Day 83 - Break on through to the other side

Well today was the day that the builders starting knocking into the existing house. Had to happen eventually !
What was Jenny's bedroom wall & window have been removed, as have part of the dining room & hall walls (and what was the electric cupboard). New partitions are up & we can see the shape starting to appear. Looks much bigger than it was (although it indeed is I guess !). The sparks are back again tomorrow along with the plumber to sort out the piping & cables that are now hanging about.
The slaters were also here and have carried on with the more tricky areas. A fair few bits of lead flashing have also gone up too. They'll be here till the end of the week as planned & will install the guttering. I was also up on the roof again this evening & managed to replace the 4 cracked/broken tiles on the front porch, so good to have got that done.

Day 82 - The roofers are back !

Been nice weather today, which is a first for the roofing lads being on site here ! They've done a lot in a day and have now mostly completed the roof over the outside workshop & corridor, along with the join in the roof between the existing house & the extension. Lead flashing has been put in as required. The intention is for the roofing works to be complete by the end of this week. Not sure if that includes the gutters.
Still on the roof, with it being a nice evening I managed to go up and pour the moss treatment on - unfortunately the stuff didn't go as far as I'd thought, so I only got half way through. Will get some more chemical tomorrow hopefully & finish off tomorrow night. Whilst on the roof I also took down the old TV mast, so looks a bit tidier at the chimney.
Joiners were also here today, and have mostly been carrying on with the window sills. All downstairs has been done, and only a couple upstairs to do. Unfortunately they've damaged some of the new plasterwork, but those lads will be back at the weekend.

Days 80 & 81 - Ames taping begins

As the title says, the tapers were here both Saturday (all day) and Sunday morning. They've made really good progress & the house has been transformed ! Still a way to go, and the plaster/filler needs time to dry out, but looking good !
The joiners were also here on Saturday morning & continued with the window sills upstairs.
In between the rain (which was going on all weekend !) I managed to get the remaining sections of the existing roof cleaned up & the moss removed. When we get a dryer spell I can apply the moss killer & preventer stuff.
Work this coming week is to start in the dining room, so we've been busy clearing that out ready, along with the cupboard in the hall & the laundry area. Not sure how long it's going to take at this end, and it's going to be a bit disruptive...

Day 79 - Tidy up for tapers

The tapers are expected any day now, so a lot of time was spent today tidying things up in the house to get ready for them. Some walls were still put up though, and now the entrance to the guest room has been completed, which evens the hallway up around about where the stair is going.
The plumber has also been busy sorting the pipes out for the bathrooms & for the central heating - pipework has now reached the garage.

Day 78 - First windowsill goes in

The lads have started on the window sills upstairs - they're MDF type material with a wood veneer which can be stained. Look fine so far, and seem to be glued in place rather than nailed (so quite neat). Also a lot of work done out at the workshop - the partition is in place, insulation in & most of the plaster board in place. Wood strapping has been put on the outside wall near the heating pipes too & the sink drain hole bored through the wall.
Plumber has been carrying on with the bathroom pipework. Looks like all the water feed pipes are now in - shame that the plasterboard has had to go up & down a few times to achieve this....
Clean up planned for tomorrow, and apparently we'll see the first of the tapers on Saturday.

Day 77 - Shower pipework going in

The plumber was back today & has installed the shower valve boxes & associated pipework into both the wetrooms. In addition to that the water pipes & basin drains have also been installed to match roughly where the bathroom furniture will go.
The wetroom shower trays had a further skim of concrete onto them, which has removed the dogs paw prints !
Plaster board has continued to be installed - this time in the outer workroom - looks like another bit of the house now ! In addition the fire proof board has been completed & most of the roof sections are now done.
The lads have also been out with the cement & brinks & begun patching up the workshop wall & join to the main house. In addition the path at the rear of the house has been repaired (where it was dug up for the drains).
The stairs were measured up today as well, and Doug brought round some sample spindles. Think we'll go for the simple oak design, which will be nicely understated. Not sure how long this will take to make, but it can't go in until the plaster board is finished off.

Day 76 - Roof starts again !

The slaters returned today - and at least the rain cleared up for them as the day went on. They've got most of the dormer at the South side completed now, and have also stitched together the old & new roofs on the south too. Looks good ! Hopefully they'll be here all week, and we should see the roof completed in that time.
Inside the joiners carried on sorting the partitions & more work was done in the 2 bathrooms. Shower trays were sunk into the concrete & the basin wastes fully hidden into the walls. Once the concrete is set, there's a wee bit more skimming to do, but that should be it.
Work was also going on in the outside workshop. Insulation has gone into some of the roof space * the corridor wall. The fire proof board has also been started in the wooden section of the roof between the 2 areas.

