Eighteen is the magic number

So, while we still don’t know whether we’ll get the parquet floor done in time for kitchen, and what we’ll do instead, we haven’t given up.

Last night, on my way to my Swedish class (it’s important not to let any project take over your entire life), I got in touch with Mr Kerlin, who is sort of our general contractor, and has, since the end of September provided us with series of hard-working teams for all the legwork on the house, including Ivan. He initially provided an offer for an industrial (110 kW) oil-powered heater. Two catches: the expense, and not being there before next week. So, no good then. But he did also have a little heater. Better than nothing.

In the meantime, make contingency plans: mine would be for a provisional floor so that the kitchen can be fitted at the right height and we go again in the new year.

Then this morning he rang to say he was also providing a gas heater. But also warned of the dangers of both and that they can’t be left running overnight.

When I was at the house at lunchtime only the little (2 kW) electric heater was running but it was having an effect. The room was up to 12°C, but, more importantly, there was condensation on one of the windows. Not that condensation is good, you definitely don’t want much of it in your house, but it does mean the water from the stuff on the floor and the plaster on the walls is evaporating. And, if you have water vapour, you can move it. So, I opened a couple of windows and the skylights, and vented the house for ten minutes and wiped off some steam. The temperature dropped but the humidity did as well, which is what we want because the drier the air, the easier it is to warm up, and the warmer it is, the more water vapour it can absorb and move.

As the house hasn’t been heated since the the of August - don’t ask, it didn’t make sense at the time, and makes even less now, it really has cooled down a lot and it will take time to heat up the walls. But the radiator in the cellar has been doing a good job in warming up the floor: at least it’s no longer cold to the touch.

When I came back in the evening the temperature was up to nearly 18°C. All the work of the gas heater and very much just hot air, but as long as it moves the humidity, that’s fine. And there was very little condensation downstairs. Also the hole for the wood stove’s chimney was blocked up, making it any warm air has to do more work to escape. Vented again and opened one of the ventilation slits in the roof and rely on physics.

Tomorrow we’ll find out whether we’ll get some radiators downstairs in time and on Friday whether the flooring will go ahead.

Hope for the best!