Greening the Coach House

And the flood

2011-07-10T14:04:00.000-07:00

So a few things to add to Emily's post!
We have also tiled by the hob, and put up the knife rack, so the kitchen is really sorted now. Only a better set of shelves to make for the left hand side of the hob and it will be done!?

Also when we got back from seeing the early showing of Senna (great film) on Friday we came back to a paddling pool / swimming pool in the courtyard and a rather wet MVHR unit. It had done some torrential down pours whilst we were out, and while the side of the roof over the MVHR is now covered with felt, the other side isn't and the rain poured in. We were rescued on Saturday morning by Matt and Scott (our builders) coming over and putting a tarp over the other side of the roof, protecting the MVHR and allowing things to dry out. Hopefully they will have the felt up in the next 1-2 days on the other side, and then they have to re-do the middle wall, retrofit purlins, re-do the front walls and doors and windows.......only a little bit of work!?

The other exciting news is that Gil has submitted the plans for the balcony and fence to the planners - so now we just wait - I can't seem to upload the plans tonight, but will see if I can work it out for later in the week. Now off to bed to rest very weary arms from painting.

Of roofs, promontories and painting.

2011-07-10T13:48:00.000-07:00

I think C showed a pic in the last post of the roof off our shed; here's a bit more of the same sans builders on it. Currently the side nearer the house and courtyard has been felted and the slats for the slates to be nailed to have been attached to counter-slats (ie there are ones going vertically, so the horizontal ones don't trap the water running down the felt). The felt is new-fangled, breathable stuff.
The other side is more complicated with a wall plate that is angled so the gully behind the parapet wall has a pitch allowing water to flow to the outflow at the house end, and to match the steep pitch of the road and therefore the wall. It's in progress though, after complications with the RSJ over the garage door (half the size it should be and almost rusted away).

We've also finally finished knocking down the dodgy potting shed with the big (heavy!) red tiles, up at the top of the garden (the place that is best for sun in the afternoon/evening). Now it's a lovely place to sit (it'll be lovelier once we sort out the paving). Just as well, we thought we might die horribly while knocking it down (thank you Sarah for your help!)

D'you like the phone-box door? Bought about 12 years ago in Cornwall and lugged about till now. We think we'll try to grow something up it, not too overwhelming and hopefully nice smelling.

There's been progress inside too. Our lovely friend Han came for the weekend and used left-over engineered wooden boards from our upstairs floor to create a promontory for the kitchen, giving us more work-surface and shelving. I understand others call this sort of thing a peninsular unit. Hmmm.

Han working

And this weekend lots of painting has been done - largely by Clare as I have an elbow injury (no idea how, but v limiting as to rollering).

A place for those cookery, garden and house books - and the oversized art ones, too. (Hundertwasser, anyone?)

And the coffee-maker is happy at last!

It's really feeling as if the whole place is coming together.

Shed Stuff

2011-07-01T04:51:00.000-07:00

So we started removing the old shelving from inside the outbuildings, to reorganise and start the bike room etc, and found a slight problem;

Dry rot - and a massive leak down the street side wall through the roof.

So we are now back in a destruction phase, with builders back to re-do the outbuildings, which includes rebuilding an entire wall, redoing most of the wooden beams for the roof and redoing all the slates - here is where we are at....

Only a little work for the builders (!) - oh and no yard and lots of skips again.......

some garden stuff

2011-06-25T09:54:00.000-07:00

The front garden in toto:

And the detailed versions: everlasting peas, then buddleia,wallflower, lavenders, passionflower, more lavender, fuchsia, chamomile. The pots have some sedum and a tiny fig cutting. Mmmm.

And the elephant ears (bleurrgh, but good ground cover), something purple whose name I've forgotten, and pretty feathery astilbe.

A look up the garden to the shed when we'd just planted out herbs (from Riverford, where we get our veg box).

That was then - this is now. The shed has become a bus shelter, and the broad beans and herbs have gone BANANAS!

The raspberry crop, and the loganberry survives! (Both cuttings from my Dad):

And the new little shed. Should we grow a clematis over it? Clare's done a dry-stone-wall next to it to control one of the wood piles.

Working outside

2011-06-17T00:58:00.000-07:00

So its been ages since our last post. Rather unsuprisingly the decorating hasn't moved much further on, not quite sure why, but I have plans for next weekend, this one being rather filled with another triathlon and then a friends birthday party!

Outside, however things are moving a bit.
We removed the shelving in the bike shed, to find a little bit of damp (or rather a massive leak from the roof all along that side of the outbuildings!?)

After the last week of rain, imagine all of that old original, tie a horse to it, wall wet and add the inside of the sauna area too....luckily we have Scott and Matt, who worked on the house as part of the woodsends team, coming to re-do the roof, remove the flooring, remove shed 5 (I think its 5, might have to check previous shed post), plumb in the washing machine and sink and move some electrics, so the sheds should be watertight and functional in a few weeks time.

Hopefully no more rotting sheds.

Talking about sheds we have also built a new shed in the swimming pool area (Dolores / Dads name for the small sunken area near our neighbours garden) and will be finishing the demolition of shed 1 after the triathlon and party this weekend!

I also tidied up with the spare bulwell stone removed from around the windows when they were extended, and have built a little dry stone wall and wood store area.

And with some help from George and Sue (again!) we have done some gardening and got things a little bit under control.
Herbs and Broadbeans
Outside our bedroom outside the front and general weeding and pruning

Also realised we hadn't posted pictures of the fantastic gable end cladding, that makes us feel nautical!

We are also meeting Gil next week to look at plans for the balcony, hoping to submit them to planning asap and get on with that too.....
We will try to keep you posted!?

Builders gone under

2011-02-24T03:17:00.000-08:00

So I recieved a rather suprising text on Monday morning from the builder who was doing the most of the work on our house - Darren, to say that Woodsends, the family building company who have been doing this job, and have been established for ages had folded due to the recession. I was firstly really sorry for them, and then hugely relieved that they finished the rendering and plastering last week, and that there are only two minor jobs left to be done, and that we hadn't paid in advance on the last bill for work they hadn't done yet! Also that this hadn't happened 9 months ago in the middle of the build.
We will put pictures up of the finished roofing and rendering soon - and let you know how we get on getting the final bits done, and planning for the next phases (when we have more cash) of the balcony, out buildings, PV panels, decorating, kitchen unit, plumbing to outbuildings so we can have a washing machine, parquet floor laying etc.........
A friend did suggest that maybe we need a five year plan!

I just would like to say Thanks to Woodsends for a great job on our house - and good luck to all the builders, plasterers, joiners etc that they employed in getting new work - rather depressing times.

Painting and Christmas

2011-01-06T05:26:00.000-08:00

So since the last post we had a week off, during which I imagined we would get downstairs painted - I obviously need a reality check - but we did get the spare room and both bathrooms done, ready for all our guests for christmas - but it was hard, slow work, especially the ceilings

But the finished results are worth it;

We also got a bit more organised with all the visitors coming - and emptied all the book boxes onto bookshelves, and treated and uncovered the fantastic stairs.

Christmas was great - we had a house-full, kept warm easily, and had a needle-less christmas tree making clearing up much easier!

Now the builders are back, finishing the wooden gable end, and hopefully also doing the roof tiling around the windows, modification to the outside of the MVHR so we can change the filter, rendering to the downstairs windows, the final bit of plastering internally, and sealing around the joists between the floors to help sort out the air-tightness better.....
Now really looking forward to getting rid of the builders so that we can sort out the sheds and get rid of the porta loo! Obviously things have been a bit delayed because of the cold and ice - although we kept warm mostly (!) we did have one casualty the pipes to the sheds froze and have all burst, so we will have to get that replumbed, but no point until we get rid of the builders, work out where we want the washing machine etc, and then we can get it all plumbed together. The burst pipe probably accounts for a rather entertainingly shaped icicle I found in our garage. I will leave you with the icicle image, and post more after I have recovered from a cold, and we have had most of a week of next week to do more painting, with our new platform ladder from George and Sue.
Happy New Year

Upstairs and the Snow

2010-12-03T02:33:00.001-08:00

So it has been ages since we posted properly about what has been happening on the inside of our house - partly due to being in it and not noticing as much, and partly due to weddings that have kept us busy for a few weekends in a row!
Things have moved on - even if we haven't started decorating, we have started sorting, and living in the house and finding out how it all works. The space is fantastic, works really well for us - roll on a bit more cash and the balcony and the place will be awesome.

