Spring Catch-up

You may have thought that since it has all gone quiet, nothing has happened.  To some extent, this is correct in that we have seem little of the builders, but other things have been progressing.  Let's start with the front door.

To remind you dear reader, we moved in with a temporary barricade in place until the front door could be fitted.  Within a mere month however, the front door was fitted.  However, it was the wrong one, being the wrong design; wrong shape; and lack of glazing panel.  It was however the right colour and the dimensions were such that it could be securely fitted as a temporary measure whilst we waited for someone to admit liability and order the correct door.  All the parties we dealt with declared that culpability rested with the German manufacturers.  So much for German efficiency.  We were assured that a new door was on order and would be delivered in a matter of weeks.
Throughout the winter various people came and checked the doorway and re-measured everything, and eventually in the middle of May a new door arrived.  The fitters carefully unpacked it and then there was a knock on the (original) front door asking us to come and look at it.  Either in manufacture, packing or transit, it had been damaged!  The fitters were reluctant to fit it and we rejected it straight away.  So we are now waiting for another replacement to arrive.  We were advised that it may be another 2 months, but recent emails requesting an update have gone unanswered.  That is until today when we were told that it will be ready for fitting at the end of July.  Watch this space!

Unpacking the 'new' front door

One of the several damaged areas

Although we have seem little of the builders, we have had one of their better employees working on the house on 2 separate days.  Many of the inevitable shrinkage cracks have been filled and decorated; guttering has been fixed; drainage on the outside terrace has been improved; and importantly, all the suspect door catches have been replaced (after yet another catch failed!).  We now feel a bit more comfortable closing doors in the house.  Whilst all this has made a dent in the snagging list, there is still more to do.

The previous blog dealt with the drainage and planting in the garden.  This has now had a couple of months to mature.  The lawn was laid and has taken off with a vengeance.  The hedge we planted is now in leaf and affords a little privacy which will hopefully fill out over the next few months.

The garden in April

When we first bought the plot, it came with a couple of rickety landing stages jutting out into the canal.  We have been using these to moor our boat against, but because of the water flow from the nearby lock and the fact that our boat occasionally gets hit by boaters taking the adjacent 'narrows' too fast, the landing stages were near to collapse.  A total rebuild of the canal bank was prohibitively expensive and ruled out in favour of a long single landing stage which does not jut out into the canal quite as far and therefore the number of collisions we receive should be less.  A local expert who has done similar work elsewhere in the village was tasked with building the landing stage.  The brief was that it should be strong and not move when water is released from our nearby lock.  We are very pleased with the result although the flatness of the landing stage stage has revealed the undulating nature of the ground around it.   Over two tonnes of top soil was ordered and delivered and we spent a happy(!) Friday afternoon moving it from where it was tipped, down to the lower garden where it was used to try and level the area around the landing stage.  Grass seed has been planted, and is just starting to grow.

Decking Complete

Surrounding area levelled with topsoil

More decking