Operation Partyraum

You may or may not know that the so-called 'Partyraum' has a serious problem. The problem is damp and mould. In 2009 a sheet of plastic was put down on top of (on one side) old concrete where there used to be cows and (on the other side) directly on the clay. OSB sheets were put on top of the plastic, using lats to level them. The lats were supported underneath by old timber beams (i.e. underneath the plastic, in a sand/gravel mix). Obviously, this is a recipe for disaster. Disaster happened over 2013/2014/2015 but was only really discovered in 2015. Between the OSB and the plastic underneath there was immense fungal spread. Going in to the room you would be hit with a wall of dank mould smell.  In the photo above you can see the dry rot that completely ate away the timber.

I decided to prioritise this as it seemed like it could be a health hazard as well as being generally a 'mouldy' situation. To get going, Yvonne cleared it out, leaving only the OSB boards. I demolished the bar and got rid of the OSB boards, the plastic sheets and the mould. I decided that the best outcome would be to have a completely level concrete floor, professionally done following all the rules of the trade. This meant removing not only the existing concrete, but also all organic layers - right down to the subsoil. This wasn't all that easy at all. There were cables and water pipes criss-crossing in the sand/gravel waiting to cause emergencies. I used an angle grinder with a diamond blade to cut a deep slice into the concrete all around the room. This way I could belt away with a sledge, without worrying that tiles would be falling off the walls upstairs.

The current status is that there are huge heaps of concrete, bricks, sand, gravel and general dirt piled up in the room. A container will be arriving on Monday, which I intend to fill as soon as possible. I have a feeling that seven cubic metres will not be enough. If it isn't, the rest of the debris will have to wait until the end of August. I will also have to fix up the electricity (all those cables will need to go into proper casings and should be arranged properly) and the water (the pipes will need to be sunk deeper).