The solar water heating and immersion are great - as long as Emily doesn't have a giant bath and empty the hot water - although there is a top up immersion function so not that bad really!? It will be very satisfying when we have solar electric as well to run the immersion.
Heating is slightly less great at the moment - we need the stove on, most of the time
that we are here.
Upstairs gets warm within a few hours, downstairs not really. Sleeping is fine, we are warm in bed, and in the morning after keeping the house warm during the day, the warmth has spread more evenly through the house overnight, warming downstairs a little bit more, so clearly the MVHR does work. Apparently according to both the architect and the MVHR man, this year will be colder than any other whilst we get the thermal mass of the place warmed up - and with it minus degrees outside that is clearly harder than at other times! It does give us an opportunity, however, of some great snow photos.

Do you like our guard-owl?

Very glad we did go for a stove, and not have nothing at all, as was originally suggested otherwise we would have been really cold.....

The metal work around the windows has also started now. It was originally going to be light grey, then changed to dark grey to match the window colour, but accidentally has been done the light colour. We "hummed and hahed" for a day as to whether the light colour was right (the fact that it would be another 4 weeks at least if it wasn't helped the decision), but actually the light colour looks good, and increases the light coming in to the house lots. Unfortunately the weather has stopped them finishing it, and also means the rendering won't happen for a while, as the temp needs to be 4 degrees minimum for the rendering to happen......

We have a week off coming up soon, so hopefully will get some painting done, and be able to show some more photos, particularly of downstairs, ready for the family invasion at christmas!
Finally feeling for our builders in this weather....

A splash of joyous Sydney colour!

2010-12-01T10:19:00.000-08:00

A parcel arrived yesterday, it was sitting on the doorstep after we walked home from town. We'd seen "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" (excellent) and when we came out - it was still snowing, and the buses were all cancelled. (No problem for us, we live pretty near town).

And this morning we looked in the parcel and experienced a flash of Australian summery colour.

(I know they're Marimekko, and hence Finnish, but look at this!)

A lovely house-warming gift from M-H and Sandra!

Air tightness test

2010-11-04T03:40:00.001-07:00

So I appreciate we haven't blogged for ages - once we moved in the excitement of being here overtook actually posting, however we want to keep a record of things so here is the latest update.
We had the air tightness test - essentially pressurising the house and measuring how many times the air changes to keep the pressure. We were aiming for <3 but it was 4.8 and some gaps have been found under the french doors both upstairs and down, and in the upstairs loo. It seems that the builders will sort these issues out within the contact, but there is also some leakage around all the beams that make up the base of the first floor - the old roof joists. This means sealing round all the front ones with some sort of silicone sealant, and then taping all the rear ones prior to getting the back of the house rendered once the balcony is done. These bits are of course not in the original contract - so more money here we come!
Just to add some entertainment the shower is leaking this morning......
Luckily the plumber has been round already and it is the sealant around the shower tray that needs to be re-done - the bad news being that the parentoids come to visit this weekend and not good having a leaking shower. Oh well!
More pictures of downstairs and an update will follow soon........

We're in! (And slow to post).

2010-10-11T12:15:00.000-07:00

We had the stuff that had been in storage delivered on 22nd Sept, but moved in ourselves on that Friday - moments before my brother and his family arrived for the kids birthday weekend!
Here's an idea of what they found - just a little chaos.

Clare doing the hostly thing:
D'you think they had fun?
Actually, I think they did - we took the kids to Stomp which was fantastic (though just a bit long for Ben) and then they ran about through the fountains in market square. Childhood bliss! (Alice really seemed to like her neck-warmer I'd double-knitted for her - may have a pic somewhere...).
A little detail of wool getting put away...

Anyway, things are moving on with the unpacking - here are a few pics of upstairs.
The study (Clare's desk on the left all tidy, yarn store to the right)
and my desk on the other side (chaos of course)

And the rest of the upstairs - going in a circle from the kitchen
more kitchen

sitting area

and the dining area .

More photos to come from downstairs and outside - Clare's been sorting out her bike and tool store. Hope to get those up soon!

Two weeks no post, so sorry

2010-09-19T11:22:00.000-07:00

A combo of busy-ness and stress got in the way of posting - we even uploaded pics last week!

The guys have been working very hard, specially Darren, managing the whole endeavour on the ground).

the stairs are in, and look fabulous! The blue you see in these pics is paper carefully wrapped around the handrail to avoid staining and damage, and the treads are covered in hardboard for similar reasons.

In the first you can see the front door, the beam and the curved wall of the bathroom; in the second the corridor through to the door to the spare room.

Every window is in now, even the door to the courtyard, though unfortunately there seems to be a very slight bend in this, and despite the guys best efforts it may cock up the airtightness test and need replacing. Ho hum.

Last weekend we slaved to get the kitchen part of the floor finished so the purple English Rose double sink unit would be ready for the plumber's work (it's still waiting, though in position).

The floor is done with a coat of 50:50 Treatex matt clear and spruce stain first, then another of the matt clear; the wall is Earthborn clay emulsion in fresh Air (brilliant coverage).
As well as the ceiling over the kitchen we (=Clare) did a roll over all the holes where the light fittings were due to go, so we don't have to cut in round them when finishing painting the ceiling.

(The colour isn't quite right - less burgundy, more aubergine, though not quite that either).

This weekend we've done most of the rest of the floor upstairs (there are a few areas we couldn't get to due to the ever-present piles of insulation). We did it much better this time after our trial run last week!

Everywhere is plaster-boarded and almost everywhere plastered; all the light-fittings are in upstairs, and several sockets have been corrected (meant to be brushed metal upstairs not white plastic). So between Monday morning and Tuesday night they only have to plumb in all the loos, the kitchen sinks;
fit a fuse-board and complete the electrics (including ANY lights in the shower-room);
finish the plastering;
finish the railing round the stairs;
finish fitting the hot water tank and the MVHR (for which parts awaited AGAIN).
On Monday our ecokitchen arrives and the hob and oven need to be fitted in that (should be v easy for an electrician though). The hood needs to get up on the wall.

And the yard needs clearing.

No worries about guests on Friday, then.... At least it's family!

Our week off

2010-09-05T02:07:00.000-07:00

We've both had most of the week off (I worked Friday, but that's all) as we had previously hoped to be moving in this week. Instead, it's been a productive week in other ways (including seeing Toy Story, The Girl Who Played with Fire and Scott Pilgrim and the Evil Exs and chilling together).

Our oven has arrived, we are waiting for the extraction hood, and the other kitchen unit is confirmed for mid-September (we need to order the hob to go in it).

We've painted the stairs (really this is more workshop p*rn for you, Tony!)

The rooflet has fallen off the door to the road, happily missing Darren who just moments before walked under it!

Most of the ducting is in (and the MVHR due to arrive this week...).

We've got kitchen windows
A sliding door onto the (imaginary) balcony

and a lovely over-stair opening window we will never be able to reach!

The two little windows in the south wall upstairs are rather darker than we expected, but we like them.

And the floating engineered oak floor is partly down upstairs. Looks lovely!

We've done some sample paint squares upstairs too, deciding between white and fresh air (a bit cooler). We've ordered the Treatex Hard Wax oil for the floor (spruce ie white half/half with plain).

And we've handed in our notice for the end of September and arranged for our stuff to arrive from storage on 22nd Sept. We should be in for Alice and Ben's birthday visit! (Though chaos will certainly still reign).

There are more

2010-08-31T02:07:00.000-07:00

So yesterday we got back from a weekend away for me to do the triathlon, and saw the outside of the house with 6 windows in BUT THERE ARE MORE! Our architect Gil sent us some photos he took on Friday, from the inside of the house, and they have done loads.
Here is a collection of window photos.....

My favourite bit being that the windows onto the pavement (spare room) are in, with the UPVC still in situ outside complete with net curtains still!?

Finally an example of the architrave and a close up of the pale grey inside colour;

So we have been brave and are handing in our notice today - we are getting a little bit excited about the reality of moving in at the end of this month

WINDOWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-08-30T11:23:00.000-07:00

We dropped in to have look round on our way back from Bristol/Exeter/Monmouth shenanigans,and we couldn't get in!

You might think that this would be met with fear and loathing in las vegas, but NO! For the reason was - this:

Why yes, that is a beautiful new front door, to which we currently have no key. And here's an upstairs window:

The balcony doors:

bathroom windows (if you squint a bit):

And maHOOSive bedroom windows, too:

Totally craptastic photos, of course, but such is life.

