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

Week Fifty Two – 2nd fix steaming ahead

The steel reinforced concrete upstand holding back the earth, or at least that part of the earth just to the north of the barn.

In the family room the steps have been tiled. Amazing isn't it? Fantastic what the guys can do when they set their mind to it.

The bifold doors on the west side are done. We're rather pleased with them. Don't you agree?

The back stairs have been plasterboarded so all we need to do now is get the plasterers back ...

Internal doors have at last started to be hung.
We bought standard off the peg doors. Unfortunately the barn doorways are far from standard off the peg. We've had to have a quarter of the doors cut down to fit. Funny how making something smaller increases its cost. But we're very pleased with the end result. Restricted headroom is an issue with many of the doorways and is feature of barn conversions. We'll be putting pictures of ducks over each door and maybe issuing visitors with hard hats. At last they'll get some use.

The garage roof is now pretty much done –  the ridge tiles have been cemented into place. Next is the guttering and the garage doors. We shopped around for the garage doors and eventually plumped for a company which does virtually nothing else but supply and fit the things. The price was good and we heaved a sigh of relief at not having to work out how to get them fitted. Maybe we should have done more supply & fit. Certainly less stressful than organising it all yourself.

The slope of the garage roof has been a bit of a nightmare. On the one hand we've had to keep the height of the central ridge to a minimum to reduce the visual impact for the farmhouse behind. On the other hand there has been the question of rain penetration under the tiles - if you make the slope too shallow they can't guarantee that water won't creep up under the tiles. For slate, which is what was originally specified, the minimum pitch would put the ridge above the wall at the back and obscure the view from the farmhouse. There do exist systems which can tolerate a shallower pitch. And yes, you've guessed it, such systems cost about 3 times as much. Ah well. It's only money.

Main stairs. We thought about paying loadsa money for one of those statement staircases. Architect designed, curvaceous, solid oak things. For about a nanosecond. And opted for a straight flight (oak to mach the rest of the timber in the barn) with a plastered sloping wall capped with oak for a handrail. Here it is being built.

Upstairs in the main bedroom the ensuite shower has been tiled. Plumbing 2nd fix next. Getting there.

Meanwhile the guys outside are backfilling the north retaining garden wall.

And in the kitchen the granite has arrived. Very posh.

All happening this week. Ensuite bathroom getting fitted out.

And so too is the shower room at the other end of the building. Feeling a bit miffed that the best shower in the house is for guests.

Can't resist another sunset shot. Amazing.

And finally

Week Fifty One - Light at the End of the Tunnel?

We're beginning to believe we might  make it. That we'll get the essentials in place before the budget runs out. Light at the end of the tunnel? Or a train coming the other way?
The things that really must be finished before we can move in,  2^nd fixes internally mainly, are coming thick & fast now.
Outside, shuttering up the upstand on the retaining garden wall

Supporting the upstand shuttering to prevent bowing and bulging once the wet concrete is poured in.

And so to pouring the concrete – we brought in the concrete pump again. Tempted to say I've never seen a pump made out of concrete before, but that might reveal my lack of experience.

Concrete poured and shuttered and waiting to go off before removing the ply and supports.

Meanwhile inside, the kitchen units, butler sink and cooker have been installed. Ready for the granite guy to come and measure up.

The Family room floor has been tiled

And the family room steps have been concreted and are ready for tiling. No idea how the tilers will cope with a curved surface, but it will be fun to see.

Way out west, opening for the bi-fold doors

 

And here are the bi-folds being installed

... and bi-folds in place

The stove has been moved from the container to the hearth - just the flue to connect and we'll have heat.

Stove & bi-folds from the top of the mains stairs. Looks fantastic doesn't it.

Outside again, the tiles on garage roof are being installed.

Our ensuite shower room floor has been tiled. Next step is plumbing 2nd fix, basins and showers and things.

Bathroom 2^nd fix is starting – the only bath in the house – for grandchildren, but decided to add an over the bath shower too.

The tilers are really steaming along. Here's the shower room tiled.

Issues

There was a problem with the stove discovered when it was put in the hearth. The ash door is at the bottom of the stove and fouls the upstand at the front of the hearth. Effectively the hearth is recessed behind the facing bricks and the ash door is below the bricks. Oops. Have to think what we can do.

And finally