One week to go - maybe

Another few days of pandemonium in Cropredy.  The second burst water main was repaired remarkably quickly, so it wasn't really necessary to close the road meaning that less traffic would use our lane.  The house is on a quiet lane, but sod's law has dictated on many occasions, that as soon as a delivery lorry arrives, traffic suddenly appears and has to try and squeeze around.  This is exacerbated when Red Lion Street is closed.

Another water main patched - 6 feet away from last week's patch!

We now hope to start moving in next Friday (3rd) so the builders have a week to get the house into a state where we can move in.  This has meant that we have made some excellent progress in most areas over the last few days, but we still have one troublesome area.  The joiners have managed to put in a day-and-a-half's work at the beginning of the week but then they disappeared.  Our Project Manager has been chasing them but is failing to get hold of them. As far as we know there were no problems, they seemed to be one of the less irritable trades on site, and we did ply then with ice cream in the hot weather, so we are all at a loss as to why they are not on site.  They had managed to get the skirting boards and architraves done upstairs, but downstairs is far from complete and the carpet fitter is coming on Tuesday!  This is a big problem, so the Project Manager who has had a hard time from us this week, is now tearing his hair out trying to source other joiners for tomorrow (Saturday) and Monday.  Since all the wood is on site we don't need the materials, just the labour.  This sort of unreliability is apparently a common problem in the building trade.  It would certainly not have been tolerated in either of our previous careers.

Today, the bathroom fitters finished the bathrooms.  This is just as well as next week, the main man is off on his holidays.  He will need to come back at some point to fit a splash-back in our en-suite bathroom, but that will not be delivered for a week or two yet.  The cloakroom has been an 'interesting' area to work in.  Not only does the mains water enter the house there and is distributed amongst a plethora of pipework, but it also contains part of Lesley's pet project - Rainwater Harvesting.  This has meant that although the toilet has been connected in the cloakroom, it is not yet bolted down to anything!

In the early days of the project, it was clear that I was especially interested in the technical aspects such as electrics; LED lighting; networks; CCTV and alarms.  Lesley then decided that her key project was going to be Rainwater Harvesting.  This is based around a large tank buried in the garden.  Rainwater from the down-pipes on the house (not the surface) are fed into it.  There is then a pump to feed it back to the house where it is used in two of the toilets, and the washing machine.  We have heeded the advice to leave one toilet on normal mains water just in case we have a problem with the harvesting system.  I can imagine you now asking two obvious questions:
What if we have too much rain? -  this is simply solved by having an overflow pipe in the tank which lets the water escape towards the canal.
What if we don't have enough rain? - the solution here is what further complicates the pipework in the cloakroom.  Apart from having an additional inlet for harvested water, there is extra pipework in the cloakroom to distribute it to our en-suite bathroom, the cloakroom toilet and the washing machine in the kitchen.  Room has to be found within the cloakroom to include an additional 'backup' facility.  A cable back from the tank tells this backup facility that the tank is nearly empty, and this then allows a set amount of mains water to flow into the tank via a nearby down-pipe.  This backup facility will not be fitted until Monday, and until this is done, to allow access, the toilet cannot be fixed in place.
The rainwater tank was delivered earlier in the week, with the excavator still on site, a large hole was dug for it and in the space of an hour was placed in the hole and buried, under what will eventually become our lawn.

Rainwater Tank

Lesley checking for an echo

Guess which is the Site Manager, and the Worker!

Rainwater tank in its hole

Being buried

Only the inspection hatch now visible

Our kitchen fitter was back today to finish fitting the kitchen units.   You may remember that at the beginning of the month, we were given a promise that a hob would be delivered and fitted before the end of the month.  It probably will not surprise you to know that this is not now going to happen.  The manufacturers still have a problem sorting a 'little plastic widget' as the company that supplies it has gone bust!  Our order is still near the top of the list and should be delivered 'soon', so in the kitchen company have loaned us a portable two-ring hob to be going on with.  Our rental property came complete with a tradition 4 ring non-induction hob, so we bought a portable single ring induction hob to experiment with.  It is now our preferred means of cooking, and as such has had a hard life and is showing its age.  We had hoped to consign it to the scrapheap when we move, but it now looks like it will be going with us, but hopefully its days are numbered.

