Progress on numerous fronts

The roof slating is now finished, with soffits, guttering and flashing for the stove flue pipe all installed. We've recently had some particularly heavy rain showers, so it's good to see that everything is good and watertight.

The scaffolding can now come down, making it much easier to work on the rest of the outside and, of course, to get a better idea of the finished appearance.

Meanwhile, the first fix electrical and plumbing work have both been completed, so we can get the floors in soon. The wooden (again!) lintel in the old master bedroom was also replaced with something a bit more robust.

All we need now is the window frames, which should be with us early next week.

Up in the loft, the walls behind the old chimney stacks have been cleaned up and rendered where necessary, the new roof-light surround has been plastered and the old hole blocked up and skimmed to match the existing roof lining.

Meanwhile, I have sorted out the LED lighting and, after a bit of hard bargaining settled on a decent (ish) price. I'll order those before long. All the components for the home cinema are now at PV and can be installed as and when the builder is ready. And I've sorted out the en-suite furniture, wet room design/fittings, hallway tiles and numerous other minor aspects.

The wood stove for the lounge turns out to be a nightmare, with all manner of new building regulations giving both me and the builder serious issues. We think we are almost there now but it's been a right old battle. I'm now waiting for quotes for the stove, flue systems and Hetas installation, the latter of which, by all accounts, is outrageously expensive. We shall see.

At least I shall have plenty of wood for the new stove. There's a growing pile of it next to the summer house!