Slow week

Not a lot has happened this week. We are waiting for the building inspector to come which is slated for tomorrow. Hopefully he'll be okay with everything, although I suspect he'll want the first beams lowered to match the new beams so the pillar top will be flat - I'm wondering how the final beams will sit on the pillar as it stands as they have to go at right angles to the current pair and that is where the step in the pillar is.

When we finally get the nod from the inspector Geoff can get on building the first floor extension and things should really get going again. Plus with a bit of luck we'll get a sealed house again!

The destruction continues...

Well, we went away for the weekend and look what happened!

Because the joists run across the house, the outside wall here cannot be held up with acro props under the floor joists so Geoff and the boys had to punch holes through the wall just above floor height with these metal bars and prop the bars from the ground.


But the ground floor layout is becoming visible now - just removing these 2 walls has opened everything up ...
quite literally - we have a huge hole in the outside wall, no heating because the radiators haven't been capped off, and are using the immersion heater for hot water as the CH is out of commission so it's a bit cold - but at least it is not raining!! Unfortunately, because of the depth of the beams, they cannot go any higher or they would hit he floor upstairs so they are not level with the previous beams outside - hence the step in the pillar. The building inspector has to come and check everything before the beams are fixed in place, but once that is done the walls can continue for the first floor so the extension shell should go up at pace.

Bay window

As you can see, the bay is up to window sill level and the sides are coming. The room is the kids play room complete with a fairly big built in cupboard.


Here is the new front hall. We are moving the front door into the middle of the house.

Big weekend coming up, Geoff plans on putting the beam across to the party wall and across from that to open up under the stairs so we've cleared the kitchen cupboards and the under stairs pantry and will empty the bedroom above the lounge and re-arrange the one above the kitchen so he can get access - and we're going away!!! Very nervy about this - it's probably the most destructive bit as the beam runs alongside the joists, not across, so propping is much more difficult.

July 21st

It's been a long, wet week. We've been relatively lucky compared to some places, but it has rained almost non-stop meaning progress has been patchy and slow, however, we have made progress. At the beginning of the week, the bay looked like this:


By thursday/friday it looked like this:

The internal walls are now in the right place and we can see the layout of the kids' room and the front hall, which is nice and wide with room for cupboards down one side.

The rear porch is now out of the ground but there is still a lot to do.

Its Raining...

Well it hasn't stopped raining...


The drain is flooded - luckily (I guess) it is a sealed pipe now, but the hole is filled


So Geoff spent yesterday in the pouring rain putting up the first floor joists. The beam was too low, so thepillar and wall have been built up again!