Apr 17

Apr 17 A fireplace is revealed, and Stéphane and I have our first on-site meeting

House Tour, Projects, People, Tour the House

An excellent builder is a valuable person to know.

It's a difficult job; as well as being extremely physically fit, a great builder needs to be a project manager, a creative spirit, energetic, industrious, a superb communicator and great with people.

With such a list of essential attributes, it's no surprise that they're so hard to find.

Stéphane, my builder, visited Nettie this week for an update. I had a list of questions for him resulting from the bashing about I've been doing inside. If you've ever renovated a house you'll know that you must always set aside money for contingencies – it's next to impossible to envisage all the surprises an old house will have in store, and so it is with Nettie.

For example, as I've continued to chip away at the external render and now the internal plaster, it's become clear that the windows are in pretty poor shape. Their condition won't be improved once the mason starts on site with his power tools. What's more, the Mayor has insisted on "Persian" shutters – these have Venetian-style inserts and are traditionally seen along the quay. Given that the upper part of the windows are curved, these are going to be expensive. Stéphane has priced for shop-bought models that he'd cut down to size, not custom made shutters that he'll likely have to make himself.

So a decision's been made to replace the windows with new double glazed units and forego the shutters entirely. It's a good decision I feel since I want the house to be snug all year round, and the activity on the quay can be noisy in the holiday season. I'll install blinds internally which are also easier to use and safer given the low window heights.

After much teeth-sucking, Stéphane has also conceded that a bathroom is possible on the middle floor – it'll be tight, but if ship's cabins can have them, I reckon we can cram in a loo, basin and shower. We'll use a sliding door to maximise space, and put a basin up in the bedroom for good measure.

He seems surprised that I will be tackling the external and internal re-pointing myself, but we'll see about that! I'm confident in the techniques I've been taught; as with baking, it will be the mixing of the ingredients that will be key, as well as proper preparation.

What I love about working with Stéphane is his pride in his work. I know that he cares as much about doing a good job on Nettie as I do. Once he's committed to a job, it's really a joint project and feels as much his house as mine.

In other news, Guillaume has now stripped off the back of the roof and it's fab to be able to look out. He's cut away the roof timbers for the Velux, and already the top room is much lighter.

This will allow sunlight into the top room in the afternoon

He mentioned that it would be essential to find the "conduit" or the route of the chimney for the woodburner, and I set about chipping away at the plaster in the middle floor to see what I could find. I reckoned that since Nettie was used for drying nets, and has two handsome chimneys, there must be at least one fireplace. I was in luck because after a half an hour's solid bashing, a small fireplace was revealed; more than adequate for a little woodburner.

Given that Guillaume's fully occupied in the roof, I decided to move downstairs and give the front border a good going over. I know there's a pretty red rose bush and lily of the valley in the spring, but it was starting to get very choked with weeds. Let's just say it needs further work and a good dose of love.

I won't make any planting decisions this year, but watch what happens this coming season. I may need to plant some temporary ground cover plants though to restrict the weeds.

Part of the reason for the weeding is that this weekend Nettie will play host to a bi-annual event in which businesses and homeowners play hosts to local artists and become art galleries for a few days. I'm a volunteer, so as well as cleaning Nettie up to welcome art-loving visitors, I'll be painting temporary road signs and handing out leaflets on the day. If you're in the area, please visit – the weather is finally fantastic, the chosen artists varied and top quality; it should be a great event.