Day 108 - Screed Complete

We have a floor!

The screeders have done a great job and the new floor looks first class. I can only take shots from the doorway at the moment as we can't walk on it yet but after Christmas it should be solid enough for us to march on.

They did however make a bit of a mess - I have them coming back tomorrow to clean up after themselves!

   

Day 106 - Ready to Screed

The ground floor damp proofing, insulation and heating loops are in now and looking great. The concrete arrives tomorrow, so there's just enough time to get the remaining underfloor pipe work and electrics in place before the pour.

    

Day 104 - We're Back!

The banks have been useless but with a lot of hard work and a good dose of luck we're finally back in business and work is underway once again.

The ground works have been completed on the exterior; the drains are in for both foul and surface water with a pump house half way up the drive.

The plumbing is underway with the underfloor heating system arriving on site on Tuesday last week and the ground floor insulation and screed are being laid today and Thursday.

Andy and I completed the guttering as well last Tuesday, hooking up the down pipes to the underground pipework that links into the rainwater harvester.

It's all go!

       

Day 98 - Garden Wall Foundation

More work on the ground works this week including the foundation for the garden wall, carefully avoiding the harvester beneath.

 

Day 96 - Ground works continue

The harvester pipework continues and the landscaping around the plot is starting to come together.

    

Day 94 - Progress at last

We are STILL waiting on the bank (a new one now) to okay the final cash - talk about picking the wrong year to build a house - but work has resumed on site nonetheless.

The ground workers are back to hook up the drains and landscape the plot. Their work will include hardcoring all of the paved surfaces, installing a sewer pump and pipework, hooking up the guttering to the rainwater harvester and levelling and gravelling the drive.

    

Day 92 - Wind and Water Tight!

After a long delay and much toing and froing with the banks we're back on track!

The front and back doors have finally arrived and were fitted last week. Andy and I went over to the Potton factory to pick them up in the back of one of the ctm vans - they only just fit - but we managed to get them back in one piece.

The glass either side of the front door is also in now and so the building is now weather proof. I even have a set of keys!

I'm planning the timings for the first and second fixes this week and work should start again to complete the ground works very soon; hooking up the drains, harvester and heat pump plus lanscaping the grounds and gravelling the drive.

I swore I'd never use the phrase, but it is looking like I may have to deploy it after all...

In by Christmas!

   

Day 90- Flat Roof

The flat roof is now on over the sunroom and all that remains to get the building weather-tight is the front door, back door and the two windows either side of the front door.

The doors are arriving from the factory on Wednesday so I'll be popping over to Potton to pick them up later in the week. The windos are on order and should be going in at the end of this week too.

Bad news on the money front though. The credit crunch has hit our bank and they are dragging their heels on the next installment that will allow us to complete the internal fit. Everything is standing by ready, but we'll have to shop around a bit to get a deal which will almost certainly delay things.

I'm speaking to a broker first thing in the morning to review options - fingers crossed!

   

Day 85 - Scaffold Down!

All of the work to the roof line has finally been completed and the scaffold came down this weekend. We can finally see the house in all its glory!

I'm getting the doors delivered shortly so we're about a week or so away from weathertight at which point we'll kick on with the first fix.

    

Day 84 - Roofing Complete

The final touches to the roofing and chimney are now complete and all that remains is the flat roof which, weather permitting, should be done next week.

The final windows are going in today and the scaffold will be coming down tomorrow morning!

   

Day 82 - Chimney Hips

The roofers are back this week. They started up on Monday working on the chimney as you can see below. We've gone for some small, grey concrete tiles here as the slates are very big and would probably look out of place on such a small section. They'll move round to the back of the house today and slate the porch roof outside the back door before moving onto the felt work on the flat roof.

Martha and I have also been busy finishing off the windows and soffit with uPVC architrave and seemingly endless amounts of silicone. We're almost done - there is light at the end of the tunnel!

  

Day 80 - Odd Jobs

One of the things that they don't tell you when you're planning on taking on a self-build is that there is one person you will have to rely on to do all of the odd jobs that none of the other trades can be bothered with - yourself!

This week I've been filling the gaps between the window heads and the lintels with expanding foam, trimming it back and then cutting and fixing a uPVC architrave to complete the finish. I've also been installing a 20mm square uPVC strip to cover the gap in the brickwork where it meets the soffit. Once up and sealed with a silicone sealant it looks quite good.

Oh, and we seem to have our first house guest.

Where's my rifle...