I must add that Clare has finally done a triathlon - she did the 'Little Woody' (I know! I'm calling it the Little Ted) half ironman.

She did well, timing good etc. Details on facebook, I understand!

Congrats my love....

site meeting update.....

2010-08-22T01:41:00.000-07:00

So another site meeting on Friday - some progress but also some frustration.

We now have an installer and plan for the flue, which will be a fan assisted flue so it is shorter and doesn't need planning, but he is on holiday and no-one has chased it up or worked out when he will fit it......
Our main builder and joiner Darren and Chris are going to put in the pipework for the MVHR as they cannot find another installer, and then hopefully the green building store will attach it to the machine. Unfortunately no-one seems to have chased up why we still don't have the main machine, when we are going to get it and when it will be installed....
The windows HAVEN'T arrived - hopefully the end of next week, although no-one had phoned after Monday to check if they had arrived in the country yet.....
No plans at all about who will do the air tightness test, and when it will be done....

Seems all a little bit frustrating as other than more insulation downstairs and in the roof space we haven't really got any further forward than when I got cross 2 weeks ago, the same issues that were stalling progress then, are still stalling progress now. However, I did let them know that we have to be in for the end of September, as we are handing in our notice on September 1st, and have family coming the last weekend of September and they need somewhere to stay - this has given us another provisional completion date of September 17th - not holding my breath though!

Stairs making progress

2010-08-22T01:35:00.000-07:00

I got to go to the workshop at William Woodsend's (our builder) to see our staircase in progress. Clare was at work (she got to the site meeting the next day when I was at work! We're both doing lots of extra shifts at the moment...). The workshop is LOVELY - the building was built (for and presumably by WW) in the late 19th century, backing onto the canal. There's the smallish office area at the roadside, then a vast workshop, with glass pitched roof high above. I only had my phone with me this time, but when we go back I'll get C to take some proper pics.

Arthur, the stair-builder extraordinaire, told me they used to have 25 people working there - now it's only 3. There are massive old benches, full of drilled holes and dents. The floor is dented and has drops of many different paints. It smells great - very woody!

Anyway, the stair is well on the way. The main flight is largely built, with some treads and risers still to be added. Arthur explained that the string (stringer?) - that is, the bit up the side of the stair tying the different steps together - is made of one straight part and the triangles to go out to each tread are cut separately and allowed to sit for a few days, so once in they won't dry and distort. Then they are jointed into the main straight.

You can see the newel post (which will be cut shorter) slotted onto the stair here, and the next tread/riser combo in front of the stair.

And here it's like looking down our new stairs....

Arthur feels we should paint the stringer and risers in the workshop before the stair goes to site (so we don't make a mess, and so we can reach! Also, we can do it before the oak spindles are attached to the stringer). So that's our week off booked up, should be fun.

On the way out I saw all the cutting shapes for different mouldings - going back years, scattered over a bench. They sharp and shaped, and apparently it would be illegal to make ones like this now (they don't have a safety thingy) but theya re things of beauty and work well!

toys out the pram

2010-08-15T11:51:00.000-07:00

That was Clare at the meeting a week ago. We think we got the point across re getting ON WITH IT... we'll see. I got back today from Knitcamp to a Clare who said that nothing new had been done this week - in fact, she was Wrong diddly wrong re that.

Update from last week, by Clare
So having had a date for completion a month after the original, the most recent site meeting gave us a further few weeks on top of that, at which point I got a bit fed up and grumpy. I explained (slightly toys out pram style) that the MVHR and flue had been on the original plans, and the fact that they still hadn't sorted contractors to put them in was not OK, we were originally held up for the windows with expectation that everything would be finished by the time they arrived but now they are due next week, and we are a long way away from finishing. That we weren't going to pay for the things we had taken off the original electric plans, that were being put in anyway due to the electrician not circulating the correct plans, that it was also not OK that the electrician has pierced both airtightness membranes in 5 places!? We think the builder felt bad about the air tightness breaches, and will fix that, and there seems to have been some movement towards getting contractors for the flue and MVHR - we shall see.....

The good bit about the site meeting was a long chat with the joiner doing the stairs, and seeing plans, getting an idea about how they will work etc. Really exciting and hopefully we will get to see them being made this coming week.
Here is Emily chatting with Charles before I threw the toys!

And evidence of progress that week. They have started to insulate in the roof space, hot and unpleasant work.

The curved wall for the bathroom has been started

And now this week... by Emily

A window has been formed externally, cutting back the stone.

Most of the insulation layer is done downstairs.

Plumbing is done in the bathrooms - well, pipes are in positions.

And the spitfire (aka English rose) kitchen has arrived! It's all wrapped up in the garage but we peered in and we LIKE the colours in the flesh, hurray! The dresser isn't too big (we had no measurements, foolish us) and should fit where we want it, we think.

We are still waiting on the MVHR getting sorted, so in turn the solar installation (basically the tank etc) can be completed; for the flue to be sorted for the stove (now seems it'll be a powered one, then doesn't need to be so tall and no planning permission or weird strapping required. And Gil says the power use so low as not to matter much).

Nearer, ever nearer.

2010-07-31T11:16:00.000-07:00

Just popped into the house, not expecting much change from our last (brief) visit 2 days ago but in fact, they've got quite a bit done - cleared what will be our bedroom so they can get insulating in there (they've done about 1/3rd of downstairs, I'd say).

And they've started the detailed insulation of the tops of the walls in there.

Can you see the huge pile of insulation behind the studding here? (With Clare for scale!) That's all that's left of the many heaping masses all over the inside and outside of the house a few weeks back!

Also downstairs they've started hacking away at the windows in the stone wall. These nasty uPVC ones will remain pro tem on the outside, but eventually we'll replace with either Crittall or salvaged stained glass.

And the other window that's in the roadside wall (which has a cavity) is getting insulated!

On the way up the stairs we now have some bookshelves (they're by the quarter-turn landing and the last 3 steps up). One day we won't be reaching from a ladder...

Even the upstairs loo is plastered on the inside and all ready for the 'sanitary-ware' as I believe it's called (and which we hope has been ordered).

Clare now has some shelves by her future desk
and we have an insulated roof-hatch!

So, upstairs is all plastered apart from this leetle, tiny corner!

This is where the flue is to go, but the method of ensuring airtightness around it is still uncertain. What is for sure is that we'll need planning permission for the flue because the HETAS guys feel it needs to be 4.5 metres tall above the top of the stove. And therefore 2.5 above the roof. Oh well! We'll go for it at the same time as putting the stove in, I think.

We've gone ahead and ordered the kitchen elements from Ecokitchendesign (in for a penny, in for a pound!)

Out the back the garden is wild! We really need Mum and Dad/Sue and George to come and help tame it some time.
Giant rhubarb like Cornish Gunnera lurks at the top of the garden,

and the garlic is taller than Clare!

Hard to know where we are with money, as there have certainly been variations from the initial agreed work/price - those wall problems early on, the windows are more expensive in the end (just a bit), the gable end rotten so new fascia (and it's oak); the stairs more expensive (lots!), having to sort out the undulating floor upstairs. That's all increase in price - but also the plumbing should be much less as we are not paying for a gas boiler or radiators, in fact the plumbing is v little, some having also transferred to the Solar Boys as we call them (T4 Sustainability is their real name) whose payment is outside the builder's contract, and half of which we've paid already.

Who knows, in other words!

Very exciting to see downstairs start to look a bit like a house, and upstairs really almost ready to move in (ha ha).

Newport, Newport, Newport! (non sequiter, but so good!)

2010-07-31T01:44:00.001-07:00

Beginning to feel real...

2010-07-25T02:43:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we dashed to Exeter to see C's Ps and their new house. The dash was interrupted by a quick trip to Ikea Bristol, who assured us over the phone that the Varde 12 drawer unit was up and visible in the shop. Not so much! The aggravation of this was reduced by food with my Ps and a planned visit to another kitchen place. Before all this we were really thinking maybe the Ikea unit (cheaper, available stat), but we would really want to see it in the flesh...

So off we went to Taunton, where we met Tim Rigby, the designer of ecokitchensonline, and the chap who makes the kitchens, in his workshop. We should have taken pictures! They make lovely free-standing units, using FSC oak or other local woods and strawboard, with proper wood jointing etc. And recycled coffee cup worktops! We're sorely tempted to get a wide 3 drawer unit for the hob and an under-counter oven housing. We'll see how the quote is!

