Week 65

I had a minor surgical procedure a good few years ago which went all a bit pear-shaped in recovery. On speaking to the surgeon, who was a really nice chap despite my setback, it turned out that this particular complication was a one in a bijillion type of thing to happen. Really rare, definitely unexpected. He said then that in all his work, this sort of thing happened less than 1% of the time. But he also understood that despite the odds, it was still 100% of my experience. That’s a lot of responsibility to carry around as a person and a doctor. To his credit, he saw the whole thing through really well, all the while being proactive and keeping positive in analysing the problem, firmly believing that a good solution would gradually emerge.  His attitude turned out to be pretty infectious (no pun intended) and a good learning experience in retrospect.

So, here we are in the midst of another less-than-1% experience. At least, I hope for the building industry it is! No one is happy about it, but onward we go, getting past the worst part which is seeing the nest we’ve built our family upended once again. Demolition was bad enough. I’m upset, but curiously not devastated at the damage done by the flood. It’s not seeing the tangible building wrecked that is gutting, it can and will be mended, it will just take about four more months. It’s more the emotional side that’s galling and the general disappointment that can’t be repaired in any speed but has to be ignored now and eventually left to percolate and dissipate over time.

We started this project with the family in mind, and the goal was to get this house to work effectively for all of us. Rather than have the nice shiny efficient home we’ve worked so hard for, the family is now shoe-horned into our third rental that the kids don’t feel a part of. It’s just like camping, kids, just with better plumbing!, says their ditzy mum. It must be very unnerving as a teenager to have your space dismantled and your parents all distracted 24/7. It seems like this project has taken ages to me (it has by anybody’s standards), but for a bit of perspective, we’ve been at this for a sixth of my youngest’s life, so it must seem horribly normal to her, and that’s not right. I suppose it will make them resilient in the end, but inwardly, I look to my surgeon from before for inspiration and try to be proactive and positive for the kids.

Keeping a smile on is taxing, but we’re quite upfront with the kids about what’s going on–there are no secrets or glossing-over of facts. We’re probably a little too free and easy with opinions around the dinner table, but as this project has eclipsed most of our social life, the build is kind of all we talk about now. It’s easy to be glib and remind them to appreciate that we’re fortunate to have the capacity to put a roof over our heads and food on the table. But this level of subsistence isn’t what we signed up for, in fact what we signed up for is completely the opposite. We tried to ensure that by having loads of tiers of management in place and work cross-checked by a host of professionals, that this sort of disaster would be avoided. In years to come, will I appreciate the house more because the journey has been more arduous? Will we chuckle ruefully as we look back on today’s drama? Or we will feel like just another couple of middle class ya-hoos getting too big for their boots and wading into seas where they shouldn’t be swimming in the first place? Whatever it is, there is no point having a moan, but it’s bloody hard to look at the lovely ruined walls and ceilings and not feel a little robbed that we were so close to living in it.

As a rule, I haven’t shouted anyone out in either a positive or negative way, just because I feel that this blog should be more a story where the House is the central character, and no one wants to read about my dirty laundry. But I feel compelled to give Andy Bald of Removals In Action five virtual stars for being completely awesome. Kevin, Kesta, Shaun, Simon and everyone on his team were total gentlemen and will have moved us five times when all this is said and done. This week the gang worked solidly for days moving us back and forth from rental to storage to another rental with stops to our friend’s house and to the new house to leave some logs in the garden. They’ve put up with me being emotional, 35° temperatures, and a constantly changing gameplan. Thanks, guys…. you’re incredible.

Equally as steady is Warren the Milky 07889 141395. Having milk delivered is a special treat and a cultural phenomenon that I’ve had the pleasure of supporting since I moved to the UK in ’91. Despite our recent vagabond existence, Warren has worked hard to keep the supply consistent for no benefit to himself. When we moved outside his patch into the first rental he found a colleague to continue our delivery seamlessly. It was a pleasure to move back near the house in the second rental and have him resume the service himself. Now, with this short term rental, he’s not only gone and found another colleague to deliver, but he’s given us his good wishes and looks forward to seeing us back in our old neighbourhood soon. Seems a completely unrelated thing to the house-build this whole milk thing, but he’s been delivering to the house for over 15 years plus the two we’ve been out, so it’s kind of a long-term relationship, and one that’s slightly odd because it’s all so ninja–I hardly ever see him! Thanks, Warren.

I apologise for leaving last week off the blog; in the midst of finding new digs and moving into them and it all feeling a bit chaotic. This week is better and we’ve found a path to tread again. The insurers have taken over the Drying Out Process which they say could take anywhere from 0 to 28 days. There are damp reports, forensic assessments, dehumidifiers, environmental teams and all sorts of experts introduced to this project and taking a look this week. Some damage is making itself evident a couple of weeks post-deluge as the underlying structure starts to dry, and even I can see these bits.

To catalogue a few of the areas as they’ve changed in the past fortnight….

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kitchen nibs are looking damp and the coving is ropey and split but the units are probably ok

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ground floor ceiling looking damaged–how much of the staircase was affected?
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bowed skirting was removed in places
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bowing before removing in the family room; is there water under the marble?
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skirting lights will need replacing too
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tenting and dehumidifying sodden areas

But work continues, and although we were planning on moving in, I can’t really say that it was to a complete house anyway. We’d agreed with Tim that work would continue once we were in, and some important bits remained outstanding. Like the 1.25″ diameter water supply which was installed this week. The old pipes were lead, and the water company has a scheme for replacement (which is a little known fact), and they came to replace the house’s supply for free–hooray!

