Protection

(Massive Attack, 1994)

This is the reason why the downpour on Friday evening was particularly satisfying.

Tadaa! 

The kitchen roof is still a few steps behind.  The main part has been covered, but the skylights still need to be fitted.

And the mezzanine in the attic now has a floor that can be walked on.

With that, the ‘gros oeuvres’ are more or less complete, and the first team of contractors will hand over the baton to the technical guys, who will do the electricity, plumbing and heating, as well as the windows and the interior works.  

Here is hoping that the new crew will be as efficient… 

Gimme Shelter

(Rolling Stones, 1969)

The roof remains the main focus of activity, with new wooden slats being placed, and the party wall with the neighbour repaired and cemented.

Also, the removal of the neighbour’s illegal pseudo-terrace and its plastic dinosaurs.  There remains the decrepit corrugated plastic ‘greenhouse’ mounted on their lower terrace, which overshadows our garden, but that is a conversation for another day. 

Intermission

No posts in the last two weeks – you may think that things have been pretty quiet here.  In fact, we have been rather distracted by these two little people, who joined our family on 6 April.

Happily, work has been continuing at the house without us.  I’ll be updating posts with the latest news, and backdating them so as to keep them in the right order.

The Show Must Go On

While we have been otherwise occupied by our two new distractions, works in the house have rumbled on. 

In the roof, the tiles have been removed, and the beams strengthened where necessary with additional timber.  

The chimney has also been rebuilt (remember it used to have a small shrub growing out of it).

On the first floor, the back bedroom window has been opened up and given a new beam.

 

And the garden has been tidied up.  I assure you, this is an improvement.  

Wonderwall

(Oasis, 1995)

Another week of progress.  The new kitchen annexe is now taking shape, with a solid-looking roof structure, with holes where the skylights will be.  Here are some shots of beams to please the engineers amongst you. 

 

You can also see the openings which link the kitchen and living room to the first landing on the stairs.  Here is a shot from below and one from the landing looking down on to the kitchen.   These will have internal windows (that won't open...) to be able to look down into the living area are you come downstairs.  

Meawhile, up in the roof, the openings have been added for the Velux windows, which also look pretty huge... 

... and we have been able to take a closer look at the state of the dividing wall. Pretty disastrous.  The neighbour's on this side renovated the house themselves some thirty years ago, and it is not in good shape.

The brickwork is in need of rejointing, and the top is totally unprotected from the elements.  

This required a bit of discussion on possible solutions, and some daredevil acrobatics from the architect.

So a separate little project will be to repair the dividing wall. Happily, the neighbour is keen for someone to get on and do what needs doing, and we will share the cost between us. 

 

Even more happily, we have reached an amicable agreement about the DIY metal structure, with its flock of plastic dinosaurs, which currently overlooks our bedroom window.   This will all be removed and the flat roof returned to what it should be - a flat roof.

So what does all this mean in terms of timing?  This is the current plan. 

The heavy works (“gros oeuvres” - the new roof, new kitchen annexe) are expected to be finished by 16 April, and the rubble cleared away.  The site will then be clear for the next contractor to step in and get started on the insulation, interior walls, the plastering etc.

Once this is underway, the bathroom, heating and electrics people can start around end- April.

The new windows at the back of house will be fitted in May.  The old windows on the front of the house - which are being repaired – are scheduled to be done mid-August.

Then it's a question of sanding of the floors, fitting the kitchen, tiling the bathroom and kitchen floors, and applying a few coats of paint.  Oh, and also some woodwork, like the internal stairs to the basement, the bookcase and a couple of doors.  This is all a bit more uncertain as we still need to sort out who is going that.  Hopefully this can be done in August, maybe even in July if we get ourselves organised. 

Sorry state

In the meantime, over the summer, I also have hopes to clear the garden, which is looking very sorry for itself, to level it, sow some grass and prepare a few beds for autumn planting. Finally, if we have the energy, we'd also like to get the green roof planted up with happy-bee plants on the kitchen flat roof.  These are more realistically tasks for the autumn. 

If that all works out, we could move in in September/ October.

What could possibly go wrong?