Oaklands Extension

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Thu, 06 May 2010 17:44:00 +0000

Well, we have been living 'normally' in the house for 18 months plus now, so here are the gas and electricity numbers

Electricity:

We have the TV and computers on for much of the time plus I like lights! Which probably explains the electricity consumption - I expect the lights explain most of the seasonal variation.

Gas:

The gas obviously varies a lot - during July and August it is probably just the hot water and hob. I don't know how the peak of 125KwH compares to other people but the combined bill is acceptable for having doubled the house size...

Finally Painted

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:25:00 +0000

Finally got the lounge painted last month. The red looks great and makes a contrast with the white of the units. Looks really striking coming in from the front hall.

Dressing Room

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 20:45:00 +0000

We spent ages looking for kit to do the dressing room. Its the last stumbling block before we can get everything unpacked and begin putting things where they belong properly. Way back when we had some money, we looked at Hepplewhite fitted furniture but that is very expensive. I trawled the net and found Elfa at aplaceforeverything.com. They drew up a design from the plan and after a bit of negotiating we bought a few bits and bobs and - voila! instead shelving and railing.

Still plenty to do - all the clothes are in boxes after being stored in the loft for months - the guys at work got a shock when I turned up suited and booted instead of wearing my usual works polo shirt!

So what's left.....

The new loft is part floored, but the eves need boarding. The RSJs need final bricking in. The thermostat for upstairs is still not connected but Darren has been to quote so we should be able to get him back to do that soon. We have the CORGI certificate for the boiler so I can now get the manufacturer in to commission it - that'll be the heating done at last.

Some of the windowsils and doorsils are still missing endcaps and the drain outside the backdoor is still pretty lopsided and a bit low. And the Velux still need a bit of adjusting so they stay up.... The flooring bods (TJ Hill Flooring) are coming back to sort a couple of lifting planks and also to patch where the kitchen unit legs have been moved.

Kitchen - DONE!

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:07:00 +0000

Well, almost.... it's done in white.

All the doors and handles are on, the walls are painted. A couple of niggles with the floor where the unit legs needed moving but otherwise, good enough. Now it's time to paint it properly....

This little vid shows how the room has changed between April and now.

Update 22-08-08

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 21:10:00 +0000

The kitchen is looking good. Two doors to go on (the dishwasher has no front) and some painting and some tidying up and all done.... Starting to look worth the effort now.

Eric the plumber came today and the heating system has been flushed. He is coming back on tuesday to fit a strainer to the boiler return then that should see the heating system finished.

Phil is back on tuesday to finish off everything else - the kitchen, the bathroom tiling, the ensuite tiling etc. Except the bath - the electrician's insurance company are replacing that as it cannot be repaired.

Ever closer.....

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:12:00 +0000

Big progress! Upstands and splashback in place! What a transformation - although it shows up the missing paint a bit...

And the last bit of worktop is in place. Once all the shelves are in we can start loading the cupbaords and get the other rooms cleared up.

Deadline approaching

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 06:24:00 +0000

Well, next Tuesday is the end of July.... so are we going to get it all?

Well the kitchen is looking better. The breakfast bar went on yesterday and we gave it the first of 3 coats of oil. The wood is Iroko. Before the first oiling it was not much darker than the floor, which looked odd, but it is darkening up nicely and should be a nice contrast when it's had the next 2 coats - plus we got a decent chopping board from the offcut! Just for scale, the breakfast bar is 3.6m x 62cm, so it's pretty big. And now we shouldn't keep banging our heads on the lights!

The bathroom has been tiled, but still needs grouting. More worrying, we still have a leak from the flat roof at the back - it tends to come in to the rear hall and run down to the thermostat. The granite has been ordered for the kitchen - the missing bit of worktop, the upstands and the splashback. The last handles have been ordered, but we are still missing the dishwasher door.

Phil has been busy finishing up everywhere, but we still have some work to do outside. The extractor for the bathroom has been capped, but the ensuite fan has not been sorted, there is still just a hole in the wall, plus there are still some bricks to finish the eaves - lets hope the birds have gone! We do have window beads everywhere now I think, all the doors and on and fit with handles.

Martin is up tonight to check on the UFH manifold and refit it once the gauge has been (re)moved - plus a beer to say thank you! We still haven't had Eric back to do the final flush of the heating before we get the boiler company in to comission it all - plus the upstairs thermostat is not connected....

Still not finished.... but

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:03:00 +0000

Well,

met with Geoff last night and asked 'how long would it normally take to finish from here?' 'About a week' was the answer, so on the basis of weekend working, we've agreed he'll have done by the end of the month. For things he can't directly control - how long for the worktops to be delivered, I've accepted seeing the order note, but all being well we'll be done soon.

