How we got here

Today marks the second anniversary of the day we moved into 265. It feels like it was much much longer ago. A couple of days even before that, when we first got the keys, I went around taking pictures of the house we had just committed ourselves to, convinced of its potential. I thought it would be fun to see just how much of that potential we've managed to realise.

Let's start the tour at the front:

The frontage has changed significantly, and not just how overgrown the surviving shrubbery has become, nor the Council's new litter bin. We really should do something about tidying up those TV cables running up and across the front.
Inside, the hall has expanded at both ends, to move the front door forward and to create more space under the stairs. However, I think the removal of that wallpaper has helped make it seem bigger as well.
The living room has been through a lot, having been fully furnished well into the building phase, then used as a store room during the renovation. Now it's only a little blanker than it was when we took possession. Changing the window to patio doors has probably made the biggest difference to this room. It'll certainly change how it's used during the summer. And we'll get our stove fitted some day, but it's not really necessary.
We always liked the proportions in the Library and we've sought to preserve them. The bookcases here are temporary and we plan to have floor-to-ceiling shelving on three walls just as soon as we can afford it.
Pictures like this make the two years feel even longer, since the vista here presented on the left hasn't existed for the vast majority of the time: we had that gap on the far left bricked up within a few months, and then it was demolished again when the new extension was built.
And here, of course, the room in which the original photo was taken no longer exists, but the newer one is an approximation of where it was. The original tiny kitchen, however, is still on the same site and only the wall you can't see (to the far right) has moved at all -- coming deeper into the room to make the space under the stairs bigger.
And this room at the front was taken down in its entirety and rebuilt from 12 metres below the ground up. It was rebuilt smaller however, so the new photo is taken from a foot or so further forward, and a bit to the left. The wall on the far left -- the side of the original house -- is the only part in both pictures.
The spare room, our shelter for most of the project, remains mostly unfurnished. But without the old wardrobes it's a lot larger.
Same goes for the front bedroom, though I took the original wardrobe out on the day we moved in. This room is now my study.
And this is Dara's study, still under feline occupation, but that's her problem, not mine. The change to this small room has perhaps been most dramatic of all. As in, it's now possible to go into it without feeling nauseous.
That said, there's a chance that the change here has been even more significant.
The side passge has been lengthened, narrowed, and generally tamed. We hope to get a new gate for it, and the front, fairly soon.

I'm actually a little disappointed by how much garden we have left. I can't help thinking maybe we should have built on more of it. But I'm sure I'll appreciate this more when the sun comes back.

A quick look, then, at the two new rooms above the extension. The main bedroom is pretty much done, but the dressing room is still very much in need of its wardrobes. Soon.

Finally there's the back. Yes, we have a lot of landscaping and external works on the cards, but it still looks much much better than it did, I think.

And this is the point where I'm bringing an end to regular updates on this blog. When more stuff happens, I'll throw a note and a picture up here, but you can stop coming back for regular updates. Subscribe to it into your RSS reader if you have one; and if you don't have one, go and get one. Just let me take this opportunity to say thanks for reading to all those who have commented, those who e-mail me behind the scenes, and the lurkers who keep themselves to themselves. May all your renovation projects be as worthwhile as this one.

Walkover

The builder was late arriving this morning so we didn't get to gauge his reactions to the amount of work we've told them they still have to do, nor do we know when exactly this desnagging is going to commence.

Meanwhile our project manager has been negotiating final figures with the builders. A couple of big-ticket items they were trying to charge us for have fallen aside with minimal pushing. There are still a few other areas we'd like money back on, largely concerning refunds for things that got lost or broken during the project.

We're in no rush to hurry either of these processes along since, when they end, we're going to be severely out of pocket.

Just when we thought it was safe

We've become very accustomed, over the last few weeks, to not getting kicked out of our house at 8am every morning. So we really weren't ready for last Thursday's pre-8 o'clock unannounced visit by that damned electrician, wanting in to finish the last bits of his work. He was sent off, sharply if blearily, and said he'd be back on Friday. Big surprise: he never came near us.

On Friday the builder's site manager rang to ask about returning to the site to examine their own snag-related jobs. The tale of the electrician was recounted and he wasn't pleased at all. I suspect this may be the last domestic job our electrician does for our builder.

