Pre-extension House

Pre-extension House

Monday, 6 December 2010

Week 35 - Underfloor heating on and plumbing continues



Yay you can see the lines where the UFH is on and the screed is starting to dry out. There is alot of moisture in the air so we have hired a dehumidifier as the water was frozen on the inside of the windows but you can already feel a huge difference in the temperature downstairs which has gone from absolute bitter cold to quite cosy. It is going to take a week or 2 for the screed to get up to tempreture.





This is the bathroom on the top floor with the shower tray just about fitted. The plumber again did not think the drainage through so we have made a feature of having to have a raised shower tray which I will tile with mosaic tiles. Hopefully should look quite good (at least the builder came for an hour this week)

Week 34 - Kitchen nearly completed


Oh my goodness, it is really starting to look like a house and a kitchen, some of the appliances are in now and the granite people have templated so this will be fitted very soon. Very dissappointingly there is no sign of the builder so progress on the things he is suppose to be doing is at a stand still.

Monday, 22 November 2010

Week 33 - Kitchen starts to be fitted and tiling the floor of the ensuite


Yay the kitchen was delivered over the weekend and has started to be fitted. We didn't want any wall units to keep it quite open and airy so we have a nice L shape and an island and just behind all the boxes on the left hand side will be floor to ceiling bank of cupboards and appliances. The floor units are hi-gloss cream and the bank will be hi-gloss black. The shelves at the side of the extractor are nice big box lights.
We have used some really pretty mosaic tiles in the shower area of the ensuite and the larger tiles for the rest of the room. They are are a polished cappaccino marble. It has so far taken quite a bit longer than I thought but it is looking really nice already. Still no sign of the builder which is so gutting because this is the 33rd week of a 20 week build but he is promising for next week so fingesr crossed.

Week 32 - Underfloor heating on the ground floor and ensuite



This is the picture of the dining room as it is now. The walls and ceiling have been undercoated the water system underfloor heating pipes have been laid and a layer of around 5-7cm of screed is covering the pipes. I am so pleased it is really starting to look like a house again. We can't connect the pipes up to the boiler yet as the screed needs a good week to initially dry before you can turn the system on. Even then it will still take many weeks before we can tile. The house is bitter cold.



This is a bit of a funny angle but it is essentially the floor of the ensuite bathroom. I have tanked it using the homelux 100% waterproof system, it took a bit longer than I thought but is done now. I opted for the loose wire electric undefloor heating because I thought it would be easier to lay around the room and objects. This also took quite a bit longer than expected but I think we did a damn fine job :-) There was been no sign of the builder whatsoever this week, very dissappointing!!!

Sunday, 7 November 2010

Week 31 - Preparing the floor and 2nd fix Joinery cotinues


Very nearly all the doors are on now and we have handles as well. Progress on the builders part has just been incredibly slow and very dissappointing but non the less progress.
We have had a very busy weekend preparing the floor for the underfloor heating. Spent hours scraping the floor getting all the splats of plaster, adhesive and concrete off and brushing up tons of and tons of dust. We have laid insulation on top of the concrete and we had to order different depths for each room to try level things out.

Sunday, 31 October 2010

Week 30 - Floor and brick work very nearly done



This is the very last of the brick work that is almost completed, it is just at the side of the back lounge so I am really hoping it should finally be finished this next week. It is now 10 weeks over the original estimate which I am really struggling with and am just so desparate to move back in.











This is the last of the concrete floor area in the new kitchen. We are a bit worried about the floor level as the back of the house seems to be a bit higher than the front. The next step is to try level this out when the underfloor heating and screed goes in hopefully soon.

Week 29 - Conrete in the existing floors and some 2nd fix plumbing



Yay - finally we have got the concrete in on the existing part of the house so it is starting to look even more like a house again. It is very stressful getting the sand in and visqueen down in time but it all came together in the end.



This is the first of the second fix plumbing to be completed, progress is just so slow at the moment. The door is also on for the ensuite so things are just about starting to take shape. All we need now is for the heating to be connected up so we could potentially move back in which would be great.

Saturday, 16 October 2010

Week 28 - Some 2nd fix joinery and all the velux are finally in



EEEEEEeeeekkk 8 weeks over due and counting!

This is the view from our bedroom window which is really starting to look like a bedroom, especially with the window sill on. Elsewhere in the house the plastering continues and the more of the 2nd fix electrics. The builder however is no where to be seen!




This is the back of the house with the very last of the velux to go in on the far left which is the downstairs toilet. The velux in the lounge (2 on the right) had to be moved 3 times for one reason or another causing a massive delay and the new back doors are now in and bricked up in the lounge to match the kitchen back doors. Getting quite excited now but still feels like its a little way off internally.

