Thrifty Shades of Grey

It was a wet weekend across the UK.

A bit disappointing for late July and especially for those on their annual holidays.

I would certainly feel a bit hard done by after enduring, in work mode, some outrageously and frankly climate concerning heatwave temperatures in the previous week only to mark the beginning of a holiday with low cloud, persistent drizzle and little prospect of anything different for the duration.

Well, with the possibility of a bike ride, coastal hike, tending the garden or any other outdoor pursuit and activity in effect on hold because of the weather there came along a great opportunity- it was to paint the concrete floor in a shop unit.

The place in question is shortly to be occupied by our younger daughter and her life partner/co-business owner and has just recently been formed from the renovation and conversion of a former quayside warehouse in an historic part of our home city, Kingston Upon Hull, Yorkshire.... just known as 'ull.

It is their third premises on the same Heritage street having started a Pop-up in a lock up garage compartment a couple of years ago and currently trading from a larger traditional fronted unit.

It is an affirmation of their efforts, niche market , loyal clientele and  reputation for quality stock that they have confidence to take on an even bigger floor area.

Respective families and friends have rallied round to support and help and in that spirit myself and son offered our services to paint the floor.

The screeded surface is reasonably smooth but not without a few pockmarked bubbles and a little bit of variation in levels over its course although no doubt longstanding and inherited features of historic industrial scale use, settlement on the spongey riverside soils and even a contribution from the Luftwaffe in the dark days of the Blitz on Hull.

Equipped with some large tins of heavy duty grey floor paint, rollers on long poles, paintbrush for edges and some steely determination we set about the task.

Some valuable lessons were learned for what was a first time experience.

Importantly, make sure that clothes and personal belongings are behind the extent of paint coverage as there is nothing worse than looking across a gleaming wet first coat towards shoes, jackets and footwear on a peg on the far side of the room.

Careful thought has to be given to the order of painting. It is both awkward and embarrassing to be stranded on a small patch of bare concrete in a corner amongst an ocean-grey mass of otherwise painted floor. This could, to any curious members of the public peeking in through the open shop door, be passed off as an intentional art installation, a representation that no man should be an island or something to that effect.

The paint itself is of rapid and easy distribution by roller but that free running characteristic also means that a lot of the sticky residue makes its way down the pole from the roller giving a liberal coating to hands and arms. I did scratch my nose a few times giving me the cosmetic appearance of a follower of William Wallace.

Although a wet day outside it was till quite humid and muggy. I was guilty of leaving a small trail of perspiration beads on the concrete but these seemed to be readily absorbed in the paint so as not to leave any trace of bodily excretia. Perhaps in the the far distant future this could be a good trace of DNA of the former inhabitants of the place called 'ull for study by archaeologists, anthropologists and the like.

I did not want to spoil my best trainers, in fact my only trainers and so padded about the job barefoot. This required quite a bit of concentration so as not to walk on the wet areas nor leave too many size ten prints from picking up some of the inevitable dust engrained in the bare concrete itself.

We were relieved to take in the fresh air outside the shop front upon completing the first coat but were keen for the drying process to take place to do it all again.

There was a slight hiccup in the process. The hand switch for the main lights was, unfortunately, on the far wall.

One of us volunteered to tippee-toe across the grey shallows, turn off the light and then make their way backwards using the roller on the pole as though participating in the curling event at the Olympics.

In 24 hours we would return to complete the work.

Yes, we had come face to face with some fundamental requirements for the painting of a large area of concrete and were determined that the top coat application would be quick, smooth and easy.

Yes, you would hope and think so.