Last weekend we put up 5 of the kitchen LED lights ourselves.  Flushed with success and having agreed beforehand with the electrician, and with slightly fewer people on site today, Lesley and I were able to borrow a couple of ladders and put up the 5 feature LED lights in the two bedrooms ourselves.  Despite there only be 5 lights, each required a similar number of hands to hold various parts of assembly whilst they were wired up and fixed to the beams.  This took us all morning, but we did come away with a sense of achievement and the knowledge that we built part of the house ourselves.  In our capacity as part of the building team, we resisted the temptation to carve our initials in something, but we do wonder if in years to come we will uncover miscellaneous initials, in the fabric of the house.

Kitchen lights - our own work

We had another deliver of sleepers.  No doubt this also coincided with a large amount of traffic in our quiet lane.  We already have some sleepers between the house and the road, but these will be used in the landscaping of the garden to build raised beds around the perimeter of the lawn.  Looking at the plot at the moment this is very hard to imagine, so we have had to resort to computer tools to see what it might (eventually) look like.

Sleeper delivery

"Artist's impression" of the main garden

Whilst activity in the house and garden has been manic, the brickies have been continuing the construction of the garage.  They will be on site tomorrow and should be able to complete the walls and start on the roof.  This hopefully means that the remains of our expensive welsh slate will find its way on to the roof next week.  This could be important as we may need the garage for temporary storage of 'stuff' currently in our rental property.  But only if the garage door is delivered!

And another flood

The last two blogs covered the trials and tribulations of getting our sewer connection successfully made despite the efforts of Thames Water to scupper our plans with burst water mains and closed roads.  This week started a little better, but Thames Water were again soon to figure in our build.

The builders are now on a mission to get us moved in before we must leave our rental of two years in about 10 days time.  This meant that there were people working on site (including us) on Saturday which was a first.  We had 3 electrician and 2 brickies as well as one builder, and the builder's boss.  Monday was also a first in that we had 17 tradesman on site, all tripping over each other and moaning about the mess left by the 'other tradesman'.  In summary we had:
    Main contractor's company: 3 (site management and labourer)
  Electricians             : 2 (second fix electrics)
  Joiners                  : 3 (doorframes, architrave, skirting boards)
  Decorators               : 2 (sanding and painting)
  Brickies                 : 3 (garage construction)
  Excavator driver         : 1 (site levelling and trench digging)
    Stove fitters            : 2 (fitting the wood-burner)
  Bathroom fitter          : 1 (fitting bathrooms!)
It was also the hottest day of the year so far, so it cost us a small fortune in ice-creams to keep the workers cool and to stop them biting each others heads off.

Stove installation on a hot day!

Tuesday dawned with only a slightly reduced number of people on site.  It was however clear that the sun and heat were taking their toll as 3 tradesman called in sick.  Nevertheless, work continued apace.  The carpet fitters were meant to start their work today, but still with a house-full of people we had managed to delay them for a few days.  Western Power are due to come to the site tomorrow and change the temporary power supply they installed a few months ago to a box on the wall, to a permanent supply to the house.  This meant that yet another trench to carry the cable to the house from the power pole patiently waiting near the corner of the garden.  More ice creams were distributed to keep the workers happy!


At the end of play today, most of the upstairs is complete with some minor work required in the bathrooms and a little joinery outstanding.  The lights need to be fitted in the bedrooms which Lesley and I will do, but we need to find a time when we are not in the way - not easy!

Whilst the joiners are busy fitting the door-frames, skirting boards and architraves, it means that they are not busy finishing off the exterior cladding, so we still have our scaffolding up.  Hopefully they'll get back to this in a day or two.  We are really looking forward to see the scaffolding gone!