The bathroom should be done today - the radiator on and the tiles above the sink being the main things in there. Plus the step should be sorted ready for being re-covered. Phil the joiner is in so the remaining doors should get sorted. Geoff is ordering the remaining worktop and doors for the kitchen so I'm hopeful they'll be delivered soon - the big worktops took less than a week.

Nervy today though - the valuer is coming and I'm hoping it'll be good news so we can refresh the very depleted coffers.... Fingers crossed they can see past what isn't done the the intrinsic value.

Update june 08

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:26:00 +0000

Well,

things are still going very slowly, but we had Stephen's 4th birthday party here this weekend and the house was fine for visitors - lots of visitors! Geoff got the last drawer fronts on and temporarily fixed the plinths so nothing would get lost under the cupboards over the weekend. The dishwasher landed today (the old one wouldn't wake up and we decided we may as well get one) so that needs plumbing in.

The island now has backs and is just waiting the Iroko breakfast bar - hence the gap at the top!

The light switches and lights on the pillar have worked out really well.

The dining table under the Velux is really nice in the sumer - although we need blinds when the sun is very bright - like this weekend! We often only put the uplighters on in the evening.

Still the odd box around and about, but we're settling in. Time for that flat screen on the wall.....

The kids' cupboard - still not sure about the green, but the purple is great.

The hob run is looking good now. We need the upstands and splashback (more granite!) and the shelf lights chasing in, and the cover above the hood.

Beds and Tiles.

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Fri, 23 May 2008 20:30:00 +0000

Well, we have been sleeping in here for the last few weeks... nice decor!!!!

But we moved to our new bedroom on wednesday when they laid the carpet and today, the bed arrived.... It is huge, but despite how this photo looks, it takes up less than half the room.

The bathroom mirror looks nice.

And we have Amtico tile effect flooring in there. e want the flooring bods back to fix the step, but we have flooring everywhere in the house except for the landing cupboard now. That needs a floorboard replacing then the carpet can be finished.

Let there be light (and carpet!)

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Fri, 23 May 2008 06:53:00 +0000

We now have all the lights bar one in the lounge:

The shelf lights look great!

One swirly Swerly light.....

And we have carpet upstairs:

Bit slow...

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Fri, 09 May 2008 06:48:00 +0000

Well, not much happening at the moment. We are still 'nearly there'. The sparky got the bathroom lights and fan in but not much else. He still has the ensuite lights, kids playroom and all the basic pendant fittings to finish up. We are still waiting on the network port for the snug which is on order. The TV ariel needs connecting into the loft after it was cut in November for the new roof.... unfortunately I think it was cut close to the ariel so it will probably need a new cable fitting.

The light shelves are up but not connected - a bit of channeling into the wall needed there unfortunately. The false wall under the stairs is boarded out but still needs the oven isolators and a power socket installing.

The kitchen is still missing a couple of drawer fronts, the spalashbacks and upstands, the breakfast bar and the worktop under the stairs.

The sparky is hoping to finish off next weds or thurs however the light over the piano will be missing since it's at my parent's place.

Carpets are coming a week monday which should see the last big transformation so once the kitchen looks fit we'll get the valuer in and see just how much we've really overspent!

Walkabout

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 06:10:00 +0000

Here's a quick walk around the ground floor

Lights

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 10:20:00 +0000

Well, we had a sparky........ he arrived Saturday 18th at 7.45 and we said 'can you leave the lights and get the boiler onto it's own power please...'. So he connected the signal wire to the UH1 control box downstairs and found the other end in the loft. We left him at about 9.30 sat in the loft contemplating the spaghetti of cables.

When we got home at 1 he was gone! The job was too big for him, especially as he planned to work at weekends only...

Anyway, we called EPS back and they started on the Tuesday. And now we have lots of lights everywhere.

These are the island lights - once the breakfast bar is fitted (a 3.6m x 60cm lump of wood according to Sarah!) they will not be an HS&E hazard any more!

Another remarkably similar light above the dining table. Plus one of the wall lights - we have four around the walls, and four more on a dimmer on the pillar. And it turns out these alone are enough to light the room, but now we have the ability to 'set the mood'... I can't see us ever turning all the lights on - there's over 3kW in here!!!!!!

Anyway, Geoff is pressing on with the kitchen. We have doors on most of the cupboards and Blum TandemBox drawers with auto-close for our pots and pans. Both of the ovens, the extractor and the fridge are on proper power although we're waiting for a grid switch for the oven isolators.

