork lift 16.5 metres of glass, oak frames and track from the north elevation to the south!

At 3.30pm BarnGirl spots a large blue lorry, wobbling from side to side, trying to avoid the freshly trimmed pot holes ready for filling. We're on....the installation can begin.

Hello Boys - The Installation Team

'Unboxing'

Boss Jon picking up the tracks

Add caption

Tracks brought safely to South Elev

Scooping up 5 giant panes of glass

Here comes the glass!

Glass panes on the rack

BarnGirl has every confidence in you, Boss Jon

Glass panes carefully lowered to South Elev

Easy does it.....Oak frames land safely

It's a dog's life! Tip takes it easy

Looking good

So, with everything on site, Mr Factory Owner, Macin, and his handpicked team of installers set to work. It's going to be a very long day; the first of three.  Well done, all involved in the 'unboxing'. Looking forward to progress tomorrow.

Onwards to Day 2 of the installation....
Love
BarnGirl
xx

Day 212 - 216. April 29 - May 3 - More Plasterboard for Big Barry and his Team of Plasterers

It was a race against the clock for No-hat-Summer Matt and Smiley Tim. They worked a very long Friday to finish plaster boarding the master bedroom, in time for Big Barry to return with his team of trowel wielding plasterers, on Saturday morning.  At 7pm on a Friday night, they were still adding the last pieces of plasterboard.  Well done, Barnboys.....now go home and enjoy a beer on Boss Jon's birthday.  Happy Birthday, Jon.

 Chris and Lubo fitting acoustic sound board in the ceiling of the recording studio

Big Barry moves plaster wing man, Ben into place on the tower

Wing man Ben, plasters the wall above BarnGirl's rather large fire escape (#NoTripodBlur)

How do they do it? Beautiful job guys

Plastered roof light in Utility room

Wet plaster on outside wall of Bathroom 2

A few tools of the plastering trade

By close of play on Saturday, Big Barry and the plaster boys, had almost finished the master bedroom. Meanwhile, Boss Jon and Chris-can-do-anything were plaster boarding the area around the door to the lower deck.

In the evening, BarnGirl arrived with huge bucket of paint, a telescopic roller, paint tray, paint brush and water, in readiness for Sunday and her first bit of painting since a trade show wall or photo shoot. The plaster in the dressing room is beautifully dry now and ready for its 'mist' coat. To you and me - 'tis standard paint watered down.

Big Barry will be back.

Love 
BarnGirl
xx

Day 208-209 April 25 - 26th - Ply, Plasterboard and Big Barry, the Plasterer

The BarnBoys are steaming on inside.....

With the arrival of Big Barry, the plasterer, M'hat and Smiley Tim were under pressure to finish plaster-boarding Bedroom 2, while Big Barry plastered the dressing room and masterfully plastered the rooflight. Next stop, Bedroom 2, with his trusty trowel, pink pug (?) and stilts!
 

Camera shy Big Barry

Where's the grey plaster I remember? Apparently, pink is the new grey.

Master Bedroom Plaster Board Store

Gun-Toting Boss Jon

Plaster boarding the Hall

Plaster boarding the Hall

Plasterboarding the Hall to Recording Studio, Bed and Bath2 and around Loft

Sell Sell Sell Pork Bellies and Makita

Meet Chris-can-do-anything

Ludo stuffing the walls of Bathroom 2 with Rockwool

Thanks, Guys, for giving up your weekend to make things ready for the return of Big Barry and his trowel next week.
Love
BarnGirl
xx