1st - 14th May 2004

Monday 3rd May 2004 (Bank Holiday)

I hope you are sitting down.......we had a builder plus helper on site today. Kelvin nearly died of shock! Builder turned up today to lay the battens in the dining room for the flooring. He also fitted the door frame on the porch. We are both just about recovering from the shock....... Kelvin continued painting in the bedroom today - the ceiling is proving to be a real pig to do. The paint is just seeping into the plaster so quickly and taking so much time to do (and Kelvin hates painting anyway). Was talking to my Mum who has offered to do our bedroom painting and the landing painting for us! She loves painting and was keen to save us some money so we jumped at the chance!

Tuesday 4th May 2004

Got back from the school run this morning and there were two builders on site (not the main one though). Went and had a look in the house - the roof is leaking again on the landing - so obviously not sorted yet. Telephoned Western Power to try and track down an electricity meter. Western Power said I need to get their certificate signed to say all electrics are in place and ready to be wired up. When that is done, I have to phone British Gas (our electricity supplier) to say certificate is signed and then they will contact Western Power who will authorise the new meter! Phew, confusing or what! Electrician turned up (he is working most days this week) and told him what needed to be done, he said he will sort everything out. Told him where the sockets have to go in the dining room and the lounge (builder had plastered over where Kelvin marked them on the walls!) Kelvin spoke to main builder at 1pm, he apparently was on his way ....... well, he appeared at 3.50pm. Let's just say a few words were exchanged with him. Tried to explain the severity of the situation we are now in and how not having a porch roof is stopping us from having the power connected. Not sure whether it will make any difference though. Main builder plus one did stay on later this evening, he has started tiling the bathroom and it is looking good.

Wednesday 5th May 2004

Well, today was a good day! (Shame they couldn't all be like that!). 7.30am the guy doing the stone on the porch arrived, 9.00am (when I got back from the school run) there were two builders on site and they had continued with the porch roof, which is now felt and battened. At 10am, main builder plus one other arrived, the electrician arrived at the same time. 11am Mum started painting! The bedroom ceiling is looking really good, Mum overcame her fear of heights and had the trestle set up for her to stand which really helped. She is coming back tomorrow to do the final coat on the ceiling and then to start on the walls. The bottom of the alcove on the landing was boxed in (this was bothering me for some reason - never thought it would get done!), the bathroom tiling was continued and is nearly finished. The electrician was chasing out in the dining room for the central heating thermostat and he also has finished wiring up the boiler now plus he has put the sockets in for the waste disposal unit, dishwasher and washing machine. Can't wait to get the power switched on now. So all in all a very productive day!

Thursday 6th May 2004

Another good day today (hope it continues and they aren't lulling us into a false sense of security!). The chap doing the stone on the porch arrived at 8am, before 9am three builders arrived, 10.30ish electrician arrived and very late morning main builder arrived so full complement again! The brickwork on the front of the porch has been built up to the roof now (because the roof slopes the bricks had to be cut to fit). The stone cladding is now nearly up to the roof level and it looks excellent! The tiles are all up in the bathroom and grouted (apart from small area around bath - waiting for bath to be fixed in place). The bath is in place and so is the toilet but they aren't plumbed in yet. The electrician continued with his sockets, he also took the bathroom light to fix up when he is able to get in the bathroom! Mum continued with the painting and gave the bedroom ceiling a full coat of paint - it is now looking wonderful. It makes such a difference. Tomorrow she is going to start on finishing the walls. The insulation has gone down in the dining room ready for the floor to be laid.

