Friday
We say goodbye to Nic and Justin and thank them very much for everything they’ve done for us. They’re great guys, keeping the build rolling along all together despite significant challenges that would flummox any mere mortal, and they still manage to make us laugh. Best of luck in the future, guys.
Welcome aboard Tim and James!
We created a test panel of roof tiles to see if a mix might be better. Generally, the panel of vertical hanging tiles is lighter than the ones on the roof on most houses, and we’ll choose these if the price is right. At the moment, we’ve got to come up with a decent percentage blend so Tim can go and have it priced.
Up until now, we’ve been trying to fit an AV system in the living room which is perfectly normal you might think, but the challenge is to wedge it in above a fireplace. We’ve stalled out over the past few weeks in trying to get advice about combustable materials and convection venting grills, and as a result we’ve kept the team from building the far wall with the chimney. We’ve now made enough decisions to let the guys crack on with the wall. But the final design is still up for grabs!
It’s awesome to see scaffolding up and steels in. The first floor planks are due to arrive in the second week of September with any luck.
Thursday and before…
Apologies for losing a few weeks in here.
The view out the family room will take some TLC…. It’s not exactly jaw-dropping at the moment and probably not good enough to prompt the kids to avert their eyes away from the TV. The garage makes a super tea-hut/meeting room, but it makes an awful window.
The oak frame is busy getting built in deepest Sussex and will go up at the end of September. In the meantime, the guys have finished all they can do on the porch.
I’ve learned a LOT about chimneys, flues, regulations and what’s on the market. We’re aiming for a cassette woodburning fire. This requires a 150 cm flue and a Class I chimney. A traditional open fire would require a 9″ flue and a much larger chimney. Given how close we are to the fence, it’s obvious that we’ve had to limit our choices in this area.
Paul brought a sample of the oak subframes for the bronze windows to the last meeting. It’s enormous.
One benefit of being “distracted” (nice pic!!) is you get to see LOTS of progress when you get back. What a difference! It’s really looking like a house (duh). Glad things are working out on the chimney type; now you just need to come up with the design (that’s all..easy peasy right?).
Have you decided on those roof tiles? It was fun seeing you guys scratching your heads and playing around with them in the video.
I’m struck by how close your house is to the fence line. Are there regulations the require a specific amount of space between the property line and the house? I’m not sure what they are here…maybe 3 feet or something like that.
Yeah, it’s great to see the rooms developing into something tangible. We spent one evening going from room to room thinking about where the light switches will be. Real stuff!
We haven’t decided on roof tiles–still getting prices.
And you’re right, the house is jolly close to the fences on either side. 1 metre sounds ok on paper, but it’s only really shoulder width. The house was measured with GPS and laser sights, so we know it’s in the right place as drawn. When next door was built, the builder had put the fence slightly onto our side, and we weren’t in the house yet to notice. It’s now completely obvious that it’s too far on our side! I don’t propose moving it, but the bonus is that no one can get around it with any swag they might rob from the house.