Day 237 - We're in!

237 working days and 538 calendar days from the start of the build back in February last year and we're finally in! The move went smoothly this weeked thanks to the great efforts of friends and family - many thanks once again to you all.

There is still a long list of work to be done on the house, especially in the garden, so I will keep posting our efforts here as they happen, albeit at a more relaxed frequency!

I have opened the blog up now to the public so you won't have to log in any more to get access. If anyone has any comments (or maybe even complaints!) please don't hesitate to drop me an email.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank:

• our neighbours for their tolerance of the noise and mess, especially Roger and Sally at number 45 for their support, help and water supply!


• friends and family for their support and kind words


• my colleagues at ctm for putting up with me spending all my time running in and out and on the phone to suppliers, especially Andy for covering for my continual absence and bailing me out when I ran out of money


• everyone who worked on the build, even those who cocked things up - we got there in the end, and some of you even got paid!


• above all, Martha, for supporting me throughout the build and all the highs and lows, and for cheering me up by drawing funny pictures on my project whiteboard. Thank you, baby. I hope you like it.

1 x house. Done.

Next up: garden, garage, cats.
Next year: dogs, kids and maybe a Caterham!

Matt

    

Day 235 - Ready for the move

The big van is booked and most of our stuff has been boxed - tomorrow is the big day and we're almost ready.

There have been a few bits and bobs done this week to fix some minor snags, and Martha has been working away furiously scrubbing and cleaning everything ready for our arrival.

Oh, and I finally managed to tease the all important piece of paper from the building inspector: Building Regs Completion Certificate.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow!

Day 231 - The Big Clean

Lots of furious cleaning this weekend. Martha is off this week so will be carrying on the fight with the scrubbing and hoovering ready for the big move this weekend.

    

Day 228 - Fireplace in and Staircase complete

The Fireplace has gone in and looks fantastic, just a little making good needed around the edges and the skirting but nothing I can't handle this weekend.

Paul popped back this week and completed the stair case too and that is really looking great now.

I'll be back on site tomorrow afternoon for the alarm system activation, and then I have a long weekend of cleaning ahead of me to get the place ship-shape for next week.

The move has been planned: 25/26 - NEXT WEEKEND!

   

Day 225 - Building Regs Complete!

The building inspector came down this morning just as I was unpacking the juliet balcony. He examined my Heath Robinson trademark wheelchair ramp and was impressed! Eveything checks out just fine, and provided I get the balcony on by Monday (already done - see below) then we're officially complete! Woo-hoo!

The carpet has also gone down on the stairs this week and is looking fantastic, so this weekend its lots of cleaning, hovering etc. ahead of a possible move in a week or so's time.

Still left to do we have:

• Fireplace install next Tuesday/Wednesday
  
• Clean whole house, including windows
  
• Take up temporary floor coverings
  
• Finish, gloss and stain the various staircase parts still left, plus some skirting
  
• Minor snags in the kitchen and utility
  
• Outside hard landscaping for patio
  
• Strimmer all the weeds and treat the fences
  
• Take down the Site Saftey sign and entry gates
  
• Officially put the house number on the front door!
  

Not much left to go now!

    

Day 222 - Almost Ready...

With the ramp in and the stair case now complete with the missing spindles, all that remains is the juliet balcony. Alas the delivery, which was supposed to arrive today, failed to turn up and won't be here now until Thursday.

I'm going to have to cancel the inspection for tomorrow and rebook for Friday.

Will it never end?!

On a minor point, I installed the tiffany pendant lamp in the lobby today and glossed the risers on the stairs ready for the carpet fitters tomorrow.

In the morning: Moben beating (still waiting for a missing handle and a gas fitter) and taking the carpenter to task over lots of minor niggles. What fun!

  

Day 220 - Disabled Access Ramp

Armed with the cheapest slabs that Homebase could muster, some left over bricks from the main build and a couple of bags of white cement which I needed to finish off the pointing elsewhere on the house, Saturday saw me take on the Building Inspector's challenge; construct a ramp for wheelchair access, just in case you need to sell your house to Davros.

The end result wasn't too bad! I'm keeping everyone off it for now so it has the best chance of remaining intact for the inpsector on Wednesday, after which it will be gently deconstructed with a sledge hammer...

    

Day 219 - Granite In

The granite went in yesterday and looks absolutely spot on! Oh, and young Perry came back with the new wine fridge. Hurrah!

        

Day 218 - Completion Day

Or, as it turns out, INcompletion day.

Everything passed except a few gotchas:

1. Juliet Balcony to the Bedroom 4 french doors. My fault, I forgot. D'oh! I have one on order, will be here Tuesday.

2. Level Access. I need to fashion a ramp for people in wheelchairs. That's my weekend then!

3. Spindles on staircase. We're missing a few key parts for the stairs still. On order now, will be here today, fitted Monday.

So next Wednesday looks like retest day. It went very well though, with everything else passing just fine, so we should have no further issues next week.

In other news, the granite arrived today and looks spectacular - pics of it all finished coming soon.

   

Day 217 - Pressure Test

I was onsite at the plot this morning from 7am running around frantically completing the last sealant work around the external window frames in time for the pressure test later in the day.

I also had to be creative with the rainwater harvester pipework that forms a perfect draft path out of the house. A mixture of expanding foam and duck tape did the trick. British building at its finest!

The tester arrived as planned and setup his kit; a seal around the front door with a giant fan attached that sucks air from inside the house and blows it outside. The aim is to run the fan for 15 minutes and see how much of a pressure difference it can create between the two. The more air tight the house, the bigger the difference.

With several attempts and a lot more duck tape we finally managed to settle on a figure of 5.7, which is below the designed 7.0 mark. A good score and a pass!

The original paperwork said we should be able to achieve 2.5, but that would probably require wrapping the whole house in clingfilm!

   

Day 216 - Arts and Crafts

One of the features for the house that we've planned from the start was decorative bars for the sidelight windows either side of the front door. Now nobody can understand what I mean when I try to explain it so here's an example:



Now there aren't really any suppliers for this sort of thing any more, its more of a bespoke project, so I thought I'd have a go. I'm pretty handy with a jig saw - how hard could it be?

Well, after agreeing a design with The Boss, I mocked it up on my laptop and scaled it to fit the size of the windows. I printed it out on A4 sheets and then stuck them together with tape to make a full size template.
 Next I used push pins to transfer the template to some MDF sheets, breaking the full pattern up into three secions to make life easier, then drew over the pin lines in pencil to give me a continuous cut line.
Jig saw time. I had to be quite careful to ensure that I didn't snap the fragile sections - I only bought enough wood for a single attempt!
I sanded them all down to remove any lumps and bumps and sharpened up the tight corners with a stanley blade, then two coats of undercoat and one of gloss.
Finally, with a little trimming of the ends to fit and a bead of white silicone to fix the finished article is in place. I need to touch them up slightly with some gloss now they're on but on the whole I think it is a success.

Job done!

Day 215 - Completion Week

Lots of odd jobs this weekend. I fixed the leak in the shower with a replacement valve from Matki and have begun work on the repairs to the water damage.

The phone lines are now all in and tested and the stair case hand rail is coming along nicely. The replacement newels have arrived this morning and will be going in later today. I fitted the door mat to the lobby and completed the remaining towel rail installs too.

The granite has arrived at the stone company (the slab in the picture is about 2 metres tall!) and should be ready to install on Thursday/Friday this week. The lead on the canopy is also now on and looking great.

I have the pressure test booked for Wednesday, and if all is well, the building inspector is coming on Thursday for the completion inspection.

Cross everything!