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water company searching for pipes in the road

It turns out the supply runs alongside the road between it and the ditch, so there was no kango-ing of tarmac and far less fuss than expected. Phew

The Swedish-sauna oak soffits on the first-floor overhang went in all along the front and west side of the building. It’s all bright and sparkly now with Clive’s double coats of Osmo oil, which looks a little jarring next to the structural oak that’s been there for months, but it should grey out like the rest of building in time. Spencer will be back to install a lead strip around the west overhang so it’s completely watertight.

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pretty porch
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along the underside of the overhang

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boys’ shower room is looking smart
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mirrors have gone up

Shower screens went in and niche lighting is on. We’ve had a little trouble with the screen for the girls’ bathroom–it’s got a dippy kink in the wall which prevents fitting the screen flush with the edge of the tray, and it’s just plain too long leaving a slim 560 mm gap to get into the shower. We can’t do anything about the placement of the glass, but we can adjust it’s length. The catch is that the screen is made of special safety glass so it can’t simply be trimmed onsite. These things are jolly expensive, so it takes some nerve to say it’s not right. We’ve asked for a price on replacing it at this stage, and we’ll make a decision whether to change it or not depending on how astronomical it is.

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girls’ shower is narrow
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utility room lighting and tiling fits perfectly
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the view out of the building is still beautiful …
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… and so is the back against the shiny tiles.
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the guys have done a huge clear-up in the front garden

Lots has happened on the outside of the house in the past few weeks.

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the protective aprons on the brick plinths have come off, and the brick panels are almost complete
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two vents for the fireplace, top is for cavity venting and bottom is for convection
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rainwater pipework at ground level, although it looks a bit high compared to next door’s fence

The electricians will re-attend after the driveway is complete. There’s a day or so of work to put the car charging point in, wire up the coach light and run all the garden spots out to their respective beds. But for now, the wires will be left all coiled up on the side of the garage. Some will be on timers in the garage and others will be switched from the front door which is exactly like we had it in the old house.

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cabling for the coach light, garden spots and porch down lighters all coiled up and ready to go

The oak support for the garage overhang was mortared in with the rest of paving slabs. This post replaced the very large brick pier that was built first and then demolished when we discovered it left no room to move around it. The edges of the post are really square, and we’ve got to decide whether to chamfer off the corners–what do you think?

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oak post
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Jamie tilled the back garden on first pass
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ground lights will fit in the cuts to paving slabs in the giant back door step

This kind of finishing work would have carried on regardless of the flood, and would have been happening even if we had moved in. The builders have been part of our lives for 65 weeks, and the house is pretty dang big compared to what we’ve been living in the past two years, so I’m sure we could have fit in the odd chippie or electrician during the move. But fortunately for them, they’ve had a chance to work unencumbered, and they’ll soon be clearing off to hand over to the environmental guys as part of the insurer’s package until it’s dry.

Pain is a funny thing. It gradually fades, and the weird bit is that you don’t notice it’s gone. I hardly think about my surgeon any more, but all sorts of thoughts have come to the fore recently. One day, this trauma won’t burn so bright, the technicolour will dim, and things will calm down. Looking forward to it.

 

Week 62

Welcome to Week 62 in our 36 Week project…. It’s all about finishing now.

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bathroom niches have their lights
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tiled flooring is down in the bathrooms, but no shower screens yet
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fiddly short tiles cut to finish the floor, but no mirror
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master vanity unit has been moved, but no lights
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Rich tiled the utility splashback ..
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.. and started the tiling in the kitchen

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looks much more kitchen-like; requests for moral support go unheeded…

Lots of pressure to Buy Things like… doorbells. Have you ever given much thought to them? The button bit can be a nice design piece, and there are many many different types to choose from. But the ringer, chime, sounder, whatever you call it, has three flavours: school bell, electric programmable with a bijillion different “songs”, or an antique from eBay. We went for a chrome schoolbell in the end. Boring, but necessary.

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doorbell: brick mounted or doorframe mounted?
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garden getting cleared gradually
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tiling and water butt
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thinking herb garden thoughts
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more herbs: got a recommendation or favourite to share in comments below?
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horrible scary crack filled
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security lights installed
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oak beam in lieu of bricks to support garage installed

There was an area on the back porch where the supports under the structural oak were slightly shy of the windows leaving a 20 mm gap. There was 10 mm tolerance generally for windows abutting to structure in the specification, and the guys managed to put it all on one side, making the 20 mm of air. The windows were installed just after Christmas, and this gap had been glaring at us ever since. One transgression for the Quirky House Police, but it’s filled now and looks much better.

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Paul filled the gap with surgical precision
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plinth splits for guttering downpipes restored

The bricklayers elevate their work to an artform. I hope that they’ve enjoyed working on this place, because they’ve had a lot to think about. Mind you, this week’s daily quizzes were mostly about war films which really tested my memory of dates, battles and geography. Oh yeah, ….. and what is the only airport in the States with an actual airplane in it? And whom is it named after? But check out the symmetry around every wall and detail as you look at any photo with bricks in. Genius.

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study is finished with flooring and electrics
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massive patch panel in the utility room to centralise all the data points
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fireplace with temporary buildout, but the room looks miles better with a coat of paint
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colours look alright in the kitchen into family room — Dulux Trade is A-OK
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master bedroom detail
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wardrobe rails in
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electrics are getting there one socket at a time, but not sure about the labelling…

We’re moving in on the Thursday of week 63. In theory. Kitchen commissioning on Monday morning, air permeability test in the afternoon. Tuesday is the contractor’s last formal day on the interior. Wednesday is cleaning, and Thursday we’re in.

