Doors 'n' windows

Benny the builder is on a well deserved holiday break this week but activity continues apace, with significant progress on various finishing work. The front door and French windows have, at last, been fitted. Locks and other furniture have also been fitted to the door and all windows, so for the first time the extension is secure.

The home cinema projector screen has been fitted and checked out. It's going to be great to see that in operation!

In the en-suite, the tiling has been completed and the electric under-floor heating is working.

The lighting and power has been connected up in the extension and most of the LED lighting has now been installed. It seems to be very effective, which is a relief, as this was unknown territory for me.

Right now the plumber is completing the en-suite installation and we also hope to have all the new radiators fitted this week. Decorating continues apace. The Ikea stuff for the walk in cupboard arrives tomorrow, so hopefully we can get that installed in the next few days.

Ikea it is

Had an interesting trip down to the vast Ikea store in sunny Warrington last night (it was raining hard). The upshot is that I have ordered wardrobe carcasses and a chest of drawers plus various other bits and pieces to fit out the walk in cupboard. Ikea furniture seems to be well built and it looks good, despite its low cost.

Plumbing work continues apace and there will be more 2nd fix electrical & joinery work over the next week to ten days. There will then be a short hiatus while the builder takes a well earned holiday and I wait for the stove, fire place et al to arrive. Hopefully we can use that time to get the decorating largely completed.

"The messiest job yet"

Described by the builder as "the messiest job yet" the pebble-dash render has now been applied to the external walls. This involves, quite literally, throwing a mix of cement and pebbles at the wall and hoping that some of it will stick. Quite a lot of it ends up on the floor and all over the poor sods who have to do the throwing. I kept well out of the way!

Meanwhile, the coving is now completed in all the rooms, including a rather natty bit of work around where the projector screen will be mounted to the ceiling. I was wondering how they would do that...

 

The plumber is back in action (hurrah!) and today the new radiators have been ordered. The oak front door arrives tomorrow and the French windows are ready for glazing. We even have the correct glass at last. Tiling of the en-suite continues amongst all the other activity.

I've ordered the new carpets and, following a meaningful conversation with the joiner boss-man, I've had a complete rethink of how we engineer the fittings in the master bedroom walk-in cupboard. A visit to Ikea (Warrington) looms on the horizon.

Painting and decorating is the next big thing.

One year ago...

It is one year ago to the day that I first started thinking seriously about extending Pennine View and jotted down some rough ideas. What a year it's been!

The original "back of a fag packet" idea (I don't smoke!)

Tiling, skirting & doors

We are starting to put the finishing touches to several areas now. The hallway has been tiled and looks rather splendid. Tiling has also begun in the en-suite. The three new internal doors have been fitted and most of the skirting boards and architraves have been cut and, where possible, fitted. The new internal window cills have also been fitted.

 

 

There have also been a couple of minor setbacks.

• The plumber is unwell and has therefore not been able to finalise radiator fittings and that in turn means that we can't fix many of the skirting boards. 
• We've also concluded after discussions with the painter/decorator that we are going to have to skim the old hallway walls. They are too rough to be painted and where the old hallway joins the new hallway is awkward to wallpaper properly. This is a bit of a nuisance, as it means some finished work will have to be redone.

The carpet supplier has measured up throughout the house, so we are ahead of the game on that at least. Plumbing and, perhaps, fitting the fireplace and stove are the critical path items now.

Coving and tiling are the primary activities for the next few days. Soon we will be starting on the outside so landscaping, patio design and paving are working their way up my priorities.