Slowly the chaos is reducing and we are settling in. The rented house was handed back successfully on Friday, so for the first time in our lives, after four previous owned properties and a lot of rented ones (mostly RAF married quarters), we are responsible for just one house which we own completely with no mortgage; we can now just concentrate on this one. The key now seems to be to settle in and take it slowly; at least, that's what it will be like when we have all the basics working.
Unfortunately our shower is not working yet, as I had a problem with the installation, and there are bits everywhere with the shower screen standing on the landing. In trying to avoid such a situation, I prepared carefully by reading and understanding every step of the instructions but then found that there was a fundamental task which was impossible without a right-angled screwdriver (which I do not possess). The need for this tool was not mentioned in the instructions and, when I rang the technical centre, they could only say that they sell lots of these showers and no one has ever complained before! One suggestion they offered was that the attaching screws should be fixed into the wall at an angle to allow the task to be done. I refused this suggestion as (a) the aluminium channel would be distorted by a pan-headed screw at an angle and (b) the pan-headed screw would not be long enough to get through the plaster at an angle***, and (c) I had already drilled the holes at right angles, since the need for some odd angle was not mentioned in the instructions. Also, I said that if I did that then my plumber would laugh at me! I don't often stand on my qualifications but I'm a Chartered Engineer and have never encountered such an idea except, for instance, in screwing wooden studs together.
I found that a certain company had a branch 11 miles away (through horrendous traffic) and their website said that this branch had a right-angled screwdriver in stock, so we went to get it. Of course, their computer was wrong and so I had to order the thing, and we have to wait for a shower. Hence an annoyed e-mail regarding their out-of-date website...
The screwdriver should come on Monday, so I can then finish the shower; I'll also do a few other important things this week, like finish the wardrobe and put up a bedroom curtain, and then we're off camping for 17 days, so I won't be posting again for another four weeks. The plan then will be to get ready for the extension re-build which hopefully will happen in September/October. In the meantime I just hope this rain stops by next weekend!
*** Of course, in a recently lime plastered wall, any hole which does not penetrate brick or stone is going to cause a big lump of plaster to fall off and create a large hole when you fit a wall plug, and this would be worse if you drill two holes close together...
Saturday, 16 July 2011
Monday, 11 July 2011
A Milestone Achieved
There is a very odd satisfaction of sitting on a settee surrounded by boxes in a house that could only be described as a mess. There's a bunch of cables which connect me and my computer to the outside world - amazingly the broadband is working (after last year's experience with well-known company, I had VERY low expectations!); there's a TV aerial on the arm of the settee which, much to my surprise, gives a good digital picture (better than at our rented house), and we've just had a meal cooked on our new range, preceded by a well-deserved G&T. There is no mortgage on this house, and most tasks are done. Can life get much better than this?
We still have to hand back our 12 year old rented house, and I'm glad to be getting rid of it. It is a cheap and cheerless modern box, made with haste and no love, using poor materials and a pretty bad design. For instance, we could not fit our king-size bed into any bedroom with any other furniture at all, so for the last year we have been in a small bed which gave me cold feet. I've never known a house before where the HOT water supply to upstairs could freeze in winter - OK, I know last winter was pretty cold at times but surely there are rules about where the pipes are laid? Also, it was always cold in the kitchen - I cannot believe that there was the correct amount of insulation under the floor, and it had some very cheap uPVC doors and windows. You could actually see daylight between the two seals on the French doors in the kitchen, and the step outside was not supported (until I put some blocks of wood underneath it). Overall, that modern house really made me pleased to be the owner of this lovely old house, even when it was overgrown, cold and damp!
This week, we have been doing various finishing touches to enable us to move, which we achieved on Friday. Phil and Jaye, the plastering duo, helped us to move, using Phil's van which was given its first ever spring clean in order to be fit for the purpose. The weather was wet and so I was glad that we had not fitted new carpets throughout. However, we had decided to have two new bedroom carpets done, and these were fitted on Friday morning; an earlier date was not possible as I wanted to fit the new bedroom wardrobe before the carpets came - it was a close run thing as I was still doing the wardrobe at 5pm on Thursday. We also had BT come along on Friday to install a telephone line to the house for the first ever time; initially the technician said that it should have been surveyed first and he was going to leave us, but then he relented and we discussed possible solutions. The job took him more than five hours and then he left in a hurry, leaving his ladders behind. Consequently the first incoming call on our new number was from the BT man himself, enquiring about the whereabouts of his ladders!
I'm now making a list of priority tasks outstanding: top of the list is fitting the shower screen and sealing the edge of the bath; next the completion of the wardrobe so that all our (i.e. Jane's) clothes can be hung up again. Hopefully our last extravagance, a large purpose built bookcase, will be installed early in August so that a lot of boxes can be emptied, and then there's just the kitchen tiling, sash window refurbishment (x7), curtains, the rest of the carpets and the small matter of the decrepit old extension which we haven't yet touched... But it's now our home, and we love it!
We still have to hand back our 12 year old rented house, and I'm glad to be getting rid of it. It is a cheap and cheerless modern box, made with haste and no love, using poor materials and a pretty bad design. For instance, we could not fit our king-size bed into any bedroom with any other furniture at all, so for the last year we have been in a small bed which gave me cold feet. I've never known a house before where the HOT water supply to upstairs could freeze in winter - OK, I know last winter was pretty cold at times but surely there are rules about where the pipes are laid? Also, it was always cold in the kitchen - I cannot believe that there was the correct amount of insulation under the floor, and it had some very cheap uPVC doors and windows. You could actually see daylight between the two seals on the French doors in the kitchen, and the step outside was not supported (until I put some blocks of wood underneath it). Overall, that modern house really made me pleased to be the owner of this lovely old house, even when it was overgrown, cold and damp!
