Day 71 - Plasterers Return

Today the '3 Muskateers' rough skimmed all of the new lounge, its now gone all echoey in the downstairs even from the open plan kitchen.

The floor looks like 10000 Romans have marched through as its covered in the thick plaster they use for the base material.

Tomorrow they are skimming it to finish that room. TV Tony has returned and done a couple of down runs that were missing and started work on the study putting in extra sockets and the two ethernet runs.

Day 70 - Upstairs Plastering Done

Steve finished the stairwell off today doing a grand job of skimming over the existing Artex after scraping it as flat as possible. The arcitrave around the doorways has been removed so Richards list of tasks is growing. Richard has been away working on a work colleagues wall that needed removing, I don't expect him back until next week.

Day 69 - 'Ballroom' roof plastered

Today we had a trio of plasterers in to do some work on 'The Ballroom', we now have a plastered room and the windows/doors in the room have plasterboard round them and the edging is all ready for the walls to be done.

Upstairs the end wall of the stairwell has been completed as well and the faces have all been edged ready for completion.

We have moved upstairs in the hope of passing the mess as they go downstairs in the next couple of days.

Day 68 - No More Shower!

I think this picture speaks a thousand words, kitchen meets bathroom. As you can probably gather its getting interesting living here at the moment. Where once stood our shower is now a mass of twisted pipes and what once was our main sink is now merely for show, the kitchen sink is now the only sink in the house and we are showerless.

On the upside the order is back in for the shower units that were out of stock at Victoria Plumb during the first order and the en suite is all but complete as far as plastering goes, Richard has been in today and built out the back walls the correct distance to allow for headroom.

Plastering is moving on apace, the landing cupboards are done and initial scraping and skimming has taken place on the stairwell. We have decided now is the time to move back upstairs so we can pass miss out on the horror downstairs whilst upstairs returns to some sort of normality.

Dat 67 - Bathroom Fitting

We have a bathroom, at the close of play on day 67 Phil left us with an upstairs toilet and a bath both of which worked....all be it with a little leaking....but nevertheless its a step in the direction of humanity.

Dave came along on Saturday and managed to remove more of the concrete surrounding the back door to allow some steps to be made and make good the side of the house, sadly at this moment flags are out of the picture so its going to be a mess for a while but at least its clear.

He even posed so we could get him in the blog!

Day 66 - Plastering again

A day off to pick up tiles meant we didnt get a lie in but it did mean we could be at Topps Tiles early to pick up some floor tiles so that Richard could lay them in preperation for Phil who said he would fit the bath at least on Saturday morning (another lie in lost!), the delivery from Victoria Plumb was perfect and the merchandise looks the part too.

Luce chose some that weren't bank shattering despite it being a case of 'choose what you like' so in all this extra job has been quick and easy.

Steve finished off the bedroom which is drying out quite quickly in the heat, he says Monday we should have a team of three plasterers so that should see a good chunk of the work done.

Day 65 - Plastering Continued...

Today was a Steve only day, he has managed to finish the hallway upstairs and has started work on the master bedroom.

Its been hot again so Steve left early and I can hardly blame him.

Day 64 - Landing Plastering

Steve and Richard have come up trumps today considering its been damned hot. They spent the best part of the day sweating in the heat of the upstairs with the windows closed, apparently plaster goes off too fast if it gets too much air, which meant they had a good sweat on.

The main part of the landing is complete, the second bedroom is complete and with a bit of skirting will be habitable again. The master bedroom is all ready for plaster with all the edges beaded and taped as required for the plaster to adhere to.

At this rate I think we should be all plastered within a week, soon find out.

Day 63 - Spotting 'n' Sticking

Steve the plasterer arrived today and along with Richard they have finished upstairs ready for plastering, Steve has spotted 'n' stuck the final plasterboard on the exposed blockwork so that only leaves the exposed blockwork downstairs (which there is more of!) and then the plasterboard is complete from the plasterers point of view.

Day 62 - Kitchen Clearance

With the kitchen being added to the job and being fitted around October time Richard wants to get all the electrical work and plastering done at once. This means our poor kitchen has to suffer now. One wall has been cleared except for our dodgy oven that trips the power everytime we use it anyway.

The ceiling of the existing porch that is being rebuilt has also been removed, Luce is worried about spiders!

Just when things are starting to straighten up something else starts.....still some way to go yet but hopefully we should have more plastering commencing sometime this week. No Tony or Phil yet this week though Phil was here Saturday morning doing some final bits and bobs and attempting with me to seal the leaking tank, its all out now and standing on the old patio.

Day 61 - Tank Disaster

Today I came home from work to find the outside of my oil tank wet, on further inspection it has managed to crack and is slowly dribbling oil out down the path.


The tank was last filled just before the summer and as we don't use it at all during the summer the 1000 litres they last put in is now making its way down the path and evaporating away!

