Landscaping

With the completion of the patio area and paths around the newly extended Pennine View, the last few weeks has been occupied with landscaping work. A particularly dry June/July meant that the soil was too dry and hard to be easily worked but early August brought quite heavy rain and with it the ability to rotavate and grade the soil.

There was just enough top soil to grade the lawn from field level up to the new pathway level, some 2ft higher, in the SE corner of the property. The whole area has now been seeded with a rye-based grass which should establish itself during the autumn and over winter.

Whilst I was at it, I also reseeded two areas behind the garage that were used as a storage area and for mixing cement, etc. I've also rotavated and graded the area by the septic tank, which is where we stored the top soil during construction work.

Unfortunately, the local mole population seems to have discovered all this good work and sees it as an excellent opportunity for easy tunnelling and, presumably, a plentiful supply of worms. Not much that I can do about this without doing further damage until the ground firms up. The indigenous rabbits have also been having fun digging holes in my nicely graded top soil. The vicissitudes of living in the country!

Nearly two years after the first thoughts about building an extension emerged, I'm finally getting to the end of this odyssey. There remain a couple of small work items that will be done as and when materials and builders' time are available. Much as I would like to get the outside painted, I now suspect that will be a job for 2015.

High speed broadband @ PV

Not really related to the extension project but going on alongside and improving the property, I now have high speed broadband at Pennine View!

For the last ten years or so, the best broadband speed I could get was around 2.5Mbit/s. Ten years ago that wasn't too bad but the rest of the world has moved on and rural Cumbria has not. Well that has all changed with the installation of a Lonsdale Network Services wireless node here at PV.

I am now getting broadband speeds in excess of 60Mbit/s - far faster than most town dwellers get on their telephone line-based service. The intention is for PV to become a relay node, beaming high speed broadband down into Sleagill village, so they too can benefit from this excellent service.

Patio nears completion

It's taken a while but the new - and very large - patio is more or less finished in time for summer. Including the paths, some 80 square metres of terracotta stone has now been laid. Big job!

The pathway to the back door is also finished and graded into the driveway area with stone chippings  - a great improvement. Steps down to the garden from the southern edge of the patio is the next job, some time next week. After that I'll be able to get on with grading the lawns up to the patio using all the soil that was displaced by the extension work.

In other news, the last of the old-style windows around the north side of the cottage have been replaced with four new hardwood frames and modern double glazed units.Should be a bit warmer in the kitchen during the winter months!

The patio takes shape

Another week of stop/start progress, hindered yet again by the weather. After the retaining wall was built the builder was able to fill the void with hardcore and flatten it with a "wacker" to provide a solid base for the flagstones. The past few days have seen most of the very large patio area finished with red sandstone flagstones.

In addition, the builder has been laying stones from the back door around the side of the house. This required some careful work with levels to ensure that there was a suitable slope for rainwater run-off. The old path around the west side of the cottage was very good at collecting pools of water but hopefully we've fixed that now.

The patio area is starting to look rather good!

Starting on the patio

It's been a while coming, what with the dreadful weather and tradesman availability but at last we got started on the patio today. First we needed to level the area down to hard sub soil. This produced a considerable amount of top soil which we will use to build up and grade the low lying land notably in the south east corner It's certainly a large area!

We had about seven tons of hardcore delivered by tractor and for now this has been barrowed through and heaped up in the patio area, awaiting completion of drainage and a small retaining wall, both of which we hope to finish this week.

Whilst we had the digger, we took the opportunity to move all the top soil that was saved from digging out the extension area. This soil will also help to bank up the low land which will be an interesting landscaping challenge for my gardener!

Finally we dug out the discharge pipe from the septic tank. This has been working poorly for some time and today we discovered the reason! Over the 80+ years since the house was built tree roots have cracked the old fashioned porcelain pipes, allowing mud and debris to enter. We're planning to leave it overnight to dry out with a view to finding a solution tomorrow.

All in all we made a lot of mess (and a lot of progress) today!

Laying the path

With the improved weather the builder has made a start on the path around the cottage. The old paths were very tatty and, of course, the new extension had to have its own paths laid, so the only proper answer was to replace the whole lot. I selected a rough terracotta stone, which will offset the white rendering nicely.

The picture from the north east corner of the cottage shows progress to date on the new path. It's a little wider than the old path, which has allowed us to fix a couple of issues with inspection manholes.

Over the next week or two we are hoping that the land will become dry enough to deliver a load of hardcore up the field by tractor. We can then make a start on the large patio area on the south side.

Guest bedroom finished

At last the back bedroom, aka the guest bedroom, is finished. The painter was busy on Friday and Saturday and then yesterday the carpet was fitted.

I spent yesterday afternoon and this morning moving stuff back in and the result is pleasing. I still have a mirror and, perhaps, some pictures to hang but that can be done in due course, as I have visitors coming tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the builders have made a start on the path around the north and east side of the cottage. Hopefully, by the time they get to the front, the ground will be dry enough to lay the patio. At last we are getting some drier and warmer weather so here's hoping!

