Filling in the blanks... part due

July 2014, we were now frantically getting ready to move in. All the major works on the house were completed but it is amazing how much time the finishing (and preparing to finish) takes. July seemed to be a really good month for progress, with very visible things happening. 

Starting with the upstairs bathroom. After watching the dry lining being done I decided that I would have a go myself in the upstairs bathroom and made the frame, fixed the plasterboard and tape and jointed. At best it would look alright and at worst it was in the back of the bathroom so wouldn't matter anyway! I don't think it ended up too bad and we have another useful little storage box. 

A bit messy but looks OK, pipe work boxed in

Bathroom floor down ready for painting and tiling

Oak shelf, cut, fitted, oiled and ready for the bathroom suite and radiator 

Tiling taking shape

Reclaimed toiled and sink plumbed in and fitted. Radiator sat on the oak shelf.

Bathroom feature wall

Josh's room all cleaned up and ready for underlay and floorboards to go down.

Nearly there, last couple of boards and Josh room floor will be done

Engineered oak flooring in Olivias room , starting to look like a home upstairs

We've put the same engineered flooring through the upstairs rooms 

While the upstairs progressed, downstairs the Oak architrave and skirting boards also were being fitted. The oak was sourced from a local timber yard just down the road in Mortimers Cross (Good Brothers). We used them for quite a bit of the internal oak finishes as I found them very helpful and the timescales they were able to turn around orders also suited our build. I also hadn't forgotten how they managed to turn around the door linings within a couple of days earlier in the build, which meant the plaster boarding wasn't delayed. 

Oak architrave and skirting boards downstairs

Mitred joints and screw and plug fixing

Caps ready to fill the holes in the oak

Oak ledge doors hung

The quartze worktop supplied and installed by Fontoura in Leominster. Just 7 days from the templating the worktop was installed and the kitchen started to feel like a useable space. 

While the inside progressed a lot was happening on the outside as well.

The sceptic tank - we now have somewhere for the waste to go, which is the last thing that would enable us to move in. 

 Lighting up the oak and sitting area outside the french doors. When we have time for BBQs!

Outside lights by the front and rear doors. A bargain of the interweb. 

Really happy with the Lindab galvanised steel guttering, especially against the roof tiles and grey timber cladding. 

Thats it for now, thanks for looking! Tim 

Windows, doors, boards, heating, screed, more insulation and paint

It's been 2 weeks since my last blog and there has been some pretty big changes in that time. 

We've now got windows and doors fitted (albeit with some paint issues, but I'll explain that later), the weather boarding preparation has started (and a few boards are on), our paint factory has been de-commissioned after the 2nd coat of paint on the boards being complete (with most of them stacked around the outside of the house ready to go on). First fix electrics are done (barring a couple of little bits now the boards are out of the way), we are awaiting the next delivery for Kingspan Kooltherm Insulation for the floor and walls, we have confirmed a date for the underfloor heating to be installed and also for the flowing screed to go on top of it. 

Windows and doors installed!!

A view from the inside

It's hard to believe that the weather during the 3 days prior to this picture whilst the windows and doors were being fitted was awful - wind & rain!

Fliss and I are both delighted with the windows and doors, we're just waiting for the pewter handles to finish them off. The colouring against the Oak, bricks, tiles and the weatherboard is exactly what we were hoping it would look like when we were planning! The delight of them going in has been a little muted because of an issue with the paint finish on them. We ordered pre finished timber windows so we didn't have anything to do on them once they were installed, but there are patches on all the windows which are lighter grey to what they should be. Whilst it is disappointing the resolution has been quickly dealt with and they are going to be re-painted on site.

We had a visit from my niece on the weekend, it was only right she helped out with a bit of sweeping up... it only cost me a packet of buttons! A fair swap I thought as the minimum wage isn't applicable?

Fliss finally gets the saw out to help with some insulation...

As I mentioned all the boards are now painted with 2 coats, which means that we should only have to do a little bit of touching up once they are on the house. It has amazed me as to the amount of preparation required before the boarding even started. Damp proof course was used to close the brick cavity, lead has been dressed around the top and bottom of all windows and doors, timber finishing to frame the windows were fixed, lead has been dressed on the top of the brick work and batten was put on - before it even got close to putting boards on. Upright finishers on the corners and end of boards around doors and then to boarding could start to go on.

Corner posts, lead dressing, window finish frame and first weather board on

Batten and blue skies

Normal skies resume...

This week we've got our next Kingspan delivery coming and we've got the architect coming to do his next certification visit. The under floor heating in being installed early 4th & 5th of March, which gives me just over a week to put the insulation in the floor and the DPC on top so the pipes can go on. Luckily it looks a lot easier than the roof so we should be fine for time... famous last words!

Finally we have decided to go with Flowing screed through Acorn Construction rather than semi dry. It is a bit more expensive, but it has better thermal value for the underfloor heating and it will also have a smoother (more level) finish. I'll come back to that once it has been done!

Thanks for reading, Tim 

First delays... a new experience for our build

The build has been moving along so well, in terms of timing and things being done as expected, but this week we have seen our first real setback.

We were due to have our windows and doors fitted next week, but due to flooding in the factory there has been a delay that is likely to mean we will fall several weeks behind where we thought we would be on the external side of the build. I realise it isn't anyones fault, but that doesn't mask the disappointment Fliss and I felt on Monday when we found out. We'd been really looking forwards to getting the windows fitted! It's the first date on the build that hasn't been met, which is a new experience for us.

The consequence of the delay will impact on other work, we had scheduled the remaining brick work to be completed this week (which is still on track), following on with windows and doors next week and then first week in February the external weather boarding to be done - which would have meant by mid February the house would be completely water tight... hopefully the delay won't push us too far back into worse weather.

The scaffolding is now completely down internally and externally, which revealed the house more fully on the outside and gave a sense of the space inside. We are both delighted with how it is taking shape and pleased with the colour we've been painting on the exposed softwood timbers. As well as Fliss and I painting weather board (52 down, just another 32 to go), I've been quietly carrying on with the insulation in the roof over the last week or so. It's coming along but is a slow process when your are doing it around a normal working day. I had Dad helping again last Saturday, which has made a big difference.

I've got a day off on Friday to help start to do the downstairs stud walling and a bit more on Saturday so we are ready for first fix plumbing  last week in January and then moving on to electrics.

So, by the end of this month we should have all the house external brick work completed, all the internal stud walling in place and the first fix plumbing done. We will also have done a bit more filming for our mentor visit to another house!

Finally I just wanted to thank you for reading, since the blog started we've now had over 4000 views!