Day 74 & 75: Many partitions

The lads were here all day Saturday which helped push things along quite a bit. Progress has been made on the ground floor & all the partitions are now up & most of the plaster boarding is complete. There was some additional fiddling required to move the bathroom (x2) partitions out a bit, but this has now been completed & the rooms are better for it (at least all the furniture etc will go in !).
Insulation has also been getting installed in the ground floor partitions - we've gone for the denser stuff so we'll get a bit of sound insulation as well as heat.
Doug was round on Saturday too for an update session & took the opportunity to go on the roof to see what the finial will look like - just great ! Expecting the slaters here this week to finish the roof off & fit the finial (no sign yet though, and that's Monday gone by !).
All going well we should have the tapers here on Monday, which will be a couple of weeks work. In that time the rest of the team will be doing the garage/workshop areas, external cladding & the dreaded 2 x entries into the existing house !

Day 73 - Partitions go in

Really pleased to see that the partitions have mostly all been fitted now, and you can get a much better sense of how the house goes together & the room that we'll have. There are a few issues to sort out though with the 2 bathrooms as the partitions need to be moved out (and turned around in the case of one), but we can address this easily enough.
The sparks were also back today & have marked up the cables as necessary & have also run the room stats for the heating engineer.
Some things for me to get on with this weekend in terms of moving some cables about, but best to get after it at this stage rather than wait.

Day 72 - Wiring & boarding

Not too much to report for today as we're still installing the plasterboard on the ground floor. Going pretty well, and the lads have also spent some time sorting out the wiring runs ready for the partitions going in. Hopefully see the partitions install happening early next week (I think).

Day 71 - More plaster board

Quite a few things happening today. The plaster board continued to go in downstairs, with most of the East wall and ceiling now completed (though there are still cables to be dropped down in some places).
Doug was also here today & sorted out the 2 x shower recesses in the floor to accept the GRP wet room trays that have now arrived. A bit of jiggery pokery and they should be fine in terms of getting the waste pipe to line up properly.
The slaters also made a brief return to site today (but didn't really do anything !). However the copper finial arrived, so they were able to check that out. Hopefully be seeing that installed by early next week.

Day 70 - Insulating downstairs

The insulation & most of the plaster board is now completed upstairs, which let the lads move downstairs to make a start with insulating the outside walls & ceiling. There's also been some ceiling & wall plaster board installed around the study & guest room areas.
No painter today, which was just as well as it was a bit wet again.
Tomorrow we might see the slaters coming back to get on with the roof (and with any luck the copper finial will arrive too). The plumber is also intending to be here along with his sparkie to install the heating thermostats etc.

Day 69 - Lounge radiator pipes

As the title suggests, the radiator pipework was run through to where the lounge rad will be (the plaster board had to come off again - saw that coming !). Looks like there's still a wee bit more to do there before it can be boxed off again.
Beams were also installed above the new back door, which will give us a double height ceiling, which will look good with the extra glass to go above the door. Will maximise light in what could be a darker area otherwise.
The painter was also back & has done some of the windows on the first floor. Not convinced with the neatness of this job, so one that needs looking at !

Day 68 - First window frame painted

Painter has done the frame of the small window in the connecting hallway - looks good against the larch background. Further coats required on this & the soffits & facings though, and the upstairs window frames need to be done before the scaffolding is removed.
Joiners continued on with boarding out upstairs, and we're almost there now (the roof fix done a few days ago is holding up fine).
Plumber has also been back & forward and has run the radiator pipes & also some of the hot & cold feeds to the bathrooms in the extension.

Day 67 - Plumbing work starts

Plumber arrived on site this morning & has started to run the central heating pipes for upstairs (we didn't bother going for under floor heating up there). So far the pipes have been spotted for the 3 radiators required, and work has also started on running water pipework to the ensuite bathroom. A fair way to go yet, but good to see things starting.
The painter was also back today, and with the (slightly) more settled weather he managed to get round all the soffits & facings again. Starting to look very nice.
The joiners carried on with the plaster board work on the 1st floor. The family room is now mostly complete, and a lot more was done in the lounge around the windows. We also managed to get the leak in the roof solved (I think), so if that's ok the plaster board can be completed at the top of the stairs.
Other work that I've been doing today has been to carry on with removing all the moss & crud off the existing roof tiles. Almost there & another day should see it all done. Then the moss cleaner can be applied to the roof to keep the stuff away.

