Suddenly, we're nearly finished

The Scent of the Past?

I had my first slightly spooky experience in the house this week. I was stripping the thick layers of paint on the window cill in the main bedroom with my heat gun and favourite scraper.  The window was open and suddenly there was a really strong smell of perfume, as though someone wearing half a bottle had walked past the first floor window.  Then it happened again and it seemed that the smell was actually coming from the paint!  Was I really disturbing the accumulated smell of perfume bottles set on the window cill by the spinsters (first Miss Coleman and then Miss Dealey) who lived here from 1925 until 1984?  I'd just love to know what perfume they wore!

Nearly Finished

It seems strange after so many months work to realise that we are mere days from being able to move in.  Of course, it won't be finished then, just liveable, but moving in will be a great step forward, of course.  Many jobs have been prioritised on the basis of whether they assist the moving-in day, so refurbishment of the sash windows, for instance, has taken a back seat, as has the rebuild of the Victorian "service wing" (as the conservation officer calls it), which has a roof still covered in green tarpaulin and a brick wall in danger of collapse.

The last two weeks have seen huge leaps forward, with many tasks coming good in quick succession; I reckon that 14 different tradesmen have worked in the house in that fortnight. After the driveway (see last week's entry), we have seen the delivery and installation of two new windows, the fitting of the kitchen units, delivery and fitting of the kitchen appliances, installation of the gas boiler, installation of the lounge fireplace and mantel, and the fitting of the bathroom units, not to mention the rest (almost) of the second fix electrics and plumbing.  In that time I myself have tiled and grouted the bathroom (mostly), grouted half the kitchen floor, repaired mortar around the soil pipe, and sanded/painted doors, skirting boards etc, not to mention continuous tidying up!

The one failure was the installation of the new cill for the kitchen window. First, Chris dropped and broke the newly cast cill, then he broke his own foot in a small motor bike accident.  Hopefully, we can muster enough muscle to fit the new cill in a few days, as it lets the draught in under the newly installed window (left) which at least is already a huge improvement on the old galvanised steel door and windows (right).

 The kitchen looks wonderful; the two excellent fitters worked hard and most skilfully, although it did take them from Monday until Friday morning to turn the packs (left) into the finished article (right).  It looks even better with the range installed (below).

I like our new decorative arch on the fireplace in the lounge; this is how it has progressed from horrible (as bought) to great with an intermediate step this week:

My list of tasks is still quite large - it includes making a wardrobe (before we can lay carpets), as well as lots of decorating and tiling.  So, we're on course to move in early in July (and this is June 24th!); then we can start on the service wing, for which we are putting in the necessary applications very soon.

Finally, I was much amused by the fact that our new range has a dog chain.  Honestly.  Apparently it is to ensure that the range does not fall forward when the heavy doors are all opened.  Presumably this has happened to someone and I feel sorry for them.  I guess that someone then at the major range manufacturer has decreed that, to avoid a similar event, a chain should be attached at the back of the range.  However, commonsense has been lost along the way: this range does not have heavy cast iron doors, but rather its doors are light, similar to an oven, and the chain is totally redundant!  Another stupidity done in the name of Health and Safety!

The Enchanted Forest is no more

The Enchanted Forest is no more - well, it's now just a few overgrown trees with a slightly mysterious shade underneath.  Now it is no longer be possible to hide in the undergrowth which gave this blog its name (see the very first entry last year). I've been putting off the moment for a long time, but this week it was time to do the driveway, together with cutting a gap in the low stone wall and installation of a dropped kerb.  I have been gradually cutting things back in a surreptitious way, but now the public can suddenly see a spacious garden where previously (for over twenty years) they had only seen overgrown shrubs and trees, with lots of ivy and litter.

