Epiblogue 1 of 2 – Is There Life after Conversion?

We managed to move in earlier in the year before everything was fully complete, and before the budget ran out ... just. Contractually, we still had to build a couple of garden walls. Also needed a driveway – we didn’t want to be wading through mud for the rest of our days. And we couldn’t leave the garage with just blockwork walls - it needed cladding with weatherboarding to match the house. Access to the house, steps up to the doorways, had to be sorted out before Building Control would sign us off. Less essential, but nonetheless to be done, were the patio and pathway at the back and north end. Last, but not least, there was the small matter of post and rail fencing round the back garden and at the front.

 So, getting on with the garden walls.

At the front - footings

 

Going up

 

Front wall done.

 

and round the back - first you need a few bricks. (Remember all that concrete under there? Serious retaining wall. Bit over the top as a foundation for the wall, but it will do.

Up we go

 

Back finished. The passage round there is wider than we'd imagined it. 

 

Next came the drive

In the UK the standard sub base is MOT1. Ministry of Transport type 1 - graded inert material of a defined size and strength. With successive Government re-organisations we no longer have a Ministry of Transport but MOT1 lives on. We ended up buying over 60 tons of the stuff.

 

Bit like making a Christmas cake - a layer of marzipan overlaid with the icing. You smooth out and whack the MOT1 and apply a couple of layers of shingle.

 

So that's the drive done. Tick that off the list.
 

 

Patios and steps

Front steps before -

 

And the final product.

 

The path round the back. I hesitate to use the term back passage for fear of creating a stink.

 

Preparing the patio by the cart doors on the west side.

 

Laying slabs

Patio done

 

That's the major construction projects finished. Still have the fences, landscaping, decoration .....

Week Fifty Five – A Moving Experience

At the beginning of the week - still no water supply. No heating. No sewage.
And the removal firm has been booked for the middle of the week. We've given notice on our present accomodation  that we're moving out. And we're on an aeroplane half way round the world come the weekend. So, come hell or high water we're moving in this week. If the worst comes to the worst we could move our furniture in and go and live in a hotel for a few days before flying off. But we really really really don't want to do that. We really don't.

We went out on a limb by booking the consultant to come and commission ground source heat pump at the beginnng of the week. That was a few weeks ago, before the heat pump was even plumbed in and before we had a water supply. And then our plumber went off sick. Gulp.

Anyway, so far, so good. The assistant plumber has managed to get it all in, literally one day before the commissioning date.

Commissioning the sewage treatment plant. Second only to having a decent water supply is having decent sewage disposal. In our case we’re having a treatment plant, as opposed to a septic tank. Which has a motor in it to drive the stirring mechanism which promotes the growth of the bacteria, or whatever, which does the treatment bit.  Can't say I'd fancy climbing in there ...

 

Cometh the day, cometh the removal man. Here's our furniture arriving at the front door. Only problem is the soakaway for the heat pump is overflowing so I'm taken up with trying to get that fixed while the removal men do their bit. And I've asked the builder to come back and help ...

 

Didn't know know where to put the stuff so the family room seemed a reasonable placefor the piano and one of the setees.

 

Managed to empty a few of the crates so they can go back.

 

 

So, now we're in.

We’ve got a water supply, albeit subject to teething troubles. The softened water tastes of salt but fortunately we did specify a hard water tap in the kitchen so we use that for drinking water for now. There also seems to be a problem with the Iron/Manganese filter as the water is a bit yellow.

And there's still all the landscaping, garden walls and fencing, garage to finish, not to mention decoration inside. But we're in. Phew.

And finally

Week Fifty Four – Let the Nail Biting Begin

Not long to go now. Make or break. Removal firm booked. Carpets booked. Consultant to commission the heat pump booked. Will it all come together in time for us to move in – next week??  The list of things done and ready is getting longer, but at the beginning of the week, the list of things still to be done is frightening.

