Gales and Water

This week we had really strong gales on Wednesday night, and we wondered how the windowless house had coped.  The next day, it was clear that we had suffered no real damage, although some of the plastic covering the windows had been ripped, a barrier had fallen over, and a few pieces of rogue polystyrene were found where they shouldn't be.  All was tidied up and electrical cabling laying continued with gusto.

A typical 'Cable Corner'

Now that the decision has been made that we need to use Welsh slate,our contractor has set about sourcing some.  The best delivery time we can get is 8 weeks, so that is going to cause us another delay.  It is worth noting however, that most sources of Welsh slate were quoting 16 and 20 weeks!  Anyway, they are now on order, so the clock is ticking.

Last summer, we paid Thames Water to connect us up to the water main and sewage system.  Eventually, they agreed a date (this week) and arranged for a temporary road closure for the lane from Tuesday to Friday.  They turned up on Wednesday but then went away again complaining that they weren't allowed to work with 3 metres of scaffolding (the water main is about 2.7 metres from the scaffolding).  Apparently this is a precaution in case any of the scaffolding poles could slip into the trench they were going to dig.  The fact that the scaffolding poles are firmly fixed to ground level which lies below the depth of the trench they were planning to dig seemed to make no difference.  Whatever happened to common sense?

The mark shows the 3 metre 'Exclusion Zone'

At our suggestion, the connection point was moved down the lane by about 2 metres which took it way outside the 'exclusion zone' and meant that our contractor would have to dig a small trench to meet their trench.  Of course, this minor change in the connection point meant that the whole job 'had to go back to planning' at Thames Water.  To give TW their due, they did replan fairly quickly and turned up (to everyone's surprise) on Friday morning.  Fortunately our contractor had already dug his part of the trench so TW got on with digging their portion (our contractor is not allowed to dig into the highway).

So the trench was dug, an additional and unknown pipe was successfully avoided, and the water main exposed.  The connection is normally done under pressure using a clever bit of kit.  This avoids the need to turn the water off for the other properties in the lane.  However, when the pipe was drilled, it turned out to be made of cast iron and had worn away to such an extent that a normal connection could not be made.  Another TW official was sent for and duly arrived.  He sanctioned the use of an additional support collar around the connection.  This was added, and the finally connection made.  In recent years, the lane has had two burst water mains nearby, and the worn pipe is probably the explanation for these.  I suppose we can expect more in the future!

With the water connection finally made, TW departed, leaving the trench in the road!  Apparently another team will come and refill the trench and make good.  That may happen on Saturday, but it may be Monday before they turn up.  In the meantime, the lane remains closed, although it is possible for a car to squeeze around.  Strictly speaking, the road closure is only valid until the end of Friday, but apparently the contractors used by Thames Water are one of the few companies that have the authority to extend this without having to seek agreement from Oxfordshire County Council.

So that's the water connected, and we can stop using a hosepipe from our generous and tolerant neighbour next door.  However, we still are not connected to the sewage system, even though we paid Thames Water for this at a similar time.  We are dealing with different divisions with TW for supply and sewage and they rarely seem to talk to each other, so despite our (and our contractor's) best efforts, the sewage connection will be the subject of a future road closure, probably(!) some time in March.  When challenged, TW state that it is their policy never to mix supply and waste work to avoid any possibility of cross contamination.  This is understandable, but we had hoped that a little bit of joined up thinking may mean that the two half-day connection exercises could be conducted within the same 4-day road closure.  We do know that the foul water drain runs down the other side of the lane and it is well away from the scaffolding 'exclusion zone' so when TW do eventually turn up to connect our waste, we should have fewer problems - fingers crossed!

'Our' trench dug, Thames water starting theirs

..with a little mechanical muscle!

Joined-up trenches 

Ready for the connection

Connection made - with meter and 'unknown pipe'

Postscript (Saturday):  We have just checked and TW did come and fill in this morning!

Another bit of patchwork complete!

Finally, regarding the boat, we have had no further news so we assume that it is progressing well, and should be delivered on 6th Feb.  We are however planning to go and visit the boatbuilder next week to check on how it is going.  More fingers crossed!

Sparks is flying!

It has been a long time since the last post.  This is partly due to Christmas, partly due to the new year, but mainly due to the lack of progress.  We have been waiting for a series of design decisions to be made and drawn up.  In particular, the key decision has been the approval of the slates for the roof.  For a SIPS construction house like this, there will be a small amount of flex when all the tiles are placed on the roof, and this means that the external brickwork should not start until the slates are on.  Whilst local planning department had approved the use of welsh slate, we were pushing for grade 'A' Spanish natural slate which allegedly performs better and looks just the same.  Yesterday, the local council made it clear that they would not accept the Spanish (significantly cheaper!) alternative in the conservation area, unless another (potentially unsuccessful) planning application was made with the associated 8 week delay.  So the decision is made: we are going for the more expensive Welsh slate.

The slate that got away!

Despite the house not having its outer brick skin, or roof slates, it is effectively water-tight albeit a tad draughty.  This means that the first fix activities can begin, and this week our electrician ('Sparks'), has started work and he is really flying along.  It does mean that you need to be careful walking around the house as there is a risk of strangulation by rogue cabling.

Just a few of the many cables

One corner of a bedroom

The plumber also started work today, connecting the pipework for the upstairs bathrooms.  Access to upstairs is via a temporary staircase largely made up of scaffolding.  It is very steep, and with only 9 steps, the gap between each step is very high.

Temporary staircase

You have been warned

 We have also a 'Chippy' on site who is busy finishing the internal walls, putting up plasterboard, and fitting the velux windows in the roof.  Yesterday, the upstairs bathrooms were very dark.  Today, they were filled with light as the velux windows were fitted and the sun came out to celebrate!

Velux: Before

Velux: After

On the boat front, we paid a visit to our boatbuilder earlier this week.  He has made significant progress, but realistically-speaking, it won't be finished, and have its sign-writing completed until the end of the month.  The delivery date was therefore set at the 6th Feb - fingers crossed!  Due to all the winter stoppages on the canals for maintenance and repair work, and in particular the stoppage just north of here, this means that we will have to have the boat transported all the way from Liverpool down to Aynho, a village south of Banbury, and sail the boat back north to Cropredy.  The next job is to book the low-loader.

The sharp end

The blunt end

Shower being fitted

Bedroom Storage (the doors are fitted last)