Anyway, the builders will be back to begin their final stage tomorrow. I'd imagine there'll be a bit of horse trading on what they will do, what they won't, and how much of the outstanding money they've claimed for we will actually be paying them.

Curtains for us

Bit by bit things are getting done. Four of the eight curtain poles are now fitted, including this one in the TV room:

(They all look like this, incidentally -- closing down sale at the hardware shop.)

Last night was the first in many months that we slept in a curtained bedroom, though said room is one of the very few we actually have curtains for. The rest are on the shopping list for the weekend.

Our Big News

It shouldn't be a surprise to any of you that, after spending so much time expanding our house into a four-bed, we decided that it's finally big enough to accommodate more than just the two of us. We've known about the new arrival for quite a few weeks now, but I'm delighted to make the first official announcement here.

It was a big decision to make, and not one we entered into lightly. We made absolutely certain that we were in full agreement about it, and all the practical implications which have already started to affect us every day. Though one of us more than the other, obviously.

There's no doubt but that this addition to our family will have a massive impact on our whole way of life. How could it be otherwise? But I'm certainly excited about the adventure we've embarked upon and I just know it's going to bring so much joy to us both over many years to come.

To see the very first image of our little pride and joy, click here.

Back in action

The plumber was leaving as I arrived in this evening. He has fixed the leaky radiator, and cleared an airlock that had, he thinks, been causing the random switch-offs of the system.

And he also installed the last appliance -- our tall kitchen radiator:

So except for some snag-related bits and pieces, and the dressing room wardrobes, that concludes the bit of the project where workmen come to our house. The rest is up to us.

Of course, we've been busy DIYing long before now. It's why, for instance, you haven't yet seen the new carpet which went in on Friday:

Now if you'll excuse me I have furniture to move. Furniture that took the best part of Sunday evening to rehabilitate after months of abuse.

2 busy 2 blog

The carpet went in and the snagging got done. The rest of the weekend was spent reclaiming two further rooms -- the library and TV room -- including a major restoration project on our beleaguered leather suite.

Pictures will follow in the next day or two.

To work!

The plumber made a triumphant return to the house today. Well, mostly triumphant. The dishwasher seems to be working and the drier is now vented, as is the flange-enabled cooker hood, which has been reassembled:

Significantly, the wiring has been done in the hotpress and the digital doohickey is active:

Here I think it's telling us that the solar heated water is currently at 13.1°C, but I couldn't be absolutely sure.

And the heating system seems to be behaving, though I don't know if any servicing was carried out.

The bad news is that our missing radiator has still not arrived. The first supplier went out of business before the order went in, and the second sent the wrong size. So we're back to square one here and waiting for a replacement to be shipped.

So that's item one for tomorrow's snag then.

Flange-tastic

The plumber did show up yesterday, but what he actually achieved we don't know, as there doesn't seem to be any difference to anything: the heating is still unpredictable, our last radiator is still missing and the drier is still not hooked up to its vent.

Nobody was out today at all, but on the plus side I got the reductor flange for the cooker hood:

Whoop-de-do.

Snagging is scheduled for Friday. At this rate it looks like it'll be a long list.

New vista

It was before 8 when the window people rolled up. They did a pretty good job of fixing the wonky windows, including this one in the box room which had been particularly troublesome:


But apart from that, nothing else happened today. No sign of the plumber, and we have a couple of leaky radiators. He'll be out tomorrow, though. He said so.

Busy busy

We had a frantic-but-productive weekend. On Saturday we bought our curtain poles and ordered the carpet for our stairs, which is due to be fitted on Friday.

With the painters finished (we think), and the cleaners having been in on Friday, Operation Reclaim The House continued apace, starting with the move of the dining room table into the kitchen, giving us our first usable seats in about four months.


Today we spent repopulating the cupboards with crockery and glassware from the boxes in the shed. We also discovered that the dishwasher isn't working: something else for the plumber to do.