When we first started this project I had visions of the finished product being presented in a more defined way. I kinda expected a ta-da! moment. I thought we’d have some time to think about the job, to go around with the contractor in a logical way to see if anything was overlooked, to snag it, to rectify the snags, and to move in with a huge smile. As it is, it’s rushed, the project manager is on holiday, the electricians are still (incredibly shockingly and disappointingly) not finished, snagging hasn’t started, the air-test is going on unsupervised and might fail our SAP calcs for us, and there is still a ton of work to do outside both within and outside the contract. Like, there is no drive and no lawn, but these will be done by others. There are no curtains, yet. And, strangely, there is no TV aerial which somehow counts as AV equipment which was conveniently client-specified but not highlighted until now.

There have been many parts of this project when we’ve seen our naive decisions come to fruition, and some have worked out just fab and the product is marvellous. But mostly, I really just haven’t wanted to look at bits and pieces in case we’d made a poor stab at something. I feel far more fear than excitement or pleasure at moving in just now. Maybe it’s just the fact we’re coming to the end of a period of exam hell with the kids and staffing challenges with the business all at once conveniently coordinated with the week we’re moving in. Maybe it’s because it’s the hottest week of the year. Maybe it’s that the budget is starting to burst at the seams. Maybe in five years’ time this feeling of unease and self-doubt will have morphed imperceptibly into something more comfortable, settled and positive. I hope my future self laughs heartily on reading today’s momentary dip in my attempt to retain a consistently high level of relentless positivity throughout this long journey. This future self will be enormously grateful and very happy in our family home that we’ve had built the way we wanted and was intended to provide the centre of gravity for the six of us at least for many many years to come.

Right?

Week 61

Clinton celebrated a penultimately significant birthday on the weekend by going back to school: blacksmithing school. He’s always happiest when he’s making and building and doing. So with some stout shoes and safety glasses, off he went to the Quinnells’ at Fire and Iron to get stuck in to Make Stuff.  The course was about blacksmithing technique but with an artist kind of vibe; the goal was to take home a few cool pieces at the end of the two days. With a little guidance from the instructors, he’s gone and made something quite amazing, unique and special. You’ll have to wait for the great unveiling in a future post, but I will hint that it’s for the house.

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Iron Man

The long-awaited visit from British Telecom to attach the house to the rest of the planet was scheduled for Monday. Matt the Engineer arrived promptly first thing to rig up the line. Jamie got stuck in to finish off the trench, and James and I deciphered where the electricians had cunningly hidden the location for the BT box (spoiler: in the garage). So Matt got busy connecting, and Jamie filled in the trench afterwards. Apparently there’s a dial tone and everything!

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we love a good trench

Other outdoor work included laying more paving slabs and turning on the outdoor lights.

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replacing a wobbly slab

Steve’s team came to install the wood burner in the middle of the week. Cue much amusement from the guys wanting to know when the fish will be delivered. Installation went off mostly without a hitch with a little drilling out of the brickwork for ducting and a little bricking up for a base that the thing sits upon. It’s a closed system, so we don’t need air bricks to the room, but there is a need to supply air to the appliance itself, and another need to vent out the chamber so it doesn’t overheat, especially since we’re sticking a great big TV above it (eventually). The extra size of the exterior brickwork plinth at the bottom made it a little challenging for the guys to connect the bottom duct since it was so long, so they had to come back the day after and finish the job. It looks great as it is but we’ll add to it in time: eventually the build-out sections will be built bigger so the TV is set back behind the stove. We’re going to develop this design with Steve now that this portion of the job is complete, but at least it’s safe at the moment and passes all its HETAS requirements for building control. It’s a complicated design, but Dave’s watching over it, and it will be awesome.

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Rais 900 all alone
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where it will live
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woodburner, mid-install
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temporary buildout and ready to go

The mechanical ventilation system failed it’s commission a couple of weeks ago, which was slightly scary. The pipes are all running in the void between the concrete first floor and the ground floor ceiling, and getting to them now would destroy a ton of decorating. The system runs to all the wet areas including the downstairs coats cupboard where all the electrical controls are housed. The problem was that there wasn’t enough suction on the longer runs to the other side of the house and to the kitchen, so it failed its installation tests. We have been waiting on tenterhooks seeing how the company would deal with this, and they came back this week to fix it. Their solution was to fit a second motor in the loft to give it enough oomph. So now we’ve got double-spiders up there, all labelled up nice and pretty, and it sucks like fury. Hooray!

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fancy MEV

You may have noticed in one of the photos above that the exterior light was ON! Yes, the lights are on at long last. Lewis was characteristically sanguine about showing me the gleaming little LEDs and lovely warm Edisons outside, but I am pretty sure he’s kinda proud of getting near the end, and I think I even caught a sly smile or two in there somewhere. It’s another threshold of making the house look like a home.

I’ll take you on a tour of some of the mostly-finished rooms….

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shoes-off policy upstairs now that the floor protection is up
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Gareth’s room
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Gregory’s room
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first floor hallway
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the glorious linen cupboard!
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Gillian’s room
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up close and personal with a newel post
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boys’ bathroom with burglar PIR in hallway
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master vanity needs shifting to the right 100 mm

It was all looking marvellous indeed! But then… the heavens opened. This time last year, you’ll remember that the storm drains on the local roads up the hill failed, and my neighbours got flooded out with the grounds guys altruistically running bricks to them to raise their furniture before the water got to their beds and sofas. Since then, much repair work has been done, and one neighbour was able to move back in just after Christmas; the other is due to move back in at the end of the summer.

This year it was our turn for drama.