With that in mind and some assistance from APR who lent me some containers I am currently watching it slowly drain from the tank, and I mean SLOW, its taking hours.

I will have to have a chat with Titan who make it and see if its still under warranty. If not its going to be about £1000 for a new tank.

On to building and the like, Tony has chased out all the wall for the runs inside the old lounge. Next will be disconnecting the old runs from the outside of the house and then bringing them back inside to clean up the look on the outside and do it how it should have been done from the start.

Day 60 - Mini Doors

The chaps only did a half day today with a comment coming via SMS to Luce that she had better get the kettle on, them builders! Anyway Foxy has put some mini doors on for the storage areas so it won't feel like some portal into Narnia in the back of the cupboard.
The plaster from yesterday is starting to dry.

And we have some odd 'mini coffins' in 'the ballroom' and I have no idea what they are for unless we have done something to upset Richard.

I forgot to mention yesterday that this is the message left for us yesterday by Foxy and Co., it reads 'Bill could you please cut your grass as it is makeing the site look very untidy!!!'.....Luce replied writing something about Richard and Lady Boys as he likes his Thai holidays. I don't think this is the end of the banter so watch this space.

Day 59 - Plastering Begins

Luke has done the bathroom, its looking very wet and dark at the moment but will lighten as it dries. The only problem we have now is that we have no bathroom suite to put in it! It seems we won't be getting a delivery until next Thursday so we are definately not in any rush now and we will have to live with the stinking drains from the existing bathroom which is now a part of the kitchen as the dividing wooden board has been removed.

Day 58 - Upstairs Ready

Everywhere is now complete ready for the plasterer. The final boards are in place and the door openings have been created for the storage areas and new doorways.

The guys have some small bits to complete downstairs ready for plastering but generally its all on schedule.

Luke (one of Ashleys plasterers) is in tomorrow to start on the plastering.

Day 57 - Final Plasterboarding

Just two spare spots remain on the roof of the new rear bedroom. The two boards to fill them are in the room ready, the guys are near the end of the plasterboarding that has been arduous to say the least.

To be fair to them walls have been moved, small openings made for storage and diagonal beams break the straight walls here and there to make it a diffcult task to board all the woodwork.

TV Tony is away for a couple of days but most of his work is also complete as well with only a few points here and there that need cutting to size and metalwork fitting for the plasterer to go around.

Richard is off a couple of days this week as well but as he said to me this morning after the plasterboarding is done there is little for him to do until after the plasterer gets in and starts putting some of the rooms right ready for second fit.

Day 56 - Carnage

Friday me and Luce thought would be a nice day to have off and potter about the house and maybe do some bits, at least thats what I thought, Luce had different ideas.


An early start and Luce decided that the old fireplace had to come out and the start of a new fireplace be created. Not happy with only having two habitable rooms we decided to destroy one of them!


This shows where we were at the start, minus a couple of slabs I removed from the hearth.

Richard got Paul over to ask about the possibility of removing some of the surrounding bricks including the lintel. Paul gave the all clear to take it out and the surrounding bricks so I set to work.

This old design had to go to allow Luce to have the 'hole in the wall' design she wanted. So I set to task with a lump hammer and a borrowed bolster. TV Tony showed arrived and started on cabling the old lounge. James and Richard set about getting more of the windows in.

After a bacon sarnie or two I had managed to get to this stage.

Now harnessing the power of TV Tonys breaker tool things were moving apace. By the end of the day 'The Hole' had been created. Paul said he would do us a favour and do the blockwork for it as long as we furnished him with sausage sandwiches and tea, sounds like a deal! A fake chimney breast is going to be built out from the hole to create the depth required for the fireplace and hopefully prevent smoke escaping into the room when lit. Paul said we might need a airbrick or hole putting in the door but it would be a case of trying it first.


We had originally planned to remove the fireplace and the cork tiles but when Dad arrived to assist Richard said we would be better off plasterboarding over the lot for about the price of 6 or 7 plasterboards, around £30-£35, it sounded less hard work so we went with that idea which meant Dad could be relieved of duty and instead ended up shopping.....poor guy.

In all Friday was a good enjoyable day, everyone was in good spirits and Luce kept the tea flowing along with the odd sarnie to keep the morale up. A lot of work was done and the house feels brighter and quieter with the new windows in place. Good job well done.

Day 55 - James Solo

James ran the show today, Richard popped in early to sort out what was to be done and I left them to decide when I went to work.

Over half of the plasterboarding has been completed in the master bedroom with the other half already having the insulation ready. COnsidering he has been on his own James has done well. A couple of breeze blocks have also been added that had been missed from the interior walls.

Richard tells me that Wednesday we should have a plasterer and then Phil the plumber coming in on Thursday of next week. I hope the bathroom delivery is in place, having rung Victoria Plumb today they were awaiting full stock before delivery so I have had to drop the shower rails off the order in an attempt to get the rest here on time.

Day 54 - Easy On The Eye?

