Countdown

As usual in the world of Lenny & Meriel, we're trying to do everything at once. This week we plan to be on call to support the builders to get the house ready for us to move in, move house, clean up the old house, assist with setup, running and clean up for the Rocquaine Regatta, take Jonah to intensive holiday swimming lessons, and go on holiday - oh - and it would be rude not to go to the beach occasionally seeing as it's 29 degrees and sunny outside. We may be just a tad tense this week!

With regard to the house - things are on plan I'm assured. We are definitely starting to move in on thursday this week - probably sleeping there from Monday night. In the meantime we'll be at Lenny's mum's house so that she can help look after the kids.


We've given Rihoys the go ahead to do the external work so we should have a patio and some steps before too long. The guttering is going up this week and the final scaffolding is coming down this week.
The kitchen will be usable (with a temporary worktop whilst the granite is cut to size). We'll take the fridge freezer and dishwasher to site on monday provided we can find a suitable van. The lights will be fitted and working (apart from 1), it will have all but 1 coat of paint. I suspect the shelves will not be painted and finished. The granite for the worktop might well arrive whilst we're away. That would be a nice welcome home present.
The hallway is having its floor fitted today - which will then be covered up until the final throes of building work when it will be sanded and sealed.
The bedrooms downstairs are 80% painted (will be 100%), and will have carpets.
The utility room has a sink and a worktop and a tiled floor. We will move in our washing machine and dryer on monday.
The downstairs wetroom is a storage cupboard at the moment - and a long way from being done.
Upstairs, the sitting room is plastered and taking shape - but will not be done for us to move in. The master bedroom will also not be done although they are starting to build some of the shelving etc in there.
The bathroom should be done - provided my taps ever arrive. They should be here tomorrow (was supposed to be here today). I believe they are still waiting for a suitable piece of oak for the worktop though so I'm not convinced. I hope we're not using the portaloo because they can't fit the loo in!

The heat recovery saga goes on - although we now have repacement units (with summer bypass) so we're hoping the fitters can crack on with it.
The glazing saga is in waiting for delivery phase - let's hope it's right when it arrives!
The oil tank is being put in place - the slab was laid today.

How do we feel? - tired but excited. And reluctant to go away on holiday a day after moving in!

Kitchen half assembled

Kitchen half assembled
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

The kitchen fitters got it half done last week - they are coming back this week to do more.

The foreground units are the island - this will have a piece of black granite on top (a rectangle with 1 corner cut off). The other worksurfaces will also be granite along each wall. The tall cabinets at the back will have red gloss doors which are not yet on site. The ovens are in place in order to keep them safe.

So far so good.

Gable louvres and frame

Louvres and frame
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

The Louvred trangular frame which will be inserted into the top of the gable has been fabricated and is on site. Looks good and once it painted to match the facias it should be even better.
The idea is that it will be used to vent the excess heat that builds up inside the buffer space on a very hot day. It'll be manually controlled from sthe living room on the top floor, where there'll be a switch linked to a damper in the pipes in the sofit of the gable.

Kitchen construction begins

Kitchen construction begins
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

The parts are all here and beginning to be assembled. Here you can see the tall larder units that'll go along the South wall.

First floor bathroom tiling

First floor bathroom
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

The tiler started in the upstairs bathroom this week and it's really looking good. We had a minor hitch at the beginning with the revelation that, if you buy tiles of 10mmx10mm , they are never ususally 10x10. Our tiles were no exception and of course, the bathroom has been quite exactingly designed to take 10x10 tiles with around 2mm of grout between them. Over a distance covered by a number of tiles the descrepanciew build up and you end up with large gaps where whole tiles can't fit in and that mean lots if cuts. But we've compromised and everything now seems satisfactory. It's a lovely room and you can make out the boxing for the cistern and the sink support which will have a large 4" thick piece of oak stuck on top. Mmmmm nice.

Manifold

Manifold
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

The manifolds for the underfloor heating are being fitted. Ground floor is done and first floor will go in next week. Really looks like and engine room accessory.

Shelving without end ...

Landing shelves
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

... or so it would seem. We've been coming up with design for all the nooks and crannies using google sketchup, a superb and totally free 3d design tool which allows us to input the real life sizes of the rooms and then view different solutions to see what suits us. Then we just append the measurements and hopefully the end result will match the design.
These particular shelves are on the landing and we've kind of been forced to put them in because of a protruding pipe from the heat recovery system (you can see the triangular structure on the right hand side of the lower shelf which is built to cover the pipework). There really wasn't any other way to deal with this situation without making the place look ugly as sin.
Other details we've been designing are the the coat cupboard on the ground floor, the wardrobe on the first floor and of course the shelving in the living area.

Front door

Front door
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

In order to fit in the large lock mechanism, while fitting the smaller-than-standard door height and maintaining the integrity of the door for security, we had to have this one made by Rihoy's joinery. We'll have opaque glass panels where the three strips of cladding are currently fixed. It's going to look nice.

Pump house under construction

Pump house under construction
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

The pump house lloks alot larger that we envisaged. So much so that we're wondering how big this thing's going to be. With any luck there'll be a bit of space left inside to store a couple of bits and bobs. Interesting view down the side too - this is where we'll be storing kites, boards, kayaks and most probably bikes.

Utility room plastered

Utility room plastered
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

The plastering in the ground floor bedrooms, living area and utility room has been finished, so it's all looking quite dark and brown. Quite a change from what the utility room looked like last week.

Scaffolding coming down

Scaffolding comes off
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

Slowly but surely areas off scaffolding are dissapearing. The latest section is this one outside Cara & Jonah's rooms. The one we're all waiting to see gone for is the scaff in front of the gable, which will reveal the view from the living room on the first floor.

Living area shelves ready to be installed

living area shelves, ready to be installed
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

The shelves, which have been designed in sketchup have already arrived from Rihoy's joinery. You can see the channels routed in the rear of each shelf ready to take the battens which will be fixed to the walls. The early sign are that the shelves will be superb.

The kitchen has arrived

The kitchen has arrived
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

And it's to be fitted from Monday. The living area will really take shape with the completion of the installation, although it will be a while before the granite worktops are fitted - they have to be measured for and cut after the units are installed in order that the worktops are made to the right size. Very exciting.

Mullions

Mullions
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

Alot to write about, so lots of pictures with short desriptions. The oak mullions went into the upper, inner skin of the gable in order to take the suncool glazing. The mullions had to go in for the glass order to be made (for measuring the space) and as there was a long lead time for the glass, we were eager for these to be fitted. They look awesome.