Front drive

Borders

The drive

The next step, even though the inside I not complete. Mr T decided to sort out our drive. The house will have frontage appeal after we replace the tarmac with cobblestones.

Let's hope the pesky weeds don't destroy it in the future.

Day 1everything has been dug up, no more tarmac. Reminds me of our extension. At least this one won't take so long.

Before

After

Day 73 - the end?

We have come so far from our start, the baton now gets handed to us to finish.

At the last minute we decided to get the builds to install a loft ladder for us so we can access the loft easier. The light had to be moved and the opening made bigger.

I'm sure over the next few months there will be some snags but I can't wait to make this our family home.

Day 71 - boxing in and plastering the kitchen

Today seems calmer and this is now when they finish the outstanding jobs. Then it will be down to us..I can put ahem my painting skills to use!

Day 72 - working overtime

The plumber was back again today, that's a first...Sunday working times, that's dedication.

We finally have all the radiators in each room upstairs so that is finished off.

He did the gas run, pipes had to be replaced.

Connected the thermostats to boiler.

Connected the underfloor heating though we still can't switch that on.

Finished the ensuite bar the shower walls until we tile it.

We are getting there!

Day 70 - light gate

It's nice to see that the guys are working on the weekends to get the job done and today felt even busier than yesterday. Both plumber and electrician were back on site today to do more work.

We finally have a safe upstairs and downstairs with an earth wire in the light switches. There was what I called 'light gate' incident that we spent over an hour discussing the removal of one switch to turn off downstairs light from upstairs. Silly bit important to me! Apparently this is no longer done now but I'm a creature of habit..in the end while the builder offered to do it if I wanted it (a mammoth task of chasing a lot of wall out) I sensibly decided to leave it.

We do have a new fuse box which is nice but its going to be more sensitive than the old one.

We also have downstairs wc working which was duly christened by little one.

Day 69 - finished? Not quite...

So today was supposed to be the deadline but I don't think we are going to reach it! There's still a bit to do! The ensuite suite hasn't been fitted, the new consumer board needs to be done...

I decided to leave em to it and went out...

When I came back, sadly it wasn't like changing rooms and things got miraculously finish..wishful thinking on my part.

We did however ad a new bit of Tarmac on the front, temporary until we can sort the drive but still looked nice.

More work was done on the outside soil to the side of the house.

Inside plastering continued and the lounge wall was completed.

Day 68 - still lots to do

I'm not sure the guys are going to reach their target for tomorrow as it seems like a lot left to do!

The garden was rotavated and looks ready to receive crops! At least the ground looks better...

Upstairs floor was sorted so that the new and old are levelled and the wall against the ensuite has been boarded up.

Work on the utility continued but still need to install the sink and units. The pipes for the new radiator were boxed in and the steel beam is being prepared to be covered.

One of the glass panel on the door was replaced due to imperfections which are hardly noticeable.

Everyone's working hard but I think realistically it will be next week....

Day 66 - we have lights

Finally downstairs have had the spot lights installed so we have light downstairs now but need to sort the controls out for the lounge.

Plastering continued in the hall. It's all starting to come together.

The vanity and mirror was installed downstairs and skirting laid. The lounge finally got the glass panels.

Outside, pipes and gutter were put up.

Day 67 - a big tidy up

Today started quiet and I had wondered where all the builders had gone?

What I found out was that they were doing a tidy up of the house outside, taking away stuff and working on clearing pathways and sorting out the drains.

Most of downstairs is now plastered or covered...

I don't think we will hit the deadline but be close to it.

Day 65 - dusty dusty

I can't believe how far we have come and yet still more to go after the builders leave.

The front of the house got pebbled dashed and work started on prepping the plinth below, it's going to be slightly different from the original as it has to conform to regs by having a bit at the bottom to drain away the water and its not going to be as thick.

Inside we finally got an ensuite door and nearly all the doors bar the cupboard has been fitted.

More plasterboard and plastering continued downstairs, did you know that the different colour boards mean something, standard white, pink for fire resistance, blue for sound proofing and green for water/moisture resistance.

Lots of work is happening with the electrics and we still haven't got power to the new section!

Meanwhile I've been busy buying the remainder of bits and pieces for the house, leaving the utility room left to sort.

It's going to be a busy and messy last week!

Day 64 - the final push

According to the builders they say they will finish next week!

The doors were put on to all the rooms bar the ensuite so it gives each room definition. Though I'm not looking forward to painting them!

The rest of the house got coated so all we have to do is wait for it to set and then paint.

The bathroom suite arrived for upstairs and downstairs but haven't had time to check it yet.

We also got our thermostat for the house so that will be interesting setting that up.

All radiators have been removed from the kitchen, so need to source new one ASAP.

As expected, dodgy wiring in the house means we have to fix it to bring it up to current regulation standard, no earth wires meant it was not safe...I don't want to see the bill for that. It also means that I have limited light switches downstairs over the weekend.

The downstairs wc and cupboard have been plastered and the new lounge had its plaster finished off.

I will be glad not to be living in a building site soon.

Day 63 - a coat

The house finally gets its coat of pebble dash and its starts to blend the house together.

Inside the new lounge and ensuite gets its coat of plaster.

Door frames were done for the remainder of the space so it would be nice to have some privacy back.

It's all coming together...

Day 62 - plaster

The house gets its 'scratch' coat on the front and back today which means that's its ready for the pebble dash coating.

Meanwhile the new lounge was getting the ceilings plastered.

The ensuite has finally got a floor now and now waiting for the furniture to go in.

The walls for kitchen and old lounge had the door frames made and while its closed in the openness it's still works.

Day 61 - utility room

The last of the construction was being worked on and they have started work on the utility room. Frame is up and door put in to give me an idea of the space available as we are going to put sink, washing machine and tumble dryer in there.

Work on the ensuite carried on and now all the walls have plasterboard on so you can also see the size we have in there.

The open area left by the kitchen and door have new walls going up, ready for the new doors.

Day 59 - doors

It was like a hamster run upstairs as the carpenter was fixing the door to the frames. At least we can close off those areas, it definitely finishes the room off but now we have to paint them.

We also has to take the decking up in preparation for the bifold installation on Monday. Mr d tried to take it apart but in the end it had to be cut....

Also with lots of dust around, guess what clue I was left on the sofa.

Day 60 - bifolds

Today's a big day as we finally make the house water tight with the installation of the bifolds. Quite exciting to see them arrive ahead of schedule, there was a little issue with the opening but it was resolved with the builders and the doors were installed in 3 hours. Yay.

Meanwhile the wooden frames were being made for downstairs, ready to fit the doors. New walls were being built for the old lounge.

Work continued in the ensuite and we have plasterboard up, still no floor. We have also ordered the ensuite furniture now.

Day 58 - wax on, wax off

The floor is done by hand and looks pretty amazing. It's going to be nice to not have to step up and down once the floor levels match. Sshh don't tell the builders but I cheekily etched 2013 and my name in the corner of the finished floor..hehe. It's going to be covered up with latex anyway...

We can't walk on it for 24hs.

The other side light for the door has been put in. As well as the borrowed lights and skirting upstairs. We have window cills too.

New floor joist were put back into the ensuite area so work can be done on that.