This week, we have been doing various finishing touches to enable us to move, which we achieved on Friday. Phil and Jaye, the plastering duo, helped us to move, using Phil's van which was given its first ever spring clean in order to be fit for the purpose. The weather was wet and so I was glad that we had not fitted new carpets throughout. However, we had decided to have two new bedroom carpets done, and these were fitted on Friday morning; an earlier date was not possible as I wanted to fit the new bedroom wardrobe before the carpets came - it was a close run thing as I was still doing the wardrobe at 5pm on Thursday. We also had BT come along on Friday to install a telephone line to the house for the first ever time; initially the technician said that it should have been surveyed first and he was going to leave us, but then he relented and we discussed possible solutions. The job took him more than five hours and then he left in a hurry, leaving his ladders behind. Consequently the first incoming call on our new number was from the BT man himself, enquiring about the whereabouts of his ladders!
I'm now making a list of priority tasks outstanding: top of the list is fitting the shower screen and sealing the edge of the bath; next the completion of the wardrobe so that all our (i.e. Jane's) clothes can be hung up again. Hopefully our last extravagance, a large purpose built bookcase, will be installed early in August so that a lot of boxes can be emptied, and then there's just the kitchen tiling, sash window refurbishment (x7), curtains, the rest of the carpets and the small matter of the decrepit old extension which we haven't yet touched... But it's now our home, and we love it!
Friday, 1 July 2011
We're Moving In!
It really seems odd after eight months of work, with numerous contractors and much personal effort, to realise that we can actually move in next week. It's a sort of end-of-term feeling - relief and deep satisfaction mixed with a kind of hollowness. Note that I'm NOT saying that the house is finished, merely that things are done sufficiently to allow us to move in (so long as the boiler is commissioned on Monday!). This pair of photos shows how the public view of the house has changed in the last eight months:
I still have plenty to do as there are many remaining tasks, such as refurbishing the sash windows, finishing the decorating and rebuilding the old "service wing", plus most of the garden/driveway tasks. For ages I have been giving priority to tasks that get us out of our rented house and into our own place (with no mortgage!).
The last major task was the installation of the newly-made window cill for the new kitchen window. Chris cast the new cill in cement and did a remarkable job of making a colour which matches the Cotswold stone and pointing. Although it should have been done before the installation of the window, circumstances dictated otherwise (i.e. Chris broke the first cill, then he broke his foot...)! It was VERY heavy but it was lifted up by four strong people and slid into place without too much difficulty, leaving me with the task of making good the stonework and pointing around it. It was a great feeling to realise that this was the last major task and that the house was now effectively finished and secure. Jane became quite emotional when she saw it - surprising that a cement object could actually be a thing of beauty!
The window above used to look like this (below):
I think that the new wall filling in the bottom of the old door is the thing of which I am most proud of having done with my own hands on this project.
I'm still in progress with my wardrobe which is a major bit of woodwork, and there is still decorating to be done. However, this week I was helped by Wayne (not Wayne the kitchen fitter, but the brother of Neil the electrician) who has done a sterling job at some of the tasks which I found really tedious like sanding and painting skirting board.
I was visited this week by my son, daughter-in-law and grandson, who last visited only three weeks ago. Their amazed reaction on seeing what had been accomplished since their last visit has given me a yardstick to show just how busy that time has been. The list is quite long: front garden cleared, dropped kerb and driveway laid, 30 tons of hardcore cleared, kitchen units, kitchen appliances and two new windows fitted, kitchen floor grouted, bathroom tiled and fitted out, electrics finished, fireplace installed and painted, and lots of decoration done. Finally, I fitted a net curtain in the new lounge window which made it look as though the house was occupied.
One fundamental thing that is missing at the moment is a toilet seat. This was an oversight on our part as the soft close type we wanted was about to be introduced when we ordered our bathroom fittings and we forgot to go back in May and order it when it became available. There's always something that catches you out!
Edit - I'm adding here a few extra photos of the house:
I still have plenty to do as there are many remaining tasks, such as refurbishing the sash windows, finishing the decorating and rebuilding the old "service wing", plus most of the garden/driveway tasks. For ages I have been giving priority to tasks that get us out of our rented house and into our own place (with no mortgage!).
The last major task was the installation of the newly-made window cill for the new kitchen window. Chris cast the new cill in cement and did a remarkable job of making a colour which matches the Cotswold stone and pointing. Although it should have been done before the installation of the window, circumstances dictated otherwise (i.e. Chris broke the first cill, then he broke his foot...)! It was VERY heavy but it was lifted up by four strong people and slid into place without too much difficulty, leaving me with the task of making good the stonework and pointing around it. It was a great feeling to realise that this was the last major task and that the house was now effectively finished and secure. Jane became quite emotional when she saw it - surprising that a cement object could actually be a thing of beauty!The window above used to look like this (below):
I think that the new wall filling in the bottom of the old door is the thing of which I am most proud of having done with my own hands on this project.
I'm still in progress with my wardrobe which is a major bit of woodwork, and there is still decorating to be done. However, this week I was helped by Wayne (not Wayne the kitchen fitter, but the brother of Neil the electrician) who has done a sterling job at some of the tasks which I found really tedious like sanding and painting skirting board.
One fundamental thing that is missing at the moment is a toilet seat. This was an oversight on our part as the soft close type we wanted was about to be introduced when we ordered our bathroom fittings and we forgot to go back in May and order it when it became available. There's always something that catches you out!
Edit - I'm adding here a few extra photos of the house:
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