The water was either down to the oak frame or the windows, and it was only in a few places. First we phoned Neil who has built a bijillion of oak frames in his career, and he was totally cool about it. Although he’s never seen anything like it, he offered some suggestions and kept a cool head. He was down onsite two days after we called, and he agreed to do some sealing around the edges as a failsafe. He came with Grant and an enormous ladder on the weekend to put the CT1 in some gaps and seal it up, so we won’t be seeing this sort of thing again. The next step is to talk to the window company about the seals around the windows, but that’s a little more complicated because there are so many materials (mastick, sealant, bronze frames) to contend with. Ben’s on it and we should come up with a solution to cover that side as well soon. This belt-and-braces approach should mean we’ve got an air and water tight arrangement, and this is important as we look forward to the all-important Air Test for the SAP calcs in a couple of weeks.

The brick guys returned to repair the damage we did to taking out the piers, and to fill the extra holes the in the bricks made by the electricians in their quest to find good spots for outdoor lights and power. They should finish up next week so they’re only here for a wee bit, but I didn’t get away lightly…. “Who was the last man to walk on the moon?”, asked Paul in the morning. With a completely blank mind, I said Charlie Duke whom I knew was an astronaut, but I also knew was the wrong answer. I’ve even read Andrew Smith’s Moon Dust, and I SHOULD know these things! When I came back onsite in the afternoon to drop off some thing or other, it was “What’s so significant about the River Roe in the States?” Galling, because I’m American, and I’m sure he picks these questions because of it. I will leave you to go and find the answers yourselves!

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chipping out the decimated brickwork
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redoing their own work

And James has got all comfortable in his man-cave in the kitchen.

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Week 56

The kitchen is in.

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There are a few teething problems, but I’m sure it’s nothing that won’t be overcome in time. The most imperative thing that needs a little attention is the presence of the hole that’s been drilled for the ducting. James had organised a massive 7″ core drill to be onsite for the job, but the work that was carried out didn’t use that tool, so we’ve got a preliminary hole for the moment. This will have a lovely grille over the front of it in a couple of weeks, and eventually it will be covered by hydrangea or otherwise. But for now, we don’t want any little beasties crawling in and making a home before we do.

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hole and bits

Terry and Josh have been working hard on the stairs. There is an incredible amount of chipping, gluing, measuring and fitting involved. And inherently, there is a lot of up and down, up and down, so it must be tiring. The bottom steps were set into place and they look ever so graceful. We can actually use the stairs now, but they’re still covered up with protection, and I think James will keep the ladder up as long as possible to prevent boots from risking accidental chamfering off of the square nosings. It’s interesting to see the scaffolding morph into different positions as required during a working day.

The fiddly CNC’d secondary newel posts arrived as well, and Mike and Clive have covered them in a lovely coat of their favourite, Osmo. They look a bit lonely off the stairs, but they look great in the pdf files–can’t wait to see them go in.

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tool bed
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secondary newels
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not-quite-fitted

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graceful first step

Some of the floor on the landing doesn’t quite meet up with the oak. It is extremely difficult to foresee these join details in planning the house, and lots of these things will emerge in the coming weeks as we race towards the finish line. So today’s decision was to choose a wood detail to act as a mini-skirting. We could have a full-height skirting just like the rest of the house. Or, we could fit a cut-down bit of architrave of the same profile as the rest of the house, or even a tiny bull-nose piece of oak that joins the floor and the beam. Since the structural oak remains the most substantial feature of the build, and the goal is to expose as much of it as possible, we’ve gone ahead and chosen the bull-nose, but as low as possible so we don’t have to chop the dowels, and as thin as possible so it doesn’t look silly.

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More site meetings, more baking. Ben’s been very patient with us over the time it takes to make these little decisions. Hopefully by the end of the project we’ll get the process dialled and each one won’t take so long. But for now, seeing bits and pieces in situ helps a lot, and sometimes this means climbing up ladders and holding bits of wood up to see how they look!

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keeping the troops going on cake at a time
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the things you do for clients, Ben

We finally bit the bullet and removed the oak collar on the clad sections in the master bedroom. Hands in the air, we fully admit to being over-enthusiastic with Neil when we designed the piece. Although the king-post and curved webs were awesomely built, and Terry, Josh and James spent a week installing it, we felt adding them was a decision made in haste so we asked them to take it down. I’m more than a little embarrassed about this decision, but it had to be done. Now it feels like we can breathe in the room.

The guys initially thought they’d have to take down a load of plasterboard and really fight with the screws that held the cladding to the oak. But in the end, they managed to cut the insulation and plasterboard in a nice straight line along some temporary battens put up temporarily alongside the cladding, and the oak was drilled out with a minimum of destruction. Very impressive. We now have to hang fire until Neil can manufacture the new cladding and get it to site. This stuff will be slightly thicker so it meets in the middle thereby covering up the central steel beam.

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… and we can finally breathe again

 

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makings of a really nice bird house from the old oak beams

The sun is swinging around towards the front of the house during the day, and it belts in through the front bay in the afternoons making all sorts of lovely shadows and lines.

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The bathrooms are getting tiled and painted, and the bedrooms are getting their dressing of trim in the skirting and wardrobes.

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Next week will see the groundworkers returning. They’ll start on the patio around the back, and they’ll swing up to the side of the house before they hit the front. Then it’s the all-important bridges. Tony the structural engineer is putting the finishing touches on the design before issuing instructions to Tim and his team. The goal at the moment is to devote resources to the interior as much as possible and leave the drive until last.

Tim had the club tiles moved up another rung this week. It’s a tiny little detail, and it took a lot of effort to move everything up just one course, but we’re very grateful and it looks great–thanks, Tim!