Clare's parent's new house fed into ours - here's how to do a parquet doorway:

Anyway - when we got back we nipped into the house and our little robot had arrived!

And our upstairs engineered floorboards!

Downstairs, the solar pipes are in (though not connected). Can you see the top of the tank?

And the insulation of downstairs has begun, including keeping a bit of the original wall shaping with a diagonal detail to the walls at the corners that meet the window end of the spare room.

Due to the Exeter visit, and me (Clare) feeling a bit under the weather, and an early site meeting (Weds rather than Fri) we hadn't posted before visiting again.

(Back to Emily writing - we're eating breakfast so swapping about).

The site meeting was a useful one - I'd had a phone-call to chivvy the builders re various issues last week, and we got quite a bit more info. A price for the lovely stairs designed by Gil (lots more than we initially intended but we love these stairs... so have said yes). A first suggested date for window delivery of 16th August, which if it really happens would mean a move-in in the first week of September , which is the week we have both taken off. Seems too good to be true, and it isn't a definite window date, so I'm borrowing a bit of pessimism from Clare for the moment! Clarification of contractors for stove insertion (!) and MVHR doings, and prices for the electrician and plumber.

And when we looked upstairs - lots of progress we can see! It was good we had the meeting on Wed, before the second fix electrics and the plastering of the wall where the kitchen units will go, as we've changed our plans rather... As a result of the timing of the meeting, we did have the right boxes in the right places when we popped in a couple of days later!

An overall pic of the site meeting - pipes visible for the kitchen sink, and you can see where all the wires around the kitchen were before we got them moved. Phew.

Here's the plaster drying on the upstairs loo (the first completed room! Of course, it's the smallest...).

And Torie pondering that fact two days later.

We've also got the beginnings of some lovely bookshelves cut into the wall by the stairs. There'll be two higher up on the other side (in our study!) They will have backs and be plastered out.

After the potential good news about the windows there does of course have to be a downside. The HETAS stove installers say we need a flue of 4.5metres from the top of the stove itself- which means about 2.5m from the roof. This means we need planning permission (well, in fact apparently we always would have needed it whatever the height. Gil presumably assumed we knew this... Anyway, he's on the case now). We're going to go for retrospective, but he'll be discussing with the planners before the fact, and thinks it will be fine. The real issue with the required height is that it'll need to be tied into the ridge or the gable end somehow. Also, apparently we don't yet have a plan for the airtightness round the flue...

Congrats in order, and it's not really quite so bad as C makes out...

2010-07-11T00:21:00.000-07:00

The congrats are to our renovating blogger colleague Tony and knitblogger Ruth on their delightful new production - Thomas, born on Wednesday. He looks lovely, and can only be an impetus to your endeavours (well, maybe he could be a little hindrance too - here's hoping for a night-sleeping future for him!)

Back to the mundanities of our meandering house - it is a bit depressing to think that we might not make it in by the end of August, but what the heck, progress really is being made! Upstairs the plumbing is in for our kitchen sink (do you remember? It's a purple/pink unit!) under those lovely big windows.
And most of upstairs is plasterboarded, to be skimmed this coming week.
(That's not a Jedi Knight with light-sabre, that's Darren, on-site builder boss).

Insulation and airtightness is progressing downstairs and should move much more quickly than upstairs - waterproof membrane taped onto wall, build with battens, insulated and whack up the OSB. Tape that then the Intelligent Membrane goes on. They're speeding along at this!

The floor for upstairs arrives on Tuesday (but no stairs up which to carry this - entertaining, I'm sure!) It's Chauncey's FSC Tectonic, which is an engineered board 240mm wide and quite long, in standard/rustic (ie cheaper) oak. Mmmmm. And the kitchen comes in a fortnight (when I do not believe stairs will be any more in evidence, given that we're yet to get a PRICE for our plans! Which are lovely....). Oh, and the kitchen doesn't arrive flatpacked...

Of course, the most important news of this week is that Clare has got her new bike! She was knocked off her beloved carbon fibre one (happily, Clare was not broken and literally landed on her feet) and the insurance is now through. The bike whisperer Mick at Langdale Lightweights has built her a new bike (they've been in cahoots about supersplendidness) and it is beautiful. Even if it's baby-snot green...

And I've got a lovely cabinet for (some of) my yarn in a Betel closing-down sale. The bike is just decoration. In a perfect world I'd have all my yarn in glass-fronted cabinets, as for me it's out-of-sight, out-of-mind. So this will save money!

Frustrated....

2010-07-09T23:30:00.000-07:00

So I have to admit that when we took this on, despite having watched lots of Grand Designs (back when we had a TV) and realising that things take longer and go over budget I thought it would probably run to schedule and not be too bad - I should have paid more attention to Grand Designs!

Currently I am feeling a little bit frustrated with the whole thing - whilst there is progress every week - it often feels like it was just a bit more insulation each time (which I am sure the builders would agree with!). And the windows are still a saga - after having been ordered eventually, there is now a possibility that it will be 10 weeks - which is another 8 from now, which puts us mid-september before we move in. Hopefully it won't be that long, but we have ended up in the summer, and therefore coinciding with factory fortnight (factories closing for 2 weeks) which if it happens in this factory will definately delay things.

The progress update this week (there has been some) is that all the insulation and first fix of electrics and plumbing is done upstairs and plasterboarding the whole area has begun. Also the first bit of wall insulation has begun downstairs, after long discussions of how to minimally fix the studwork to the brickwork to avoid cold bridging (builder Chris coming up with the final solution, an extra horizontal piece on the studwork which then only needs 3 or 4 attachments to the brickwork). This means that the solar boys can come back next week to put in all the pipework and the tank, and after that the heat recovery system should go in. We are getting upstairs plastered next week, and the upstairs floor delivered for it to sit for a while and acclimatise before being put in. All this is happening without windows, so we have to hope that the openings are weather tight!?

Whats left still to do: all the insulation downstairs, insulation in the roof, first fix downstairs, staircase, heat recovery system to go in, solar to be sorted, second fix everywhere and windows. Decorating and downstairs floor and any storage will be us apart from tiling in the shower which we think will be better executed around the fittings if the builders do it!
Ready for the second fix we have chosen all our sanitaryware - so hopefully the plumber is ordering the right stuff and there won't be a delay! We are in disucssion with each other about how much extra to get for the kitchen. All we have so far is the double sink unit and aluminium dresser. We have decided which induction hob we would like, and are just working out about a unit to put that in, and what we do about fridge, freezer, cooker, island, etc. We think we have decided on a unit and worktop for the hob, and will probably get that and a decent fridge and freezer before or almost as soon as we move in, and then work up to the other units and cooker once we know if we have any money left (or have earnt some more). We are negotiating about the extractor fan - Emily has done some excellent research finding really quiet, efficient, expensive hoods so we haven't quite agreed on which one yet!

I guess things are progressing - and 8 weeks from now isn't that long - its just that when we move in it will be 12 months after we bought the place, 18 months after we moved to Nottingham, and 32 months after our stuff went into storage!

The walls are going up!

2010-07-07T02:38:00.000-07:00

Just a quickie - walls are going up both upstairs and down, which is pretty exciting!

Here's the bathroom studwork done - see that lovely curve?

No? Maybe not - so here the curve is from above!

Upstairs the phenolic foam (the pink stuff) is helping with the insulation round the kitchen windows

And we have some ceiling! (And rather crappy photos)

Clare is going to the site meeting alone on Friday this week - so the pics will be by her, usually better. Look forward to that!

back again

2010-06-29T13:26:00.000-07:00

We're rather knackered, so here are some pics of the current progress (getting exciting, but don't mention the windows.... delay in ordering partly at this end and partly at the shop end mean ho hum in terms of completion date).
Here's Clare where the upstairs loo will be

Kitchen windows:

The upstairs ceiling insulated, airtighted and the service void being created

The rooflight all insulated

The beginnings of walls upstairs - by the future stairs, and that loo again

Proper obsessive insulation of the gaps between upstairs and down

They've drawn out our future lovely curved bathroom wall on the floor

There's a door into the shower room

The gable end will have oak cladding; hurray those horrible aerials have gone, you can see the future little square window

And finally some visitors... I survey the garden with Amy
and H+H contemplate the build

We plan to be more coherent next week with our update!

