Slab down, we're out the ground

Yes!!!! The riggers are dirty and we're completely out of the ground! As planned the concrete was poured on Wednesday this week, albeit with a bit of a delay! MGL Building arrived just after 7am to make sure everything was ready for the slab being poured at 8:30... we received a phone call from Travis to let us know there was an hour delay, 9:30 came and went. It seemed a very long wait with the lorry finally arriving at around 10:30. 

 Concrete slab being leveled and air taken out

It's the first time we have experienced a delay on site, fortunately though it didn't cause too many problems. We still just managed to beat the rain and get everything leveled as we needed. Up until this point building control at Herefordshire Council have done a few inspections to make sure the work carried out meets regulations, but we've got our first visit from the architect overseeing the build this week (he is doing certification for the build). Because we are managing the build ourselves it would have been very difficult to gain an NHBC warranty so we have opted for an Architects Certificate instead. We needed to have this or similar in place for the mortgage. Temporarily the build will be at standstill for a little while, but it will give us a bit of a breather to sort out some things for when the structure is completed and we are in the dry.

Finished concrete slab

Following on from Grand Designs Live, we've received most of our expected samples for flooring through the post from our visit to Grand Designs Live, which will give us something to think about over the next couple of weeks. We aren't yet decided on the flooring! We've also got some information through about a great wall finishing product we intend using in the bathroom from Natural Stone Veneer. 

This weekend the kids are down. It's 2 weeks since they were last up and there has been a marked change (last time all they saw was concrete in the foundations and that was it). After Josh playing football, we took a detour on the way home to Swansea to pick up our feature light from http://www.thelightcompany.co.uk/. Although you can order directly The Light Company, Swansea online, we were looking for lights during our stay in Swansea and when we walked past the window it really caught our eye. After looking at it at length, trying to make sure it would fit where we thought, we both decided it would be perfect. We managed to get a really good deal and paid for it there and then, arranging to have it sent up via carrier once it had been packed away. During the week however I got a phone call from the shop to say they were concerned about sending it because it was very delicate. Although I had to go out of the way to pick it up, they refunded the carriage and it showed to me that they really cared that we got our light in top condition. 

So there we are, we have a bit of a breather for a few weeks. It's now over to Border Oak for the frame! I can't wait to get more news as things are progressing with our frame and get more info on when they will be onsite!

TTFN, Tim

Ahh, but this tape measure is different... and rain could have caused a disaster.

Slightly behind schedule on the blog, but fortunately the same doesn't apply for the build! 

I'll start off with one of the issues we had! So far throughout the build we've moved a lot of soil, neatly tumped down the bottom of the garden... or so I thought. We've put Gabions filled with stone to retain the soil, which isn't a problem however a prolonged day of rain; and more rain on Thursday caused the soil banked near the hedge to shift and the consequence was the hedge collapsing... into the road! This could have been a big problem, but after a bit of good patch up work from Mum and my brother (who were the first responders in this case) to tie the hedge back, we trimmed it back temporarily and MGL managed to get Pete back on site (Pete helped with the digger work on the foundations) and he moved the soil away from the road edge of the plot. Disaster averted, thankfully. 

Now to look at some more positive activity! Last week saw the completion of the block and brick work to damp proof course level. This means we are officially out of the ground in just under two weeks! 

Base with damp proof membrane ready for the concrete slab

We've got the concrete slab being poured on Wednesday this week, which means we are ahead of schedule and managed to do so even with a few days of poor weather (sorry about that Mark)! Pretty much all of our base works products have been ordered through Travis Perkins, Leominster. I don't know if all depots are the same but they have been knowledgeable, very helpful throughout and everything has been delivered on time, when they said, with little fuss. I can't stress enough the importance of this in assisting with getting the base done quickly. 

Once the concrete is poured we'll be ready for Border Oak with the frame! We've ordered the roof windows from Travis Perkins and they will store them for us until we need them. We are a bit ahead of where we thought we'd be at this stage, because the frame isn't due to go through the Border Oak workshops for another couple of weeks. I'll keep you posted on this. 

After the rain, I've bitten the bullet and purchased myself some rigger boots - I've always fancied a pair and now I have a legitimate reason for them and at least I look the part!

They're dirty now, honest

This weekend saw Fliss and I visit Grand Designs Live at the NEC. with the aim of finding inspiration for some of the finishes and also potential suppliers. In a word PACKED. Lots of shuffling to move through the crowds, but was great to find some inspiration, some affordable some well out of our budget. 

A couple of neat products we found were, pocket doors for the upstairs bathroom (I'll re-visit this at a later date), some interesting stone finishing products and there was flooring options galore. We're also seriously considering a Heat Recovery Ventilation System. It isn't something we have budgeted for, but if was can make the numbers work it might not be as expensive as we first thought. For those that don't know what this is, basically it is a way of keeping fresh air in the building. It does this by extracting air and moisture from the inside of the house, and replacing it fresh air, that is not cold because of the way the extraction system works (using an energy cell). There are lots of variations of the system (this is a very simple description). You'd need to ask experts in these systems for more detailed information. We have a few things to work through before deciding whether it will work for us (like where to put the main unit) and how to go about it, but it is something we are seriously thinking about. 

We also took the opportunity to chat with one of the #AskAnExpert team and we're mulling over what to do with the information provided.

Now did I mention a tape measure? We'll if you've read other blog entries, you may think I have an obsession for tape measures...  I would argue that it is simply an essential building tool. Yes I did buy another tape, but this one was different... it is a double sided 2 in 1 gap tape! What more could you want when measuring a gap!

Thanks for reading, Tim

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