Goodbye to the old front door

Our new front door has traveled over from Germany and was fitted today. The major problem is going to be not locking ourselves out because unlike the last one this door locks behind you. Also, the post lady usually just opens the door and puts any deliveries inside - she won't be able to do that anymore.

At last I own a Porsche

Oops .. I meant porch. Stuart made the frame and the roofers have clothed it in zinc - we are pretty pleased with it!

Meanwhile Stuart has been fitting more and more windows. It's pretty cold and draughty in there with the windows out whilst he is doing it

Naked House

It's no longer clothed in scaffolding, its coat of render has been chipped off, and the timber cladding has been removed and cut up for firewood.

Meanwhile I have been working in the studio - putting up stud walls for the store & the ensuite and putting in insulation

A roof (nearly)

The main roof is almost finished now.

The paper is still on this section because the flashings we were sent were not the right size - a new set coming out next week.

Now we can get the scaffolding down. It was quite a novelty when it went up but I will be glad to see it go now. Roofers will be back after a week to finish the little roof over the utility room and the front porch (which can't be done until the scaffolding is down)

Remember November

It's been a busy month (as usual) with work being tackled in various parts of the  house so I have grouped the photos by the job, rather than putting them together chronologically.

Starting at the top, the zinc roof is still in progress but almost finished. Micky and Daniel have been alternating our job with another one. Unfortunately Velux sent us the wrong flashing for one of the skylights so we are not water-tight yet.

This machine put a seam on the edge of the zinc

Stuart meanwhile worked on the little flat roof over the utility room in preparation for that being covered with zinc too. We have changed the shape - it's more of a wedge shape than a 'L' shape now

A big event was getting a concrete floor in the kitchen. I was involved at the start, breaking up bricks for hardcore. Then Stuart and Andy started mixing concrete but we ran out of time because we were waiting for the building inspector to come and inspect the insulation, and then we realised that we had not ordered enough materials to finish the floor so only half was done on that day.It was Andy's last day too because he has a new job. So a few days later I took the role of labourer mixing the concrete. I was expecting back ache the next day as it was a long session but amazingly I was fine!

New Doors are here.

Our new doors and windows were delivered last week. The windows will be fitted by Stuart over the next next month but the doors were fitted by the 'Origin' fitters Pablo & Andy. We are going to cover over the big bi-fold doors to protect them and go in and out of a window opening for the moment. It will be a worry when it is time to take down the scaffolding in case they get bashed!

So a consequence of the doors being fitted was I could now knock through from the extension into the rest of the house

View from kitchen into lounge

View from lounge to kitchen taken before I had completely knocked through.

Meanwhile Stuart has fitted the skylights in the studio - the roof is now ready for the roofers who hopefully will be here early next week.

Up on the roof

Stuart has been working away on the roof, with occasional help from Andy. It's taken longer to prepare the roof than he had first imagined, partly because the existing roof is all wonky! It's not been just a case of laying battens on the roof and screwing them down because each one had to be packed out and leveled. Also, at the base of the roof it curves out, and that proved to be made of solid tar which had to be cut away where each batten lay and that took ages. It hasn't helped that the rain arrived in the last couple of weeks. I bought some polythene to try and keep the boards dry but it's not that effective - tears easily. I didn't expect it to be so thin when I ordered it!

On one rainy day Stuart fitted a new lintel over the front door and took off the porch canopy in preparation for our new wider front door (which incidentally has been delayed as the factory in Germany are slightly changing the colour)

Meanwhile I have been getting cables from A-B, putting insulation under the floorboards in preparation for the underfloor heating, and today continued getting the office ready for the plasterers (which involved moving the kitchen sink into the middle of the room so I could put plasterboard up below the window

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