I had engaged a contractor to clear this overgrown stuff (old photo, left) - especially as it contained lots of brambles which I hate as they seem to hate me first.  However, the contractor failed to appear on Saturday morning, with some excuse about not usually working Saturdays, despite this being the agreement only a week previously; more likely they had too much alcohol on Friday night.  With work on the driveway due to start on Monday I reverted to Plan B and did it myself, thus saving a good deal of money.  However, although successful, I was totally shackered (shattered and knackered) by the end of the day.  The result is a huge clear area (as seen in the top photo) where there used to be hawthorn, brambles, yew and a proliferation of some unidentified shrub, although there were a few bits left which I intended to do on Monday while Colin, my driveway contractor, was doing the dropped kerb.

On Monday I arrived at the house at 8.00am to find that there was already a huge pile of yew branches on the lawn as Colin had already started, having arrived at 7.15 with his own digger and dump truck.  Colin is an absolute whiz on his digger and Ryan, his mate, drives the neat little articulated dump truck.  On one occasion while Colin was scraping the natural layer, I saw a nice looking bit of limestone uncovered and just pointed to it; Colin casually picked it up with the shovel, placed it at my feet and carried on scraping.  Neat.  Part of our contract was the removal of all the plaster, hardcore, slate etc which had accumulated around the site in untidy piles, either loose, bags or plastic tubs.  By the end of the day there was a clear excavation for the driveway (down to the natural brash) and a huge pile of debris near the gateway, as well as a large pile of shrubbery on the lawn.

My contribution was the removal of a 4 metre section of the low front wall, which felt almost a crime as it was probably 180 years old.  (NB That's Colin not me in the photo, with Ryan in the background.)

I arrived on Tuesday to find the huge pile was a lot smaller as the grabber lorry had already visited and removed about 16 tons of it.  I was doing some bathroom tiling later when he returned for the rest and was so quick that I almost missed him.  TOP TIP - if you have more than two or more skips of hardcore for landfill, consider using a grabber lorry which has a capacity of 18 tons, is much easier than filling skips and costs only £150.

By the end of the day the new kerbs and the granite setts were in place, ready for tarmac, and the drive excavation was ready for the ballast.  After the removal of Mount Etna I felt guilty about the greenery on the (shared) lawn, so I moved it all to the back of the house for burning somewhen.  Home for a shower and beer.

Wednesday saw the laying of the hot tarmac, as well as the return of the grabber with 18 tons of ballast.  He also then took away the smaller version of Mount Etna comprising the old tarmac from the pavement plus more hardcore which had been found around the garden.  It turned out that the driver/operator was Ryan's Dad - I do like working in a fairly small place where people know each other.

All that was left to do was for me to point the setts with cement and building sand. It's been a good week already!  We'll revisit the driveway in the autumn when the other trees will be felled and the layout will be revised in the light of experience; then we'll put in the edgings and add the top layer of gravel; at some time I will also have to rebuild the wall ends with my nice bits of coping.  This is the result so far, with our car (just visible) parked on our driveway for the first time (what a pleasure after over seven months of finding a legal parking space every day!):

It's getting stressful

I suppose it had to get stressful somewhen, and in many ways I have done well to avoid the stress for seven months.  However, we plan to move in by July 8th (and this is June 11th), there is still so much to do in four weeks, and the stress is now getting to me.  I've just been let down by a contractor who was going to clear the front garden for the driveway, so I'm overcoming the stress of that by doing it myself and saving the money.  I've written before about people who have tight project plans which cause them extra stress as well as costing them extra money, and it was my deliberate policy to try to avoid a similar situation. So much for that idea!

The photo (left) shows some electrical switches and sockets.  Not just any switches and sockets, but OUR switches and sockets, which are all now live!  On Friday I had the pleasure of plugging my electrical tools into the proper socket - away with the long extension leads, just plug it in!  It is surprising how tidying up the loose wires coming out from every wall makes the whole place seem so much more completed.

Also, the kitchen has arrived (photo right).  Looking at the huge pile of boxes, I am really glad that I am not fitting it all myself. 

