The Build Week 10 - The Finale!!

Well here we are, albeit very late we have week 10!!

When I last spoke to you we had a hole in the electrical ring main, second fix plumbing to complete and the worktop was about to come through the door!

Gareth fixed the ring main and left a nice little bill for the fitters, Malcolm finished the second fix – nice! - and the worktop went down well, mind you, the two chaps lifting the pieces of granite out of the van and into the kitchen looked more like weight lifters, tight large belts wrapped around the waist, powder on their hands and the pre-requisite body build!

Next, enter Gary our painter. He does/did a great job – as always. Loves white coffee (I say white because even after him working for us for over 15 years I still forget the milk!!!) and a chin wag – there’s always something going on in Gary’s life!!

How many grandchildren have you got now Joe, Gary asks, Four I say, the youngest being just 10 months – do they visit often Gary asks, yes quite often I reply - best have Dulux Endurance on those kitchen walls then says Gary – tougher than tough!!..............how right he was!!

Now that it’s all done, it does (even if I say so myself) look pretty good. It’s a relatively small space but makes a HUGE difference to us and I hope to those who visit us.

The whole project has been fun and a great learning experience for a novice building project manager – for what its worth, here are some items from my yet to be published “Little Book of Little Building Project Management” (they say it`ll never sell?!?!)

• Get as many of your chums as possible to help with demolition
• Always make sure one of hem looks like a YMCA member
• Never light a fire when the roofer is using a blow torch
• Always provide spectacles for your digger driver (in case he’s unable see bright blue water pipes)
• Make sure you can get EASY access to your mains water valve in the street
• If not, have a heavy hammer close by so that you can smash the cast iron cover
• Make sure you know where the valve is in the first place
• Never let you chum repair circular saws
• Stay on good terms with the building inspector by smiling lots, never disagreeing, let him walk in with muddy shoes, and pretend you know what he is talking about
• Tell kitchen fitters where the NO GO areas are in terms of electrical cables
• Hire grab lorries rather than skips – much cheaper
• Choose a builder with a flexible approach because YOU WILL change your mind lots!
• Order industrial quantities of tea!!


One foot note - Brock House has, however, despite all my best efforts become a shed again!! – will I ever get a space of my own I ask ….oh well better build another extension

See you all next time!!

The Build - Week 9

Well, we are very nearly there. Last week saw guttering and down pipes put up and then .......the soak away - a monumental hole in the ground ridiculously wide and deep (7 ft deep and 3 ft square) I know we are a wet country but really!!!! then its filled with rubble and finished off with some of the soil that came out of the hole - where is the rest of it going I hear you say.......good question I respond!!

Kitchen is nearly in - just waiting for a few bits that disappeared in transit between the order being made and the kit leaving the warehouse?????

Electricians arrived yesterday to complete second fix (for my readers in the US - Hello Carol! that means fitting plugs, switches etc)

All went well until time for testing......why is there a break in the ring main asked Gareth - search me said Pete - I’ll have a closer look said Gareth - bu**er he said the kitchen fitter as put a fixing bolt through the ring main!!!

Right said Joe have to take the cupboard down - (you know the rest of the song) - call out to fitters - awaiting reply.........

Second fix plumbing going well - hope I haven’t jinxed that one now!!!

Granite worktop being fitted this morning - what can go wrong with that.........??

All in all it’s not been a bad build with just a few niggles and snags - talking of which - SNAGGING - that’s the next job...

Let you know how that went next week!

The Build - Week 8

Week 8 and we are continue to gallop ahead!! - Phil has been here for the past 4 days and completed tiling the floor - the door in the dining room is in as are all the windows. Phew.....turn that heating down Karen!!- the draughts from the make shift plastic have now gone!

Its all begining to look habitable now.

We are still performing culinary delights with the microwave (art art form in itself!), washing up in the utility sink and occasionally find ourselves singing campfire songs!!

So....floors get sealed tomorrow, second fix plumbing and electrics start on Thursday morning, kitchen arrives on Thursday afternoon and gets installed on Monday and after that, the decorating starts - now comes the tricky bit......COLOURS!!!!!!

Outside, the soak away needs to be constructed (2 mtre hole filled with rubble and stuff) drain pipes and guttering to be put up, and a bit of hard landscaping to do ahead of the winter.

I`m not sure I really I want this to end - its becoming quite addictive - should I become a property developer?........I dont think so!

Be back in a week........

