December 6, 2015 – 2 Westcroft Cottages renovation

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!!