We now have lights in our master bedroom (piccies when it's a bit tidier!) and FINALLY - lights in the en-suite. We've opted for ceiling fans with in-line fan units for both the ensuite and bathroom so the wall units will be going back. That said, we used the tube and outside grill for the tumble drier!

Hoorah

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:07:00 +0000

Well - we have a sparky - he starts on saturday and he's called Chris.

Everything came back from storage today - The first thing I did was connect the router so I am writing this on the main PC upstairs over WiFi - for the first time snce November. 33 Windows Updates!!!

Downstairs looks pretty good now. The cupboard doors are going on and we should get light fittings when Chris starts on Saturday.

Things now look very different

April 3rd:

April 16th:

Yesterday it looked very different again as the stuff came out of storage so we have the piano, dining table, TV etc. in the room. Now the problem is deciding exactly where to put it and cabling it all up!

Floors and sofas

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 07:28:00 +0000

Well, we still have no electrician, and the heating is still off downstairs (although maintaining a good 15-17 degrees even so!), but we have half a floor in the big room and we unwrapped the sofas. The rest of the room should be laid today along with the front hall - another 48 hours then the heating can go back on. The snug should get primed today, screed today/tomorrow and start laying on Wednesday I hope, so that should be done by Friday - heating on for Sunday. Then the rear hall and utility next week, maybe earlier. Carpets are scheduled for w/c 28th.

Geoff collects the doors for the kitchen cupboards today/tomorrow so the big room should start to come together over the next week. Still no sparky though, so no light fittings (bare bulbs), no extractor and the fridge on an extension..... but moving out of the bedroom will be a massive change.

Oh Woe is me.....

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:22:00 +0000

Well,

today we had the flooring contractor set to start prepping the floors downstairs for the Amtico....

First they arrived nearer 12 than 10 because they found that they had been delivered the wrong stuff..... perhaps they should have checked.

Then we find out the heating should have been off for 48 hours before they start.... bit difficult wen you find out on the day!

Then, it turns out they were planning on prepping the whole ground floor - a bit difficult when we have stuff in most of the other rooms we were planning on moving into the big room when that was done.....

Anyway

We are now getting the main room, front hall and kids playroom primed today, skimmed on Wednesday (when the floor has cooled) and laid Thursday/Friday. Next monday they will start on the Snug, rear hall and loo, and the utility.

And on the 28th they'll lay the carpets upstairs!

So, fingers crossed, we'll move downstairs this weekend and have more than one room for the first time in... well it feels like years. Still loads to go at, and no sparky as yet so we'll see how much of a delay that causes..... but at least we may get to use the new sofas on Saturday! Hoorah.

Bugger

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:31:00 +0000

Well great. Our part-time sparky, Gary, was doing his work at weekends and splitting his time between the UK and Spain. This caused some problems as it could be a while between his visits, but he has really done it now. With no warning, we have now discovered he has emigrated permanently - so Geoff now has to find another sparky to take on a partially finished job. There appears to be no major stuff to do - just all the fiddly finishing up - light fittings, switches/sockets in some rooms, the alarm, the outside lights, but it is a long list....... and there are a lot of wires!

Bugger....

But at least the Amtico shoudl get fitted next week and we can finally move downstairs again!

Outside

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 06:41:00 +0000

Before and After:

The garden hasn't improved much..... but the house has certainly changed!

The front is pretty much there too - The guys spent the weekend putting the plastic trims around the doors and windows, fitting the leading to the front and painting. Most of the guttering is on - just the end and the downpipe needed now. Plus we have the arched trim above the bedroom window. They need to do the same at the back now.

The front door is almost done - a bit of tidying below the sill to do.

The bathroom tiles arrived on friday - I still haven't seen those for the surround, so that'll be a surprise! They're going on starting tomorrow. Geoff is working on the kitchen from tomorrow (maybe today?) and we painted the kids' playroom cupboard doors last night - one green and one metallic purple!

Post Easter Update

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 07:21:00 +0000

Well, not enough has happened....

We have a plastered and skimmed upstairs hallway, and the big cupboard on the landing (which forms one side of the bath alcove) has been built and boarded ready for skimming; the washing machine is finally plumbed in - no more trips to the launderette.... - but that's it. No kitchen, still a room full of tools and still a huge list of little things to 'finish off' everywhere.

We have booked the flooring contractor for the 7th April to lay the Amtico downstairs. The only issue is really the cupboard in front of the UFH manifold, but we can allow for that if we have to. There are still a couple of holes in the floor where the old electric meter was and some little gaps near the walls in a couple of places but they won't take long.

