It Feels Like Traction!

It seems like the planning process for the redevelopment of our house has taken a long time (which it has) but finally we are starting to get some movement.

The working drawings are now underway and should be complete by the end of next week at which stage we can get finally get a builder involved.

The first meeting with the architect to discuss the finer details of our requirements seemed to go quite well. We are aiming high and are hopeful of being able to achieve everything that we want within our budget. So far, we have:

• Lowered suspended ceiling in the sitting room with feature lighting above
• Wood burning stove in the sitting room with air ducts to heat the hall & landing
• Eye-height inserts in the dining room (lit from above) for display purposes
• Concertina doors in the sitting room opening up into the garden
• A smaller larder (but consequently, a larger utility room)
• A gas fire in the lounge
• Underfloor heating for the hall and the kitchen/sitting room/dining room

Velux windows in the roof of the hall

The beam vacuum system that we wanted looks like a non-runner just now!

Our biggest issue is the builder selection. The recommendations we've received so far aren't strong enough recommendations for our liking. They've either been 2nd hand (or even 3rd hand) recommendations or the builder has been quite rude once we met them. Rudeness won't win this particular contract!

Of course, we've had a number of letters from builders keen to win the contract on the back of seeing the planning approval process. Everyone's advice seems to be to avoid builders who tout for work this way so those letters have been filed appropriately (with a special file for those with typos, spelling mistakes and basic grammar issues).