DIY Archives - CRAIG WESTWOOD Wed, 18 Feb 2026 15:08:30 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://www.craigwestwood.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cropped-CW-Roundel-1-32x32.png DIY Archives - CRAIG WESTWOOD 32 32 Building a New Studio – Part 2 https://www.craigwestwood.co.uk/building-a-new-studio-part-2/ Mon, 05 Apr 2021 14:34:00 +0000 https://www.craigwestwood.co.uk/?p=627 It's been a busy few weeks. The first issue with the new space was removing some rotten carpet that was falling apart.

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It’s been a busy few weeks. The first issue with the new space was removing some rotten carpet that was falling apart.

Carpet rot
Structural bar lifting up the flooring!

On taking this up, I found a tensioning bar for the roof which had pushed its way up through the screed in the floor. Thanks to my friend Steve, we got this sorted pretty quickly, and I could think about what I wanted on the floor. 

The repair!

Screeded by Steve – Great job!

Studio – Grade Flooring

Acoustic-grade carpet was my first choice, but finding a fitter who was prepared to come out during covid restrictions was difficult. Firstly – carpets aren’t very popular in France, they prefer tiled flooring, due to the warmer conditions here and the need for cool floors in Summer.

I found an English-speaking carpet fitter about 3 hours away, but his quotation was ridiculously high. He was still trying to get his carpets from the UK. Problems with UK suppliers now they’ve left the EU means there are hold ups at the ports, and a hefty tax is now put on imports. Thank you again Brexit. This will ultimately kill UK exports into Europe.

The lead time he was giving me was also 3 months until he could fit the carpet, which was way too long, and mostly I think due to the supply problems I’d already mentioned.

In the end, I decided to order some acoustic grade carpet tiles from a French supplier online, and opted to fit them myself. This was going to be far quicker. the tiles arrived in a few days, and I could get started.

In the meantime, I’d already removed curtains and fittings and painted the walls.

Decorating...
Floor tiles - acoustic grade!

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]]> Building a New Studio – Part 1 https://www.craigwestwood.co.uk/building-a-new-studio-part-1/ Sun, 10 Jan 2021 14:44:00 +0000 https://www.craigwestwood.co.uk/?p=632

Buying a house in France that has been vacant for four years has had its issues. Happily most of them are superficial, and involve mostly decorating and some minor refurbishment to get the house to what we we'd like.

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Buying a house in France that has been vacant for four years has had its issues. Happily most of them are superficial, and involve mostly decorating and some minor refurbishment to get the house to what we we’d like.

The first issue is that I’m here on my own. Problems with Claire’s Dad’s failing health has meant that she has wanted to be with her parents in the UK. Though originally she talked about coming out of teaching by December, she has now decided she wants to stay on for another year and a half until she is 55.

So – I’m working on the things I can… especially the studio. The space I’ve got is interesting, but not everything is practical…

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