The kitchen is now some way habitable, though there's still a lot of tidying to be done in the living room:


And the least said about the library the better:


It's just a question of putting the work in, really. Other projects for the coming week will include the completion of the plumbing, including a fix of some leaky radiators, repairs to the boiler and the installation of that tall radiator required in the kitchen. The window people are also due out first thing tomorrow to do their repairs.

Despite all this outstanding stuff, we were able to cook, and eat, our first meal in the new kitchen today. Though unfortunately there wasn't enough left over for everyone.

Welcome matt

There was a big meeting this morning of all interested parties where it was generally agreed that there isn't much left to do. The painter reckons he'll finish tomorrow, and the electrician plans to do his last bits in the next day or so as well. The plumber was also confident of wrapping up tomorrow, but that was before he discovered a malfunctioning valve, requiring a call-out from the boiler company which is due to happen tomorrow. With a radiator still to be installed -- necessitating a complete draining of the system -- I can see him still working well into next week. He was still here at 6 today.

The painting crew were still busy, putting the final gloss on the outside of the front door:


Inside, the matt work has been done on the hall:

This leaves just the gloss woodwork and some minor touch-ups to be done.

We could probably get our carpet ordered soon too.

Better

A phone call to the plumber this morning revealed that the central heating was, in fact, in perfect working order and had simply been deactivated for some unknown reason. We've no idea why the builder didn't tell us this, nor why he was still talking today about reactivation tomorrow.

Anyway, the plumber came out and all seems to be working and warm once more. He also made a start on venting the hood, though the flange is still necessary for completion:


The only other bit of business today was the painter, who has pretty much finished our external masonry, adding the fetching black trim:

We also discovered why the tumble drier hasn't been installed. We should have known: it requires a vent kit. I'm off to buy that now.

Site meeting tomorrow, a chance to find out when the last remaining items on my list will get done.

Too quiet

The painter was back at 8, but otherwise the Monday momentum had completely run down. The holes in the kitchen ceiling had been repaired:

But no drier, and no heating.

A phonecall to the builders said that they'll get things moving again following a big site meeting on Thursday. Thursday!

We're not happy. And we're getting cold again.

Flange trouble

Well, it was fun while it lasted, but we arrived home this evening to find that the whole electrical side of the central heating system had been deactivated, and therefore the heating was too. They'd better get that up and running again -- properly -- pronto. Still, at least the bit of heat we got has taken the chill out of the house, and the insulation is holding its own.

I'm fairly sure it's unrelated that the gas sub-contractors were out again:

In fact it's not really apropos of anything, I was just impressed with the level of focus on this 2.8-second exposure taken with no tripod.

Anyhoo, the foreman arrived in just before 8 this morning, full of the usual Monday vigour and laying out his plans for having the whole job finished by the end of the week. The same plans we've been listening to since August, basically. The painter was in tow, and he made a start on the outside of the house, doing the windowsills. He's due to be here all week and will hopefully stick to it this time.

The big issue today concerned the cooker hood I mentioned on Saturday. We were able to pick up a venting kit easily enough -- that's really just a length of flexi-hose with an external vent on the end. The problem is that the hose and the hole in the wall are 125mm, while the chimney on the hood itself is 150mm. For such a situation, the manual suggests we use the "reduction flange" which comes with the hood. Except nobody remembers seeing that. The rate at which the builders have been throwing stuff out recently means the chances are it went into a skip several weeks ago. We searched the house this evening and there's no sign, so we'll have to order a new one, which we'll be lucky to have by the end of the week. And then we have to put the whole thing together. It really shouldn't have been this difficult.

There may be another appliance-related horror on the horizon. After much pleading, the plumber finally hooked up our washing machine:

But there's no drier next to it. I measured the gap, and the machine, and I reckon there's about 2mm of tolerance. Already I can hear someone telling us tomorrow that it won't fit.

Meanwhile, we have initiated Operation Reclaim The House, whereby we start occupying selected rooms in the hope that the workmen will take the hint and get the hell out. We started last night by manoeuvring our fridge and freezer into their respective alcoves:

And yes, that's the kettle there as well. When the foreman arrived this morning we were provocatively standing in the kitchen drinking coffee in an act of intense defiance.

Operation Reclaim The House will be stepped up over the course of the week. And we have further plans...

Oh yes.