The Porch and walls go up...

So this last 2 weeks have been a mixture of visible change and behind the scenes development.

We delayed build slightly because we hadn't fully decided on the bathroom layouts. The result was that the plumbers went away for a week while we decided...

The roofers meantime got on with the solar panels. I get the feeling the refitting of the panels has been a bit of a nightmare job for Andy... although he did tell me that the new solar flashings we bought and the revised brackets made life a whole lot simpler for him.

We have split the panels into two separate banks - one of ten and the other of 6. The second 6 needed a few more fixings - so this delayed things again.

Before we go inside i have to show you this picture... Jason laid a good thick concrete slab in the garage... only to find the local feline population thought it would be fun to explore over night. So if you now see a cat with concrete boots you know where it's been!

Inside the builders have now put up the frames for the stud walls.

this one is for the office at the front of the kitchen area.

this one is the door to the office (left) and the kitchen (right). The bigger one to the left is the hall coat cupboard.

The have also completed the dividing wall across the games room. (Even though i wanted a bigger room - I was over ruled by the boss!)

This the back of the wall in the games room. This open side is onto the hall way and the stairs (which I have heard today will be delivered in the next week)

The other inside job is to complete the windows with these window sills.

Outside the Porch has been started.

We want a sturdy looking porch made from solid oak so Justin has found so lovely 7 inch square green oak posts for Sam and Will to work with.

The first day was spent getting the mortice joints cut and agreeing the design.

They have now got the base frame together and started the gable end.

So things are progressing, although not as visibly fast as before. We are still deciding on the balcony ideas - I want to make the decision before Christmas so we can get it on order.

We are almost there with the stone floors - watch this space for details. 

This decision is needed so they can get the screed levels right when they do that in January.

the final surprise for today was the scaffolders turning up (that wasn't the surprise) to take part of the scaffold down so the builders can carry on with the door fitting. The result is that at last we can now see what the cedar cladding really looks like.

There's a lot happening now...

There's a lot happening now...

yes, a lot has been happening in the last 2 weeks. and that means more decisions.

Firstly, the windows arrived. So we now have piles of windows and frames all around the house.

this is the frame for the kitchen window.

The fitters arrived and soon got to work on the dormer windows....

and the gable end window in our bedroom.

the end result looks great. 

once the windows were in the cedar cladding went on. This has really created the image i had imaged a long time ago. The smell of the wood is gorgeous too. if only we could bottle it! The colour of the windows has also proved perfect. We choose this some time back - it's RAL7016!

The other work this week has been inside - the frames for all the internal walls have now been constructed in wood. This is the end of the games room.

and this is the new study - it looks like it is in the kitchen!

This is the completed games room wall. Emma and Lucy think it is a prison...

There have also been many decisions to make...

We had to quickly decide on the position of any future balcony. We know we want to add one on but haven't fully agreed who will build it and what it will look like. I thought this was OK until Jason told me they were adding the cladding to the rear of the house. SO i spent a couple of hours one working morning designing it and speaking with the potential manufacturers. Hopefully the builders have now added a couple of holes and markings so we know where the supporting beams will be added into the loft space. We can run then through the walls, box them in and then support them onto the floor joists. We haven't had this structurally planned but it feels right!

the other decisions we had to make revolved around the bathrooms. Luckily Claire has made massive efforts to get this done so we are almost there. However we simply thought the plumber needed a rough idea of where things went (yes, I know it's a bit daft!). What he actually needed was a full design. After a week or so of frantic planning I think, I hope, we are there. We just now need to confirm with bathroom company tomorrow!

Despite all the frantic, full on energy, we know that the end result will be brilliant... watch this space for more.

The Garage Roof

Roof Build

Now that the walls are complete the roof is underway.

The builders brought some well needed common sense to the build again with the garage. The surveyor had specified a door width and height that wasn't standard. Now this is OK if you have an unlimited budget... but we haven't! So first of all they built the door width up. Then they read up on the standard widths. Realising it was too big by 80mm for a standard door they made a decision... the following morning they took down that wall and rebuilt it 80 mm wider. Overall this will help us manage the costs though so it was worth it (I hope!)

I think the builders think the roof structure has been 'over specd' (again). They even said that the joist sizes would support a complete second storey floor.

The floor to ceiling height in the garage is just over 3 metres without the final floor screed - which feels very high.

This is a view looking from one corner of the roof towards the centre.

And this shows the height of the end wall - it makes it look very big.

Andy and Sam the roofers were quick to get the slates on one side of the roof - again they've done a great job.

The roofers have gone away for a few days now as they have come to a point where we need to get the porch built before they can carry on with the front roof.

Garage Build

Garage Build

While the internal work carries on apace the builders have now also started on the external garage as mentioned previously. They have moved on really quickly this last week.. The block and beam floor went in last week on top of the new walls and deep foundations.

Jason spread a thin layer of cement mix to bind the blocks and beams into place...

and then they set to work building up the external walls. We want to make sure this fits with the rendered image the final building will have so the brick work has been stepped down towards the back of the garage.

The block work has gone up very quickly.

At the front we are installing a new, secure garage door. I don't really think we will ever put a car in - so it's really just for storage.

the walls appear very high - especially from the outside with the slope of the land.

the doorway was cut through from the old spare room and the window filled in...

And a new window formed on the outside wall.

Next the roof goes on...

The new kitchen floor

The new floor

We made a decision to install a new floor in the main area of the house. We knew we might have problems with the underfloor heating... but hadn't envisaged the problem we have encountered. 

The screed around the pipes has turned to a powder in some parts of the floor. This means that the builders cannot accurately level it to install the finishing. 

So we have decided to dig up all the screed and the UFH pipes and start again! It's an expensive job but we think it will give us a better overall area in the future.

So into the skip goes all the old UFH pipe - it's actually in a pretty good state.

The trouble is... once you start ripping up one part of the floor it then has a knock on effect on other parts. So, we are now taking up all the kitchen floor, the utility and boot room and part of the hall way by the front door. It's definitely a bigger job than we had planned - but, on reflection we have decided it to be worthwhile in the long run.

we will have new screed, new underfloor heating pipes, and new under screed insulation. It will also mean we will have better control of the zones in the areas for the UFH.

The old toilet now stands 6 inches taller than previously due to the floor being removed around it - not a problem if you are tall!

The old UFH was insulated with polystyrene trays - not bad considering it's been down since the 1980's.

We made a decision to also dig up part of the hall way - partly because we wanted to ensure there was consistent heat underneath he floor and partly so we had a perfectly level screed for the stone tiles that will go on top.