Cladding and scaffolding

Come 4:30 in the afternoon, most people had left and the site was then secured, warm and dry until tomorrow morning.  At least, that's what we thought!  Soon after 5pm, we had a phone-call warning us that we had water flowing through the site - again!
One of the advantages of living nearby is that we can fairly quickly hot-foot it around to the site, and clearly this was necessary on this occasion.  It turns out that the water main on the neighbouring Red Lion Street, had burst again.  Water was streaming down Red Lion Street and along our lane.  Until we construct the raised access gateway (soon!), the water found its way on to the plot where it dived under the garage but fortunately avoided going anywhere near the house.  The various drains and pipes included to handle such events as well as the two small springs and the odd drop of rain seemed to cope admirably and a soggy disaster was averted with the water eventually finding its way into the canal.

Water flowing down our lane

Red Lion Street - the source of the water

Near the source 

One of our neighbours appeared with a garden fork and spade and set about clearing the inundated drain at the bottom of Red Lion Street which was partially blocked with debris.  Thanks to his efforts, this intercepted most of the water running down our lane.
A quick look a little later in the evening showed that the flow had become a trickle and it can probably be assumed that Thames Water have turned the water off again.  So that will be another night without water for some of the residents, although oddly, the properties on our lane still have water.

Postscript: Just checked today, and the burst has been repaired with the hole filled but not yet patched with tarmac.  However, the water bubbled up from several places which means that the road was damaged across a wide area with several dips and bulges which must require attention soon.  I wonder how long it will be until the next flood?

A ten-day Week

You may remember from the last entry that we were in the process of having our house connected to the sewer and that due to problems elsewhere in the village, the lane had been rapidly re-opened meaning that work on the sewer connection had to stop.

Plan A: One week

The previous blog entry also indicated that Thames Water attended and repaired the burst water main the same morning.  The Thames Water Contractors indicated that the road would be repaired and re-opened the same morning, meaning that we could restart our work.  That was last Wednesday.  Later that day, a visit to the site of the burst water main showed a large hole in the road and a remarkable lack of activity.  Apparently the contractors had been called away, leaving the pipe repaired, but the road still closed.  Our lane is the only other route available which means that we had to keep our lane open and sewer work would have to wait.  The contractors had however affixed a helpful sign to the barriers letting us know that we would have to wait a couple of days.

Hope to finish by Friday

So Friday came and went and no contractors appeared.  A half-hour phone-call with Thames Water on Friday afternoon left us with a promise that the work would be completed 'first thing on Saturday morning'.

On Saturday morning, the contractors did indeed return and fill the hole.  But for whatever reason, they had no tarmac and couldn't finish the work and re-open the road.

Filled hole

So another lengthy phone-call was made on Saturday afternoon and the promise was made that it would be finished on Sunday.

Tarmac on the left, no tarmac on the right

Sunday morning dawned, and before lunch time, the contractors had returned and set about repairing the road.  The only problem seemed to be that they didn't have enough tarmac, so could only fill half-the hole!  Also the informative sign had been amended to indicate that work would not be completed until Tuesday.

Now 17th July!

To their credit, they had put tarmac on the part of the hole nearest the centre of the road, and this allowed them to push the barriers back and re-open the road for cars at least.

Pass with care

On Monday it was decided that Red Lion Street was sufficiently open to allow us to close our lane, remove and steel plates over our excavation and complete our sewer connection.

Sewer connection at the bottom of the trench

Building the inspection chamber

Completed inspection chamber

Excavation hole filled...

...and tarmac added

It's almost like no-one had been here!

Overall, even though the sewer works were scheduled to be completed within a week.  They actually took 10 days, meaning that our road closure period had to be extended.

Some of the temporary street furniture required to impose a road closure!

