Week 33 - Service trenches dug and finally the cottage gets a new front wall

It's a little bit sad to see a sold sign outside the cottage.  It feels like we've been through a long journey together and it now feels like our family home.

One of the very last things to do on the renovation was the front garden wall.  We've relaid the path, extended the garden and rebuilt, extended and rendered the wall. 

Here's Dave and Dad working hard on it....

And the finished result - just awaiting a new gate and some stones.  We love it.

Although the front wall looks fantastic, the same cannot be said for the driveway.  It's been dug up to create service trenches for the gas, electric, water and phone.    Today, the gas pipe was laid under the road and tomorrow it's being connected.

Once this is all in place, we can level the driveway, lower the dropped kerb, finish off the surface with decorative stone and install the gates - just in time for the new owners to enjoy it!

Onto our new house, the scaffolding had to come down to dig the service trenches revealing in full the rendered front. 

The new front door with glazing above is now in place - and looks really impressive.

We have some stairs.  The house design has two sets of stairs.  These are the servant ones (or the ones up to the boys annex), the main ones are yet to be installed.

The annex bathroom is now fully tiled.

And tiles have now started to go on in the main bathroom.  Unfortunately, we ran out of the grey tiles on the statement wall - and there is a five week order delay!  

Our bedroom is now fully plastered.

And the ensuite is ready to go - in fact some tiles have gone on today.

We've also ordered some fitted wardrobes for us and the boys.  

These will be installed prior to the carpets going down - and it will be great to have somewhere to hang our clothes straight away.  No money for new ones yet though!

Look forward to updating you all next time.

Week 31/32 - Mum and Dad's House: Tiles and stairs!

Matt, the carpenter, has been busy this week constructing the staircase in Mum and Dad's house and the door framework to the study.

Matt has also installed pocket doors between the lounge and kitchen/diner.

Upstairs, both bathrooms have now been tiled.  They look fantastic.  We can't wait for the tiler to start in ours now!

Week 31/32 A front door and render starts...

First news is that we have sold Fern Cottage.  It was on the market for just two weeks and our buyers were our second viewers.  This is great news - firstly they are a lovely young family and secondly, we now know that we can finish things that would have been on hold due to cashflow such as our garden - plus a much needed holiday!

There's been a lot going on this week on site and as I have taken some leave from work, Aidan and I baked some brownies as a Friday treat today and shared them with our fantastic building team.  They were well received!

We got a front door on Monday - although we are changing it for a wider one.  The glass above and on the sides will go on next week.

The render started today on the front of the house.  They are back tomorrow morning to finish off the walls they started today - no lie in for us then!

When it's all done - next week apparently - the scaffolding will finally be dismantled.  At this point, the service trenches will be dug ready for the gas, electricity, water and most vitally, for Dylan and Aidan, the phone/broadband connection to all be turned on at the end of the month.

The roof is now complete - with installed solar panels to give us a ready supply of hot water.

And talking of hot water, all of the underfloor heating is now installed ready for the screed on Monday.  

Apparently there are six thermostatic valves controlled by the below pipework.  I am sure I will get used to it!  Underfloor heating needs to be left on all the time, which I am assured by the plumber, is cheaper than central heating.

Upstairs, many of the rooms have been plasterboarded and skimmed, which has allowed us to see the generous size of the rooms.  

The ensuite in bedroom 5 will have the tiles put on next week.

So all moving foward - which is good as we now have a deadline of 8-12 weeks before our buyers want to move into the cottage.  Always good to have a deadline to work to!