What have I been up too

Hi everyone,

Sorry about the pictures but I am having real problem re sizing them for the blog when I do re size the colour goes really funny. The program I was using was on my main PC but the mother board has gone and died, could be the dust, and that is my bad excuse. I have put my hard drive into Christine's dad's PC last night as their Windows XP has broken down, so when I have time I will up load the pictures there.
The builders have pretty much finished on site. They have fitted the French doors and en suite window in the attic, fitted the stair case done all the tiling so we are now officially 'water tight'. however the list of jobs I have to do is huge :-

Build partition for study next to Attic room,
Build partition for en suite in attic room
Build partition for stair case into attic room
Insulate attic room plus study,
Plasterboard attic room and study,
Install en suite bathroom
Install en suite in new bedroom above garage
Knock wall into utility room
Install new back door from utility room
Install 8 fire doors and 5 standard door
Install Utility room
Insulate above garage
Insulate all floors
Plasterboard garage ceiling
Fit kitchen
Plasterboard new dining room
Then paint everything etc!!

So tonnes still to do, but we plod on and I am sure we will get there.
The builders although they have finished I am planning to keep them on for a week or so to finish a lot of this work.

But Christine and I have been busy, we have partitioned the Utility room from the garage,
started plumbing in the utility room and en suites, fitted the down stair toilet, plasterboard all the bedroom above the garage, partitioned in the bathroom installed the windows in the bedroom.
We have also finished all the plastering in the living room and Christine is off work next week so she will get this painted and we can move back in there.

Pictures, I will try and publish tomorrow.


Blog soon


Garry & Christine

xx

The bedroom above the garage soon to have an en suite

Same room but looking towards the front

Attic room

Another picture of the attic

Roof detail

Roof detail

Roof detail

Dormer before windows fitted

Rear extension roof

Rear extension roof

Drains from the new extension

More drains and first fix plumbing

New man holes filled in

Picture of en suite from bedroom

Inside the en suite

New stair case

Wall spliting garage and utility room

Pictures of the house

Pictures of the house

Last picture of the house

What have I been up too.

Hi all,

I have not been updating and regularly but here is a quick up date.

The builders have been busy and have knocked through from the old computer room into the new room above the garage. They have also knocked the wall down between the computer room and the hall. This has really opened up the hall and lets the light back in as it floods in through the window in the computer room (When we bricked up the window from the gable wall the hall was in darkness when all the doors were closed). So the room above the garage is now pretty much ready to have the partition wall built for the en suite. Once this is done it can then be plaster boarded and skimmed. The shower and suite fitted and we will have a finished room.
The main focus for the builders has however been getting the roof tilled and finished off. They are almost there with the tiling, just a few rows to go until they are finished and a bit of work on the flat roof. I believe the stair case will be going in next week, then Christine can have a look. However, saying that is a bit unfair as she did once climb up too sets of ladders to have a look, very brave from her, very funny on the way down LOL.

The builders have also started doing the drainage works for the new en suites and the main down pipe has been fitted. This has been fitted in the house so that we will not have an ugly black pipe all over the back of the house. I will box it in so that it can not be seen, I will also use this space to run the mains hot & cold plus central heating pipes into the new spaces.

I have been busy trying to finish the living room and I hate to say it but it has been taking a lot longer than I thought. So far, I have fixed the RSJ into place, re routed the light switch, plaster boarded the walls and fitted sound insulation between the wall so that we do not hear water running away every time the sink is drained as this will be backed up against the new location of the sofa. I have also begun to plaster the living room and hope to have this finished by Sunday so we can start painting and get back into the room!!.

We have also ordered the kitchen it is the Montreal range from Wickes. I am really pleased with the price as we managed to get £1k off the sale price as the price matched a company that the builder got a quote from. So, all I need to order now is the island hood, hob and sink. I have found a web site that will do the hood and hob for £940 whereas Wicker were looking for £1350 for the both of them. I have still to find a supplier of the sink we are looking for, but Wickes price was £395 and I was not paying that for a sink.

We have also decided to get the same tiles in the kitchen that we have in the bathroom, for anyone who has been in the house these are a bit of an extravagance, however we have managed to get a few deals that has paid for this.

On the building side of this I have decided to get the builders to hang around for a week to hopefully plaster the new attic room and en suite plus at a push the new downstairs living area, just to speed things up a bit and get us finished a bit quicker.

Will try and follow up with pictures over the weekend.

Garry

RSJ's are heavy!!http://www.blogger.com/moderate-comment.g?blogID=906892184774567505

Hi all,

Had Sunday and Monday off work, I have been concentrating on getting the living room back to normal so we can move the contents of the computer room in there as the builders have indicated that they will be wanting the computer room soon as they have to use this space for the stair up to the attic.

So I poured a 750*750*300 concrete foundation at the bottom of the Pier that will hold the RSJ on Thursday last week and built the Pier on Sunday. The foundation does have a set of Silva's paw prints on it, he can not resist having a look at anything new!!

So today I started to dot and dab the plasterboard onto the walls of the rear extension and plaster board the roof, then the heaven opened and I mean opened as the rear extension has still to be tilled as the builders have their scaffold on it rain began to pour into the room so all I could do was put down some buckets and give up on the idea of plaster boarding the walls. Luckily the area I did was well away from any leaks so it is OK.

We also had building control in today to look at the pier and foundation he said they were OK so I was well chuffed as it is the first time I have done that before. We also had an electrician in from Building Control to look at the first fix electrics as the friend who is doing it is not Part P, he was also happy with the work so again something less to worry about.

