Lights

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!

Completely Plastered.....

The rear porch is the only major bit of build left to do. We're going for a flat roof to save some money, but the top half is conservatory style - just waiting for it to come from the window company and be fitted.


Here is the cupboard at the top of the stairs. It's a bit smaller than we hoped because the landing needed cutting down to give us clearance up the stairs for building regs, but the cupboard in the bathroom is pretty big which will make up for it.


The ensuite. It looks a bit cramped on the photo, but it isn't in the flesh - the gap into the cubicle is 800mm wide.


This is the secret door at the bottom of the stairs so we can get things up without going round corners.


The main room - not my best photo, but it's all plastered now.


The new front door - it's brown on the outside to match the windows.


All those wires..... New consumer unit is huge to accommodate them all.



The new drain outside. Inspected and passed yesterday so ready to be finished off.



All of this is (almost) just in time. The fridge comes tomorrow, the appliances Monday and the bath on Tuesday. Flooring is booked in for 16th feb - we've found a really good deal on Amtico at T J Flooring (via eBay)

Honey Oak - Ground floor (except snug):



Ceramic dark tiles - bathroom floor:

Update 4/1/08

Well, what has happened since december 6th.... A lot and not a lot.

The sparky installed the majority of the cables in the lounge, including runs to the rear hall and bedrooms for new sockets etc. He reckons he's installed about 1km of cable - a typical houses worth in one room. We have 7 lighting circuits in there, 3 TV points and 10 sockets, plus controls for some of the outside lights and the thermostat for the UFH.

The ceiling has been insulated and most of the room is plasterboarded, as is most of the kids play room and some of the front hall.

The oil ran out in the middle of december leaving us with no heating again.... bloody cold. So we arranged for a delivery but since it was only a day before we were going away we asked the guys to switch the heating on a few days before the new year to give it all time to warm up......

When we got back on new years day, we had no heating and no power. We fiddled with the fuses and got the lights on but no cooker. It turns out that the boiler had sprung a leak all over the electronics box that controls it... Geoff tried to get it going with no luck. The following day he tried to bypass the controls since we just want the boiler on all day, but it gave up completely so we have no heating at all now - just 3 fan heaters, and with no internal doors, they have no chance.

Yesterday we moved into a Travellodge.... and today Geoff found someone to get the new boiler going on weds so we'll stay in the hotel until then - fingers crossed all will come good.

The rear porch is now down ready for measuring by the window firm to put the door, windows and roof line together. Hopefully that won't take for ever as it's a gap in the outside of the building and in this weather it makes the heating seem to struggle. Oh, and the new drain for the cloakroom is coming so the back of the house can be tackled soon. Now the boiler is dead, we may as well get that and the little wooden stove behind it taken out so the utility is a bit clearer. Would be good to get a washing machine again...... and there are connection points already under the sink in there.

We have ordered the bath and taps (Thanks Dean!!!) Thats coming later in january, as is the new bed. Sarah has been painting the skirting boards in the bedroom and dressing room and the ensuite walls. Apart from the towel radiator, the ensuite is ready for the new boiler (the old tank had too little hot water pressure for the mixer taps). We have a loo in the bathroom (waiting a cold feed, but plumbed to the soil pipe).

Apart from the heating, we are over the worst of it, but the heating really put a dampner on things and I lost my rag with Geoff a bit....... Once the new heating and electrics are in place, things should start to improve rapidly. The landing has been trimmed to give us the clearance up the stairs for building regs and the door casings are going in downstairs.

The plasterboard makes a big difference - when it's not freezing it is actually starting to feel like a house..

I would strongly recommend getting a caravan if you are doing anything this big. Although Geoff has tried to keep the place habitable, keeping the services up has been a struggle, and unless you like roughing it (and have no kids) it's not worth the hassle - plus it slows the building down. Had I really known what was coming, I would have bought a cheap caravan, stuck it in the back garden and skipped it at the end of the job, but there we go - hindsight is great.

Photos when I can get new batteries in the camera and a computer to load them onto!

Wow a video!

A short video montage of some photos from today - the ensuite, the false ceiling and a panorama of the big room:




That panorama photo in full: