Week 57

Deep breath. Another week. Lots happening onsite though. I'm thinking Pareto thoughts as we get into the last 20% and see lots and lots of little tiny things blossoming into Good Things and other parts turning into Snagging Things. It's all about stairs at the moment. The last newel came to site, and got chipped …

Week 48

Goodbye scaffolding! It took three days to get all the gear down, and now we can see the whole building. No scaffolding in the way means that Terry and Josh can get on with building the roof for the garage. This is a wiggly little beast that has had Terry brushing off his thinking cap to calculate …

Week 47

We have a flue! Actually, it's a flue liner, not to be confused with the identically named but made of pumice 'flue liner' that was already installed with the chimney went up. All very technical, but for the past few weeks, Dave has been developing the plans to make this thing work. Terry and Josh …

Week 46

Most of the action this week occurred behind the scenes. Lots of planning and sorting and choosing more than cutting, sticking and building. We've chosen a fireplace, paid bills, decided on tiles, placed thermostats, chased electrics, considered ironmongery and built-in furniture, and we started thinking about wardrobe build-ups, kitchen pendants, sofas and curtains. I thought …

Week 45

Early birds, these guys. On my way to meet the electrician at a lazy 7:30 am, I saw that they'd already had a delivery that was just departing down the lane. More oak arrived late yesterday via Neil and his Land Rover with trailer; it's always a pleasure to have him onsite. These pieces will cover the …

Week 44

  The roof is almost finished. Spencer asked me if I was happy with the course of cloaking tiles that will sit between the oak gables below and the roof tiles above. He's added a layer of Welsh slate secured underneath to prevent the roof from wobbling as the oak settles. They'll be mortared in …

Week 40

New Year, new resolve, ..... we WILL be living in this house before this year is out. Having seen the potential of this place in 1999 and bought it and moved in by Feb 2000, we're finally going to have this noose around our necks lifted. We've hemmed and hawed for so long about the most cost …

Week 33

The lid is on! Hooray, the guys are in the dry. The big holes for the windows will need to be filled in, but that will be after Christmas. In the meantime, that thin sheet of Tyvek stuff is what matters. Josh and Terry are spending most of their time creating noggins for the ceilings under …

Week 30

We're really lucky to live here. The roof continues to grow, ungrow and regrow. Dave and Terry spent some time last week discussing the design of the dormers, and as a result the first one they built had to be rebuilt. But Terry, James and Josh worked hard despite the drop in temperature and by the end …

Week 26

Can you say "grey tiles"? Armed with my trusty samples of flooring and window frame, I've been playing Where's Wally in a forest of grey. The brick guys are matching up the facing bricks along the oak, and I'm so confident in their work that I must confess to having taken the perfect lines and …