The Build - Week 7

Yes I know it`s a bit late but to be honest the work over the last two weeks has been productive but by its very nature ....slow! Plastering, Plumbing, knocking through walls oh...and...cleaning up - plenty of cleaning up!!!

Having said all that we are galloping toward the finishing post, rooms have now been plastered out (and very nice too!!!) thank you Lee and Steve!

Sink has now gone! so we are using the downstairs loo and utility room. The oven is just about functional (soon to see the skip!) but the dishwasher is still in perfect running order!!! mind you I do have to disconnect it every morning and then connect a temporary water supply up for the plasterers and then connect it up again in the evening for the washing up - such fun!!

Window frames are in, floor screeding next Tuesday, tiling on Thursday - and before all that the glass roof lantern on Monday.

Well it`s 6 pm and Lee is still here - he started at 7:30 so I1ve told him to go home and remind his 3 year old daughter who he is!!

Till next week then

The Build - Week 6

Well we have now re-started activity!!

Glass wall is in and looks pretty good - still nervous about scratches splashes and builders boots - so it spends most of its life folded back and covered up.Plaster board now on ceiling and lantern reveal - walls start tomorrow at 07:30

Big mess day on Saturday - cut out the new opening into hallway which now provides access to kitchen (by the way Tony the supports around the opening are not permanent) - despite covering everything with two layers, masking door jams, stuffing loft insulation into every crack and crevice the ground floor turned from cream to an interesting shade of Battleship Grey (that's concrete block dust to you and I)


Ever tried grey salt crystals on grey tomatoes with grey speckled bread, eaten off grey plates???

Red Cedar cladding arrives tomorrow - looking forward to that - if only for the smell of freshly sawn timber.

Somme conditions have returned to the garden following the rain - but hey I`m passed caring now

Windows nearly finished - scheduled for installation on the 19th

So, I hear you say, "has the time frame slipped?" - yes a little -"when do you expect the job to be finished you ask" I reckon end of October I say...... confidently!!!!!!

Oh!.. I forgot to say that during all that cutting business on Saturday Brock got very upset and made an attempt to leave the house for good - I promised him better times ahead - his own space in Brock House for example .......so he came back.....reluctantly!

More in week 7

The Build - Week 5

Well, things have come to a slight halt this week

Windows, door and roof lantern are still being made and without them we can`t get on with the plastering - we can however get on with first fix electrics and plumbing - the downside of that is that we are down to the bare minimum in terms of kitchen hardware we have a work surface the size of a decent tea tray, electric power is via a four way extension lead and washing up takes place in the utility room where dishes have to be washed by hand!

So where does all the kitchen stuff that was in the kitchen go I hear you ask - in every other room of the house I reply!!

Lots of Dunkirk spirit required over the next month I think

Anyway little more to say right now - once the windows etc arrive it`ll be all systems go again

In the meantime a few pictures to break the tedium

Until then.....then

The Build - Week 4 - Pictures

The Build - Week 4

Well, what a difference a week makes!!

The "paint" has finally dried.

Final preparations for the roof/s were undertaken with brick fillets inserted the odd bit of block work finished off, oh, and Ruby made a special appearance for a couple of hours (regular readers of this blog will be familiar with Ruby)

Tuesday saw lots of lovely timber arriving - (I love the smell of freshly sawn timber...don't you?) along with Father and Son carpenters John & Alex, what a great team they turned out to be - polite, professional, tidy, highly skilled, and extremely efficient – and no bum cleavage!! - all of this does, of course come at a cost!!??

There is something rather magical about the ability to construct a roof with perfect joints and alignment from a pile of timber ( I have a chum who performs similar miracles with metal - you know who you are!)

So, the next three days saw the demolition and removal of the existing kitchen roof replaced by a super new one incorporating the new build and a complete set of trusses, perlins, soffits, facias and roof lantern frame The temporary lighting in the kitchen is a dead cert for Turner Prize shortlisting - judge for yourself.

Saturday morning saw the arrival of the tilers and roofers - 8am start - got on like a house on fire! - On that note, I had lit the wood burner in the morning in order to dry some clothes (we are without a clothes drier at the mo) and after about half an hour while I was in the kitchen a head came down through the lantern opening and the conversation went something like this:

Roofer: You are a very naughty man

JD: Why

Roofer: You`ve just lit you`r fire haven`t you?

JD: Yes, why?

Roofer: I`ve nearly had a heart attack

JD: Why?

Roofer: I`m up here on a timber roof with an industrial blow torch and I`m thinking....what part of the house have I just set fire to?????