I'd like to think that all remaining work is organised with contractors planned to come along and do their bit at the right moment, but I know that life is not like that.  Every time that I have had even two contractors at the same time, it has been quite a strain with their conflicting requirements, but over the next two weeks I expect to have seven different contractors working, so I anticipate some severe conflict.  The other work to be done is completion of the second fix plumbing and electrics, installation of a newly made window cill, fitting the kitchen sash window, fitting the lounge fire, doing the driveway (with a dropped kerb) and (significantly) fitting the entire kitchen.  Additionally, I have to do certain tasks myself such as grouting the kitchen floor, painting the kitchen walls and finishing the bathroom tiling; then, before moving in, I also have to finish the decorating upstairs and make a wardrobe for the main bedroom, plus then get a couple of carpets fitted.  There is also a slight worry about whether we actually have space for everything, and so I'm wondering if I should buy a large shed or even a big tent!

The Limecrete Floor Part 3 - Laying Flagstones

I'm sure some purists will not approve, but we have bought and laid black limestone flags on the limecrete floor in our new kitchen.  These are imported from Spain but they might be from elsewhere as I asked the question but have forgotten the answer (an all-too-common experience at my age). There are some remaining questions about how to keep them clean and black, and what to grout them with, and sealing; I don't want to seal the flagstones as I want the floor to be breathable and also, our experience of sealing is that you have to do it often, forever!  I'd welcome any comments on these matters.  Otherwise the floor is finished; the kitchen is now off-limits for a couple of weeks (photo right above shows the first day's achievement).

The quantity of materials for the mortar bed again caused problems; I got a sufficient amount of NHL5, only by calculating for 5 or 6 bags and getting 9 for safety!  However, I calculated that we needed only about 600 kg of sharp sand, so bought a tonne bag from a local supplier.  Over the bank holiday weekend we ran out of both sand and time, so adjourned until I could get some more sand delivered - I got another tonne and I think we used about 300 kg. The issue (I think) was that the slab and screed were not actually level; I measured a 50 mm depth to be filled to be level with the floor in the hall, but at the far side of the room the depth was nearer 80 mm.  Also, the flagstones were of variable thickness some were only 18 mm but others were anything up to 38 mm; this made it hard to guess the average thickness in order to calculate the average depth for the bed.  I think I used 30 mm for the average stone thickness (hence a required bed thickness of 20 mm) but it was probably nearer 25 mm, so the average bed thickness needed was more like 40 mm - quite a large error.

Chris and Shane again did a sterling job.  Chris (left) did the actual laying and level checking while, apart from doing the mixes, Shane also did the required stone cutting using a hired 9 inch grinder (for which I bought the blade as the hire cost was over half the purchase price).  This is not easy - I had a go, and found that there is a good deal of skill and strength needed, as well as the ability to see the cutting line through the clouds of dust.  See Shane (right) cutting a bit of limestone coping for me.



My main roles were moving the buckets of mix, selecting the next stones and a layout which Jane and I had produced the evening before (it wasn't easy!).  What we wanted was a layout with no discernible regularity and very few continuous joint lines.  Unfortunately, we did not get the expected sizes of stone, and it was just not possible to achieve the second aim; we expected to get 60 cm stones in a selection of lengths - 30 cm, 45 cm, 60 cm, 75 cm and 90 cm.  These being multiples of 15, I thought that something would be achievable, but what we got we lots of 45s and 70s (yes, NOT 75 cm) and relatively few 30s and 60s, with only one 90 cm.  If you think you can do better, try to find a way of making a 6.1 x 3.6 irregular pattern rectangle with cut sides only at the edges (or else you have to dress the edge as well).  Of course, don't forget the chimney breast and the fact that the room is not a perfect rectangle...

Other progress this week has been tiling half the bathroom (so that the basin and loo can be installed), refitting the last skirting boards (so that the radiators can now be fitted), cutting the original quarry tiles at the doorway to the kitchen and re-fitting them (flush to the new floor), and stripping more brown gunk (not shellac, I am told) from all the internal doors.  Finally, Jane has rolled the walls of the main bedroom with white emulsion in her customary "it's OK to get it all over me as well" mode.  She was amused (I hope) when I offered to fetch the car rather than walk along 100 yards along the road with her in that state - well, what would our new neighbours think?