Build completed, Driveway almost completed.

We've lost another month and made more compromises but we are so close! Here is an update since the previous post: 

• Outside access to accommodate disabled visitors; Nearly...
• 'Walk-through' and deep clean; Walk-through done, Deep-clean a week away.
• Address registration with Royal Mail and BT. Done! 

There are now steps from the patio to the base for a wooden out-building:  studio/office/gym/storage/whatever. 

We said goodby to the skip this week ('though I'm sure we'll need another one) and we'll be saying goodbye to the outside loo, too! You can see that the drive has been prepared, ready for the paviors to be completed in the next few days.

Inside the house, all the window blinds are in place.

All we have to do now is to find a removal company with a spare day in the near future - then pack! We hope it's a good long summer so that we can work on the garden (lawn, vegetable patch, flowers, etc.). 

Fingers crossed that the next post will be a happy one! 

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.

May - August 2007

This is a picture of the lean-to (with plan on the table) taken from the lounge.
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Meanwhile:
Having chosen to use the same builders who had worked on our previous four projects - honest, reliable, reasonable (but definitely not cheap) cost, we turned our attentions to details.
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We saw the kitchen we liked in B&Q, spent some time designing the layout then ordered an identical one from Wickes with their promise of delivery any time within six months and pay for it sometime after that. We decided to leave the choice of appliances till nearer the time as, for one thing, we couldn't decide on a gas or ceramic hob. We didn't order the worktops, either, as Wickes don't sell granite and it needed to be measured and fitted after the base units were in place.
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As we had the B&Q brochures, we priced up the bathroom suite, shower, taps and the lovely marble sit-on basin - then were subsequently lured inside our local Bathstore by the swish modern suites in the window - and ended up putting in a whopping great order for the downstairs shower room and the upstairs cloakroom. There was some mention of a provisional delivery date for their records but this could be changed when they call to arrange delivery, as we were not sure when the work could be sheduled in.
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Whilst wandering around a local tile showroom, we ordered the tiles for the downstairs shower room, full height walls plus floor. When the price was divulged, we rather hastily removed a number of decorative border tiles from the order to reduce the cost by about 25%!
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July/August ... we went on holiday, came back and the following day Bathstore turned up with our stuff - we are so not ready!!! The builders arrived the following week and I ordered the first of many skips. Work began at the end of August 2007 ...