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front of the house
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back of the house in the sun

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We finished the week with a trip to Rye to visit Nick and see how the painting is coming on. He’s so accommodating and patient with our numpty questions, making us cups of tea, even talking about Gillian about her GCSE final piece and taking us for a tour of Rye Creative. It’s lovely to see the painting again and to have a little bit of input into the work. Gillian and Matt joined us, and after a lovely lunch at The Globe, we spent the afternoon wandering around Rye Harbour, dodging waves, looking for jellies and doing a spot of geocaching. The weather closed in near the end, and it was great to finally see Rye in a bit of sun for a while as in all the previous times I’ve been down there, I’ve been treated to a bit of horizontal rain and lashing gales.

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creating some new ideas
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tools of the trade
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big beach
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how do you work this thing again?

 

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Rye wall

Week 53

I thought I’d skip Week 52, the week celebrating one entire year of this project. Instead, we dragged our pasty selves up North to clear the winter cobwebs for a walking holiday with the family for the Easter Break.

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Lakes

The first day in Yorkshire was gorgeous: 15 degrees, sunny and beautiful.house 2017.04.18a - 1.jpg

We had the excellent good fortune of walking through Hutton Roof where we stumbled on a farm that had been converted into half stone yard and half car sales lot. We made an effort to find the showroom, and lo and behold it was 10 minutes from our cottage on the way into Kendal. We met Alexis who guided us through the stone she had in stock, and we fell in love with what will become our paving slabs for the patio. Should be nice. So amazing to spend weeks looking and looking for something down South, then finding the perfect stone when you least expect it. We also fell in love with some of the Lakeland slate, and while it’s outrageously expensive for the garden, we might consider it for some other areas in the house. I like the idea of sourcing this stuff from places we’ve been and people we’ve met rather than buying it out of a catalogue. And knowing it’s providence suits the building too–all very Frank Lloyd Wright-ian. I’ve been listening to a few too many design podcasts for my own good recently!

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future patio

The week before we left was hectic with many different trades on site.

Having made the decision to go with the plans on the brick slip panels in the back of the house where they were parallel to each other, we decided it didn’t look as great on the five side panels in the front. Clive and Mike knowingly stopped half way through the second one for us to have a look because they knew dang well that we’d only go and change it.

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brick slips that need changing

Lovely to see the tile hanging again. But the decorative club tiles need to be scooted up a bit and also wrapped around the left side of the building. This should happen in the coming weeks and then the towers can come down to make room for the drive.

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shame to change this as well

Hinges are going on the doors.

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big doors and big template

They’ve set up a nice little shop in the master bedroom with a stand and a template so they can crack through each door quickly. Have a look at the time-lapse for the doors getting lifted up through the hallway one at a time. They get through them ever so quickly!

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We’ve been dithering like fury to get the WC organised, to the frustration of James and Tim who are getting really tired of our start-stop approach. But as usual, simple is always best, the design is less complicated than the original layout, and next time you see this area, it will look less like the electricans’ storage area and more like a downstairs loo.

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future loo

Meanwhile Lee and the gang have been laying out the patio. It’s quite a job to set out the area in two dimensions, but once you consider the levels in the third dimension, steps up to the house to be even with the interior tiles, and then calculate the runoff angle for rainfall, the whole thing becomes a right pickle. Luckily, between Nicola planning beds around the building and Lee planning the runoffs to fall away effectively, the patio shouldn’t have any puddles that cause the tiles to discolour.

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side patio
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first go at painting out the back patio
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herb garden

Having moved the drainpipe away from the structural oak gable in the front of the house, the pipe needed to match the rest of its platoon and cut into the plinth at the foot of the building. With this one already built, James and Josh simply cut it out with an angle grinder. Clearly it needs finishing, but once it’s behind the drainpipe and the box hedge that will sit in front of it, maybe we won’t notice the cut bricks too much in years to come. Our instinct is to do it properly and rebuild the pier, but we’re going to give it a few weeks before we decide to spend the cash for such a drastic measure.

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snip snip

The tilers arrived this week. The first thing they did was see if the building was flat and square. Kevin was pretty impressed, and I suspect even James was a little surprised. He wasn’t actually on the job when the house was laid out–that was Nic, and all credit too him, it’s pretty near as dammit impressively square to a couple of mm. The only problem was a small area where the floors weren’t quite level. To check the floor flatness, Kevin scooted the 3m level over the whole floor and found a small high point between the family room and the kitchen. Lee was on hand for a consult, and before the morning was out, he’d shaved off the required few mm with a horizontal sander (wish I’d been around to take a snap of that), and the floor lined right up.

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centre spot of the whole house

They use these really awesome little wedges to set up the tiles to exactly the right height.

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wedges and separators
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where is the centre tile?

Last was a decision about how to lay the marble tiles. The Portnall stone is super varied in colour and has lots of veining, so we opted for a brick bond throughout. This makes the whole thing a little less uniform, but it wasn’t Kevin’s immediate suggestion. Hope we’ve made the right decision, but we really won’t have a chance to see the floor again until the protection is up.

Tile, seal, grout, seal. And then protected with lots of padding on top so no one mucks in any stones or gear across it and ruins it.

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ditramat under the tiles ready for grouting

I’m looking forward to seeing what has happened while we’ve been away, and I’ll be approaching the build with a renewed enthusiasm.

Week 50

Spring is springing on the way to site.

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While the weather improves and we’re thinking about trenches, services and meters, here are some pix of the outside of the house.

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roofers roofing
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ground guys digging
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back doors shining
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ready for downpipes
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more roofers roofing… on a Saturday!

The problem with glazing bar alignment across the two planes of windows in the front bay that we had back in Week 42 has been resolved. Thank you to the Bronze company that agreed that this couldn’t be left as it was. It’s funny: now that the bars align, you kind of don’t see them any more. Good design kind of disappears.

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Doors are on.

