"Can we have a quick get-together with the plumber?" asked the builder.
Little did we know that parking in the vicinity of our property would be at a premium because not only was the plumber onsite, but a squad of electricians, labourers, roofers, site foreman and our main man, Adrian. The street was chocoblock with vans, trailers and cars. What must the neighbours think?
I'm liking the roofers though. The work they do is dramatic and eye-catching just now:
Electrical requirements have now all been defined - hopefully. That is, defined with the exception of the location of the Virginmedia cabling for which Virginmedia have been requested on-site to give their views on the situation.
Plumbing-wise, all requirements have now been defined though a supplier for the bathrooms is still to be decided. Any plumbers' merchants who fancy putting forward a case for why we should use them are welcome to do so!
In other news, Emily has decided that she wants a blue radiator under her windows. Rachel wants her bedroom decorated as if she were living in 18th century Paris! Should children aged 9 and 6 be given the ability to make these decision?
We took our daughters to the "dream home" today with a view to taking them upstairs so they could see their bedrooms.
Unfortunately, the joiner seems to have restricted our access via the normal route and the girls didn't fancy the look of the rickety ladder that has been put in its stead. The sturdy scaffolding previously in place has now been disconnected from the landing:
I, however, did manage a wander around to see what else the joiner had achieved. Ceilings have been formed, stud walls are in place and even the fancy recess in the dining area is half done.
Roof slates and electrical work is still outstanding though - hurricane force weather hasn't helped matters for either profession.
Decisions have been made on the fireplaces that are to be installed. A frameless Studio 1 gas fire for the front sitting room and an Escamo 200 wood burning stove for the back sitting room come in at just under budget.
Hurricane force winds would prevent me from climbing on to a roof in order to nail down some slates but it hasn't stopped our roofers this week:
The inclement weather has diverted the joiner's attentions to blocking up the windows (in advance of the real windows turning up in a few weeks time). The inside of the house is taking on a slightly more sinister look and feel because of the darkness. I guess it is better to keep the weather out though!
In other news, it looks like the kitchen has been selected and the bathroom selection process is moving on apace! The spark turns up on Monday to do his first internal fix - let's hope we specified enough power sockets and ethernet points.
Internal stud walls have been positioned in the master bedroom too:
I am off to a kitchen showroom today to get a kitchen plan. I love looking at beautiful kitchens but find it difficult to choose between them! The first fix electrics was supposed to start today but the electrician has advised that it will be Monday now, so that takes a wee bit of pressure off!
I am veering towards something like these:
I like the one on the left, the other one is actually from B&Q! Not bad is it? Of course the one on the left is more expensive!!!!! Somewhere in the middle price range would be good.
Yesterday, we had a site walkthrough with the builder and the electrician in a bid to determine where to locate the sockets, lights, swittches, CAT5 sockets, TV points, manifolds, consumer units and a multitude of other items. It took over 3 hours and that was after a 2 hour walkthrough on Wednesday.
Looking at drawings is all fine and well but it is only once you are actually in the house and walking around it that you get a feel for how you might actually live in it. And it is at that point that you start to realise where you might like things positioned. After all, the sun shining through the window in a particular direction can help you decide whether a desk goes against a wall or not (and therefore whether twin sockets are required on that wall or not).
It was slow going but well worth while and just a great feeling to be able to move about the house upstairs properly:
The roofers seem to be making good progess too. The slates are on at the back of the house and stacked at the front ready to be nailed into place this week.
The electrician will be on site this week doing his first fix and we should have a plumber soon to work out the pipe-work. It's all happening at pace once again but that only increases the pressure on us to make some decisions such as the layout of the kitchen. In fairness, we have the kitchen plan mapped out using the Alno Kitchen Planner software though the resulting kitchen it has produced looks like it will cost ~ £40K. In effect, though, we are looking at a straight run with upper units and a 2.4m island. We took the opportunity to lay out planks onsite to see how it would look (and included Jackie in the shot for scaling purposes):
The major issue we have been facing as part of our walkthroughs, however, is the positioning of a single stud wall in the master bedroom. Why such a simple thing should cause so much grief is a mystery but the issue boils down to having either additional space given over to the bedroom which will make it look impressive; or giving space over to storage (because you can't have too much storage). The storage argument seems to be gathering momentum just now and I've no doubt it will win within the next few hours. All that will remain will be how do we attach doors to the stud wall so that we can get access to this storage! That, my friends, is one for the interior designer in the family!
Well, Stephen has met the electrician and spent 3 hours going over the lighting requirements. We are meeting up again to tomorrow to go over the sockets. Apparently I may be required to climb a ladder. Oh dear, I have visions of me in a Mrs. Doyle type scene where she steps off the window ledge into mid air. I have vertigo at the best of times, so this will be interesting. Anyway, looking forward to seeing the roof - if there was some slate on it I would be delighted!