Drier and Warmer

2010-06-11T11:09:00.000-07:00

After last weeks rain getting in, despite the weather continuing to be wet, the house is dry again, and warmer as more and more insulation goes in.
Here's a good pic of the insulation in situ before the OSB goes on - really packed in!

The solar thermal (hot water) panels are up on the roof, so in theory we'll have hotwater once we're in:
just awaiting the piping and tank.

We also now have all the window spaces sorted and we've got lintels galore, hurray the walls shouldn't fall down! Here's where the double doors out to the courtyard will go (pretty huge - should be really light!)
And the two bathroom lintels from the courtyard (the left one for the main bathroom, the right the small en-suite shower room)

And the space for the study windows complete with slightly dodgy timbers that will be cut in to sort out

The windows are all ordered (those with good memories may remember the 6-8 week lead time for them to be made, let alone arrive from Poland. Don't think we'll be in by the first week of August, do you?) with corrections to some hinge sides and which should be obscured glass (all those on the west side).

And Gil's done us drawings for a stair we LOVE - if only we can afford it once the contractors price it!

No major surprises from the site meeting this week - a bit of rotten timber around the windows shown above, an asbestos drain pipe that needs to be removed from the garage, that seemed to be all - a week without too many additional costs for the first time!

Clare and Emily looking forward to moving...........

water gets in

2010-06-06T12:30:00.000-07:00

Well, a little bit has got into the new house, and quite a bit more into the kitchen of the rental - *properly* flooded, silt everywhere, garden a wreck, favourite cookbooks now have kitchen roll between every page in the hope of rescue... Could have been worse though. At least we don't care about the wallpaper coming off the walls or the vinyl flooring curling up!

In the lovely new house (oh how we can't wait to be in there!) there's a leak from the newly started skylights and from the openings made for the new kitchen windows (each is 170x100cm).. So nothing too worrying really.

One of the big south-facing bedroom window openings is completed on the outside, the other in progress - you can see the blue engineering bricks.

Insulating and making airtight upstairs is continuing apace. You can see the process - PILES of insulation inserted after the bitumen board and outer membrane are positioned between the rafters (and there's fancy phenolic foam insulation you can't see in the top corner) ;
the insulation piles are then boxed in with OSB Then the really posh (=expensive) airtightness membrane (I think it may actually be intelligent...) with equally posh and expensive tape

So there's still the insulated service void to go before the plasterboard...

Having a little rest before being put to work next week are the new hot water tank (green in the corner of this pic) and the flat panel solar thermal (hot water) thingies.

So we'll leave you with two images - more piles of insulation (there's still more outside) and the builders' portaloo in the courtyard

Hope you're drier than us! More after the next site meeting this Friday.

Progress, windows

2010-05-21T04:07:00.000-07:00

So - a quick clarifying site meeting today; one of the big south windows in what will be our bedroom has been opened up (it's about 2metres tall now!)

Here's a detail (iphone, I'm afraid) We'll be re-using the lintels (there are 3 very heavy concrete ones) and replacing the bricks up the sides with blue engineering bricks, and the same (soldier style) in front of the lintel.

This pic shows how much taller the windows will be than they currently are - not quite twice as high...

(Here's the windows in the old room - before the false ceiling was removed and here's the window from the inside with no ceiling , with the floor where it will be and giving you an idea of how tall the window will seem in our room!

The inside upstairs showing the small square that will hold the southeast window and the southwest window space .

The blue is EXPENSIVE airtightness tape and the boarding it is on is a fancy one with one side tarry and one just boarding.

Gil is very impressed with the quality of the work, which is of course very encouraging. Exciting!

The scaffolding is up next week, so the remedial roof work and skylights then windows will be getting going.

A floor at last!

2010-05-15T01:21:00.000-07:00

All those giant insulation pads are down in the base and up the sides, and the 'powerfloated concrete' sits on top - we have a floor!

Here's a good overall image - you can see the edge looks paler, that's the side insulation, on top of which will sit the wall insulation, so we'll be inside a whole cocoon of insulation in the end, toasty as anything (that's the plan!)

Here's a detail of the edge of the floor, showing that insulation, and the damp proof membrane (aka thick plastic sheet, it seems).

Just behind the far right of the tower here, you can see the reddish form of the post that will support the glulam beam that supports the joists cut for the stairway.

And here's the garage side of the new brickwork we showed you last week; those lovely Staffordshire engineering bricks. Beautiful work!

And just a quick pick of architect and chief builder in discussion...

The site meeting this week was a big one - we realised that there's a flaw in the planning of the job, in that the windows are yet to be ordered - sensibly, the builders want to form the openings and measure accurately before giving the suppliers the final measurements; however, there is then a 6-8 week lag before they're due to arrive.
What this means is that we can't do the airtightness test* until then, by which time not just the insulation and 2 separate airtightness membranes will be in, but also the internal service void, plasterwork and 2nd fix electrics, plumbing and joinery. NOT ideal, because if the measurement isn't as good as we hope, it will be very difficult to make improvements back at the level of the membranes where the work needs to be, not only because we'll have to take OFF plasterboard and plasterwork and the insulation in the service void, but also because some of the seams will be hidden completely by more solid structures (walls etc). At this point, trying to do the proper way would mean the builders being off-site for 5 weeks, a major issue for them which would be passed on to us. Not really doable while maintaining a decent relationship, which is vital. So this is a point of accepting a potential reduction in overall standard. Unavoidable, but disappointing.

* The airtightness test involves a machine fitting the front doorway, and blowing air in to increase the pressure within the house; it measures how much it has to do to maintain that pressure, which gives a number of airchanges per hour value. This represents how 'leaky' the house is; very important in terms of Passivhaus and AECB (we're aiming to exceed silver) standards, and how warm the house will stay.

PS Clare wants me to make it clear we're BOTH doing these posts - but the photo uploading stuff is on MY laptop, not hers!

So this is Clare and Emily, signing off.....

Walls and Floors

2010-05-10T01:28:00.000-07:00

It seems as if there isn't much to show at the house this week - last week had a bank holiday in it. But in fact, there's the concrete shuttering to mend one wall done.
Rebuilding the other wall is also completed (those are Staffordshire engineering bricks where what M-H quite rightly calls the stronggirls were last week)
and the concrete block for the post is done (no pic) and the second glulam beam is in.

And upstairs, supportive battening (to help the mansard roof withstand high winds now it isn't stiffened by lots of internal walls) is all in place, along with some initial copper piping.

And in the courtyard...
and out front masses of MASSIVE bits of insulation for under the concrete slab! This should keep us warm...

On other notes - we found a reclamation yard and bought a basin for the upstairs loo (ex-institution d'you think possibly??) only £10 including the tap.

And Clare's nicked an xray lightbox from work (it was going begging as they are all viewed digitally now) Should be fun to play with!

And finally - we've decided on the downstairs floor (I know it looks premature when there's no subfloor at all, but...) - we're going for reclaimed oak parquet, which we'll clean and lay ourselves. A big project, but we did initially plan to buy a house we could do up ourselves! And it's pretty cheap for a longlasting floor covering, and as green as it gets! It's from the reclamation yard in Nottingham, so we've seen it in the flesh - and in fact are carrying a block around with us to check against other things. But here it is on ebay, if you want a look.

We're also having lots of discussion about kitchen organisation; found this place that does units with recycled yoghurt-pot tops, FSC oak and strawboard rather than MDF- if we can save up enough (!) we might get a wide unit from them with drawers for under the hob. we keep doing to-scale drawings, but of course the solid edges of the space aren't there yet for definite measurement (well, the balcony sliding doors are, but not the upstairs loo which will be the other end of the kitchen run) and the positioning of the windows isn't completely certain until their openings are created!

More after the next site meeting on Friday (just me, Emily, as Clare is working).

2 little problems

2010-04-30T04:44:00.000-07:00

Another site meeting today (and we remembered the buns this time. We still haven't managed to bake for them...).

It really is an amazing thing to see the space like this, all dug down to the original floor level (which is a bit varied, and all floored with the old tiles like chocolate bars).

Unfortunately, a couple of problems have cropped up. The first is that in digging out the old concrete some of the inner stone wall to the left of the front door came away, as you can see under the ladder here.
It's not catastrophic, the wall is very thick here and the outer part is still fine, with the headers coming across and supporting what's above, but it does need sorting. Rather than cut away to fit bricks, and potentially cause movement of the old outer stone wall they're going to shutter it and fill with concrete.