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welcome
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…and the side door we’ll probably use more

This isn’t a standard box house, it’s very complicated. It’s also been through three sets of architects, two contractors, and lots of TLC and tweaks along the way. Like Terry designing the kick to the garage roof off the cuff with no plans. Some of the details only make themselves known when things are being fitted, so it’s helpful (not sure Tim and James think so..?) to be able to take time out and be onsite more and more as we race towards the finish line.

Case in point is the downpipes. There is one in the front labelled clearly on the drawing, and it goes right up in the corner between the vertical tiles and the huge two-storey beam. Well, having a drainpipe alongside the oak is a dippy idea as it’s front and centre and visible to god and everybody. But it wan’t not obvious until it was right there. A puzzle and much discussion: we can’t ditch the pipe because a LOT of rain will be flowing down that little section of gully. Water from the valley section and three faces of roof will be chucked down here right next to wood. But it dangling there alongside the wood and block its view was equally lacking. The solution that Spencer suggested as to add a few strategically placed special plastic vertical tiles that you can fix downpipes to on the opposite side of the gutter section, about three feet out from the gable and down the pillar to the east. That way you get your flow, and it’s away from the wood. A super plan on the first floor, but still not great on ground floor, because each downpipe is cut into the plinth at the bottom which is a gorgeous detail, and there isn’t one built in the new spot. I’m sure James will work something out……

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looking up the beams and thinking about locating that downpipe

Architrave and mist coats are making the ground floor look more finished every day.

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kitchen and family room
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kitchen proper: the working area
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drawing room
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hallway looking north
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hallway looking south
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hallway looking up
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quirky hallway upstairs
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choosing colours again

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khaki mist 3 or patters clay 2?

And ironmongery….? Luckily we’ve found the mecca of hinges and handles, and it’s in Fleet. We have dithered for weeks about finding a match for the bronze windows, much to the annoyance of Tim who simply wants to get the doors ON ferchrissake, but nothing was doing the job. Actually, there is a company in the States that does the job if you want to spend about £1k per doorset. Have not yet won the lottery so clearly not an option. So we’re going for black to match the balusters and to be a little non-controversial. Graham is helping us, and he’s immensely patient with our wavering and our questions.

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more choice than most

With all the flooring being laid shortly, James helped us in choosing the exact locations for the ground lights in the hallway and master bedroom. These are meant to light up the oak in a subtle way, but as we’ve not chosen the fittings yet, James left a suitable gap where they’ll go and concreted in around them. He didn’t waste any time: we were there with sections of pipework in the afternoon, and before they’d packed up, the lights were were packed out.

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light spot

With deadlines about colours, hinges, ironmongery, garden slabs, light fittings, driveway colours, and fireplace design passing us by, tempers are getting short. We are all working towards the same goal, even though it’s challenging to stay positive and keep all our pointy fingers from taking aim. When things like the long-awaited gas meter are put back as the installer drives away because the job was labelled for the gas board’s subcontractor as a Swap instead of an Installation (it WAS a swap, just a swap for a missing meter, remember?), it gets a little frustrating.

But then you’ll get one of those awesome spring days where everything is fresh and blue, and we’re reminded that everyone on this job is on message about quality, the finished result is gorgeous, and it doesn’t seem so bad.  Good weather and more cake… that’ll fix it.

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lovely

Week 47

We have a flue!

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no jolly men in red suits today

Actually, it’s a flue liner, not to be confused with the identically named but made of pumice ‘flue liner’ that was already installed with the chimney went up. All very technical, but for the past few weeks, Dave has been developing the plans to make this thing work.

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These are the best laid ones of the bunch…
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installing the cowel at the top
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all set to go

Terry and Josh have made a start on the garage roof. This first requires brackets to be attached to the wall on one side and onto the brickwork on the other. They were making good headway until they got called to build a new skin to a wall in the hallway later in the week.The problem was a very small area of single skin which was going to make the place thermally inefficient and vulnerable. This issue had been brewing for a while as we’d been waiting for approval from the warranty company with this wall design and with a little pushing from Ben, they finally approved the thinnest version which is great because it allows more of the oak frame to be exposed. But it’s a problem no longer, as the thing is now built at long last, and the plasterers can get on and finish it off.

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Terry’s garage roof brackets
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thicker wall

Aaron’s been in to finish the first fix wiring. The wires have been capped and cased all over the house, and they’re making maps of were they are under the plaster so we don’t end up sticking nails through them when we put up artwork.

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breaking a few eggs before the omelette is finished

Once Aaron was done, there was a whole gang of new plasterers that came and put the ceilings up. It’s very high tech with laser sights and grids of brackets to hold up the suspended ceiling that hides the electrics and plumbing under the concrete upstairs floor. They’ll still be about 2.8 m off the deck.

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straight line gizmo

One last trip around the scaffold to check out the finished roof.

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can’t resist taking another of these pix
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cloaking tiles
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a mortar snake through a hole in the slate (these just flick off)

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lead dormer cheeks
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pencil lines showing the handmade workmanship

The doors arrived at long last. It took four guys to lift them off the truck, and they came pre-assembled in their frames. James, Terry and Josh will fit them next week which will make the building will be almost air tight. This will not be a small undertaking. As you can see, we have yet to choose a doorknob in the centre. Clinton actually bought a brass casting kit a couple of years ago, and we’ve got some thoughts, but it’s got to be good. No pressure!

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colossal front door (it’s upsidedown)

The plasterers are just about done upstairs and will move downstairs next week. Like the rest of the house, it’s not been straightforward: there are some fiddly bits like in the upstairs hallway and some enormous swathes like the stairs wall and the whole of our bedroom. They’ve done a great job, but they’ve got to get a wriggle on to finish downstairs before the floor goes down.

