Catching Up

That last post sat in the outbox for a while so lots of progress has been made since then -

• the staircases are in - no more climbing up ladders (though Jason had previously relented and let Margot have a look around. She of course clambered up to the attic like a squirrel)
• Peter the joiner has been busy putting in extra battens for me to hang our shelves on and the plumber to hang his WC and WHB. What looks neat and tidy on the architects drawing can suddenly get tricky when, say, the ventilation duct or soil pipe needs to go where the toilet was shown or the kitchen designer forgot that the waste pipe from the washing machine would get in the way of the fancy corner cupboard we had got so excited about in the showroom.
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• However with a bit of give and take it all gets resolved and its now ready for the plasterboard to go up internally
• Outside the roof has been finished with clay pantiles - round the edges of the solar panels at the rear and all over the front slope. I like the dormer over the stairs - I always prefer gable ends with big overhangs.
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• The external boarding is up ready for a coat of white render to the sides and rear (very mediterranean) but with tiles to the front
• Today we saw the solar panel suppliers van back so they must be installing the internal works - the panels are all electric so the water is heated via an immersion heater to a storage tank in a cupboard in the second bedroom.
• Oh,yes - we have a front door. Must be about ready for the first air test.

Meanwhile, when we have a sunny day I get on with the rear garden. The lawn area is ready for turf but we have decided to make the seating area in the veg plot a bit bigger and finish it with decking, like the patio, which I will do myself as soon as the scaffolding comes down. I have also made a new shed out of pallets and timber out of the skip. Even though we are paying the builder serious money to build our new home I can't shake the habits of a lifetime and see all that good stuff go to waste - its a parallel universe but I seem to be able to inhabit both simultaneously.

First Fix

The house is now house shaped and weatherproof, which leaves the external finishes - roof and walls - and the internal finishes. So the pressure was on for us to finally make up our minds on the detailed fixtures and fittings so the first fix plumber and electrician could get on with installing all the pipework and cabling needed before the plasterboard is put in.

First visit was back to Howdens for the kitchen.We had already agreed the layout but we need to make some adjustments and agree the internal features so back to Andy and his 3D design software for the last minute tweaks. Everything is apparently in stock so the actual purchase can wait but the joiner and the plumber both need to know what goes where so they can get on with their first fix.

Next an 8 o'clock meeting at PlumbCenter's showroom with the plumber. Turns out what looks neat and tidy on the architects drawing doesn't quite turn out so easy in practice. Pipes need space and one trade gets in the way of another and its only about now that these clashes raise their ugly head. Thankfully it can be made to  work with a bit of give and take and the bathrooms are going to be pretty much what we envisaged. We lose a bit of storage but we can live with that - and it saves some money too! I actually quite enjoy helping to resolve these issues, just like the old days when I had to work for a living.

Next I get to get on site and  take a look around. There is still no staircase as they needed to leave a space to get the windows in but its great to actually see the upper floors. We were not entirely sure whether we would want to use the upper (attic) floor as a study as it only has velux rooflights but in fact it is a lovely space - and  not being able to look out of the window will help avoid too may distractions. We went around  with Peter the joiner  to discuss where the shelving and storage would go so he could put extra noggins in and then with the electrical and  plumbing subcontractors. We seem to have ironed out the remaining issues, plus a few new ones due to the Heating and Ventilation ducting having gone in,

Jason nearly got himself into trouble by suggesting the site wasn't suitable for a lady but we managed to wriggle out of that one as I was the only on with steel soled boots. However he got all the offcuts cleared up pretty prompt and last Friday Margot was given the grand tour.

Thankfully she was OK  with the decisions we had made on her behalf so this week the plumber, electrician and joiner will all be onsite not to mention the roofers - the tiles for the front slope are  delivered and ready to go up. I however am down south dog-sitting for my sister so well out of it - except I have just had a call from Jason setting up a site meeting for Friday morning. Nothing serious I hope