The other view

View east from scaffolding
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

Looking east. It'll look a bit better once the bright yellow site office goes of course!

Our view

View west from scaffolding
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

The scaffolding lets us get up to the new floor height and look at our view. Today was the perfect day to see it for the first time. On the east we can see over to Sark, Jersey and on a clear day France; on the west we can see this.
All proceeding well with the build. Roof tiles are still coming off. We're trying to choose kitchen bits.

The roof tiles begin to be removed

010 Saint's View, roof tiles begin to be removed
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

The hardcore has been laid in the extension and the builders have moved on to the roof. The tiles are coming off - there are a hell of alot of them - and once they've been removed, the chimneys will be taken down. It's all still going very well.
The blockwork wall has been stopped pretty much at floor level - our understanding is that it is of a suitable height for the floor slad to be poured when the southern (gable) wall is removed. Once the slab is poured, the extension is then joined to the existing house and the wals can continue to be built up.
In other news, the builders can't find where the water main is routed - perhaps because it's under the hedge at the edge of the property. The good news appears to be that the pipe that they originally found is an old mains pipe and the actual active mains pipe is a modern plastic 32mm pipe. No one's sure where it goes to, but the pressure is reasonable and it's made of the right material, conventional thinking dictates that if it 'ain't broke ...

The blockwork begins

The laying of the blockwork walls began on Monday 12th (yesterday). They've laid blocks from the foundation to the bottom of the new brick courses and they're building up the inner skin of the building as a blockwork wall, ready to key into the existing walls when the southern-most wall is removed. In other words, they're building the walls of the extension, before they knock the old house through.
A good idea of the length of the glass fronted gable can now be seen from the length of the blockwork along the rear of the house - I still can't see whether it'll be too big, too small, or just right.

Breaking up the slab

Broken slab 2
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

Rihoys are breaking up the floor that will make up half of the living area slab. This is good news as far as we're concerned, because the idea of one area with half old, half new concrete floor leaves some questions about the integrity of the slab as a whole. In addition, Matt, our surveyor, has asked for two ducts to be laid under the slab when it's poured in order to leave a provision for ventillation from the rear for the house to the front - something which may help the efficiency of the buffer zone later on.

Extension foundations

Extension foundations
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

They've poured the foundations for the extension to the property to be built on and so far everything we've heard leads us to believe that all is ahead of schedule - bit it is early days. Still, we've had no major surprises yet, which has been encouraging.
The only fly in the ointment is that the water main may need to be replaced as it is old and possibly beyound repair. This would mean laying a pipe to the main road - which is some distance away. And as we all know, the greater the distance, the greater the cost. With any luck we won't need to replace it, and if we do, there's a vague chance that we'll be able to get permission to run it under the field next door, rather than under the neighbour's house, or under the drive.

Fast progress

Foundations dug
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

The only internal walls remaining inside the house are the chimney breasts. It means that we can start to see the space.
Outside, the foundations are dug, the soakaway dug and filled and the verandah and pillars removed where the gable is going. The concrete will be poured tomorrow.
The foreman said that this end wall will be removed before Christmas.

Look, Mum, no walls

Look, Mum, no walls
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

Lenny's Mum came round to the house to see the damage for herself - this is a shot of her surveying the void left by the removal of the central wall of the house. You know, the one that was holding up the roof.

Day 5 destruction

Day 5
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

There are force 11 gales outside today. Several trees down on roads and much detritus blowing around. It felt odd to visit the house and see the extent of destruction - almost as though the weather had caused it!