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master ceiling
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plaster in the master bedroom
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hallway looking east

 

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hallway looking west
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stairs area
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lunch pail

And then the scaffolding came down….

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a good before picture of the knot garden

 

 

Week 46

Most of the action this week occurred behind the scenes. Lots of planning and sorting and choosing more than cutting, sticking and building. We’ve chosen a fireplace, paid bills, decided on tiles, placed thermostats, chased electrics, considered ironmongery and built-in furniture, and we started thinking about wardrobe build-ups, kitchen pendants, sofas and curtains. I thought we were doing well with box-ticking until Tim asked for confirmation of colour choice for the paintwork. I think I need a lie-down….

Spencer is pretty much done with the roof, and now he and Jackson are on to the more decorative bits. One of these is the scalloped lead-work around the windows. There are 16 downstairs and 10 upstairs runs of this lead, all of varying length. There is nothing at all normal or even and symmetrical about this house. The lead was installed when the oak subframes were put in. It serves a very useful function in keeping the brickwork section underneath waterproof, but it’s an artisanal job to make it look pretty.

It starts with a scored out scallop.

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a satisfying OCD moment
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Jackson and his compass

Then the scallops are cut with actual scissors to make the shapes.

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Spencer practicing his cutting out skills

Each cut-out is rolled up and hammered into place.

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house2017.02.24 - 6.jpg The guys wear gloves because of the chemicals in the lead. Working with this stuff all day is toxic–lead poisoning is a real thing, and the preservatives on the surface are well-yucky.

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ooooo…
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…ahhhh

We’ve opted to keep a layer of PVC on the course between the plinth and the vertical brickwork to protect the plinth from stuff dropping on it from above. All it takes is a stanley knife to remove it later on.

Plastering is the name of the game in other areas of the house. And in the few rooms where they are not working, Terry and Josh can get on with the window boards. Must say, they look lovely next to the subframes. They’re both treated with this Osmo oil which will bed in and soften in colour over time. We’re putting the stuff everywhere on all the oak except the huge structural pieces–architrave, door linings, the lot. We’ll even slap it on the oak underside of the first floor overhang outside. James hates it only slightly less than the black stain on the soffit boards.

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window board

Another interesting piece is the brick inlay panels. They’re not herringbone, but everyone calls them The Herringbone Panels–even us. Actually, with my Pedant Hat on, they’re Askew. But this is alright with me! (Sorry). Clive painstakingly sliced each brick to a skinny sort of depth, and we’ve bought this fancy adhesive for them to stick them on. Like the oak cladding last week, this is not quite functional, well, not at all, but it looks awesome. They’re doing a brilliant job setting, pinning, gluing, and mortaring them into place.

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There are fifteen panels to make: 5 across each apex front and back, 5 across each paired square below them, and 5 below the windows in the hallway. That’s a lot of work, and I feel somewhat guilty just writing this in all the time they’re spending making the panels, but they are taking enormous pride in how it’s turning out. They took a day off the scaffolding when storm Doris blew through, the front and some of the back are mostly done.

I don’t usually go on about it, but I take great pride in looking at other houses with this similar non-herringbone brickwork, whose designers have decided to use a different brick from the rest of the house because it can be bought in, and thinking that our guys have simply taken the time and made the effort to do a brilliant job. Anyone with eyes can see that it’s a total pain to have spent days and days cutting these really thin slices to carefully stick on the boards, which is what James and the guys have done. But the finished effect will be seamless with the brickwork in the rest of the house because it’s exactly the same brick. It’s a bespoke house that everyone  onsite is on board with to make it as good as it possible can be. And THAT is the bit that’s amazing.

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lonely roof while Doris blows through

Week 45

Early birds, these guys. On my way to meet the electrician at a lazy 7:30 am, I saw that they’d already had a delivery that was just departing down the lane.

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oak cladding in morning light

More oak arrived late yesterday via Neil and his Land Rover with trailer; it’s always a pleasure to have him onsite. These pieces will cover the steels in the master bedroom, a design compromise that sits a little uncomfortably only because for the rest of the house, the wood is structural, and this isn’t. But with Neil’s skill in fabricating, and Josh, Terry and James’ skill in installing, I doubt we’ll be able to tell any difference between the cladding and the real deal at all in years to come. It looks very fresh at the moment when put up next to the stuff that’s been up for six months. Neil clearly spent ages on the comprehensive installation manual for the guys too. I’m sure they’re grateful!

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instruction manual
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Terry’s not putting it up on the wonk, it’s the lens distorting the angles
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curved beam to match detail in the hallway

Meanwhile, work carries on around the rest of the house, and it’s crowded. Plasterers, roofers and electricians have been in all week, and I’ve been interviewing fireplace experts, interior designers and joiners.

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fitting plasterboard from the vaulted section

The best bit of the week was our topping out ceremony. We, well, Tim really, decided it would happen when the last ridge tile went on. Originating in Scandinavia, this is an event that usually happens on bigger projects and usually involves chasing out evil spirits with branches of evergreen plants, and blessing the building for its future occupants in some way. Rather than inviting a random druid priest around or sticking the odd sprig of fir tree up the top of the scaffolding, we tried to keep it simple.

Our solution was that we signed the final ridge tile.  We got out our white pen and scribbled as a family, then got Tim, Ben, James, Terry, Josh, and Spencer to sign as well. So Spencer carefully left the last space empty for us to fit on the very front of the house. Excellent! It was a two-part event with fizz and sausage rolls on the Thursday as Clinton couldn’t be there for the actual fitting on the Friday. Everyone from the roofers to the tackers were there. Matt, Gillian’s boyfriend even joined in. Clinton said a few words of thanks, we armed Tim with the camera for some family snaps, and then we tucked right in!

