Week 15

Well, our original target date was that the work would be completed  around 4 days from now.  We're a bit off from that target date, but not terribly so.  The past three weeks we've had some delays due to the great British summer weather, rain, and also because the building inspector wanted some changes to the way our drain pipe had been laid.  Things are back on track now though! 

This past week, aside from sorting out the drain pipe, our new windows were put in.  They look really nice.  We got a new window for our current spare room as well because otherwise the window will have been obstructed by the new kitchen roof so it just had to be moved up one brick level.  Also this week work continued on the roof and they've started to lay the new roof tiles.  

They haven't started laying the roof tiles at the front of the house yet and the new window hasn't gone in yet because of the scaffolding, but here is how the front of the house is looking now.

  And here is the back of the house.  The windows make it look so much more real to me.

 

Tomorrow they start taking down the first skin of bricks on what used to be our outer side of the house and then on Tuesday knocking through the wall starts. The rest of the week will be spent installing our new bathroom.  Tuesday night we'll move in with Dad for about a week.   Unfortunately the new kitchen can't be delivered until 14 September, so we have to wait a bit longer for that to be done.  

So, hopefully there will be no issues this week, we really want the bathroom to be ready for Di and Matt's arrival the first week of September! :)

Week 12 - Up on the Roof

During week 11 it unfortunately rained Monday through Wednesday so not a lot could be done.  We finally got some sunny or at least dry weather this week and the builders were able to work on the new roof.  They've put up the majority of the roof beams.  Early next week we will be picking out our new roof tiles.

Before I get to the photos of the new roof beams, we had an unexpected turn of events this week.  Richard came home from work on Thursday and went in to the kitchen to find that a section of the ceiling had fallen down!  We apparently had a slow dripping leak in the shower and the plasterboard had been absorbing the water as best as it could but it just couldn't take anymore.  Thankfully this happened when no one was in the kitchen and it's happened now when things are being replaced anyway.  Also, we are fortunate that the floor boards have not rotted so we are still able to carry on using the bathroom now that the tiles have had some sealant put on them to stop any further leaks.

And now the photos taken today.

Looking up at the roof beams above the back bedroom

The weather forecast for this coming week isn't looking too good, tomorrow is supposed to be the only dry day.  Let's hope the forecast is wrong and they can continue to get a lot more done this week. 

Week 10

Amidst our sorrow the work on the house carried on.  The bricklayers have now finished the external brickwork and the house is ready for the roof work to start next week. 

I noticed some cats this week who apparently think our extension is their new jungle gym.  It looks like there about to have a fight, but they eventually just went their separate ways. 

Here are some pictures taken today.  They have even laid the bricks for our new porch.

They needed to cut a section out of our soil pipe (not a job I'd want to do!) so that a new steel beam could be put in the wall.  It really made us laugh at how it's been put back together.  It's only temporary since that pipe will be coming down and a new one put in a different place, but they put it back together with duct tape!  Or gaffer tape as it's also called here.  The fix-all, every house should have a ready supply of duct tape.

And finally, here is an updated photo of the back of the house

The progress on the house has been bittersweet this week.  We're really looking forward to it's completion, but Mum was also really looking forward to it.  She was so helpful, always willing to give us her opinion and advise. The rest of the project is not going to be the same without her.  I know that she will still see it completed though, she will be smiling down from Heaven. 

Week 8 -- Potentially halfway there!

Well it's the end of week 8 now and that could mean that we are at our halfway point!  Richard's Uncle John, who is so very kindly overseeing the project for us, has told us that if the weather is good this coming week, they could finish building all the walls.  Then we think the next step would be to start on the roof.  

At the beginning of the week it was kind of hard to see what was going on up on the first floor but by Friday it was plain to see that our new upstairs rooms were being built.  These pictures were taken today.

We currently can't get outside from our back doors because of scaffolding, so it took a lot of bravery from me to take the next set of pictures of the back of the house and I was laughed at lovingly by Richard.  I was afraid of stepping onto the bricks and over the gap into the side extension because I was scared of slipping.  However I managed to face my fears and then could have a good look around at the back of the house! 

We're really pleased with the progress.  Time to start researching new kitchen appliances!

Week 7

It's still very exciting to come home from work and to see how much progress has been made on the extension while we are away.  Wednesday I came home and as I approached the house I thought, maybe it rained harder than I thought because it didn't look like much had changed since that morning. I couldn't have been more wrong though!  As I got closer I could see that they'd built the new wall that will be between the kitchen and the utility room.

 They also put up some steel girders (support beams) in the kitchen.

Thursday and Friday they put up more steel girders and the joists. 

Also on Friday they finished bricking (is that a word?) the outside wall next to our neighbour's house.  However it appears I've forgotten to take a picture of that.  I will do that tomorrow morning.

I'm not really sure what the plan for this coming week is, but I look forward to seeing the changes when I get home.

Bathroom design and decoration choices

 We still haven't found the 3D printout we got from B&Q for the bathroom nor have we had a chance to go back to the store to get another copy so instead I'm just going to post the 3D pictures I have made from playing around on B&Q's online bathroom planner.

These are views of what the upstairs bathroom will look like

we're thinking about this border tile

We like the light tile for the walls and the darker for the floor

I've also done a design for our downstairs bathroom

There will be a cabinet under the sink

I like the purple color called Dusted Fondant 

We are thinking about something like these for a splashback behind the sink

Going back to the kitchen now, these are the tiles we have chosen for the walls and the floor

And we've got to decide between these two paints, they're both supposed to be olive green, one is the B&Q brand and the other is Dulux

So that's the bathroom and kitchen pretty much all planned out.  Now we need to start thinking about the new bedrooms. 

Week 6

Another week over. Despite some really rainy days, the walls have really come along this week.

This is how it things were looking at the side extension mid week



And by the middle of the week in the back they'd built the walls up more and left the openings for the window over where our sink will be and for the french doors.



On thursday they did more work at the back of the house. They've had to start using scaffolding now.





And here is where we are up to since Friday afternoon






It's all starting to look "real" now!

I was going to post the 3D picture we got of our bathroom design, but it seems to have gone missing somewhere in our house so we'll have to go back to the store and get another copy. I'll post pictures of the tiles we like for the bathroom and kitchen then too.

Here's hoping for a sunny week!