JD & Roofer: Laugh out loud a lot!! Good note to end on I think!

Here`s to productive week 5

The Build - Week 3

Ever watched paint dry?,,,,,well that is what week three has all been about - activity has been a plenty but crikey it`s been boring!!!

Lots of brick cutting, measuring, more brick cutting and laying - more measuring an so on. I suppose every project has a period when despite there being a lot going on - little appears to be progressing.

Anyway, having said that all the bricks that need to have been laid, have been laid and the lintels have gone up together with the wall plates (note, I`m trying to make this sound interesting!)

Next week sees the roof being constructed which should - no - will be a jolly site more interesting that the week just gone

The only consolation is that Ruby, the bricklayers Terrier seems to have taken up residence in the house!!!!!!!

Have a look at these pictures and judge for yourself  how dull this week has been!,,,,,,,,,,

The Build - Week 2

Hello everyone,

First - apologies to those of you who have contacted me to say......where is week 2!!!!!!

Well, here it is.........

Quite an uneventful week as it happens -well, in comparison to last week that is! The phrase "it always looks better once it comes out of the ground" was used as lot this week - and do you know....they are right. Once the blocks and bricks appear then it takes on a whole new character. The other interesting thing is that the footprint, once outlined by the blocks, ALWAYS looks smaller that the finished job - never really understood that one?!?!?!

Building inspector continues to appear happy after each visit - Idon`t talk to him (I let Dan do that) but as I sit watching them, through the dining room window while I`m working on the PC, I`m reminded of scenes from that very funny Eric Sukes film "The Plank" much gesticulating, pointing and head scratching and no audible conversation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyU6SonN6mc

The promised wet weather has also kept away which is brilliant - mind you as I`m writing this, the skies have taken on that look of old weathered church roof lead - so lets not get too confident!!

As ever with any build much discussion has been of creating features that don`t appear anywhere on the plans!! - "can we have that window there now"........ "how about putting some stone on that bit rather than brick"....... "lets make that opening a little wider" .....did I really ask for that?

Many more of those conversations to come I suspect....

So, foundations in, DPC membrane laid, first stage of sub floor on and set, three courses of brick laid - we`re all happy!!!!!

Speak to you all next week with more news of progress

The Build - Week 1

Hello there,

We are having some alterations done to the house in order to give us some more space (not a lot more in reality - anyway the more you have the more you need!! as some of you will know?!?!)

Rather than send random pictures to those that are interested It has been suggested that I post the developments as a weekly Blog - thereby ensuring that those who have no interest in the project don`t have to be subjected to a boring set of pictures! - anyway enough babble and onto the detail.

Week One

Monday.
The beginning of the dig, quite exciting after a two year planning and discussion process. All went well - top-soil scrapped off and given to my neighbour John in return for the loan of one of his fields - I needed somewhere for deliveries, spoil and machinery parking etc etc etc- thanks John!
Next came the levelling process - quite a bit of soil had to come out - say 2-3 grab lorry loads. Then came the digging of the footings - 2mtrs down owing to the clay around here - then came the building inspector who said oh, I would have been happy with 1.5! but you know what would have been said if we stopped at 1.5.........?

Tuesday
Now, Rob is a great driver, very careful and nimble with a digger - all is going well we are digging away. By now it`s 4;30 and nearly time to go home. Dan, (who's company I`m using) is in the kitchen talking to me about bricks and stuff when a head pops around the corner and says - Dan we have a problem..............
The front teeth of the bucket has gone through the mains water pipe!!!!!! the mains valve is in the driveway under gravel, under a rusted cast iron cover, sat in a sodden pit 2 feet deep with a rusted valve at the bottom of it!........Dan, we certainly do have a problem!!...... Twenty minutes and  many tens of gallons later we have the water off, repairs underway and a 3 foot deep miniature ship canal in the garden!!

Wednesday
A 7am start this morning. Pumps are in place and the process of emptying  the canal is underway - no real pressure !!!- building inspector is arriving at 10 am, 9 cubic metres of Redimix arriving at noon and still a small footing to finish!! Somehow it all happened on time and by 6pm everyone was ready for a beer!!!

Thursday
Blocks arrive!!!!!! and brickies get to work. It is now taking shape - ground works are always tricky - and never look like they have taken a lot of effort but when the blocks start going up - that`s when it looks like progress!

Friday
More blocks, more shape and form and most importantly............no disasters!!
The boys have tidied up, packed away and gone home for the weekend.

.......and I`m having a beer!!

More next week