Week 151

Back again. More on the general state of play later, but for now, it's shed time. The garage is too dang small. We always knew it was too small: too small when we spec'd it out when I drove a Grand Voyager and now too small for the Tesla. Still too small for all the …

Week 85

The contractors are back this week to sort out immediate Stuff. These include things like painting the garage floor and filling large gaps in blockwork in the walls out there, fixing the rainwater diverters, sorting my neighbour's drive, and changing the loft boards. What's been lacking on our side is any kind of oversight or …

Week 84

Flicking through my Waitrose Magazine searching in vain for interesting Christmas recipes this week (and only coming up with increasing feelings of inadequacy looking at saucy Nigella in page after posed page of perfection), I saw this quote by Michael Roux. You gotta hand it to Trevor and Sid for getting onsite double quick when things …

Week 83

The garden is almost done. Mark and Sam have finished off the back path and porch by pointing it all together. Amazing how much of a difference closing in those lines makes. The Contractor is due to return next week and fix the drive in the back amongst other things, so there's no point in …

Week 82

My last post turned into a bit of a rant, so with this one I'll do a complete 180 and focus on the really good changes in the build. One of my pieces of advice for anyone starting a project like this is to plan the kitchen and the fireplace first. There are soooo many …

Week 81

We've moved in! Practical completion kind of happened on its own between Tim and Alyson behind the scenes which was weird. I would have thought this momentous event certainly warranted a fanfare or fireworks, or at least a pause for thought. Instead, the only communication I had from Tim on Moving In Day was an …

Week 74

The final bills are rolling in, the site is gradually becoming clearer and clearer of rubbish each day, and we can just about make out the horizon. It's still a long way off, but we passed another milestone this week and I actually got in touch with Andy again about sorting out dates for the …

Week 73

As we lurch into another week of very little happening on remedial works compared with masses accomplished on the driveway, I'll start this post with a bit of a change in tone. The blog has gone from Public to Private to keep the project's chronological recordings from being used by lawyers, and since you've suffered …

Week 72

"I've started so I'll finish." -- Magnus Magnusson I've lost track of time a little. In the three weeks of radio silence since I've last posted, we've hired an additional contractor, work has begun on the post-flood remedial works, and we've hauled the family off to Turkey for a couple of weeks of sailing R&R. …

Week 68

Five weeks since the flood, and the optimistic expectation of drying out early has itself dried up, withered and died. The environmental guys come in to test and monitor once a week as promised, and each time they take readings, rearrange the fans and set up boxes in new areas on the floor. It's the …