The Plumbing is Finished

We could not be more grateful to James Cook from ProPlumb and his apprentice, Chris, who have been with us to tidy up the last few remaining jobs.

It is never easy or satisfying clearing up someone else's mess (here they are trimming down the outside down pipe from Ensuite 1 which had been left bulging away from the wall), but these two worked with total professionalism and unremitting good humour to sort things out for us.

Thank you chaps - I am just about to give you a glowing review on Check-a-Trade!

Garden Furniture

The Boat Show, which we have been visiting for many years, proved once again to be an expensive day out for us - not from any nautical purchases but it is the place to find bargains for the home as well.  One item purchased will not be delivered until April (more about that then), but we did treat ourselves to some new garden furniture as well.  Our garden is pretty tight (we would not have had room for a leaky caravan had we needed somewhere to live whilst the build was happening), so we needed some compact furniture.  This fitted the bill perfectly measuring 1200 mm square.

Four chairs fit underneath the table, which when pulled out enables you to flip the back up.  Stored in the top part of each chair are three cushions (one for the seat, one for the back and one for the stool); the stools are stored in the lower part of each chair - so, hey presto, seating for 8 people of 4 people with a footstool.  This very clever design comes from Oakita.

The Cavalry Arrives

The troops arrived this weekend to give  
moral and physical support to our project.

Annabel and Vicki attacked the decorating in the study (yes we know the ceiling isn't plastered but that is to have a 'removable' ceiling at some future point so that we can access all the important plant in the roof void).

Meanwhile Andy (cool eye protection wear) put noggins in the ceiling in the lounge ready for plasterboarding in a couple of weeks.  Andy thoroughly enjoyed 'playing' with the chop saw - Christmas and Birthday presents are going to be easy from now on.








And now for the finished 'bespoke' shelving.
The two bottles, sitting in splendid isolation on the wine rack, being already empty, are for demonstration purposes only - but we look forward to putting these shelves to full use.  The upper shelves are for Cookery Books and the middle shelf is a charging station - no more hunting around the house for where we left our phones!

The Kitchen and The Shelves

Update on BT Openreach:  we are still waiting for the 7th team to call.  They did come, when we were away (although they had been told to come only when we are around) but as the postcode /Sat Nav only works up to the half way point on Tinneys Lane, the man couldn't find the house so fortunately he went away again (of course checking the exact location of the house with one of his previous 6 teams of colleagues who have been here already was beyond the wit of man).  We have now left them this sign - just in case they call in our absence again.

Anyhow, on a more positive note, Christmas Lunch is definitely going to be cooked and served in Flowerdown, even if we are not fully moved in by then.  (Vicki has booked herself onto a 'How to use you new Steam Oven' course in November).  We are not quite there yet - they are coming to measure up the wall behind where the kettle is for a glass splashback next week - so watch this space for the full finished look.

The Shelves are David's current pride and joy and have resulted in the acquisition of loads of very interesting new tools.  These are made from Walnut (purchased from Worktops Direct - another company we can highly recommend for both quality and service) and will match the floor (when it is laid at the end of November). Here you can see some 'T' shaped aluminium which is screwed to the three sides of the alcove.  The wood has grooves in it so the shelves will just slide in place and have a 'floating' appearance.  David has made jigs and guides to ensure uniformity and now his production line is in operation they shouldn't take too long to finish - the only thing delaying him is having to leave the router to cool down at regular intervals as he is trying not to burn it out.  The lower shelves are all being routered and shaped to hold wine bottles, then there is a charging station and the upper shelves are for cookery books.

Walk in Wardrobe and the Internet

Credit here goes to Joanne Hindle, a friend from Littleton who with her husband has done a fair bit of house building/rennovating and is a wealth of experience and ideas.  The Hindles, came around, saw this space to the left of the ensuite in our bedroom and immediately suggested a 'walk-in wardrobe' and sent us some designs for a similar one they had done themselves.  Given that we had a shortage of wardrobe space in this room due to the sloping ceiling this is a masterful idea - thank you, Joanne.

Here we have a photo showing the van of the sixth team of different people to come from BT Openreach to connect the phone line and thereby the internet.  Only one more team still to come to complete the job (he has been once but couldn't find the house so went away again)!  We have never known such inefficiency - but "'Twas on a Monday morning when the gas man came to call" keeps popping up in our minds.

The Kitchen in Progress

The first job post the plaster drying was of course the decorating - Vicki once more giving the neighbours much entertainment as she scurried backwards and forwards between the house and the bungalow wearing her 'swimming hat' aka 'preventor from using her hair as an unneeded paintbrush'.  It does get very hot up there and the painting in this area could only be done first thing in the morning, before the sun had come round.

David has been busy building a small false wall behind where the tall units extend beyond the utility room wall.  This will eventually be filled in with shelves for cookery books, a charging station and a wine rack.  There was a lot of cardboard to dispose of when these units were unpacked.

The kitchen is beginning to take shape.   Mr '3 drills at a time' Addey seen here finalising the fitting of the floor units.  In the centre of the picture, on the floor is a small hook shaped tool which David has made up himself, to enable him to twist the feet at the back of the cupboards; with this and his super long spirit level there isn't even one mm difference between the levels of each unit.  The kitchen company have said if he ever needs a job...............

Plastering done in Kitchen/Dining Room, Bedroom 1, Study, Downstairs Cloakroom

3rd August

Adorn Plasterers have been with us all week.  L-R we have Charlie, Peter, Matt and Ricardo.

We could not have wished for more cheerful, professional or competent chaps.
They arrived bang on time, have worked extremely hard, and have whizzed their way around the four rooms and are the tidiest builders I have ever met; it has been a pleasure to have them around.  They put their tea cups back on the tray and don't leave the bun cases around for me to pick up.  They have put two layers of topcoat everywhere, making a solid covering and don't plaster two adjoining walls simultaneously to ensure a good clean edge.
Needless to say we have already booked them up for the remaining work.