Whilst the sewer work was progressing (or not, depending on the day), work on the rest of the house and garage was continuing apace, although with the lane being closed, some of the deliveries were a little difficult.  The garage is now taking shape, as is the wall to the lower terrace beside the canal.

Block and brick work ongoing

We have not had a drop of rain here since 31st May and everything is so dusty.  It is very difficult to keep the boat clean, particularly when the brickies are cutting bricks nearby!

Dust Cloud

With access to the site restricted by the hole in the lane, deliveries were sometimes a challenge. It was not possible to get the garage roof trusses passed the excavation, so they were offloaded from the lorry into the (closed) lane.

Garage Roof trusses delivered...

...and moved on to the site

All our bedroom furniture is now fitted, and tiling in the main bathroom is nearly complete.  The electrician has re-appeared and the second fix electrics is well underway.

Fitted wardrobes

Next week, the carpets should be fitted, but an awful lot needs to be done inside before then.  This means that our builders have now developed a little more sense of urgency, and for the first time, will actually be working over the weekend!
We are still hoping to move at the end of the month and are now committed to leaving our nearby rental which has served us well for the last 2 years.

Notice has been given!

Our first flood!

This is the week that we connect the house to the sewer.
First thing on Monday morning Thames Water's contractors turned up and closed the road to begin digging.  The appropriate part of the road was identified and digging began.  The sewer pipe is a long way down, and to get there, the contractors had to carefully dig passed the mains water pipe and a storm drain.

Getting started

Going down...

...a long way down!

After digging down about 10 feet, the sewer pipe was uncovered, cut into and collar fitted for the waste outlet from our house was fitted 

The opened sewer pipe

The next part of the job is to dig a trench back towards our house and fit an inspection chamber just inside our boundary and connect it to the sewer pipe.  Digging the trench was not straightforward as other pipes are in the way.
The first pipe encountered was the storm drain which takes the surface water away.  This was to become a major problem - more on this later. Rather than using the excavator, it had to be dug out by hand.

Digging around the storm drain, with new sewer connection at the bottom

The sewer pipe is much lower than the storm drain, but almost directly in line with it which meant that it was definitely in the way.  Because of the dry weather (we've had no rain since May), it should be dry, therefore a section was removed.  The pipe was indeed bone dry, and would be replaced later.
The next obstruction was the mains water piper which is known to be fragile so, again it had to be dug out by hand.

Digging around the mains water pipe

After, the mains water pipe had been dug out, the next obstructions were two much smaller pipes at right-angles, potentially carrying electric cable, so these also had to be carefully avoided.
By the time all done, it was time to pack up for the day with the trench hardly started.  With no rain forecast, it was decided to reconnect the storm drain after the whole trench was dug.  Even though the road was officially closed, it is normal practice to cover the hole with steel plates to allow emergency vehicles to get access if necessary.

Steel plates covering most of the hole

The following morning dawned fine and dry.- or so we thought!  During the night, a water main had burst on a nearby street.  Apparently, it was quite a sight and has done much damage to the road surface.  The water from the street sped down the hill and into the storm drain at the bottom.  This storm drain is the pipe that runs along beside our house which was cut open yesterday in the knowledge that no rain was forecast.  The water rushed down the pipe and promptly filled and overflowed our neatly excavated hole. Also, because the storm drain could not cope with this amount of water, it also flowed down our lane and on to our plot.  The site which was something of a dust bowl now had to accommodate a large amount of water which we're pleased to say, it did admirably with the excess water flowing into the canal, and not the house!  It did leave parts of the site very muddy though!  The photos below show the lane after the the water had been turned off and therefore do not do justice to the amount of water involved.

Pumping out our hole

The debris around the storm drain

The source of the water, now just a trickle

Not our hole this time

Even though the burst water main is not in our lane, the builders have had to close down all work on the sewer connection to allow the road to be partially re-opened to give Thames Water to access the works on the other street, where much of the road surface has been lifted.  This is going to delay the delivery of the beams for the garage concrete floor.  It also means that we have very little (drinking) water on site and therefore builder's tea will have to be rationed.