Week 27 - Top floor first coat of paint and Kitchen floor progresses



Yay, the kitchen is starting to look like a room again, still got a bit to do on it but at least things are still progressing albeit very slowly. Patience with the builder has officially reached critical!
Plastering and 2nd fix electrics are also continuing very slowly.






This is my office which is a really good size. We started to paint all the top floor (which consists of 2 offices, landing and a full bathroom) so its really nice that the 2 offices are almost useable now. It is quite warm up here being the top of the house but i really like it and gav just needs the velux open. all the spot lights are in and working so its just the flooring to finish off and the radiators and window sill to go in and then we can carpet it so not much then :-(

Week 26 - Plastering continues and top floor architrave and skirting goes on



The top floor is really coming together now and is actually looking like rooms. We were getting really excited until we realised the builder has out the wrong size skirting on and the wrong architrave altogether. Very dissappointing and I am not quite sure what we are going to do about it just yet but at least these room are looking like rooms :-) All the spot lights are fitted so we also have light up here now.




This is actually going to be the gym so again quite exciting that you can now fully appreciate the room sizes and almost start to visualize where things are going to go. Still feels like there is a really lot of work to be done and it still looks very much like a building site but very slowly coming together.

Week 25 - Work on the Kitchen progresses and plastering



Only 5 weeks overdue but at least things are starting to take shape, all of the first floor is plastered now and the electrician has just about started the 2nd fix electrics so quite exciting that we have electricity back on in just a couple of rooms.




This is the view stood at the back door, hallway dead ahead, old pantry door next to that and the new walk in pantry door on the far left. The old kitchen and morning room floor has been removed and the soil needs to be taken out so the hard core (stone to everyone else) needs to go in. Progress feels so very very slow :-(

Monday, 20 September 2010

Week 24 - Final knock through and some plastering



This is the new doorway to the gym and hopefully the very last thing to be knocked down. its great because you can really see the new layout and it is really starting to take shape. Thinsg are still very messy and extremely dusty but it is definitely coming together.














Yay, this is my new office almost plastered now and the new velux is in. The hole at the bottom is to some storage into the eaves, just needs the door on. Hopefully going to paint this at the weekend and the carpets have been ordered so will be in shortly. Absolutely can't wait!!

Week 23 - Flooring continues and last of the old kitchen comes down



The last of the kitchen wall came down finally so you can see right through to the gym. This is the gym!! Takes a little bit of imagination but we are going to mirror one of the walls, put a wooden floor and the wiring is in place for 6 spot lights. A stud wall needs to go up which will house the bank for the ovens and fridge freezer.






This is the hallway which looks a complete mess, we barrowed the last of the stone in phew so it just needs to be tamped down now. We also need to build some support for the stairs as the rest of the floor needs to come out. The house is really looking bare now as all the walls have been stripped and the first fix electrics is completely finished.

Monday, 6 September 2010

Week 22 - Back lounge solid floor and 3rd floor boarding



This is a picture of the 3rd floor, the builders still need to lay the floor boards and board it but it is going to be the bathroom on the third floor and it should be big enough for a bath, shower, loo and sink. It is taking some space out of my office but I think it is worth it to have a nicer bathroom. Builder reckons there is three weeks left but I am not so optimistic :-(





This is the back lounge where we spent last 2 weekends taking up the floor boards and barrowed in around 10 tons of stone (I wish I was exaggerating but my back, arms and legs tell me i'm not). It is not quite finished yet but is nearly ready for the concrete which should be next week and then we can lay the underfloor heating. YAY!! Also the first fix electrics is nearly fully completed and the plasters did a couple of days last week so definitely getting there.

Tuesday, 31 August 2010

Week 21 - Knock through and boarding


Wow, its so amazing to finally see the proper size of the kitchen because it was really hard to imagine. The back wall and the side wall are completely down and we sold the old 2 x double glazed windows, kitchen, dishwasher, oven and hob and extractor in our bid to recycle so we are really pleased with ourselves. The kitchen is a bit more square than I realised but still a really good size around 5.5m x 6.5m and it is lovely and bright.



Yay this is our main bedroom all boarded ready to be plastered, oh my goodness it looks big!! yay Just to the left of the picture is the door to the onsite and just to right is the entrance for the walkin wardrobe which has also now been boarded. All the walls have been fully insulated for sound and heat to hopefully reduce the bills a bit.

Tuesday, 24 August 2010

Week 20 - Scaffolding came down and windows go in



Yipee, the scaffolding has finally come down and it is really starting to look like a house again. The 2 little velux on the roof are for the upstairs hallway and the ensuite on the top floor.









