Another Month has Dragged on...

We are almost a month further on, time-wise, but not much further than we were in our previous post:

The only things to be finished before we are able to move in are: 

• Outside access to accommodate disabled visitors;
• Installation of log burner;
• 'Walk-through' and deep clean;
• Sign-off by the Local Authority;
• Address registration with Royal Mail and BT.

We have our fingers crossed for the end of next month. 

We're not sure why progress has been minimal but here is an update to the above:

• Outside access to accommodate disabled visitors - the guys doing the driveway are also going to put in some gate-posts and they decided that the posts need to be done before the rest of the drive can be laid. To get the sizes exact, they want to wait until the gates are delivered - the gates are on order but are not scheduled for delivery for another few weeks yet. However, they've made a great job of the round-the-house paving - see photo;

• Installation of log burner - YAY! Done - see photo;
  
  
• 'Walk-through' and deep clean - obviously the last thing is to clean and this is best left (apparently) until the drive is paviors rather than mud;
  
  
• Sign-off by the Local Authority - YAY! Building Regs are signed off, subject to a couple of provisos;
  
  
• Address registration with Royal Mail and BT - in hand.

So we're still saying that we have our fingers crossed for the end of next month. (Do I sound just a bit fed up?) 

Anyway, the latest photographs are below.

More soon...

Building new walls (part 2)

The picture shows the existing lean-to, the wall of the existing extension next door and the new rear wall up to the damp course.

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We are now in September, the brickie sometimes has his son labouring for him and they've been here for about 3 weeks. At this point, we are ready for the local council's building regulation inspectors to visit and give us permission to carry on.

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We wanted a fully opening expanse of folding-sliding doors across the back of the extension but the architect had advised that anything over 8ft would require additional strength or longer beams or something so we decided to opt for an 8ft opening with large windows either side. We also prefer the look of wood but decided to match the pvc already used throughout the house, partly because we had wooden doors in our previous two houses and wanted less hassle this time!

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Unfortunately, Wooden doors need staining/painting every year or two and, in our experience, don't generally fit properly - they stick in the summer and, worse still, are draughty in the winter. However, our initial pvc patio door investigations taught us that the stronger and better looking (lower sills, less white and more glass, etc) white "plastic" doors and windows are, in fact, powder-coated aluminium. Time to search the Internet for suppliers and quotes!