Shock horror!

Some photos below for those who want a quick fix of progress.

The house has lights with switches that work and everything! This is a major milestone and makes it come alive for the first time. I can now feel what it's going to actually be like to live there. Nice feeling.

Big jobs left are getting the boiler in (it's nearly there) and the heating on - and then the windows and finally then the floors and the fireplace downstairs.

The stress is getting to us now - the relentless need to make decisions and get everything ordered at the right time. S has done a sterling job chasing the various suppliers (including actually visiting one of the delinquant ones...). I think we're coping quite well but both of us have "lists of lists" of things to do and chores to run all the time.

I managed to get the many copies of the new plans to the surveyer to finally get the party-wall proceedings underway again today - so that is a result too.

Here's a few notes, more for us since we're both travelling to the US in the next days.

• In the utility room they need to add plumbing for the washing machine - so far only the sink has plumbing. Where does the waste run?
• The dining room appears to have only one light switch - we need another just inside the main concertina doors from the lounge
• The electrical sockets and switches are all white plastic. This is cool for now but I think the eventual plan will be replace them with brushed steel - only the budget means we should wait!
• We need to arrange a call with the project manager while we're away to check on progress
• Oh yeah, and from here on in the money gets held back until all the snags are fixed

And the next jobs:

* Tim to order worktop for utility room
* Tim to chase surveyor
* S to chase toilets...
* Plan lighting and electicals in the kitchen
* Sort out the concertina doors for the rear of the house
* Plan and purchase for the bathroom in the loft

Gas feed finally connected. We have gas!

Attractive light in the stair well:

New radiator, old bannister:

Shaver socket to be:

Working switches:

And spotlights:

Random deliveries - is that the top to the cupboard?

Awaiting a sink:

Downpipe (slightly disappointing but we'll forget about that):

New towel rail - and it's a radiator too:

Hallway:

Spots are on:

Posted by tim at 7:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

We're very nearly there - thanks for the feedback, we rolled it into our latest view:

Ordering commences today.

Posted by tim at 7:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Here's our current favoured design... comments welcome

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I have to give the builders credit.

It was Saturday and I decided to go round when the builders weren't there and try to install some underfloor wiring for the surround sound system in the living room. It's one of those things which you really need to do while the floor is up - otherwise it wrecks your skirting boards.

So I spent a couple of hours on my belly, on the dusty floor, trying to pass cables under the floor joists with the help of various bits of wood, tape and wires tied together.

Eventually it was all done, but working in the house is cold, dusty and tiring and I only did it for two hours... Those builders work hard.

Posted by tim at 9:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Some more photos of the latest state of the house of horrors:

The new fireplace, made of recycled bricks from the removed chimney breast:

Steel beam:

Work bench:

Doors go in:

Steel beam detail:

Pink testicles, mind the gap:

Door to the new kitchen:

Understairs WC:

Fanlight required:

Drencher shower in place:

Spade:

Posted by tim at 9:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Progress next door is swift currently - they're working on the bathroom and now some of the downstairs rooms. Amazingly most of the first floor is plastered, fully wired and just waiting for the central heating!

We have the start of a really nice new brick fireplace in the dining room - re-using some of the bricks taken from the two chimney stacks. It's a great idea to fill the void where the range was and will make a real feature of that room.

Elsewhere the downstairs loo is taking shape as definitely the smallest room in the house. Comedy moment was three Polish builders in there measuring exactly the distance needed for a man to stand back from the toilet in order to successfully deliver wee into a toilet. Hilarious!

Posted by tim at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I went round the house after work. The builders had gone home for the day. And the house was dark and cold.

There's nothing to beat the excitement of wandering the floorboards with a torch, getting to know the shadows, corners and characteristics of the house which I'll one day live in and seeing what progress has been made.

Quite a lot has been done today - the downstairs is now starting to come on. The living room has been plastered and the configuration of the dining and utility rooms is now finalised. Old doorways are sealed up, never to be used again and new ones are opened. Currently there's a hold into the outside which will eventually be a window into the side-return, still to come.

The bathroom upstairs is taking shape with the structure for the shower pipework and shelf below the window now in place. The bath should go in tomorrow.

All in all, pretty exciting. We're now pretty much half way through the refurbishment (loft and side-return still to come). The big jobs left are the central heating (and boiler), the bathroom and utility room fitouts and the flooring, plus the windows.

Posted by tim at 9:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Some pictures, 4 full weeks into the refurbishment project:

Cement mixer in the utility room:

Bath arrives:

Mind the gap: (two rooms make one)

Spotlights:

Fireplace ideas:

Two doorways to go:

Loftrooms:

Upstairs taking plastered shape:

Bathroom floor going down:

Posted by tim at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Progress has been good this week - with the major rooms now all taking shape.

The bathroom upstairs is now completely designed and the walls are being constructed as I write. Most of the fixtures and fittings are ordered and on their way too.

Most of the piping for the radiators is also completed throughout the house.

Now our focus turns to the utility room which will house the boiler and washing machine - because that's a pre-requisite to getting the central heating in and commissioned.

So we've done a design and are planning to stock it from Ikea sometime this week.

Now we're off down the house to install some speaker wire in the living room and make some fireplace decisions.

Posted by tim at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The bathroom went through one final iteration and now we're happy.

Posted by tim at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Got to get the bathroom purchased...

o Miller bathroom cupboard - bathroomsuppliesonline.com £700
o qssupplies.co.uk - Kaldewei 1800mm x 800mm steel bath, no grips, no tap holes £335 with VAT and delivery
o Bathstore fittings:
+ Cutie tap for downstairs sink £129
+ 2 x Metro basin mono block mixer £139 (for two bathroom sinks)
+ Oki drencher head and shower arm £149
+ 3 way shower thermostatic etc
+ Bath filler with deflector for concealed hose
+ Concealed hose on bath

* -- heated floor for bathrooms - research

* -- AEG fridges..

Posted by tim at 5:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So after some frank and open discussions with our neighbours we realised our original proposal to extend beyond the existing rear wall of the house was pretty unfair (and honestly quite ugly) from their perspectives. It would have cut out a lot of light to one of our neighbours' patio and been unsightly for the other.

So, we've decided not to extend beyond that current line - and will now just be putting a side-return into the "alley-way" with a sloping roof and squaring off the existing patio doors.

We'd like for the new glass patio doors to run across the entire width of the back of the house - but we'll see if budgets and practicality allows!

The following drawings attempt to show what it would look like in the context of the neighbour's houses (to the left and right):

And a higher-level view for clarity:

Posted by tim at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The builders, an increased team of 5, have been back on site this week and made a remarkable amount of progress.

Two of the rooms upstairs are almost totally plastered and starting to look great. They aim to finish the whole 1st floor in the next three days.

Of course, there's still a lot of work to do - although the electrics are mostly in, the central heating and plumbing is still to be done. The utility room design is next as this will allow them to confirm the boiler placement, install it and then roll out the radiator installation.

After that comes the window replacement and then the more major structural work downstairs.

In the meantime the bathroom design needs to be nailed down and ordered.

All good fun.

Posted by tim at 7:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)