You can also see the back of the house now and they have started the construction on the single storey roof. There is still a bit of work to be done on the back lounge door and roof but we are definitely on the home straight now.

Sunday, 15 August 2010

Week 19 - Some internal work finally and completion of the flat roof.



Oh my goodness, what a busy week!
Gav and I decided to get stuck and as we need to change all the original ground floor to solid floor in preparation for the underfloor heating. We took the carpet up and all the floor boards and proceeded to barrow in 4 tons of stone, phew!! Now all we need is the sand, visqueen, cement and insulation. Also being the eco-warriors that we are (sort of) we have recycled all the skirting boards, floor boards, wiring, pipework and even door via a local reclamation yard. Gold star for Gav and Suzy!


Halleluyah!!!! The flat roof is finally completed, it rained every day this week but the sun finally showed its face on Sunday so was completed then, we just needed half a day that was completely dry. This is a special fibreglass roof that comes with a 30 years guarantee, its actually very thin and goes on top of plywood, the area was much larger than any of us anticipated but the roof is now ready for the last few ridge tiles to go on.

Monday, 9 August 2010

Week 18 - More of the roof completed


Yay, I think we had 1 dry day so some of the ridge tiles have been put on. Progress really seems to have slowed down with the bad weather and also waiting for the flat roof specialist for that damn middle square right on top. Very frustrating!!







The back is looking really good now with the windows in the dormer and the tiles completed on top and at the sides. Fingers crossed for some better weather next week.

Week 17 - Velux and Stairs



Some of the internal work has started, again due to bad weather, the roof cannot be finished just yet. The first velux has been put in and a double glazed window in the office dormer. Its really starting to look like an actual room now.









Yay the stairs have gone in from the second floor to the third, no more ladder :-)

Week 16 - Tiles go on the roof



Yipee, the roof tiles finally go on after a delay due to bad weather, we have out the old tiles on the front to try match in the colour in a bit better.











New tiles on the back and you can really see the dormers taking shape, all the basic structure and support is in place.

Saturday, 17 July 2010

Week 15 - Floor boards are layed on the 2nd and 3rd floor


Yay, the floor boards go in on the top level and some of the supports have been put in place for the new roof. It is really starting to look like a room and everything :-) its also alot larger than expected, including the dormer it is around 6m x 6m but with a big hole cut out for the stair to come up.







Again floor boards are layed in our bed and oph my goodness it looks quite a big room. one the windows to the right will be the onsite and the other just on the right of the picture will be in the bedroom. the window on the left is going to come out when they knock through and will be the landing to the right of the stairs whe you come up from downstairs. Well I know what I mean anyway.

Sunday, 11 July 2010

Week 14 - Felt and battons are put on the roof



This is a picture from the back and you can see the roof structure is fully completed along with the dormer windows. There is only a small area of original roof left and the old tiles are being re-used along on the sides, not decided which one yet. It reallys seems to be taking shape :-)








This is a Picture of the front of the house which is still looking like a bit of a building site but again you can see it coming together. Still waiting on the architect to complete the calcs for the bay window at the front. The roof is battoned and felted in prep for the tiles. I can't wait!!

Week 13 - Completing the roof structure

This is a shot from the inside and you can see the internal wall where the stairs will come up from downstairs. They will be fitted to the left hand side of this wall. You can also see the velux on the far left which is the fire escape. This is essentially Gav's office !!








This is an outside shot of the above internal picture where you can see the velux on the left and the beginnings of the dormer window which seems much larger than I had envisaged.

Saturday, 26 June 2010

Week 12 - Roof construction starts



The roof construction has been slightly delayed as the architect had calculated the angle wrong so it was suppose to be to a point but we now have a flat area in the middle. It is a bit more costly and time consuming but on the up side we will have more head height in both rooms.








This is a picture froom the other side, you can't really appreciate the size of it but the top square is 5.2m x 2m.

Week 11 - 2nd floor joists go in



The 2nd floor joists have gone in which is great because you can really see it coming together. this will be the floor for the third level which will be 2 offices and bathroom.









They have taken off the tiles on the roof facing the new part of the house. You can also see the extra scaffolding up to roof level. Quite exciting but progress feels quite slow at the moment.

Wednesday, 16 June 2010

Week10 - Brick work is completed


You can see the front of the house really starting to take shape now, they need to put in the support for the bay window at the top and teh smaller window to the right will be the walk in wardrobe which is looking larger by the minute.









This photo shows the back of the house which will be our bedroom bay window and some of the suporting internal walls are also going up. the internal doorway on the left will be the door for the walkin wardrobe and the gap on the right of the internal wall is going to be the landing. they will knock through exactly where the tsained glass window is and this will be where the stairs go to the third storey.