Last week we slept here...

It was our bedroom
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

I reckon by the end of the week there won't be much left in the house. All the walls which are to be knocked down have large red crosses on them. There are a lot of large red crosses!

There's no turning back now!

2 days into the 'build'

002 Saint's View - garage demolished
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

Only 2 days into the build and amazing progress has been made. It's extraordinary how quickly a team of professionals can ruin a perfectly good home! Apart from the obvious removal of the garage, the inside of the house has been gutted and large sections of ceiling removed leaving a view through to the rafters (See next post).

For the growing series of shots from the same viewpoint see the complete set of rear elevation photos.

"Before"

So we can remember what the place used to look like, we've taken the obligatory images to compare with the completed works.

Rihoy and sons

Rihoy and sons
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

In case there was any doubt, we have employed the services of Rihoy & Sons - and here's the proof.

A trailer has appeared in our drive

They have arrived and left a trailer
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

The shape of things to come - well, not really. I imagine that this will be uniquely this shape and that everything else will look different.
So the project has begun. Like any good production, the public always see a trailer first. And like most trailers, I really wanted it to be a little longer.

Tractor removals

Tractor removals
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

We're all moved out, thanks to Hugh Lenfestey and his tractor. Thank goodness that the next time we move will be the last for a long time (at least).

Saint's View before the demolition

001 Saint's View before the demolition
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

This will be the first installment in the series - we'll take pictures from the same position throughout the process.

Glazing test

Glazing test
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

We're testing a new kind of glass called "Active" glass, hop0ing that it will self-clean to a certain extent.
So to test the glass, we've put the "Active" glass next to a standard 4mm sheet of glass and left them in the most exposed position we can find, facing the same way that the glass gable will face. The "Active" glass is supposed to wash clean whenever it rains and loosens organic dirt with some sort of UV activated coating - too clever? Also, the main reason we think the windows will get dirty is because of the salt spray and salt is not organic.

Moving today

Hugh will be here at 10:00 with his tractor and the move will officially begin.

Sunsets at Saint's View

Sunsets at Saint's View
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

As the sun has been setting in a more Southerly position on the horizon, we finally get to see some sunsets from out garden. The excitement comes from the fact that, although we had calculated that we'd see them for a few months of the year, seeing is definately believing

Things seem to be going a little too well...

Sometimes too many things go right. You wonder if you're missing something or if something really nasty is just around the corner.

Here are the things which are going very well indeed:
1. WE GOT OUR PERMISSION! - I just talked to the architects who say they received notification that we have permission for our preferred option on the plans (and strangely not the other option!). This means we can have the 6 pane sliding doors on the gable, and the clerestory window in the south gable. The only thing they didn't like is the larger velux windows at the rear - we're back to the smaller ones on the original drawing. We can live with that!
2. As we blogged yesterday - we're currently negotiating with a building firm who have quoted below what we expected. We were worried that the prices would come back sky high.
3. That building firm are keen to start work as early as the 14th November! That's fine by us as we started renting a house this week so we can move anytime. We were worried that noone would be available to start before the new year.

We just want to sign that contract and get building now.

Approaching the contractor

We have agreed to approach JW Rihoys in order to agree a price for the works. They submitted the lowest tender price and so it has made us extremely wary. Their reasons for quoting so low could be either because their is some fault in their calculations, or because they genuinely wat the job and are just seeing themselves through a nadir in the market. Our mail to Matt went as follows (Matt's responses in yellow):

The price and lead time seem to be too good to be true and can’t help but leave us feeling that there must have been something that’s been overlooked. Me too But what is it? I don't know Or is it just a gift horse? Could be Should we look it in the mouth? Perhaps What’s in the mouth? a gift? Is it nice? seems to be Does it look all chewed up? No it all seems to be in order What level of dental hygiene are we talking about here? I really can't see the relevance of this question

We also got some feedback about the detialed planning permission. It would appear that the plans will not go before a committee. This normally means that it has to now be passed through building control to make sure that it complys with current building regulations. In essence this means that both options have theoretically been accepted and that we will be able to have six glass panels in the gable of the house and slightly larger windows in the SW side - the option that we were hoping for.

In addition we started renting back at Le Margion yesterday. We managed to knock two months off the rent so far, but looks like we ran out of time and now the clock is ticking. The question is - can the clock tick once we've run out of time? Maybe it needs new batteries - I know I do.

Another SMALL step

We have received the tenders back - and were somewhat surprised to see the range of proces quoted - its a wide range. Next step to work out who we trust and why the prices are so different. The good news is that 2 of the 3 who actually pitched are in line with what we expected.
Watch this space for a decision anytime now.