Going up in the world

The scaffolding was installed today and the roof trusses arrived some two weeks earlier than expected.

 

 

Next week it'll all start getting serious with the south-facing roof slates coming off, breaking in to the existing lounge and dismantling the two old chimneys all on the agenda.

Walls finished

The walls were finished yesterday, apart from some detail that can't be finalised until the roof trusses are available and the existing cottage roof has been modified.

I flew over the site and took a couple of pictures from about 1000ft above ground. They're not particularly good so I think I need to take a proper cameraman with me next time, so I can concentrate on flying!

We're now waiting for the scaffolding to arrive, hopefully this week, so the builders can get started on stripping the existing roof in preparation for arrival of the new roof trusses.

Building the walls

Yesterday the inner walls were completed and lintels installed above the door and window openings. A start was made on the outer walls. The foam insulation in the cavity can be clearly seen.

A room with a view! Looking south through the
lounge picture window

This morning the local craftsman who will make the windows and doors was on site to measure up and discuss options. Yet another set of decisions to be made! The outer walls should be finished early next week.

More concrete

Following another building regulations inspection the hardcore fill was completed early this week and the concrete base laid. We then had to wait until the concrete had dried before work could start again.

 

Yesterday the damp course was installed and the internal walls were built up to about 5ft in height.

The weather continues to cooperate, so we are hopeful of having the walls fully built by the end of the week. Meanwhile, I've been researching LED lighting, en-suite fittings, multi-fuel stoves and how to build a home cinema into the new lounge.

35 tons...

... of hardcore were needed to fill the floor area of the extension to get it up to the right height for the concrete base. Now that the base is flat apart from a small area under the en-suite, which will be filled after the foul water piping has been installed, it becomes apparent just how large the extension is! It took two days and seven deliveries of hardcore to fill the hole.

In other news, the roof trusses have been measured up, designed and sent to production. I've also had meetings to discuss foul and rain water drainage requirements. The next couple of days will see various tidy-up work in preparation for building the walls up next week.

Up to damp course (nearly)

Yesterday was a long day for the bricklayer. The inner walls are now up to damp course and the outer walls not far behind. The beginning of the openings for the front door and French windows can be seen. Standard bricks can be seen in the area that will remain visible after the wall rendering is applied. The remainder of the walls will be done in blocks.

The way the land drops away in the SE corner is now very apparent in the left hand picture. Landscaping that area could be interesting!

Foundations laid

The concrete mixer turned up at 08:00 today and by 09:00 the foundations were laid. We had to wait for a delivery so in the meantime the builders removed the old rendering from the front. Pennine View looks a bit bedraggled at the moment!

The rose bushes seem to have perked up after their traumatic move yesterday. I also managed to lay the new cable duct to my amateur radio antennas.

No more work planned for this week - we're waiting for the foundations to set. I am starting to think about the layout for the new en-suite and tomorrow I'm meeting the electrician, so the project isn't entirely idle.

Making a mess

Today was a messy day.

The top soil around the extension was removed, resulting in a huge pile of earth that should come in handy for something one day. The remnants of the old patio were dug out and broken up for hardcore.

Next the foundations were dug out, Fortunately my neighbour has an area in one of his fields where the clay and rocks could be dumped, so no need to transport this off site.

Two trenches were dug. One to the septic tank for the new en-suite and another to take the relocated telephone line and cables to my amateur radio antennas.

We also had to move two elderly rose bushes to their new home south of the extension. They wilted a bit but I'm hoping they'll recover if I feed them lots of water.

The concrete for the foundations arrives at 08:00 tomorrow!

And we're off!

The builders arrived first thing this morning and set to, demolishing the jerry-built front porch.

That took all of two hours. Then they removed the old patio, ready for the foundations to be dug tomorrow. This turned out to be a bit more of a challenge, with several generations of concrete and stonework to break up and barrow away!

They also erected a very deluxe loo-with-a-view and plumbed it into the septic tank.

Not a bad 1st day's work at all. Tomorrow the foundations should be dug out.

Builder selected

I've selected a very local builder to build my extension. Initial quotes from various potential companies were very similar, so in the end it came down to which builder was more flexible and had the better references. I think that I've done sufficient due diligence now, so this evening I awarded the work, subject to contract.

It looks like we should be able to get the job under way in early June - just over a month from now. I'm allowing four months for completion, so everything should be done and dusted before the nights start drawing in too much.

Building regulations approval

Building regulations approval documents finally arrived today after the council managed to "misfile" the application. As getting quotes out of builders has also taken rather longer than anticipated the delay is not really a problem.

The minor change to the planning application also went through without any problems.

So I'm good to go, with both planning permission and building regs approval in the bag.

Building regs

The building regulations plans were submitted yesterday.

A minor change request for planning consent was also submitted. This makes the extension slightly larger, to create a bigger en-suite/cupboard area. It also proposes the installation of a multi-fuel stove and a floor-to-ceiling window in the new lounge.

It's time to start getting quotes from builders!

The plan

The extension is the shaded part, although there will be significant works to turn the existing lounge into the bedroom as shown in the plan. Not least of these is the need to remove a chimney and fireplace, replacing it with a window.

The existing master bedroom, which is the room to the left of the hall, will become bedroom 2, or, for my purposes it will be my office/computer/radio room. This in turn will enable me to revert my current office to its original and far more sensible use as the dining room, adjacent, as it is, to the kitchen.

The extension will increase the floor area of the cottage by around 50%.

The prologue

As soon as I saw Pennine View, I knew it was the retirement home I wanted. Out in the beautiful Eden Valley countryside, with stunning views and, with well over an acre of land, space to do my own thing, it was the perfect retreat from the rat race. That was nearly 12 years ago.

Pennine View, summer 2012

I've always felt that, for all its desirable attributes, PV was just a little too small for my needs. It is after all, just a two bedroom 1930s cottage, originally built as a "granny annex" to one of the local farms. But I lacked the inspiration to work out what to do about it. In October 2012 that changed. I realised that I could turn the existing living room into a new master bedroom and then extend out into the field with an en-suite, followed by a much larger new living room.

At a stroke this would create much needed space and solve numerous niggles that I have put up with over the years, lacking any particular incentive to fix them. A by-product of the extension would be a sheltered courtyard and a new front hall, replacing a small entrance porch that was somewhat unsympathetically added some 20 years ago.

Recently I obtained full planning permission for the extension and my architect and I will be launching into obtaining building regulations approval in the next few weeks. With a bit of luck I'll be able to start work in the late spring and be completed before the darker nights set in.

Well that's the plan. We shall see how it works out. This Blog will, hopefully be more pictures than words, charting the project's progress.