Ready for painting

The back bedroom is ready for painting. Last week the plastering was completed and skirting boards, coving and architraves fitted. Because of the earlier damp problem and the need to "tank" the wall, the area around the window has taken a long time to dry but it's pretty well there now.

The window surrounds have been finished inside and out. Glass and window furniture are all fitted.Tomorrow the plumber comes to fit the new radiator and on Friday the decorator starts.

It should only take a couple of days to finish the painting, so I'm hopeful of getting the carpets fitted in the middle of next week. Just in time - I have a visitor staying in the back bedroom next Friday night!

Getting started again - the back bedroom

Three months later and after one of the wettest and windiest winters I've ever known, work is under way again at Pennine View. There are two main projects remaining - the back bedroom and external works including the patio. The latter is still waiting for the ground to dry out but we are under way with the back bedroom.

The back bedroom has always been damp and various superficial attempts to fix the problem in the past all failed. I was keen to fix this once and for all. At the same time I decided to replace the window and skim the walls and ceiling to make this room like the rest of the house.

Work started last week. Very quickly the reason for the damp became apparent - the old window was rotting around the cill and, being west-facing, the rain was driving in and running down the inside wall. This was something of a relief, as I had been concerned that there was a rising damp problem.


The new window has now been fitted and that should make the room a lot warmer and, of course, watertight. The wall beneath the window has been "tanked" to prevent any residual damp from getting through. Next, the walls and ceiling were skimmed with plaster a couple of days ago.

We are just waiting now for it to dry out before fitting skirting, coving, door architraves and the new radiator early next week. Hopefully we should be able to start painting and decorating before the end of the month.

Merry Christmas

Pennine View is getting ready to host a few Christmas parties and has taken on something of a seasonal appearance. It's nice to finally have the space to entertain in some style.

This Blog will now go quiet for a while until we pick up work again which, as it is mainly outside, will be after the worst of the winter has passed.

It remains only for me to wish all my followers 

A very 

Merry Christmas 

and a 

Happy and Prosperous New Year

Done for Christmas!

At last the internal work is essentially completed! The remaining carpets were fitted on Tuesday and various items of furniture were delivered today so I can now finalise the dining room and lounge.

One item of internal work remains but it will be left until the new year now: the back bedroom has always suffered from damp and the plan is to "tank" the outer wall and then board the ceiling and skim the walls in the same way as we have done for other rooms.

My focus now is on having everything ready for the Christmas season as I am hosting at least two events in my nice new home!

Aerial antics

I had another go at taking some pictures from my little aeroplane. My "point & click" camera doesn't really have good enough zoom capability for this sort of thing, so these are cropped from larger images, with inevitably poor resolution.

There is, of course, also the problem that it is quite hard to take pictures at the same time as one is flying an aeroplane!

Ready for carpets

The dining room painting and decorating is finally completed, as are the kitchen and family bathroom. This is a significant step because I can now get the carpets fitted in the rest of the cottage and the inside building work draws to a close.

Outside, the steps to the French windows have been built and what we hope will be the final weather sealing applied - we shall find out next time there's a decent wet sou'wester.

The wall to support the path around the extension is mostly built, needing just a top level of finishing bricks. We can then fill the void with all the rubble that's left over, ready for the paving slabs to be laid on top. We can also use the huge pile of earth than has been lurking by the oak trees to build up the surrounding garden. Most of this will be work for next year.

Carpet fitting is booked for next Tuesday.

Slow progress

The dining room work is dragging on a bit, partly because I have spent much of the past two weeks away but also due to tradesman availability, waiting for stuff to dry and so on. The room is now plastered, the new radiator fitted, electrics completed and coving & skirting boards done. The plaster has at last fully dried out, ready for painting, which is scheduled for next week. The carpets will be fitted to the remainder of the house during the first week in December and then I should be able to move back in, in time for Christmas!

Meanwhile, work has started outside, although it's bitterly cold. The rainwater drainage system has been installed and the foundations are in place for a retaining wall for the path around the new extension. Hopefully the wall will get built in the next few days. The pebble dashing around the new windows on the east side has also been completed.

Dining room episode 2

Reasonable progress this week. The new dining room window is now fitted, so the building is once again weatherproof (not that it was really a problem - the window faces east and the weather tends to come from the south west). Also the first fit electrics have been completed, so we are ready for boarding and skimming next week.

 Meanwhile, the electrician has fitted a generator changeover switch. We tend to get power cuts, especially in the winter and the ability to switch the entire house over to generator is bound to be worthwhile. I have a 3kVA generator and tests indicate that it will run the entire house apart from high current electric heating devices such as the kettle. The main thing is it will keep the lights on and the central heating running.

Finally the step to the front door has been built. A similar step is needed for the French windows and, of course, the patio and pavements are yet to do as well, so this is just the start of the outdoor work.

Hopefully we will be able to finish the wet trades work in the dining room next week.

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!