Friday 7th May 2004

Wow, this is a good week! Today we had the most people on site since the start of the job! I must admit the house didn't really seem big enough for them but the work is being done so they must be managing! 8am stone guy arrived, before I got back from the school run 3 builders arrived, electrician arrived at some point before 10am and main builder plus one other arrived at 10.30ish and of course Mum doing the painting = 8 people! Not so good is the fact that the roof is still leaking quite badly, today there was water dripping off Lauren's door frame. The roof has now been tarpaulined over to prevent anymore water coming in (the weather is really unpredictable at the moment and the showers of rain we have had have been torrential!). Next week a specialist roofing firm is coming in to have a look at what the problem might be and then to sort it out. The rain obviously stopped the stone guy continuing cladding the porch so he turned his attention inside and finished off the pointing in the lounge! The inglenook fireplace in the lounge has had it's first rough coat of plaster (we couldn't have this stone pointed as it is too crumbly). The bathroom is looking wonderful! The bath, basin and toilet all have been plumbed in for water (the toilet doesn't have the soil pipe yet) and it is all looking pretty impressive. The painting is going very well, Mum finished all the cutting in on the walls and completed the first coat. It is looking amazing! The electrician continued with the electric sockets - our bedroom has been done now and the lounge just needs one more to be completed, he also fitted our bathroom light for us. The porch electrics can wait for now as we can move in without power in there. The dining room floor is half down now and that is making such a difference to the look of the room. The kitchen appliances have been moved into the dining room and apparently we have a builder coming tomorrow to lay the tiles in the kitchen ready for the kitchen chaps next week. Also main builder and stone chap are coming also (we shall see!) Kelvin chased up the delivery of our front door - it is going to be another two weeks! We apparently are going to 'borrow' a door from one of Kelvin's dad's friends to keep us going till it arrives!

	The porch - looking good!
The cladding on the porch is amazing. You would think it was part of the main house - not an addition many many years later.
	The tiles are looking excellent and we definately made the right choice. The bath is plumbed in now and the bath panel has been put on.
The toilet and basin are also in place. The pipework is going to be boxed in.
	The wood floor is going down in the dining room.
This is where Kelvin is going to sleep! (the loft!)

Saturday 8th May 2004

For the second time since the start of this project we had people working there on a Saturday. The stone guy came today and he brought one of the builders with him. A wooden lintel was put in place today going over both the porch doors. The builder continued in the bathroom and boxed in the pipes, did a little more tiling and built a shelf at the end of the bath. He then laid the kitchen floor tiles and stayed till he had finished it - 7pm! Mum continued with her painting and started the landing whilst Kelvin (moaning all the time) painted the bathroom.

Sunday 9th May 2004

Mum came and painted today, Kelvin did another coat of painting in the bathroom (still moaning) and I (yep I actually did something), wire brushed the cob (earth) off the granite stones in our bedroom before cutting in around the edge with the paint. Wonder how many builders we will have tomorrow.....

Monday 10th May 2004

At 7.50am the stone guy arrived with one of the builders! He takes the prize for being the earliest builder on site in the last 10 months! Two more builders arrived roughly at 9.15am. Mum came to give our bedroom the final coat of paint (apart from one tiny piece of wall that main builder had been promising to plaster (or get someone to plaster) for 1/2 of last week). We walked down to the house together, went up Kelvin's parents path to cut through into our porch (easier than walking up our drive) and there was a wall there! The stone chap had built a whole wall since he arrived this morning. It is looking excellent - we couldn't be more happy with the porch cladding at all. Turns out he also does paving so we think we've found someone to do our patio out the back! One builder continued with the bathroom - he has cut all the tiles ready to cover the shelf at the end of the bath and the covered pipes but they need to check everything is running OK before the tiles are put in place. Mum finished our bedroom and it is looking lovely - paint certainly finishes the room off. That is it for Mum now - she will be coming back when the rest of the plastering on the landing is finished. The floor in the dining room is finished and half of the lounge has been laid also - Kelvin needs to hire a floor sander and give the whole of the two rooms a sand and then he has to seal them. Ideally this needs to be done before we move in but we are running out of time. Main builder didn't arrive until 3.30pm (not impressed as I had been waiting since 1.30pm for him). Apparently the electrician is coming tomorrow to fix in the meter and then the electrics can be signed off as 'safe' and the power company can come and connect us up - hopefully this week! Phoned to find out where are our carpets are (they were meant to be here a week ago!), all carpet came into the shop except for Lauren's bedroom so fitters are fitting the rest on Thursday and should be coming back to do Lauren's on Friday at some point. Phew it's all go! Kitchen guy is coming Wednesday or Thursday (probably Thursday) to fit appliances and everything else. It's all go.......

