Finishing

The Pea Hut - This article is part of a series.

Part 10: This Article

Plastering, painting, flooring.

Putting up the plasterboard (aka drywall) was straightforward, since they were mostly aligned with internal battens. I needed help to hold the ceiling pieces up while I screwed them in. I did use plasterboard adhesive for the ceiling - according to installation instructions - but I’m not convinced it is necessary.

Final piece of plasterboard going in. Service cavity visible behind.

After a crash course in plastering from youtube, we smeared most of an 18kg tub of premixed plaster over the joints and screw-holes. Plastering is fun and it smells like watermelon.

Freshly applied plaster needs plenty of ventilation

I used a cheap plastic plastering trowel, but it ended up snapping; if I did it again I would buy a stainless steel trowel.

My daughter chose a warm / light paint colour Solar half for the ceiling and Sand Diamond half for the walls.

First coat of paint being applied with a roller

A mistake: the first coat on the walls applied by roller was nice and even, but was alarmingly translucent. I got lazy and applied the next coat thickly by brush. But this resulted in lots of drip trails, which are thrown into stark relief by the LED striplights.

For the floor we were originally looking at laminate because it is cheap. But then I found this engineered wood flooring for an incredible $35 per square metre. No other wood flooring I’ve seen comes close in price.

It is supposed to click together but we couldn’t get that to work. We just pushed and pulled and used a rubber mallet to get them together, after first squeezing out a bead of wood glue along the joints.

Laying engineered wood flooring on top of waterproof 2mm foam underlay.

The flooring instructions call for a 10mm expansion gap on each wall. But the skirting boards I chose were only 11mm wide. Not ideal.

I somehow cut the final floor boards too narrow, leaving too wide a gap at the wall which was then visible under the skirting board. I filled it with black sealant. Luckily this is mostly hidden behind the sofa.

The bullnose 42x11mm skirting board was painted with enamel paint and nailed on with bullet head nails.

Here it is furnished with a comfy daybed / sofa, etc.

The Pea Hut - This article is part of a series.

Part 1: Design

Part 2: Foundations

Part 3: Timber Frame

Part 4: Windows

Part 5: Insulation

Part 6: Wrap

Part 7: Cladding

Part 8: Shading

Part 9: Electricals

Part 10: This Article

Part 11: Details