Starting on the dining room

Work started on the dining room this week and already the old window has been removed and the resulting gap widened to take the new, larger window. This was achieved with minimal dust and general mess, which is pleasing, as the hallways and kitchen are either side and I wasn't keen on a lot of cleaning! We now await the window fitting and a small amount of electrical work prior to boarding and skimming out.

I've ordered up some sandstone paving for the patio area, although I think it's unlikely that much of the patio will be done this side of new year. However, it does enable us to finish off the steps to the front door and French windows. I've gone for a terracotta stone, which I think will look nice against the white walls and grass.

Office move

I've completed the not inconsiderable task of moving my office/radio room/computer room/man room into what was once the master bedroom. The old office is now empty, awaiting the return of the builders early next week to convert it into a dining room.

 

The home cinema system is fully operational and is simply stunning, especially in 3D. I had to buy a few 3D Bluray titles to see how it works and it was worth the investment - Avatar is amazing in 3D!

I've also removed the redundant antenna mast outside the old office and re-homed an amateur radio beacon that I run as a service to the community in order to be able to completely clear the old office. And today I used the chainsaw for the first time to chop up a load of wood into stove-sized chunks. I barely made a dent in the stockpile that has resulted from all the building works.

Curtains. I need to start thinking about curtains...

Moving in!

The carpeting was fitted in the new extension and main bedrooms on Tuesday, as planned. On Wednesday my friend Jim helped me to move the heavy stuff out of the summerhouse into the house. Yesterday I was able to move into the new master bedroom and today I've been busy fitting out the dressing room/walk in cupboard and the new lounge.

There's still quite a bit to do - I have to move my office-cum-radio room and that is not a task for the faint hearted! Once that's done, the builders can start on what will become the dining room, fitting a larger window and skimming the walls/ceiling. And of course there's the outside to be sorted out in due course.

It's nice to have some space at last!

Ready to carpet

At last we are ready to carpet the extension and front rooms tomorrow. Something of a marathon effort on the decorating front and numerous odds and ends of finishing work have got us to this stage, just in time for the carpet fitters to do their thing tomorrow. The plumbing work in the en-suite has also been completed, as has the loft insulation. The rooms all look rather empty. We shall do something about that on Wednesday, when my friend Jim comes around to help me move in!

 

En-suite completed (almost)

The wet room shower was completed today, apart from the fitting of the glass screen, which is  Monday's job. Hot and cold water connections were made into the existing system and a quick test revealed plenty of pressure from the large shower head.

 The vanity unit plumbing was also completed.

Elsewhere, most of the loft insulation was fitted and the front rooms cleared as much as possible, ready for carpet fitting next Tuesday. Painting is a weekend job and on Monday the remaining loft insulation and wet room screen will be fitted.

Stove installed and working

The multi-fuel stove and fireplace have at last been installed in the new lounge. As part of the acceptance/approval testing the stove had to be fired up twice and on the second occasion I ran it for a couple of hours. It heated the room very well indeed, albeit it was a mild evening anyway. Today the lining and skirting boards were fitted to complete the job.

This is a major step towards completion of the main extension. Also this week, the hallway skirting and other minor items of woodwork have been finished. Much painting and decorating too.

There is some further painting and decorating to do but that should all be finished in good time for the carpets to be fitted to all rooms at the front of the cottage on Monday or Tuesday of next week. There is still a small amount of plumbing work to be done but that shouldn't delay me moving in to the new rooms towards the end of next week.

It will be so nice to have some space again!

Master bedroom progress

Quite a lot of progress this week. The en-suite furniture and heated towel rail have been installed and are now just waiting for final plumbing work to be completed.

In the dressing room the wardrobe and chest of drawers carcasses have been fitted. I have lots of shelving, clothes rails, etc. to make up and install. You can see one of the large pull out shelves at the bottom of the big wardrobe.

Meanwhile, the dust seal between the north end of the old cottage (where I have been living in two rooms!) and the building works has been removed. This enabled the hallway to be boarded and skimmed so we have, at last, finished the wet trades work. With the two parts of the bungalow reunited, it is now possible to see the true scale of the new extension. It's a fair hike from the kitchen to the new living room!

Next up is installation of the granite/marble fireplace and the wood stove, early next week. There's also plenty of decorating to get on with and then I will be able to get the carpets fitted. The end is in sight!

Heating's on!

The central heating is completed in the new extension and in the old front rooms. This evening we filled the system and with a keen sense of anticipation, fired up the boiler. No leaks! Soon the radiators were starting to warm up and before long the new rooms were losing their autumnal chill. The heated towel rail makes the new en-suite lovely and warm!

Meanwhile, painting and decorating has continued to make good progress. The external doors have had their first few coats of varnish and are therefore weatherproof, which is good, as rain is forecast for the next two days. Internally most of the rooms are finished apart from some minor snagging work.

Benny is back, rejuvenated by his short holiday and keen to get on with the hallway. This means that the partition between the new stuff and the part of the bungalow that I've been living in has to come down. The next few days will be rather trying as two parts become one for the first time but it will also be extremely rewarding.

What? No pix? I could post some pictures of me basking in the glow of nice warm radiators and mellow emulsioned  walls but I'm not going to. You'll have to wait until next week when the partition is down and the fireplace is installed and there's lots of other photogenic stuff to whitter on about.