A Houseful

Who'd have thought that having the windows put in would trigger such a wide range of activities inside the house.  It's not quite DIY SOS-style, but people are having to be careful not to get in each other's way.

The windows nearly all went in at the end of last week, with the last 3 panes of glass being fitted on Monday.  The short video below shows the last set of patio doors being installed.  Firstly the frame is installed, then the glass panes follow, with a bit of cleaning afterwards.

23 seconds of patio door installation

Kitchen windows

Even though the windows are now fully installed, the front door isn't.  It is on order but won't be fitted for a couple of weeks, so our builders have constructed a temporary front door.  It is designed for security, not for looks!

Not-so-elegant front door

With all the windows in place, the plasterers returned on Tuesday to complete the plastering around them.  They were only on site for two days, but there were 4 of them and with all the their ladders, it meant that we had something of a house-full with the tradesman not quite tripping over each other.  One unfortunate side-effect of having the windows fitted is that they are now all complaining about the heat.  Even with the windows fully open, they do not quite match the previous gaping holes in the wall for ventilation.

Now that the house is secure, all the equipment for the kitchen can now be brought into the house.  Kitchen units, fittings and appliance are not exactly delivered with minimal packages, so our kitchen is mainly in the lounge!  As the site is just around the corner, we tend to visit 2 or 3 times a day and on each visit it seems that the lounge contains one less box, and the kitchen contains one more unit.  It also means that the cloakroom has been filled with one more empty box - albeit flattened!

The floor of the kitchen was laid last week so that the kitchen fitter could start this Monday.  He has built most of the units and hopefully the appliances will emerge from their packages and migrate into the kitchen in the next few days.  The exception is the hob which 'should' be delivered before we move in.  We have no gas in the village, so we have ordered an induction hob.  Unfortunately, the three main manufactures are suffering from a shortage of a certain key component and have had to restrict their ranges and quantities.  Ours has been on order for some time, so we are near the front of the queue.  That's what they tell us anyway!

Kitchen: Work in progress

Another kitchen wall, slightly more advanced

The situation with the bathrooms upstairs is very similar to kitchen.  Full boxes are stored in the two bedrooms, and gradually their contents are moved to the bathrooms.

En-suite bathroom: Work in progress

The second fix electrics (sockets, switches etc) have been ordered and should be delivered before the end of the week.  When they appear, the electrician will return to begin fitting them.

Outside, work on the garage continues.  With the foundations finally complete, the below-ground block-work has been constructed, the damp-proof course laid, and some of the drainage pipes laid.  During the course of the build we have identified at least two small springs in and around the garage.  They only produce a trickle of water, but the water needs to be channelled towards the canal and away from the garage.  We have been told by our neighbour that she has three small springs on her property and it turns out that most of the people in Cropredy have access to a spring somewhere near them.  I suppose this is what happens when you live at the bottom of a valley!

Block-work sitting on the over-engineered garage foundations

It has been nearly 6 months since our water supply has been connected.  Initially, it was only used to provide copious amounts of builder's tea, but in the intervening months it has been used increasingly to mix cement and plaster.  A sewer connection has not been needed for these activities, and the builders have their own portaloo cabin which is (fairly) regularly serviced.  However, we clearly need a more permanent connection to the sewer for the house and this has taken some time to organise.  It seemed sensible to us to only close the road once and dig the 2 holes to provide supply and sewer connections, but Thames Water were worried about cross-contamination and anyway, the holes were coordinated by different divisions.  So the supply went in during January, and next week the sewer connection should be made.  A one-week road closure has been put in place for next week, but it is likely only to be closed for the actual day the connection is made - hopefully!  Although there is access from the other end of the lane, it is very narrow and only suitable for smaller cars.

Thames Water Notice

With all this activity, we are still being told that we should be able to move in at the end of July.  There is however still a lot to do so we'll see!!!