	Our shower was put together today. Heated towel rail is in place having been tiled and painted behind.
The porch has now had the top of the doors clad in stone. It is looking stunning!

Tuesday 11th May 2004

Today started off well - when I left for the morning school run both the stone chap and the electrician were at the house already (this was 8.05am!) figured things were looking good. Then it all went down hill...... I had to ring British Gas (they are our electricity supplier) to let them know we were ready for them to instruct Western Power to install our new electricity meter. It turns out that because the builders 'lost' the old one we now have to pay £38.18 for a new one, this HAS to be paid by cheque and they will NOT instruct Western Power until the cheque has been received. Wait for it.... there is then usually a 10-12 day wait for it to be fitted. Yep you've sussed it - we can't move this weekend.

We had three more builders on site and main builder arrived eventually - haven't a clue when but it was late in the day. He did, however, work on late in the evening.

The kitchen guy came and fitted the appliances - the electrician was there so between them everything is now wired in. The electrician is fitting the meter board and the associated wiring now that the rendering in the porch is sufficiently dry. One of the builders finished the tiling in the bathroom (which is looking stunning) and has fitted the waste disposal unit in the kitchen.

The appliances in the kitchen are looking lovely but as I kept saying from the beginning the microwave is too high in the unit, especially as the door opens downwards - it makes it very difficult to get food in and out. I am a bit annoyed especially as the I mentioned this was wrong the day the oven housing went in ...... oh well.

	The oven is in place and wired up.
Microwave in place. (I had forgotten what this even looked like!)
	The dishwasher - doesn't look very impressive but it will eventually have a door on it to match the kitchen.
The microwave and oven in place together.

Wednesday 12th May 2004

Three builders plus electrician on site today. Main builder plus two of the builders this evening. Today the upstairs was finished - lots of fiddly bits, in our room the loft door was put in, the window head was plastered and we got a window sill! In Billy's room the window head was put in, he got a window sill and the 'box' top was put on. There are still two pieces of architrave left to go on and apparently this will be done by the time the carpet fitters come tomorrow. Main builder came and did some more plastering this evening so I can see things are finally coming together. Electrician has wired in the hob in the kitchen and also fitted the under unit lighting (which was a surprise as Kelvin thought he was doing it!). Our kitchen ceiling lights should be here on Friday when he will fit those as well. No news on electricity though....

Thursday 13th May 2004

Three builders on site today, the central heating guy didn't turn up as promised (again), the roofing contractors didn't come and the main man himself didn't show up either. Lots of fiddly bits finished today - window heads, flooring, skirting board - all time consuming and all making various bits look 'finished'. The carpet fitters came but decided they couldn't fit the carpet on the landing/stairs because there wasn't any skirting board and the plaster wasn't dry and would wick into the carpet and ruin it. They ended up fitting the bathroom, our bedroom and Billy's room. It is looking nice and certainly finishes the rooms off but Kelvin isn't that impressed with the fit in our bedroom - the carpet is very 'bumpy' and doesn't appear to have been stretched enough. Something for me to mention on Monday when they come back to lay Lauren's room and the landing and stairs. (Is nothing every right?) One bit of news for today - we heard from British Gas. Western Power have been instructed to fit our meter and connect the electricity but it won't be done until Thursday 27th May - which is exactly 10 working days from now. If that goes to plan we will be moving on Saturday 29th May which happens to the be the bank holiday weekend. Kelvin is hiring a floor sander this weekend to sand the lounge and dining room and then he will seal it. We are also going to slowly start moving stuff in so the actual moving day itself should be easy...

Friday 14th May 2004

Had three builders on site this morning but they left at lunchtime because the one who drives was going on holiday. Fiddly bits and pieces were done this morning but the main achievement was fitting the bolt on the slave door in the kitchen french doors (the ones that lead outside) - except... they managed to fit it to the wrong door upside down. Interesting...

Next (15th - 31st May 2004)