Our landlady, Pani Janikowska, replaced some of our parquet floors for us, the coal-burning stoves that had been in here and been removed had left gaps and also burn marks on the wood. So we got to see the building construction first-hand. There is an eighteen-inch gap between floors filled with special "dust", basically light granules of dirt. Maybe for insulation, not sure. Then joists, then planks, then the parquet. This style of parquet floor is really common here. The walls tend to be extremely thick, and brick all the way through.
They apparently don't use nails here hardly at all. Well, though Władek did show me how he nails in the parquet pieces. They use this quick-hardening cement foam almost everywhere. Must make for quiet construction sites. All the windows they're replacing one-by-one all over the country are set in with this cement foam, pianka montazowa or "mounting foam". Władek, putting in the patch for the place where the stove used to be, used it. I gotta find some of this stuff when I get back.
you mean to say that you had or have a Coal burning stove ?
Hah ! that must be... I am speechless , both picturesque and yet ... hard work ?
any up date on the refrigerator.. you probably rented or bought one along time ago,but have not mentioned it in your Poland Blog....Ohh and Kevin , will you indulge me and write a bit about Halloween in Poland ? Or is it just a American Holiday ?
Love ,
Auntie Linda
Posted by: Linda Haynes | 10/25/2011 at 06:50 AM
Nah, it was removed long before we moved in. They were really common, the looked like this: http://pokepeek.com/ChrisPoland1/DCP_0985.jpg
Sadly, they don't do Halloween here at all. It's truly just an American holiday, though the cheesier bits are getting popular in the U.K, much to the consternation of the English. Here Nov. 1 is All-Saints Day, everybody has the day off, they go and put flowers in cemetaries, but no special family meals or anything.
Posted by: Kevin G. | 10/25/2011 at 12:02 PM