All Wrapped Up

Yesterday was our first visit to the plot since the roof had been finished and we are so pleased with it. It looks like a proper house now, settled into the plot.

We also put the breathable membrane (builders paper) around the house. This protects the timber frame and absorbs the woods 'sweat' and allows it to breathe. We have the garage to do next Saturday and to fit the electric meter box ready for the electric connection within the next few weeks.

The Eurobrick panel is now on site and ready for inspection by the Council tomorrow so they can finally finally finally give the final OK and we can contact Eurobrick and place an order.

We also have to have a clear up! Not impressed with the amount of rubbish that has appeared on site, some of which is the roofers' (the majority of which they're coming back to take away this week), some of which has probably been dumped there by those around us due to the fact there is so much rubbish on there at the moment anyway, including a shoe, a bottle of tomato sauce and a roof rack!

The Roof Is Finished

Finally. Can you believe it?!

Decision Made

I thought a 'completion' post was in order as we finally placed an order yesterday for our windows and doors. This is such a relief as it has taken us ages and ages and ages to decide on which manufacturer to go for, what we wanted and what would be best.

The lead time is 4-6 weeks which gives us ample time to get the guttering up, place the order for the bricks and to lay the floor insulation, under floor heating and screed.

Cup of tea and a sit down now I think.....

High Maintenance Porta-Loo

If you have contractors working on site you are required by law to provide 'welfare facilities' so in our case this is a toilet and running water. There is a public toilet about five minutes walk away but that doesn't count.

We have a very attractive bright green porta-loo which so far has spent more time just sat on site than actually being used. These odd toilet trips we've had and our contractors have had probably work out about £2 a time, if not more. That's expensive relief!

This loo is a bit of a diva on the quiet too. Because we are set back from the road and the loo cubicle itself is too heavy to carry, it takes three people to load it on to a trolley and wheel it down the courtyard to the road where they service it and do whatever else it requires and then it's loaded back on the trolley and wheeled back up again. Only to sit there under the Beech tree.

But, as Darran keeps reminding me, it's that or people water the plants. I'd rather have the loo.

Windows On The World

Tomorrow we're going down to Somerset to meet with a window manufacturer. It has taken us a long time to decide on the windows. They are an important part of the build, more so for us as we have so many windows and doors that if we get it wrong, it could completely ruin the look of the house.

We have struggled with certain manufacturers who seem incapable of amending quotes as we mentioned here and who also aren't really supplying what we want so we would be 'making do' with what they do. The windows we are going to see tomorrow are more expensive than we budgeted for, but we think it's the right decision.

In other news, we went to a DIY store's kitchen design service last weekend which was really helpful. Helpful in so much as we don't like what we thought we wanted now we've seen it in 'virtual reality'. And we have since found we can get something far nicer a lot cheaper (i.e. exactly the same tap for £100 less!) from a certain Swedish flat-pack company! We're going to have a look at their range tomorrow on the way back from Somerset.

More Roof Update

The roof is still going on. We're bored with it now!

It seems to have taken s o o o o o long. One of the downsides of not being on site all the time I suppose, no one to keep an eye on things and to put pressure on, you rely on phone calls and unfortunately we're not always convinced.

Anyway, Dad and I went to site on Tuesday afternoon when I was up in Shropshire on exciting job prospects and Dad kindly went up the scaffolding and took these photos. I can report that two men were present, one knocking in nails and one cutting slate. The latest up date from the chap cutting the slates was it should be finished Friday or Monday.

We wait and see!

How Many Bricks Make a House?

The outside skin of the house will be brick, but not just any old brick! We will be using Eurobrick which is a brick slip system. The bricks are still 'real' but are about the third of the width of a normal brick, and therefore about a third of the weight also.

We needed to construct a sample panel for the Council to give the final OK. They have agreed the system and the brick type, but as they're not familiar with appearance of brick slips wanted to see a section made.

We are really pleased with the way it looked, and that it was fairly easy to construct. I think we have about 14,000 of the brick slips to stick and then mortar in to complete the house so we'll be well practiced by the end!