Plumbers, Electricians, Carpenters & more...

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A quick check-list of what's been happening in the house over the past month:

• the flooring is down (see above)
• the doors are (mostly) in place
• the wardrobe doors have been fitted
• the bathroom units have been installed
• the skirtings have been delivered and are being installed
• the gas has been connected (finally)
• there are lights in every room
• the kitchen worktops are on order
• the window blinds for the bedrooms and bathrooms have been ordered
• the bathroom and shower wall panelling is being installed

The carpenters had to cut off a corner at the top of one of the wardrobe doors to enable it to fit in the eaves bedroom, therefore we had to source a solid wood door. The same guys have also been hanging the room doors, fitting the skirtings, installing the fitted units in the bathroom and putting up the shower panelling. They were working long hours and needed to be able to see what they were doing so the electrician was called in. 

 

Wardrobe Doors: cut to shape and size by the carpenters

Still to do: install the log burner and fnish off the hearth; order some more window blinds (for the ground floor rooms) and order a set of sliding doors to hide the boiler and hot water tank from the rest of the utility room. The hob, taps and showers need to be installed by the electrican and plumbers, once the worktops and walls are completed. Then we need to thoroughly clean throughout the house and bring in the decorator to give all the walls and ceilings a one (or twice) over. 

We won't be in for Christmas, unfortunately, as the covid situation has cost us about 12 weeks' delay. 

** Wishing you a Happy Christmas ** 
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We'll keep you posted!
P.S. This is a useful blog for crafty DIYers: catalogue of home ideas 

Delays and a Few Snags :(

In-house Progress

The kitchen and utility units are being fitted by Bill and Daren. This is going very well so far - hooray! The same guys will also be creating a unit to conceal the wc cistern and a built-in wardrobe in a very tricky place - where two roofs come together in an eaves bedroom. 

Today, the kitchen appliances have been delivered: ovens, hob and 'fridge. The sinks and taps are on order - fingers crossed that there is no further delay because:

1. the taps need to be fitted first;
2. then the sinks;
3. then the template for the worktop can be finalised;
4. then the hob can be inserted.

Other good news is that the internal doors and frame kits have been delivered (even though we don't seem to have the handles and locks - only the hinges). The doors are a very nice colour, a sort of grey-oak veneer.

Snags

The Stairs! When the fitters came to install the stairs, they discovered that the main electric consumer unit had been placed on the wall where the under-side of the stairs needed to run. A few days were lost while the unit was moved and then the fitters returned.

Having installed the top half of the stairs and the mid-way platform, they put the lower half of the staircase where it needed to be - only to discover that it protruded too far into a corridor. Measurements had not been taken accurately. The staircase has to be completely re-constucted! Luckily, the company are treating this as a high priority and expect the new one to be ready in 2-3 weeks.

A couple of items seem to be wrong or missing from the kitchen delivery, mainly doors, but they are local so we do not anticipate major delays.

The flooring company are scheduled to lay the boards as soon as the stairs, kitchen/utility units and shower trays (see 'Delays') are in place. 

Delays

Well, it may be a coincidence but the "second wave" of Covid seems to have had a negative effect on supplies. Some ordered items have had their delivery date pushed back and some items that have yet to be ordered are projecting a long lead-time.

For example, several suppliers of wooden plantation shutters are quoting 12 weeks instead of 2-4 as most sustainable wood is imported and in short supply - could this be because climate change (and stupidity, in some cases) caused several forest fires, creating demand for timber? I don't know, just wondering... so, for the time being, we will order some roller blinds for most of the windows.

Other timber-based items are also in short supply, as are other building materials. We've also found that some retail items (probably imports) are becoming scarce, such as taps and shower trays.

Pictures!

The utility room almost looks like this illustration:

The kitchen: the first image below is from the wall where the sink will be, looking towards the dining room. The second image is an illustration of the kitchen units to the left of the patio doors and the drinks station to the right, in the dining area.

More to report soon! Feel free to view our 2020 progress.

Floors and Doors

The ground floor has now been beautifully screeded over the underfloor heating pipes and we've received samples of flooring and door finishes and chosen the ones we'd like. Because of 'new build' rules, every home must include a downstairs w.c. that is easily accessible by people with walking difficulties, including wheelchair users. This access rule also applies to the front door. It means minimum widths and flat floor access. We also noticed that, on the plans, the ground floor doors are wider than the doors upstairs. Apparently, approximately 2% of people in Britain are wheelchair users. 

Originally, we were looking to use engineered hardwood throughout the ground floor, which is around 100 square metres. Having looked at prices and compared them with good quality laminate (shown above), we decided to save several hundreds of £££s. Without fitting costs, underlay, etc., the price of hardwood averaged about 4x the price of laminate.

The small sample in the image is the door colour, the dark grey-ish oak will be used throughout the ground floor and we chose a lighter finish for upstairs floors. These are all suitable for bathrooms and kitchens.

The stairs we've ordered are wooden and will be stained to our colour choice. At this moment, what colour this will be is a mystery!

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Other work that has been going on in the house includes: loft insulation, more plumbing and some carpentry. With the plumbing and electrics in place, the plasterboard will be going up and we'll get a real feel for the inside of our future home. The carpenters will be building the framework for built-in wardrobes and cupboards. 

We have only been visiting the site at weekends when there are no work teams there. All instructions we need to give them have been by email. Interesting times... :) 

Link to next instalment...