2 little problems

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!

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

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!

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

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!

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

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!: