Monday morning dawned bright and sunny again although the September air is decidedly cooler.
The Ventrolla window fitter arrived at 0800 as expected and by 1200 this is a shot of what the house would look without upstairs windows.
From the inside the guest bedroom without the bottom half of the sash window.
This is the view through the large front bedroom without the window in place.
The dressing room window with the old weight for the sash in view.
This is the bottom ledge of the front bedroom window which will have to be replaced. The fitteer said that the remainder of the windows he has taken apart today are not in bad condition for their age - unlike the cords etc which are all being replaced.
OMG the electrician has excelled himself today and we have light - i almost didnt notice it this evening when i went up for my daily check of progress. There is an outside switch for these at the front door to supplement the bulkhead light overhead which is on a PIR - and it works!
Overhead and wall lights in the archway/entrance to the front door.
The steel has been delivered to replace the beam over the Shop window and then we can get the remaining beams treated and hope that the deathwatch beetle hasn't moved locations during it's stay!
The indoor entry phone has been fitted in anticipation of the external intercom being connected. Also note the thermostat on the wall - which was showing 17 deg this evening.
The track light is in place in anticipation of the kitchen and the island. The black plastic bag over the island pendant light is a temporary fixture you will be pleased to hear as I haven't finished the painting!
We even have a shower cubicle in place in the ensuite shower room!
The mirror - complete with working lights - in the bathroom.
The outside light in place ready for installation of the french doors - it looks good against the soft colour of the Cotswold stone. The roofer has also been back today to repair the flashing above the utility room.
It appears we are having a race to completion this week which is good as there is a lot of little things to do but also the heating needs to run continuously long enough to check the screed is Ok to fit the floor and also that it works well enough so that we don't have to dig the floor up at this stage! SO, plan is to move in 14th Sept at this point - watch this space! it won't be finally finished but certainly good enough for us to live there and continue with painting etc.
It's starting to look like a bedroom, floors in this (and all of the upstairs) bedroom now treated with wood preservative after extensive vacuuming between the floorboards to remove years of grime and more recent sawdust and plasterdust. Purchase of an old fashioned mop has been very useful - the new style mops will be fine when the place is clean but the old style really gets into the nooks and crannies of the old floors.
We are not sure if the roofer is a vampire as rumour has it he only appears when the sun is not around but in any event the roof above the utility room is now water-tight thanks to renewal of (or indeed as he described it properly installing!) the lead flashing.
Again, the roofer is completing the pointing along the side of the roof and ladders allow the plumbers access to finish the soil pipe installation.
The frame for the French doors - you can just see in the kitchen area that the light above the place for the island is swathed in a black plastic bag to protect it from the dust.
Doors now in place but more work to do before we can open out into the courtyard, not least the flower bed will have to be taken up and replaced with flagstones or something similar.
Mission Control is now definitely up and running. We are looking forward to the training course on how to run the heating given that it took two electricians and lots of head scratching to wire this complex system. Nevertheless it is working and the 'Snug' lives up to it's name as they test the continuous running of the underfloor heating. Radiators have been turned off upstairs as it was too hot for them to work in!
The window at the back of the house onto the stairs has now been renewed and awaits it's first coat of paint before the autumn rain etc!
Unfortunately the window fitter decided that the rep had made an incorrect call on the bathroom and back bedroom window and instead of re-furbishing the window that they are so badly rotted tehy need to be replaced. After a conversation about how disappointed we were in this as replacing all of the back windows could have just as easily been PVC double-glazing for a number of years, still we came to an arrangement and we now have to wait on those windows being made and then fitted as soon as they can so not quite complete on windows yet.
The RSJ has now been fitted - unfortunately fitting it has made a bit of a mess of the walls that have already been plastered and indeed painted but best it is done now.
This is what the beam looks like once it is out in the yard - will make good logs! Our builder said he has never seen anything quite like this.
All that remains of a ~3 metre beam the rest of it was dust!
The start of the rubble removal on a - thankfully bright and sunny morning, it was forecast for rain.
It took 7 trips on a 3 ton trailer on the back of a landrover and about 5 hours in total but the rubble has all gone and we have the courtyard back for the first time in about 3 months.
A clear courtyard - well almost - the French Doors are not quite finished as the carpenter is off to Isle of Wight Festival but only the fittings to do. The brickies will be in next week to tidy up the walls around it.
We have finally made our minds up on flooring for the ground floor and have gone for Quickstep Livyn which is a new product in the UK. Apparently we are the first people in the UK to place an order for it but as yet we don't have a delivery date. We have decided to delay moving in by a week so that we can have the floor fitted first as it will make it easier for everyone.
Almost there - lots of washing of woodwork and painting going on so not really interesting for photos - although the difference it makes to wash down one of these filthy doors and surrounds is quite staggering, can't wait to get a coat of white paint on them!
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