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Gemma setting up the buffet
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builders buffet
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it IS Oxshott after all
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thanks, guys…
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… from all of us
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underside of the ridge tile
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future residents
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Gemma and fake fizz

 

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we even had waiting service

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The A-Team: Ben, Jackson, Tim, Clive, Blake, Dave, Mike, Josh, Terry, James, and Spencer

So it seemed only fitting that after all these festivities and thank-yous that we actually got the signed tile on the roof.  The girls, Matt, and I spent a lovely sunny morning in Roofing School with Spencer (well, me watching them more than doing anything constructive).

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up on the scaffold

 

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Spencer prepares the area for the final tile
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Gemma lays the tile

Can’t say that our efforts contributed anything special, but it will be lovely to think that at least we had something tangible to do with the build as we look up at the front gable forevermore. The layers of cloaking look great, and the rest of the roof is just about there. Next week will involve Spencer doing a little tidying with other, lower, ridges, which leaves the scaffolding coming down Thursday or Friday!

 

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final tile in place
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cloaking closeup
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“How are we going to get the leaves off THAT, Mum?”
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can you spot the venting tiles?

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roofing signature

 

 

 

 

 

Week 44

 

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James and Spencer discussing the roof

The roof is almost finished. Spencer asked me if I was happy with the course of cloaking tiles that will sit between the oak gables below and the roof tiles above. He’s added a layer of Welsh slate secured underneath to prevent the roof from wobbling as the oak settles. They’ll be mortared in when they’re laid next week, and the gap between them and the roof tiles will be filled as well. The carefully installed leadwork finishes the job.

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junction of tiles, slate, cloaking, and lead
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cloaking mockup that will go up and up
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leadwork
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clothed and unclothed

The gutters went up later in the week. They’re powder coated aluminium which will last and last with any luck. Aluminium is made in longer lengths than cast iron which is great for the long runs without dormers–easier to make, easier to coat, and easier to install. Although the guy I spoke to who was working with long sections of it up on the scaffold late on Friday said it was very very cold as a material to handle. Yes, at 2C it would be. They’ve installed around all the fiddly dormers, and the downpipes will go in when the scaffolding is down. In the meantime, they attach giant bags to where the downpipes should be, so that water still collects and stays off the face of the building until the job is complete.

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dormers with burlap hats on
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long runs of guttering on the east side
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pieces cut to length and ready for fitting

 

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guttering installed just in time–this is slushy snow in standstill traffic…lovely!

It’s the middle of a bitter cold spell with snow off and on all week, but none of it sticking, so it’s just disgusting outside with no snow-joy. Phil the plasterer says that they need it to be 5 degrees and rising for plaster to set. Part of their job is to physically stand there and watch it set to even out imperfections, so this is taking rather a while, more like days than hours, it being all in cold and slo-mo.

There are ten individual 2.5 m tall panes of glass in the hallway at the front of the house. If we do decide to go with the fancy automated curtains we’ve got in mind, we’ll need holes drilled and wires for power setup through them. James had the unenviable task of drilling the structural oak as close as he could to the windows given the body of the drill. So faced with this tricky job of messing around with the expensive and carefully engineered oak, he simply bought a new drill bit for the job, lined it up, and with his typical levels of cool, just got on with it. It looks bizarre to see shavings of precious structural oak now adorning the surfaces of the lower beams. I’m glad I wasn’t there to watch.

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cable hole

The back of the house is looking more like a house. Terry is still up the top, round the sides, inside, outside, and up and down ladders all day long cutting bits to go just about everywhere. Meanwhile, Josh is in full voice doing the same. There is more than enough to keep both of them very busy and loads of disco tunes to keep them going.

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back of the house

We welcome Nicola on board this week. She’s the garden design expert and will draw up a plan for the front and the back. This is timely because I had the good fortune to meet James the landscape gardener and Andy with the driveway materials, both to discuss what’s happening outside. So a plan is where we want to start, especially with the hard landscaping and tree-planting as there is a certain level of commitment involved in those pieces, and that will come to fruition in the coming weeks. For once we’re doing something in the important-and-NOT-urgent-box, and not in our usual space of important-and-urgent.

Meanwhile, what colour of driveway would you like? The most cost-effective range is the 6mm aggregate which requires a 16mm base rather than the 10mm aggregate which requires a 22 mm base. Less material means less labour as well as less of the stuff in the first place which equates to less money (hopefully).

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10 mm is too big, 3 mm is to small, so 6 mm is just about right

Another visit to the forge to end the week to have a discussion with Tony about some very minor tweaks to the curlicues.

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look closely for snowflakes falling in Betchworth

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We had a good chat about his current job, how he started his career and what happened to allow him to start working in a place like this 27 years ago. I think he is enjoying working on our project as he seems to be a specialist in odd and interesting metalwork staircases. We’ll go back another time when the fire is on and he’s making our pieces.

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the anvil has seen many years of action
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Tony and Clinton discussing the ups and downs pattern

James is preparing to fill in the brick slip panels soon. He’s given one of them a start, but the specialist epoxy mortar we chose back in Week 31  needs a special gun for application rather than a trowel, so he’s waiting on its delivery before continuing. There is leadwork to fill in beforehand anyway. Meanwhile, Clive has been cutting bricks like there’s no tomorrow.

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Clive’s been cutting bricks and tiles

I hope the view through the building will always be this good. Maybe if it’s good now with bags of plaster, ladders, and light fittings hanging off the ceiling, it will be even better when it’s all tricked out with furniture when you come down to make a cup of tea in the morning.

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