A worse problem is in the corner where the damp had already been found. When the place was made into a dwelling rather than a coachhouse, presumably sometime in the thirties or so, the floor level was raised with concrete/similar, and either then or later the garage was formed with a floor level also concrete and higher than the old inner level. Unfortunately, the original wall had several levels of horizontal timber members in some brick courses. The bottom one has rotted away, gone from 4" to less than 2", and hence the wall is drooping.
The plan here is to use acrow props and 'strongboys' (sp?) to prop 2 courses above the upper timber and rebuild below with blue bricks (waterproof). Ultimately, this is better than the previous plan of just tanking internally as it will be better structurally, but it is a pain and obviously an expense in labour and materials.

At the other end, the acrow props that were supporting the bedroom ceiling joists are gone, and a beautiful glulam beam has come instead!

Empty barn!

2010-04-25T10:27:00.000-07:00

We popped in yesterday to see what was happening in the coach house (and show C's Ps while they were staying overnight).

Blimey! Nothing left!

Morgan from next door says it has indeed been pretty noisy the last couple of days. Think that'll be this indoor vehicle...

And a little view of the acro-props holding up the joists above hwhat will be our bedroom.

Outside the magnolia is just starting to bloom (so late! But it is one very like the one my Mutti had in her front garden, so my favourite); the daffs are legion, and the garlic field is green and sprouting. Hurray!

The builders are on holiday

2010-04-11T11:30:00.000-07:00

So Clare went yesterday and took some pictures. (She would want me to say - it's my camera, with which she is not awfully familiar, and which isn't v good anyway. But who cares - this is a renovation blog, not a photography one!)

We were excited to see the original floor under the old wooden one in the south ground floor room, which will be our bedroom. It slopes down to the east (courtyard side) and has flat bricks/tiles to the west (like under the tarmac in the courtyard), and those chocolate bar type tiles towards the east (like in the stables).
As I think we've said before, this room - which was the habitable one back when it was a coachhouse - has glazed bricks up to the level of the brown line you see. ON this (the west wall) you'll also see evidence of the bricked-up ventilation - on the outside there are rather decorative airbricks.
Here, turning to the right from the last pic, is the old archway from this room into the rest of the building, bricked up for many years. Rather blurry, too! This wall will be knocked down to allow for full insulation of the new floor and the walls.

On the east wall you can see the small 1989 extension with its RSJ supporting the wall above.
And in the south east corner of the room, you can see the old beam and the start of the pitched roof supports, now cut off and supporting instead the frame for the first floor (second floor if you're American) mansard roof.

Elsewhere downstairs, the old roof is visible - the joists and the planks above, anyway. It was an almost flat roof, just curved a bit like an old shepherd's caravan.
And you can see the joys of the old electric system (yup, piping everywhere!)

So - in the next week: on Monday the National Grid will come and remove the gas meter (but they won't cap off the gas outside - oh no, National Grid will have to come and do that on a separate date they are as yet not sharing with us, at a cost of £750 and loads of stress in sorting it).
On Tuesday the asbestos removers will come to take out the downstairs floor tiles (not the low ones, but the ones that look to me like lino) and one board near the front door - that'll be £790 +VAT at 17.5%, oh joy.
At least we've confirmed where the electricity supply runs, so can get the board to come and move the meter outside (instead of where the stairs will be, as it is now). That'll be £560, and again, we've paid - but no idea when it'll be done.

All those Grand Designs where nothing comes in on budget - maybe not so stupid, after all!

But still, it's all progress, and we also have a quote for the solar thermal, and a projected one for adding PV next year (which we're pleased to see can go on the old stable, so we can do that roof as planned ourselves over the next year or so). Pretty exciting!

Ode to Sydney - coffee!

2010-04-05T05:46:00.000-07:00

So having just got back from 2 weeks skiing and snowboarding in powder at Whistler (fantastic time, excellent snow but very expensive) we were both suffering from jetlag and in need of coffee. Luckily for us this morning was when we got delivery of our new coffee machine from Best Coffee Beans and got basic barista training and machine set up at the same time.

We got a magister stella commercial machine alongside our la spaziale grinder and now can't wait to add them to our English Rose kitchen where they will look brilliant, and we can actually have one of the brunch parties we have been intending to have since we got back from Oz!?
After our initial training this morning we can both make a pretty good espresso - and after a bit more practice in tamping and milk frothing I think we will be able to rival many of the coffees we had in Sydney (although maybe not all!).

Unable to hold back, we even visited the coach house on our way home from the airport (via watford) yesterday, and lots more has been done. We will visit again later this week (the builders are having a week off for easter) and take some pictures to show the ongoing progress, and fill you in on the saga of getting our gas supply capped off, and the electricity meter moved........

Clare (writing logged in as Emily in order to use flickr)

First site meeting

2010-03-21T07:22:00.000-07:00

Well - the meeting went very well. It was VERY exciting to see the space upstairs with all the walls removed - for the first time we can really see how it will be in terms of space and light (in fact, there'll be several more windows and a skylight, so the light'll be even better). Clare says that 1 man (Darren) getting all that done in a week puts our efforts to shame, but I don't think he has another job - plus he knows what he's doing!

Anyway - some pics:

And Darren's opened up the inside of the south wall, the big gable end of Bulwell stone, and you can see the old leading for the pitched roof from this end of the building. (Well, we're endlessly fascinated by such details, even if you aren't!)

Various big things did come up at the meeting - it transpires that in order to have gas upstairs for our cooker, we'd have to have a vented space under the upstairs floor (what we'd call the first floor, but I know in some countries is the 2nd floor, just to confuse us all). This is obviously counter to the whole enterprise - so we made the decision on the spot not to use gas for cooking. We'll be able to use the crappy electric cooker we have in the rental house to start off, and hope to go the induction hob route in the future (when we're less skint).

So we need to get the gas capped off, and we need to do this asap as it affects the ground floor and the changing of the stairs etc. I spent hours on the phone to Scottish Power (our supplier) and various other people they set me on to - until we managed to work out how to arrange it on-line. At which point it became apparent that a different company have to come and remove the gas METER before the second company can come and take the piping back and cap it off outside. This became apparent at the time we really HAD to just set off for our holiday, so I've left it in the hands of my Mum to sort the meter removal and we'll do the rest on-line. (Though our meter details are in cubic feet not metres which may confuse things!)

We've also got to get the electricity meter moved from just inside the front door to just outside. Ho-hum - about £600, it looks like!

Never mind - I'm typing this from Whistler, Canada, and today we get to ski/snowboard where the Olympics have just been and the Paralympics still are! Can't be bad at all, can it?

They've Started!

2010-03-16T22:48:00.000-07:00

The builders began the destruction and refurb 2 days ago - we are on our way to actually having a house! Lots more changes (well a few to heating etc) which we will update you with soon, once we are completely clear..............
BUT They've started - we are both really excited and a bit nervous!

Actual plans

2010-03-04T07:57:00.000-08:00

We realise that we've been telling all about our proposals without showing our plans - which really might help!Throughout, the north end is the roadside, the south end has the steeply sloping garden, the east has the courtyard.

First up, a plan drawing of the existing groundfloor. The south room was the sitting room, the north was the Sindy/Marie Antoinette bedroom.

Secondly, the existing upstairs - similarly, the south room was another sitting area and the north a bedroom, with a bathroom and small study on the east side.

Next we have Gil's proposals for the ground floor - our bedroom is the south room, the spare room (and cello area!) the north room.

And here are the proposals for upstairs, with the study/knititng/spinning room to the north (could also be a bedroom) and the stove at the end of the kitchen run by the sliding balcony doors. (the balcony itself being imaginary for some time!)

Lastly, some impressions of how the upstairs will look once we're in. (Obviously, less tidy, and with more colour!)

To emphasise the "more colour" - here are a few little pics of the kitchen. As we've said before, we've bought some reconditioned English Rose units from Source Antiques in Bath. These are 1950s kitchen units made by the old Spitfire factories, and now polished and powder-coated to our specifications. Beautiful! (But not subtle).
Double sink unit:
Under-worktop trolley:
And a drinks dresser!:

Plans and limitations

2010-03-01T15:00:00.000-08:00

So - we said we'd reviewed things quite a bit recently, and perhaps it would be interesting to talk about how?