What is annoying is the pace - we are so close now, but it is taking forever. The fridge got unpacked yesterday and the the gap was plasterboarded so once that is skimmed the fridge can go in - but the plug might not be live so we still may not be able to use it.

On the good news, the bathroom tiles should be in today or tomorrow so they should start tiling next week with a bit of luck.....

Heating controls

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:32:00 +0000

Been a mixed week. The bath surround has almost been completed - just waiting for the tiles to be delivered now. Some plastering in the snug - once that's been skimmed, it will be ready for decorating. The kids room is still the tool store so no chance to decorate yet. The rear hall now has skirting boards so a few bits of plastic trim around the windows and the radiator and that's done (plus another coat of paint!). The light is up and (I think) it just needs the circuit breaking closing to make it work. The utility needs the door panel fitting, the radiator and the tiling round the sink then it's time for the washing machine, drier and fridge and the units.

The big thing this weekend was the thermostats came on-line! We now have control of the heating downstairs, and even after one day it's better. With UFH you don't turn it on and off, you 'set it back' - ie. turn it down - overnight. So we are running the main room at 22 degrees from 6am to 10.30pm and 16 degrees overnight. The thermostats take care of warming up and cooling down so the room should be at the chosen temp at the chosen time. This morning it was 20 degrees at 6am so tomorrow it will switch on earlier!

The controls come from Heatmiser in Darwen, Lancs.... very swish they are too!

Parlo ripped the landing apart yesterday taking out the old bathroom doorway to keep the ceiling level throughout the landing. He started plasterboarding as well so that should be boarded and ready for skimming today (?). Hopefully they will get on with the raidators today but the plumber has gone AWOL at the moment. And, yet again, we are waiting for the sparky's next visit...... Still plenty to do, but nothing that should hold the build up now.... apart from the isolator switch bank for the appliances, which all have their own fused spur anyway, it's mainly fittings now - switches, lights, etc.....

Ah.... the ensuite. Although we had success with one lot of UFH, the en-suite Walkwarm system failed to start. We are waiting to find out what's wrong. Worst case is the ribbon of wire was damaged, in which case the tiles will have to come up..... so we're going to wait until the bathroom is ready before we even think about that.

Utility

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 07:44:00 +0000

The utility room is now plastered apart from the sink wall - Geoff had 'fun' connecting our new taps. The old taps were about 6 inches apart on the wall and the pipes ran vertically into them. The new ones are a bit different, as you can see from the picture:
These aren't the actual taps, but they're similar enough. The entry point for the controls is at the side, so lots of pipe bending was required, but it looks good, and will be very smart when it's tiled...... ah.... tiles...

We have been struggling to pick tiles for the bathroom. We want it smart, but bright, rather than too conservative.

Sarah found some nice glass border tiles - 50mm x 10mm vertical strips in different colours - but unfortunately, at £17 for a 100mm strip, I think that's about £600 just for the strip round the bath..... maybe not then!

But we have found a mirror

Better bathroom, roofs and closing borders

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 13:35:00 +0000

A slightly better piccy of the bathroom. We have just received the mirror for over the sink - it is circular with a built in light at the top...

A new window in our old bedroom - we liked the brown walls, but the paper is off now ready for redecorating for the kids.

And the flat roof on the rear porch is now finished. I'd have preferred the proper roof, but it was a few quid and we need to save some money somewhere....

Now next door's new gable wall is up we can see just how 'open and spacious' they have kept the two houses.... At least our plot opens up once you are past the front corner, will be interesting to see how it looks once we plant some greenery along the boundary.

No more pictures of the kitchen now though. The worktop is on (but not fixed) so I'm going to wait until it's finished before I post any more. Progress wise, the extractor is up and we have a working oven, hob and the garbage disposal. Plus the popup power (which doesn't 'popup' unless you pull it - a bit disappointing) in the island is live. The bare switches and sockets are in, but no face plates until its a bit safer. Ditto the flooring.

Panoramic Lounge

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 08:43:00 +0000

Until Jim fires up Photoshop and does this properly, here is a quick, freebie powered panorama....

Stepok's Raw Importer was used to .... import the RAW camera files and create the JPGs
Firmtools' Panorama Composer (free trial) was used to stitch it together.

I have a flash virtual tour to upload as well.....

The doors

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 12:18:00 +0000

I realised there were no decent pictures of the doors at the back of the lounge. I will try and get one taken in daylight sometime, although the garden is nothing to write home about these days. We originally looked at folding sliding doors but they were 4 times the price of these!