The plant room is far from ready – the water purification equipment has not been connected up to the water supply, or to the house. The heat pump hasn’t been connected to anything. It needs a water supply, electricity and two large buffers for the underfloor heating and for domestic hot water. The underfloor heating controls have not been installed in all the rooms. Electric sockets and lights are still missing. Not all the internal doors have been hung. The kitchen and utility rooms have not been fully fitted. Shower and bath screens are still in their packaging, leaning against a wall. The motor which drives the sewage treatment plant has not been fitted yet. Cappings on the staircase bannisters are still mising. Downpipes from the gutters are either missing of dangling in space. So, apart from no water supply, no heating, no drainage, no functioning toilets, no showers, gaps in the electricity supply, we’re almost there. It's a wonder I can get to sleep at night. Actually, ...

You may be wondering why the rush. Well, two reasons. Our budget is running out and we will have to call a halt soon in any case.  And we're going to be out of the country for the best part of a month from the end of next week. We don't want, can't afford, the build to just go on and on while we're away. So we're pressing to prioritise the things that are necessary to enable us to move in for a couple of days before we depart. Then we'll take stock of what still needs doing, and what we still have budget for, when we get back.

Our plumber has been off sick for a couple of weeks - wouldn't you know it? Fortunately his associate is available this week, so at least the heat pump and buffers are starting to be plumbed in.

And the water purification equipment is being connected up - ammonia filter, iron & manganese filter, water softener with a UV lamp topping it off. Feels a bit like the engine room of the Titanic in there. Maybe that's not a very auspicious analogy ...

Still quite a bit to do in the utility room but it's getting there. I think.

The top of the borehole is right in the middle of what will be the driveway so will have a proper manhole cover over it. Eventually. For now it's protected by three pallets screwed together to stop vehicles running over it.

The cooker hood has been installed. Agonised over whether to have a duct to the outside or just filters and a circulating hood. It's in the same part of the building as the woodburning stove (kitchen- diner, OK?) and we've been advised that there may be some conflict over ventilation. So we've gone for a re-circulating hood. For now at least.

The new doorway has been plaster boarded. We're quite pleased with the way it has turned out, given that it was a last minute bodge.

The sewage treatment plant, in the ground but not yet operational. Small matter of plumbing 2nd fix for the loos and provision of a water supply before we can call them back to finish setting it up and switch it on.

We'll have an outside tap connected straight to the supply from the borehole - ie no purification. No point treating water you're going to water the flowers with, is there? But I wouldn't recommend having a drink from it.

Bang on time the garage doors were delivered and fitted. At least something is going to plan. So now we have a garage which we can close to the elements. I suspect it will be a long time before we're able to put a car in there, given all the stuff in boxes that will end up in there.

The ensuite shower room is coming together.

The plastering of the studwork up the side of stairs has been done.

and the cappings for a handrail have been fitted.

Talking of staircases, the back stairs have been plastered and capped too.

We're very pleased with the way the stairs have turned out.

The skylight over the stairs means it's reasonably bright back there even though it's at the north end of the building.

Well, solid progress this week but still not sure we'll be ready for next week. We shall see

And finally

Week Fifty Three – One Step Forward and ...

Just when we thought things were beginning to move along nicely, they grind to a halt …The bridge over the stream. Lovely isn't it? But no guys on site today ...

Forlorn looking garage going nowhere. No that garages ever go anywhere, but you know what I mean... Don't you?

 

Doors - the long and the short of it. One standard door and two cut down doors.

The plant room equipment, some of which arrived weeks ago, can now be moved in to the plant room, which has a roof, walls and a door. Progress, or what?

 

And the woodburner is now connected to the flue. It had to be done by a Hetas accredited installer so we can get our certificate. Not absolutely certain we really need a Hetas certificate since the building is still under Building Control. But better be safe than sorry.

Wonder what made those prints. No reports of Yetis or Bigfoots in Suffolk so we're pretty safe. Could be the Abominable Snowman, but he'd have to be pretty small. Those marks are only a couple of inches long.

 

Whe is a door not a door? When it's in the way.
Here we're moving a door from the bottom of the steps, where it would have clashed with a cupboard door and generally get in the way, to the top of the steps. Only problem is, there's no doorway at the top of the steps, so we'll have to build one.

 

Plant room starting to take shape. Left to right, ammonia filter, iron/manganese filter, water softener. Pretty impressive huh? 

The ground source heat pump has been delivered and sits shrink-wrapped on its pallet in the plant room. All we need now is somebody to install and commission it....

And finally