So with the rain pouring down and the builders away early due to this I began putting the RSJ up. I had planned to have a group of friends help on Sunday but as the pier was not finished we had to call then off. So I put it up myself by slowly jacking up each end and laying a breeze block under it this took ages but in the end it means the RSJ is in place and as I am on a late tomorrow it means that I can pour the pad stones before work and let them set and have the RSJ ready for inspection by the end of the week. Another job completed.

Also picked up the windows for the bedroom and en suite above the garage so will look to fit them soon.



RSJ almost there



Picture inside the attic looking at the sloping roof above garage



Looking into the dormer, this will be our bedroom area with en suite



Another picture of the dormer.

Garry

Sorry about the delay

Hi everyone,

It has now been about 3 weeks since I updated this blog, so sorry but it would seem that every evening we spend time trying to find stuff for the house (@ the cheapest possible price) and that is my poor reason for not updating.

But here goes,

We have a roof on top of the rear extension (Builders did this) and insulation is now up (I did this.
I have also fitted two french doors to the rear extension.
The builders have now knocked through from the kitchen to the new rear extension, they did this the same day as I fitted the doors so the house is now secure. I have in the last couple of days knocked through from the living room to the corridor you should be able to see in earlier pictures, this makes the room alot bigger in size as we always thought the front room was quite small Karen's Stephen will appreciate this however what is worse doing this or buying a new house??

The builders have finished all the brick work and are now working on the attic conversion and I believe that they will be starting the dormer tomorrow. So all the work that is being done by the builders is pretty much up in the attic.

So the plan now is to try and get the front room finished so that we can move all our stuff in there and the old computer room will need to be emptied soon for the door into the room above the garage and also the staircase.

Will leave now with some pictures.

Garry

Looking out into the new rear extension

New RSJ and insulation

Another picture looking into the rear extension

And again

Where the new kitchen will go

Where the boiler is, this will become the doorway into the utilityroom, you can just see the doorway into the down stair WC to the right

Acrows holding up the ceiling in the kitchen

Wall begining to come down

Acrows in the old dining room holding up the ceiling on this side

Wall has come down

Another picture from a different angle

And another angle

Wall down and a little bit of a clear up

Our new french doors

Roof on extension

New room above garage, this will have an en suite

Bricked up window that used to give light to the stair case

Roof covered up

Ceiling of bedroom above garage

Attic with new floor joists 9" by 3" and they sit on a RSJ on both sides of the room

New stud wall being built this sits on an RSJ that spans across the room, A steel post will be attached to this in the centre an another RSJ will sit on this at head height to take the load from the dormar

Picture showing the RSJ's joining, these will be welded together

New supports for the attic all sitting on the new RSJ

More detailed picture of the supports

Picture showing the 9" by 3"s

Up Up & Away

Things have really moved forward over the last week. It is amazing how quickly the brickies get started. Our builder thinks he may finish early so more pressure on me to get all my stuff done.

I have built the new wall between the dining room and the living room. This has allowed me to move (Partially) the kitchen into it's new location. (The kitchen in the picture is our old one and this will be moved into the utility room once we order our new kitchen) I have just put it there so we have running water. Also, it needed to be moved as the builder is talking about knocking the wall down into the new extension in a week or two. Here are some pictures for you to look at.


Looking into the garage from what will be our new living room,



We now have flooring in the extension area, Picture looking into our new kitchen diner area from our new living room. Wall with the door you can see will be knocked down so this will all be open plan,


Where the kitchen was still to move the wall units and fridge, where the Fridge is will be our new downstairs loo, I will try and put this up on Sunday.


New location for kitchen


New wall I have built wall with the rad on it will be knocked down and supported by an RSJ the is will increase the size of the living room by 3m2.





Another picture looking into the garage,



Looking at the single storey rear extension,



Our two new man holes!!



Our new back door entrance that will take you into the utility room, there will be a second door that will take you from the utility room to the garage.


That's all for now guys,

Garry Christine

The Brickies are here

Hi All,

As the title says the brickies have been on site today and have completed up to damp proof level in prepreation for the building contol officer tomorrow. It has been great to finally 'see' something happen as the buildiers have now been around for 3 weeks, it just goes to show how long things can take when it rains!!.

They have also been digging the hole where the new man holes will be a job that I am glad I have not had to do. There will be two man holes constructed one for the rain water and a second for the foul water, it you read through the blog you will find out what a hassle getting this sorted out have been. However, with the hole dug I have been assured that they will start tomorrow so things have really started to move forward.
I have spent the day moving everything from the living room to the spare bedroom today, now the living room is clear I will hopefully start to knock the wall down next week!!

Pictures of work below.



Hole where new man holes will go



New garage



Rear extension



Another picture of rear extension


Using the spare bedroom room as a living room
(Can you see our new guest in the book case)



Another picture of the 'Living room'

Garry & Christine

Your on Camera

Hi all,

A quick update to what been happening.

The concrete slab at the on the back extension has been laid (This is the storage area under the rear extension) and also the pour for the side extension has been completed. We have also had even more deliveries of materials. They are now being stored on the street. (Anyone who knows this road will testify that parking/access is tight at the best of times) so I do not know how this is going down with the neighbours!!

Our builder cam around last night and gave Christine and I some brick samples to look at, now we have chosen these I believe the brickies will be on site tomorrow. We should start to see the build rise from the ground in the next few days which will be great.

Try the link www.garrychristine.camstreams.com for our webcam and you may see some of the build in action!!.

You all know what the builders have been doing but what about me?? Well I have been finishing the spare room so it will be ready for all the living room furniture. It is now all sanded and painted so tomorrow, all being well, I will be able to move all the living room stuff up stair and stripe the living room ready for the wall to be knocked down!!.

Will post some pics tomorrow hopefully you will have something more to see.

Thanks

Garry & Christine