Flooring & ceiling
Table of Contents
Cottage Deep Retrofit - This article is part of a series.
Ceiling #
The idea was to have some texture to the ceiling but for it not to be overwhelming. OSB (Oriented Strand Board) has an interesting leaf-litter pattern which could be toned down and lightened with lime wash.
Before lime wash could be applied however, I needed to sand off the wax coating. The lime wash was literally just hydrated lime powder mixed into water and rubbed on with a cloth.
The hardest part was cutting the sheets to fit, because none of the walls and beams are quite parallel.
This 6mm OSB is pretty cheap at $14 per m2.
Flooring #
The original floor was plywood, covered with carpet in the living area and vinyl in the bathroom. A water leak a couple of years ago led to mould, which can be seen in this photo of the ex-toilet.
The new floor came about by a stroke of luck. I bought a second-hand window from a house that was going to be demolished. When I went to pick it up the owner mentioned in passing what a shame it was that the old Tasmanian Oak floors were going to waste. I offered to buy a room-full for $100.
Pulling up the floorboards however was difficult. Because they were both tongue-and-groove fitted and nailed, levering up a board often broke the groove or tongue. In the end I did get enough usable boards.
Assembling the new floor involved finding sets of boards to make up the full length of the room, avoiding any visibly damaged parts, and staggering joins and colours.
Sorting the boards by length sped up the process.
The completed (but not yet “finished”) floor.
I finished it with some old hardwax oil I found in the back of my shed.