Our 'easy on the eye' man himself TV Tony showed up today, Luce is off sick so got the pleasure of his company but only had to make him two cuppas.

He has completed the lighting cabling upstairs and drilled the required holes in the plasterboard for the spotlights.

He has also completed the power and lighting runs in the utility room with the cabling for the new distribution box also ready. That really only leaves TVT to do upstairs which includes the cupboard with the ethernet cabinet.

I am sure more things will crop up for him to do but things are looking good downstairs where I think we might have gone a bit mad on the power outlets. Still its better than having a 4-way gang in every socket like we do at the moment!

Maxey

Noone was here today, Richard and James are off to Maxey for two days finishing a neverending job thats too good to pass up. Thursday Richard is then on a family do which only leaves Friday for this week for some progress.

With Ashley and Phil away the progress won't come for a while so we just have to hold tight. We found a nice trickle of water spreading across the old bathroom floor this morning but as its only temporary we just stepped over it and carried on. Its amazing how you just 'get on with it' when you have to.

See you Friday unless TV Tony turns up.

Day 53 - Landing Boarding

Today Richard and James carried on the arduous boarding process. The landing roof has been completed as have the cupboards and the ensuite. This only leaves the master bedroom upstairs.

As a special treat I managed to snap some pictures of the duo in action. Just don't ask what James is doing.

Day 52 - Landing Boarded

First up, who is the mystery poster from Day 51. My money is on James or Foxy himself. I am sure all will be reveiled in the fullness of time.

Fridays post is late today so no pictures. I have managed to get a picture of Phil all bandaged up after the wrestling match with the water softener, to follow this week.

Friday was yet more plasterboarding, the landing is pretty much complete with the old wall removed where the bedroom met the old landing. We have however lost the light switch for the bedroom and so I am not sure how thats going to get put back in.

The master bedroom is the only room left for boarding prior to the plastering starting. Ashley the plasterer is away in Egypt at present so there is no real rush on. The bathroom fixtures have all been ordered from http://www.victoriaplumb.com which gives a 10 day delivery lead time, as Phil is now away on his holiday that shouldn't be a problem.

Day 51 - More Plasterboard

Yet more plasterboarding today, thats about all I can say really. The new landing hallway has been plasterboarded on the landing side and now the ensuite has started being boarded as well now that the pipes are all in place.

David popped round this evening to see how the job was going and also took away the old water tanks and pipework, he is going to attempt to do some moonshine potato wine using the tank he reckons, I am intrigued but don't hold out much hope. He also dropped off some logs for us to use in the new lounge fireplace as a decorative feature.

No piccies today, because its too hot to sit at a computer resizing piccies.

Day 50 - Landing Cupboard

10 weeks of work later and we have gone from a slab of thick concrete to a solid shell of a house with amenities being added.

Today saw the start of our landing cupboard storage, as we are in a chalet style home storage is a huge problem due to loft limitations and the sloping ceilings meaning less cupboard space. For this reason we decided to add some cupboards in the wasted void space of the old roof.




Richard has got the main shape in place now and it should give us a decent double door cupboard, the smaller hole in the back is to allow access to the void and the obligaotry dumping space for suitcases and other junk that only sees light once in a blue moon. This hole will have a basic door which will serve its purpose. The same system will happen on the opposite side so as to utilise all the space available to us.

TV Tony has cracked on today running all the cabling back to final destinations, he looks as though upstairs is all prepped and ready for plasterers once the plasterboard is complete. Phil was first here today and we have had to make an adjustment to the ensuite to allow for headroom bringing the sink and toilet at a 45 degree angle from the corners to allow for head height but without stealing too much space.

Phil is now complete and TVT has some more work to do downstairs removing the added electric sockets and bringing the cabling inside the house. Richard came round tonight to pick something up and said its been hard work this week with everyone in each others way and having to assist from time to time. Today it took all four on site to remove the old water softener which resulted in Phil cutting his head open due to it being in the space-limited roof void....ouch! sorry Phil.

Day 49 - Cabling

TV Tony has been putting in the final cable runs today for both upstairs and downstairs as well as running the aerial for the TV and the ethernet to the relevant locations.

The majority of the facia boxes are on the wall downstairs with only the upstairs to do. Richard and James have been working on the cupboards on the landing removing the existing timbers and making sure that the roof is supported appropriately. The bathroom has now been fully plasterboarded ready for Ashley the plasterer to come and do his bit.

There have been quite a few changes here and there partly due to use and partly due to locations and distances of the house. The boiler has finally found its new home in the rear of the garage and TV Tony has already got some cables run in for the power.

Phil has most of the upstairs pipework done with the tank in situ and supplying a cracking water pressure to all the taps. I havent found a timer unit for the hot water tank yet, thats one to ask Foxy about tomorrow morning. At the moment they are having good days and bad days with everyone getting under each others feet. With the plasterboarding going up now it feels almost like we are coming to the final straight.