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