We had always planned to have wet underfloor heating (UFH) downstairs, with a hard flooring in the hall and bathrooms, and maybe engineered wood in the bedrooms. We talked about a woodburning stove upstairs for additional space heating, and heated towel rails in the bath and shower rooms, running off the same system as the UFH. We'd considered using a back boiler on the stove to heat the water, or having an efficient gas condensing boiler, either way to be solar ready.

Gil (architect) would check out with a PHPP (Passive House Planning (Design) Package) consultant what the expected heating load would be (in other words how much energy in the form of heat we would expect to need), and therefore the type of systems that might be most appropriate. Gil was optimistic that our requirements would be pretty low - aiming for AECB silver standard or better (next one up is passive house)

Tom (builder) had always suggested that radiators could be cheaper than the UFH. We really hated the idea of having these, even to the extent of thinking we'd put in the UFH pipes even if we found that we shouldn't need that much heating, as it would then be available for the future.

Gil came back after our VAT panic with a revised plan. Rather than digging out the floor downstairs and putting in concrete slab, then insulation, then screed with pipes, we could have insulation first then concrete slab with no separate screed and no pipes (advantage: increase the internal mass of the building - that is, the heavy structures inside the insulated envelope - and thus slow the changes of temp within the building). No hot towel rails, go with the stove I found (this wonderful Eccostove) and use that to heat the hot water (with solar in the future and back up electric immersion). We wouldn't need a big accumulator tank, just a 210-300L one. And we could use Lexin infra-red panels for top up if we need additional heating (perhaps in the bathroom - these heat the walls etc, ideal, and need only be on for the time the heat is required).

Lots of other cost reducing ideas were also bandied around: changing the support for the wall insulation and plasterboard from Modified Larson Truss to standard studwork (no real cost change found); change the type of insulation used (similarly no real cost saving); use standard plasterboard rather than Fermacell as planned (saves about £1000). We are yet to get a real breakdown of the plumbing costs (Tom got some from the plumber before, but it was the sort of breakdown that didn't really help us much - things grouped perhaps according to order of work, but eg cylinder and showerheads etc -£X; UFH pipes, boiler etc £Y. In other words, opaque combinations and no costs for single items) to see where we are in terms of the water heating.

Initial calculations from the PHPP guy suggest a heat load of less than 2KW (excluding hot water) which is really encouraging - we should be well within the Silver AECB category of efficiency (which is 70% less CO2 emissions than a similar house renovated in a traditional fashion). We may get slightly better, but Passive House (=Passivhaus) standard is out of our reach - still, this is really excellent news for a renovation of a Victorian building, and in itself requires really detailed and thoughtful design and implementation.

Sadly, we won't be able to afford to have our balcony (more important than that sounds, as it is the direct access from the kitchen/living area to the garden) as we don't have enough money! We hope to save for it and do it a year or two after we move in. Less importantly we'll be living with plain concrete underfoot through all of downstairs for the foreseeable future.

But roll on the start of building, and even more - moving in to our lovely house (and seeing some of our stuff for the first time in what will be 2 and a half years!).

Six Shed Sheilas

2010-02-28T08:31:00.000-08:00

So eventually my parents got to see our house a few weeks ago, having been in Australia when we bought it, and then busy with moving cities, christmas etc. I think they were interested and excited by the place and our plans - however - what impressed them most (Dad especially) were the number of 'sheds' we have!? This is partly due to envy - they have no sheds currently (renting like us) and partly cause we do have a lot of sheds:
Shed 1
Shed 2
Sheds 2, 3 & 4 (3 is back right)
Shed 4
Shed 5
And shed 6

For those of you that are interested - we are not going to keep all the sheds. The shed schedule of works is: shed 1 to go and become a seating area but to be recycled to a cold frame in the garden, and a woodstore in the swimming pool; shed 6 to move to swimming pool (possibly a replacement rather than the original) for tools; shed 2 to remain with change of use to bicycle shed (smoking and snogging after discussion with the management); shed 3 also applying for change of use to become wine cellar / utility room; shed 4 to go in order to enable sunbathing (naked optional); shed 5 has jumped the gun and already successfully changed use to a woodshed. Clear?!

Destruction

2010-02-28T02:03:00.000-08:00

As a counterpoint to the delay, and shock of not realising about the VAT there has been the opportunity to work out our frustrations on destruction. As you may remember from a previous post Emily's superhero alter ego is Destructo! Her ability to make holes in any piece of plasterboard at speed has continued during our removal of the majority of the plasterboard / fibreboard in the house, and I have been ably assisting!

The only downside of efficient destruction, is the rather inefficient and depressing job of moving all the rubble to the skip(s) - our first attempt down the rather ridiculous stairs was halted by the arrival of A&H who suggested chucking it out the window - much more satisfying and probably more efficient...

The destruction has revealed: glazed bricks and an archway in what will be our bedroom;
a hidden window in what will be the spare room;
and the garage roof inside the house in the upstairs living area.

We have also filled 2 large skips, done one trip to the tip, and have a few more to go before the builders start!

Delay

2010-02-28T02:02:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time (again) but that's because there's been rather a hiatus in progress here.

We've been meeting with Gil (architect) and Tom (builder estimator) to plan the details of the project, and had got to almost a decision on what we were going to do. It was costing more (almost half as much again) than we had originally hoped, but we'd decided to go for it. Then we had a horrible realisation - all the costs we had been discussing were exclusive of VAT! After we started breathing again, we explained that that was way, way too much for us. (VAT here is 17.5%, so a not-insignificant increase).

This has actually resulted in an exciting reworking of some aspects of the build, so overall a good thing, but further delay. Ah, if only we had the intelligence we were born with!

It has given us longer to do our prep stuff (which reduces costs v slightly, but every little helps. More than that, I think it increases our sense of ownership of the project). So we've been tearing off fibreboard and plasterboard from every vertical surface, taking out wardrobes and other strange fitted items, and removing the battens from the downstairs rooms. We've had a bit of help - a couple of hours from Amy and Han that broke the back of the upstairs plasterboard; GT kept us going and lugged vast quantities of wood out of what will be our bedroom (even more impressive - she'll be 90 soon!)

And now it seems the builders will start on March 15th! The expected length of the project is 20 weeks, but we have watched Grand Designs...

We're getting closer.....

2010-01-09T13:09:00.000-08:00

So the good news is that we have a builder, and a quote, and minimal stuff we have to put in for planning permission, and are still on good relations with our architect (this always seems to go wrong on Grand Designs - but we've even had dinner at ours!).

The bad news is that the quote is more than we really wanted to spend - but I think we have come to the conclusion that we should go for it (I have the job of talking to the mortgage company next week). We are still deciding about the downstairs flooring - should we go for a recycled glass in resin poured floor, or should we have unfinished concrete for a few years and a slightly smaller bill? I suspect we will go for the whole hog, as it seems daft to completely gut the place, and not actually finish all the structural stuff, but this will mean plaster walls, minimal storage, and racks for clothes for a while.

We are meeting the builder and architect again in 2 weeks - and if we have decided, and the final, final quote hasn't got even higher we will probably say yes, and then the building should get underway beginning of February, dependant on lead time for windows etc. Currently the thought is it will take 5 months - so we might be in for the summer.

Any volunteers to come and help us strip the inside over the next month ready for the builders???

Coachhouse in the snow

2010-01-09T12:56:00.000-08:00

I was sent to take pics of the house in the snow after dropping C at the station for a course - nearly froze my fingers off taking them, so blame that for the quality!

The house you can see in the upper right corner is the 'Big House' for which this was the coachhouse and next door was the gatehouse. It's a beautiful, elaborate lateish 19th century house bult by an architect called Sully, very well known in Nottingham at the time. We'll put up a pic sometime.

Looking up the garden in the snow. C's Dad calls that 'Shed 1' of our many sheds - he's calling us the seven shed sheilas. We don't really have quite that many! This one is going to go sometime, as it would be a good spot to sit (we think) and we'll replace it with a small storage shed in the dank dark corner of the garden, and some cold frames where you see that snowy wall right now.

Spot the missing coping stone! Doesn't this show the beautiful lines of this massive retaining wall rather well? Don't think the line would be thought of so naturally if a similar wall would be built these days, do you? (Let's face it, it'd be knocked up fast out of breeze blocks or something, or just poured concrete with a sloped top).

Anyway - progress is now being made... more in a mo from Clare!

