HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!

Posted on December 27, 2015 by Richard Jackson

Ok – so its a bit belated – but given we restored a little bit of normality, we have focussed on celebrating Christmas together. But we just wanted to wish everybody who is still reading and following the build project with us a very, very Happy Christmas and a fabulous and wonderful New Year. Apologies for the dark pictures – but we are still on emergency lighting downstairs. Lights and sockets are all sorted upstairs but we are still waiting for second fixes downstairs.

: Cooker with electricity and gas – we can have turkey!!!

: 1st world problem – dishwasher in place but not plumbed in…

: Festive lights

: Charlotte and Becks did the tinsell

: Makeshift lounge

: Forgot the flash!

: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

And I had to add one more photo – its very dark and a bit blurry but I include it here just in case anyone has any idea what is wrong with Becky….

Let there be light

Posted on December 23, 2015 by Richard Jackson

Bit of a cheeky mid-week post, but with the festivities hurtling our way who knows when I will emerge from my impending food coma to write another update. Big news is that the kitchen is taking shape in time for Christmas. We had an incredibly kind offer from my wonderful sister and her lovely family to spend Christmas at their house but we always wanted to try and stay at home and enjoy our new house. Well with a sterling final push from the plumber and electrician today it looks like we will make it. We should have a functioning kitchen, lights and electrical sockets upstairs, running water and heating. As always the quality of work, and the sheer determination to give us a working home before Christmas set from Alex, Zander, Gareth, Chris, Shaun, Kevin and Charlie and all of the sub-contractors has been great has been fabulous.

: New cooker delivered

: New cooker in its home awaiting connection

: We had to be told that is a “work surface”. Not something we were overly familiar with in the old kitchen.

: Sink in place – awaiting the tap and drainage to be fitted.

And even the front of the house has had a makeover – apologies for the dark photo (I’ll replace it with a better one in the next day or so) – but its night time whenever I get to see the place at the moment. But we can now park on the front of the house!

Sealed

Posted on December 20, 2015 by Richard Jackson

Little post but a big week! First on Wednesday, the windows arrived and were fitted over the next two days.

: First window is in

: Front of the house

: Those are windows!

And then on Friday the final bit of sealing up the house, and one of the most anticipated days of the whole build. The bifold doors turned up! The two guys from Herts Bifolds did a great job in putting them up in no time.

: All the bits for the bifolds

: And fortunately the guys to put the bits together

: First frame is in

: Second frame done

: Four down

: Fifth one – and starting to seal the frame

: All in from the outside

: The bifolds all done and looking amazing

The guys are on a final push for to get is in a state to have a Christmas at home. A bit of a rustic make do and mend Christmas, but a Christmas in our own home all the same.

: KItchen starts to take shape

: Walls prepped for the units to be fitted in the coming week

: Hard hats needed for washing up

: Battening out the lounge wall

: Jasper’s regular inspections keep the guys on their toes

: Door into the old,lounge blocked up

: The third bedroom is almost done – just needs the radiator installing under the front window

: First sockets start to go in.

But best of all – our bedroom is all but done. One bit of skirting board still to go in. But that is it – so last night Maddie and I spent our first night sleeping in our new bedroom. We’ve seen loads of progress, but that was a real milestone for us.

: Plaster all done

: Windows in

: Our bed will ultimately go along the right hand wall not the back wall.

: But we have had to empty our old bedroom for the sparky tomorrow.

: Jasper and Bailey approve nonetheless

Getting plastered

Posted on December 13, 2015 by Richard Jackson

So this week we had the first visit from the plasterers. We got home from work on Monday evening to their delivery of plaster. We’re not sure exactly what they are planning to plaster – but it is probably quite a lot…

: Plaster downstairs

: Plaster on the landing

: Plaster in the master bedroom

: Plaster in the bathroom

But obviously before we can think about plastering, it wouldn’t be a usual week unless another part of the house came down. This time it is the corner of the lounge that has vanished.

: The beginning of the end for this wall

: Is it really worth covering it up?

: Not really…

: The corner of the lounge is no more

: Hole dug ready for the pillar that will be built to support the final beam

Speaking of pillars, right in the middle of the open plan area, is the monster pillar – the washing machine and tumble dryer next to the pillar give an idea of scale. It needs to be that size as it supports four steels at right angles. Without it, the house will fall down.

