Party Wall in the bag
They're going to video record the state of their walls and ceilings, which is fair enough. I think no matter how level-headed people are, they get a little concerned when they hear youre going to start messing with the structure of the adjoining property.
A great end to a great day. Becca spent most of it stripping layer after layer of wallpaper off the ceilings and walls. Underneath the ceilings are smooth and relatively crack free - one of the benefits of this house being bombed during the war and rebuilt after (1947 I think). Most pre-war houses in London and other major cities suffer from cracked and sagging ceilings. They are typically of lath and plaster construction. Unfortunately, the little nodes of plaster squeezed between the laths, which keep the plaster up, have broken off due to vibration from heavy traffic and, probably, wartime bombing. Fortunately, ours are post-war and plasterboard.
Today I have been cutting out the channels and rectangles for letting the wiring into the walls in the master and 2nd bedroom. We inherited nice new PVC wiring through out, a mid 80s Consumer Unit but old-fashioned sockets screwed to the skirting boards. All we need to do is swap the sockets for new ones let into the walls, which is a blessing.
Also spent the day lifting the floorboards over the proposed run of the soil pipe. When doing this you should take care to stagger your cutting of boards, so that you don't divide the room cleanly in two; this would weaken the floor.
A Heavy Duty Hammer Drill is a must for serious DIYers