Structural Engineer

2009-10-13T05:43:00.000-07:00

I met him at the house this morning. Overall, he seems to think we'll be able to do what we want (he had various interesting questions, such as why dig down, couldn't Gil put insulation on top of the current concrete floor. But I suspect it's a no-go as we'll need to damp proof too, and also won't want to lose that much head height from the rooms or the front door.

Saw some interesting things with his direction - will take some pics soon. Anyway, encouraging overall, looks as if we can go ahead, though he wants to think a bit more about stiffening the walls and roof upstairs before we knock down the stud walling there - apparently there's a theoretical risk that high winds could cause twisting.

Garden work

2009-10-11T12:46:00.000-07:00

Looking down the garden at the gable end with our future bedroom windows just visible.

Looking back at that same window, and the across the view from it - weeded by Mum so now the lavenders are visible.

We had a few days of fun in the garden with my parents - they provided the knowledge and the stick-to-it-iveness, and Clare and I did the running round and some of the work. The garden is made up of lots of separate beds and we've cleared a couple out, so we can start some planting - garlic is in line for the first planting (we love it, and now's the time, I gather).We plan the ones near the to-be-expanded balcony to have most of the veg and herbs, but we'll bung some raspberry canes in a bit further down. all very exciting!

Mum was able to name lots of plants, and drew us a plan of the garden with labelled areas and so on. We seem to have lots of repeats - can't remember all the names, but several Cotoneasters, Euonymous (?sp?) and other stuff, including some possible little Leylandii (ssssssssss....) which need to come out asap.

Dad dug out several shrubs that were right in our way (and rather moth-eaten, too). This is one of his major fields of expertise - and he started training C! She and I cut lots out of an overgrown Fatsia japonica which left more light on the situation, much needed.

We created a massive pile of stuff-to-be-composted - way more than we can handle right now, so it'll be a gradual drip feed into the garden waste bin.

And lots of bits of wood to dry for next winter when we'll be living here!

We're lucky enough to have a shed that will work as a greenhouse in the future, we hope.

We met our neighbour show seems lovely and is a fount of knowledge about the area and the people who live here. He's been here since about 1970. We'll have to show him the paperwork that came form our solicitor yesterday - goes back to 1876 and the details of ownership of the big house, Malvern House, to which our house (the coach house and stables) and his (the Lodge - shown as having a vinery and plant houses in what is now his beautiful garden) belonged.

On another note, Gil (the architect) came round and was pleased with how we've started on the destruction of the decorative beauties. We'll try to get the rest of it done over the next few weeks.

And, excitingly for us, the structural engineer is coming on Tuesday - so we should soon know what we can and cannot just knock down. Gil's sent the proposals to the planning office to get their views on our plans re windows, balcony etc.

(Don't think we showed the glories of the electrics in our last post, did we? Rather scary!) 

Few Days off!

2009-10-04T12:03:00.000-07:00

So we haven't done anything in the house, other than a bit of a clear-up since Wednesday. This is mostly due to me working, Emily visiting Birmingham, and then me busy paddling at the Dragon Boat National Finals this weekend. We (notts anaconda) didn't win anything, but we had a great time and a really good club atmosphere and ethos.
I have also just started a 10 month training plan for an ironman triathlon next August. I have decided to get a proper plan worked out from the coach at the triathlon club I have joined. Last week was OK but this week looks a bit more full on, so fitting training, work, and the coach-house refurb is going to keep me fit!
We will get some more done, and some more photos on in this coming week. We have Emily's parents visiting, and hopefully will use their expertise to get started on some garden stuff - for the first time ever we are hoping to grow some produce, as part of our general green plans.

Clear Up!

2009-09-29T23:13:00.000-07:00

Just a short post today - after work and before dragon boat training today I will be mostly clearing rubble into a Rhino Bag - a 1 tonne bag that you buy for 5 quid, and then gets collected like a skip. Our hope is that the structural engineer can come this Thursday, and that we also get the damp and timber stuff done soon, so that we can get going on proper plans, cost and a timescale.
No pictures today, but will be back on soon - maybe with some plans.........

Ready for the structural engineer

2009-09-27T12:40:00.000-07:00

We've spent the last three days slogging away at the coal face. Great fun, specially when C's sister and boyf came up to assist (he's very tall; that helps! She's got spatial awareness - that does too!)

The wall against the bank (the south wall of what will be our bedroom) had the strange cardboard pseudo-stone walling; behind the fibreboard behind that was a brick wall - but these bricks were cream and ceramicized,
like tiles - perhaps olde worlde damp roofing? Anyway, very little damp - just a bit at each corner where there were joints with the ordinary bricks above.

Turns out the joists of the floor above this room run south-north, and do rest on the solid internal wall of this room; a shame, but the rest of the 1st floor rests on east-west joists, much more convenient for our plans.

The marie-antoinette room (re-christened by Kate as the Sindy room) is no more; the wardrobe, the cupboard off and the bedhead have been shredded. The walls behind the battened plasterboard have tar-paper over a layer of plaster (on the wall with the garage this is painted with bitumenised paint). On the west wall there's a window which was battened and tar-papered over, with wardrobes in front of it - now it's open to the room, it's a great improvement! (Neither of us can see out of this window, too high, but Ed could).

The cupboard with the fuses etc in is an exciting find - there are about 8 switches to turn off all the electric power to the house, and three boxes are old painted cast-iron ones, look pretty industrial (and rather scary). They are ancient, and have big handles to turn off the leccy.
Gulp!

Hardly anything left to do before Gil brings round the structural engineer to see if we can do what we want - so far an obvious problem is the joists in the bedroom resting on a wall we want to remove (which anyway may be tying the east and west walls together, who knows? Well, the engineer, we hope!)

A lovely end to the day with Humph and Kate and two bottles of lovely fizzy white in the courtyard. Mmmm, I could get used to this!
(This pic is C with her sis and boyf, though).

A talent for Destruction.....

2009-09-26T01:01:00.000-07:00

So we have started the destruction process!

Who knew that Emily would be a master at destruction - whilst I was hitting a chisel with a hammer to make a hole, Em had a jemmy and had opened a headsized hole in the ceiling, and linear gaps in the wall - it was extremely impressive (and slightly anxiety provoking!) she definitely has a talent for destruction!
At the moment it is a controlled affair, just opening up specific areas requested by Gil (our architect) such as the fireplace downstairs to see what is behind the faux brick cardboard cladding.

What we have discovered having started the process is that this whole room is actually battened and fibreboarded, so all that would have had to be taken down anyway as it is not fireproof (like plasterboard is). Although slightly daunted by the task I am pleased we were planning to strip the whole house back anyway, as it would have been a bit of a shock to have had to do it, if we had just been planning some basic cosmetic refurb.
We are also making holes in the ceilings downstairs in every room, to see the beams and boards above, removing all the beam cladding, removing the staircase boxing, and opening up a hole to the southern end of the house as far as the outer plastic coating found on a bit of the end wall. The sooner we can get this first wave of destruction done, the sooner we can get a structural surveyor in. This means that the refurb plans can be finalised, we can get a guestimate of the price, and a final set of plans can go out to builders for tender. We can also get damp and timber surveys done (as required by the mortgage company) and make sure there are no nasty surprises to add to the projected cost.
Luckily for us (possibly unluckily for them) we have enlisted the help of my sister and her boyf for the whole weekend, and some other friends on Sunday so we will post more pictures at the end of the weekend!

It Begins...

2009-09-25T00:32:00.000-07:00

We own a house!

Yesterday we completed the purchase of our funny old coach house. Today we start knocking it about to see its bones and check its structure before the real renovation can begin.

The house was built in about 1880 as a coach house and adapted in the 20th century for living in, then had a mansard 1st floor (that's a second floor for Americans!) added in the late 80s. Downstairs is a strange conglomeration of little cupboards and a tiny kitchen with two big rooms, one at either end; upstairs has a huge landing, 2 big bedrooms and the bathroom. The staircase is bizarre! It is inside a tiny square box, and although it only rises 1 floor it spirals twice in a dizzying and NOT cool way! It has a tiny electric water heater, electric storage heaters and two little gas fires - none are things of great beauty or very effective!

So - our plans are a full-on green refurb, with proper insulation (including underneath), triple glazing and living upside down - sleeping downstairs and living upstairs where we should be able to step across from the balcony to the sloping garden. We're using Gil Schalom, an architect who has done his own green refurb locally and worked on several others.

It's going to take a while, but we'll try to keep you updated!