: Mega-foundation…

: …for a mega pillar

But the best bit this week has been the plastering. There are odd bits and bobs on the landing and over the old dining room chimney. But they have pretty much finished the master bedroom and it looks amazing. The vaulted ceiling is fantastic with lots of odd shapes and corners. I haven’t worked out how to do it justice with photographs, but I have tried. The other amazing thing that doesn’t show up in the photos is how light the room illuminated just through the Velux window. When the two large windows finally go in, it is going to be amazing.

: Plastered landing

: Master bedroom plaster drying out

: Ridge beam and curved ceiling

: Cool corners in the ceiling

: Another interesting corner

: Radiators are all in upstairs too

: New bathroom and third bedroom sealed off

And so with the entrance to the new bathroom and bedroom from the master bedroom sealed up, the current smallest bedroom’s days are numbered. We’ve emptied that so that the guys have another wall to demolish in the coming week – its nice that they have a hobby!

: Smallest bedroom’s days are numbered

: That wall is coming down

: Didn’t take long to fill our nice new big bedroom…

Dust anyone? Dust?

Posted on December 6, 2015 by Richard Jackson

A few weeks ago we borrowed a Vicar of Dibley catchphrase, but events this week mean there is only one possible source of inspiration for our update post. So with many thanks to Matt Lucas and his Marjorie Dawes creation, this week we shall be talking about

But before we get on to the week’s main theme. Do you remember how excited we were when our new house sign turned up back in September? Well imagine how fabulous it was to see the sign actually fixed in place – especially when it was coupled with the return of the front door! The front really is starting to take shape now. And it didn’t take Maddie too long to pop out and get a Christmas wreath. The sign really sets off the front of the house, so we are even more grateful to Angharad and Stonesign.

: Starting to look like the front of a house

: We have a door. And we have a sign

: Sign in place

: Front door complete with Christmas wreath

The guys have spent much of the week demolishing the central chimney and the dining room wall. As a result 2 Westcroft Cottages is now the world’s fourth biggest dust producer after the deserts of Kazakhstan, the arid regions of Bhutan and Charlie Brown’s friend Pig Pen* .

It gets everywhere, no matter how careful the guys are, nor how liberally the dust sheets are scattered.

: Maddie and I had little say in our new names

: Dust

: Dust

: More dust

: well – you know…

But the chimneys on the landing and in the dining room have gone. Its amazing how wide the landing looks now. And we are starting to see the kitchen/dining room space opened up, with the chimney coming down and the removal of the old external walls of the dining room and the kitchen. And yes that means a new steel going in next week and Acrow props everywhere to support the first floor..

: Amazing space on the landing now the chimney has gone

: Widened landing and dust sheets everywhere

: No more chimney in the dining room

: The old external wall is starting to come down

: The open plan living areas are starting to appear

: View back into the old dining room through the Acrow Prop forest

But the progress is really happening quickly too. The master bedroom is almost completely plasterboarded, ready for actual plastering next week. And the new master bathroom and third bedroom are taking shape.

: Plaster board everywhere

: The ridge beam boxed in

: View down to that Acrow Prop forest from above.

: Main bathroom is taking shape

: Doorway will eventually be blocked up but its the only means of access at the moment

: Third bedroom looking towards the front of the house

: Third bedroom looking back towards the main bathroom

And the existing bathroom (which will become our ensuite) is much warmer now. Still a couple of holes, but much smaller and bathing and showering is slightly more pleasant. And best of all we can get a great idea of how great it is going to be lying in the bath looking up through the skylight.

: Block work = warmer showering

: The view lying in the bath

The maze of plumbing piping is filling up the space between the ground floor ceiling and the first floor. And the screed for the downstairs loo has been laid.

: Boiler and megaflow start to get plumbed in

: Pipes everywhere

: No idea how they keep track of everything

: Screed down in the downstairs loo

But unfortunately the pipes haven’t been fully connected yet, which means we are still without central heating, and also explains why a lot of the photos are dark. We have some innovative solutions to keep warm from propping up sheets of insulation against every window and external opening we can find to the use of an industrial gas heater which is more usually used to warm sports halls. We don’t have it on for very long!!