Day 66 - Further boarding on 1st floor

Busy upstairs today and about 75% of the 1st floor has now been fitted with plaster board - though 3 sections of wall have had to be left for now as there will be radiators spotted there (plumber coming tomorrow to fit the pipes etc).
The sparkies finished today (for now) and have left all the tie in cables in the existing attic, including the telephone line. The joiners have pulled the relevant cables through the new plaster board upstairs.
Down stairs the final 2 windows were fitted to the work room at the front of the house, so that's looking a bit better. Just the external workshop/garage areas plus the main doors to go in now.
The weather today has been dreadful & it's rained pretty much all day. Not only has this delayed the painting (the painter went away in the morning), but it's also a real hassle as the slaters haven't completed the roof, and we're suffering from a couple of water leaks. This means we can't insulate & board those areas, which is a pain.

Day 63-65 - Painting & plaster boarding

Haven't posted for a day or two due to the amount of work that's going on just now (I'm also on holiday so able to get after some things too !).
The sparkies have been working well the past few days and have completed upstairs and most of downstairs now. Work that's left for them to do is the outside lighting (soffits & at the doors) and some final bits tying into the existing house. They'll probably be finished tomorrow & we won't see them again until the sockets etc are installed (about 3 weeks away).
The joiners have now fitted most of the windows - only 2 at the front, the rear door & the garage are outstanding. Looks great ! Insulation has also started to go in & is about complete upstairs. Plaster boarding has also started & most of the first floor is now boarded out. Amazing how much better it feels & sounds up there now !
The painter has also been on site the last couple of days & has made a start to painting the softwood facings & soffits. The colour looks pretty good against the stone & the larch.
As well as all the above I managed to get time at the weekend to install all the media cables (satellite & Cat6a network). The hub will be in the new workshop being built at the back of the garage, so all cables have been fed out from there. As well as the cabling, I've been up on the existing roof & scraping off the lumps of moss etc to try & get it looking a bit better. Will never fully match the new bits for colour, but it's an improvement.

Day 62 - The electricians started today

Most of the windows were installed over today, and looking really great. They also have a slightly mirrored effect to them from a distance, which looks pretty good. Only a few more to install (and the outside doors haven't yet arrived).
The sparkies also arrived today & completed the wiring on the 1st floor. Probably another day and a half to do in order to get downstairs wired up. Looking to tie into the existing consumer unit, as there's plenty of free space left on the bars.
With the wiring starting now I've also been in & put up the brackets for the media cables. I'll get the cables installed over the weekend, with them all tying back to the garage workshop area.
Weather hasn't been the best, but now that the house is (mostly) waterproof we can still get one with things.

Day 61 - The windows arrive

The windows have all arrived, with the exception of the ones that have been specially measured (the triangular ones at the South dormer & the ones above the front entrance). Some of them have been initially fitted (still to be properly fixed & sealed), and they look great. Really starting to look like a house now !
As well as the windows, a load of insulation & plasterboard also arrived, though this is being stored mainly in the garage for now as the priority is the windows.
Things are certainly moving one, and when the slaters return next week we should be well on the way to a properly water tight house.

Day 60 - Flooring finished upstairs

As the title says, the floor upstairs is now down, and we'll be getting measured up for the staircase shortly. As well as the floor there was further work done to straighten out the larch in front of the workshop, and quite a few batons installed ready for larch outside & internal plasterboard.
The facings & soffits were further progressed at the front entrance, which is now looking ready good (and huge !). Clamps/clips were also installed on quite a few of the joists under the 1st floor - still a few to do yet.
No sparkies yet, but still plenty time for that. Some of my cables arrived today though, so ready to get cracking with media infrastructure soon :-)

Day 59 - Flooring going in upstairs

Most of the flooring way laid upstairs today, so now everyone has managed to get up to see the great views! Still some boards to lay at the South end of the family room, but mostly there. The lads have also used PVA glue between & under the boards to ensure that they don't squeak, which is really good.
Larch cladding was also installed on the hall running between the house & the garage, and also on the adjoining garage wall. There's still some work to do here to install flashing underneath the larch & also to level off the bottom edge, but you can start to see things coming together now.
The plan was to have the electricians here from tomorrow, which means that I can start to run some cables too for satellite & network - though it's still to be delivered....

Day 58 - First larch cladding on

Today marked the day that the first of the Scottish Larch cladding was fitted to the house. The garage East & West facings were first to get the treatment, and it looks fantastic. Doug and the lads have made a great job of it, and the final finishing touches to the soffits & facings really sets the building off. A proper garage with a proper roof.
Further work was also done at the new front entrance. The roof wood work was completed & the waterproof membrane applied over the whole lot (thankfully, as the weather has been so changeable of late).
Andrew our Architect was also round this afternoon to discuss the exterior colour schemes with Wendy, so now the decisions have been made on the external finishes. The painter will be round tomorrow to discuss further, and we should see the first of the paintwork tackled by the end of the week.
Things really are starting to move fast again, and the electricians are due his week, with the heating engineer & plumber next week (as well as the return of the slaters !).