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!!!