Monday 22 October
Fed up waiting for the man in charge to produce a revised programme of works, over the weekend I decided to pull together key dates for those bits of the house project that I'm responsible for, liaising directly with installers and buying specialist goods and materials from suppliers.
Everything works back from the kitchen delivery date in week commencing 12 November. The new garden doors and window are also being delivered and installed that week on 14 November, so its going to be a busy time!
Before then, the specialist floor fitter is coming on 5 and 6 November to lay the subfloor and floor finish in the kitchen area, and I'm going to try to paint the new kitchen ceiling and tops of the walls (the rest will be covered in units or splash backs).
That gives the builder two weeks starting from today to finish works downstairs which must be done before the kitchen and the new doors/window are installed. There's a lot of work to be done...
...below ground vents must be finished; a DPM is to go down on the lower level floor slab, followed by insulation, underfloor heating and top screed; the new stud wall and fire rated door separating the kitchen from the downstairs loo/utility room must be constructed; the boiler is to be installed and one radiator; first fix electrics completed and gas supply put in for the hob and a future gas fired (wood burner lookalike) stove in the old kitchen chimney place...
....high level extract ducts are to be installed in a small section of lowered ceiling which will run through from the kitchen into the extension where it will house the power supply for track lights as well as the vent ducts; a platform must be constructed to support the peninsular run of kitchen units where it projects out into the lower level dining area; drainage, water and power supply for appliances must be ready and the whole space needs to be plastered one way or the other - skimmed or plasterboard, depending on the wall involved. Not forgetting the tidying up of stub ends of walls supporting steel beams and around the opening for the new garden doors...and the padstones underneath the steel beams which have STILL not been put in!
...Outside, the gutter and downpipes need to go on the extension roof and lead flashing applied to the joint between the extension roof and the vertical wall of the main house...and the solar cells installed on the roof lights so I can open and close them remotely.
The list seems almost endless, but at a site meeting this morning the man in charge has promised it will all be done in the next two weeks. I will hold him to that!
In the meantime, the guys have boarded the ceiling in the old dining room, ready for the skim coat. More progress....
...and then a step forward followed by a step back...I had been told the skip changeover would be tomorrow so was surprised to hear the truck arrive today. Even though there was no space saved on the street, the driver somehow managed to lift the overfull skip off the ground and on to the truck at an an angle. But then he drove off without dropping off the new skip!
At least the builder's guys had the sense to put an empty pallet in the vacant space so there is room for another skip whenever that arrives...
The kitchen fitter/designer has looked at my selection of sinks and taps and made some useful suggestions to help me make a decision based on his experience of different makes. Tap now ordered; due to be delivered mid November, just in time for the kitchen install. Sink selected, to be ordered nearer the time. Although it can be delivered quickly there's nowhere to store it at the moment so that can wait. I've been doing my research on extractor hoods and have made a decision on that. Fridge/freezer next on the list to sort out, followed by dishwasher, washing machine and drier.
I've already chosen most of the lighting for the new kitchen/diner and bought a simple wall lamp for the space under the stairs, and a matching "rise and fall" pendant lamp for over the dining room table. Another wall lamp in the same range which will illuminate my "reading corner" is due to be delivered tomorrow. Freegle has provided the etched glass lampshades for the pendant lamps over the peninsular run of units, which will be jazzed up with copper fittings to match the other lighting. It's coming together nicely!
Tuesday 23 October
One of those days where the guys have been working hard but visible changes are relatively minor, probably because its fiddly work. They have been insulating and boarding the extension roof around the Velux roof windows, ready for plastering.
There has also been a timber delivery, which I assume is for the new stud wall which will separate the kitchen area from the downstairs WC/utility room and coat store. There's just enough room to prop up the timbers in the old dining room, sticking into the ceiling void!
This partition was specified as a metal stud on the plans, but the man in charge says that timber framework will be stronger to support the kitchen units. It will be the same thickness as a metal stud, so won't reduce the space available in either room, which was my main concern. The kitchen is a tight fit to make the best use of available space and builders are not good working with small tolerances...
The man in charge has cancelled the meeting we were supposed to have this afternoon to discuss how to deal with items on the schedule of works that have not been undertaken (like salvaging certain fittings for reuse, only to find them in the skip) or are no longer necessary (such as replacing a bathroom radiator which can now stay as is because of a change to the way bathroom drainage has been installed). The meeting has been rearranged for Thursday afternoon, when we'll also review progress on site.
I've been in touch with the kitchen designer to confirm the best time to get the kitchen appliances delivered so that they don't clutter the place up while the fitters are installing the cabinets. Only the sink needs to be there on Day 1, so that will be sorted out tomorrow.
Wednesday 24 October
Came downstairs first thing in the morning to find a note through the letterbox to say that props have been delivered. I assume this is to prop the steels while the padstones supporting each end are installed at long last. I do hope so!
The guys turned up much later. Apparently they were stuck in traffic...But they are here now and they got a LOT of work to get through today and tomorrow as the man in charge tells me that plasterers are booked in on Friday and Saturday to plaster the ground floor.
That means that today and tomorrow the guys have to support the steels, put in the padstones, tidy up the stub ends of walls supporting these beams and around the opening for the new doors to the garden, construct a stud partition to separate the kitchen from the loo/utility room and finish all the boarding out. A tall order. Fingers crossed.
I've ordered the kitchen sink for delivery on 12 November, and another light fitting has been delivered today. That just leaves the track light with spots to order for downstairs lighting. I can't do that until the plastering has been done and the cupboard built for the boiler/underfloor heating manifold, so that I can measure the space available.
I've also asked for advice from the floor fitter about nosing for the step down from the kitchen area into the dining area. I'd wanted copper to match the little copper details that are being used on the kitchen cabinets, tap and light fittings, but it looks like that's only available as a corner protector for walls rather than floors. Might have to settle for antique bronze finish instead which is the nearest colour finish I can find in pukka step nosing...
The kitchen supplier has kindly provided free of charge a couple of carcass panels which the kitchen fitters can use to top and tail the square void where two wall units meet (there being no ready made cabinet to fit into the space). However, the void will be put to good use with a socket tower - usually used as a pop up tower in a worktop, but we are installing it upside down so that it can be pulled down from the corner when needed but pushed up out of the way at other times.
The guys on site have gone through all the measurements again (check twice, cut once) before installing the new partition wall which will separate the kitchen area from the downstairs WC/utility space (shown along the top of the layout below).
In case you are wondering, the square spider shapes above are supposed to be bar stools...it's the best representation the supplier could come up with!
And below is the supplier's visualisation. It won't look quite like that as the worktop will drop down at 90 degrees to form a "waterfall" end terminating the breakfast bar, and there will be a couple of bespoke units at either end of the breakfast bar on the dining area side, to provide some additional storage.
So....a compact, but efficient layout which is dedicated to food storage, preparation, cooking, washing up plus storage of crockery, cutlery, oven and bakeware and electric kitchen aids. Other activities which went on in the old kitchen (laundry and storage for non-cooking stuff like cleaning materials and equipment, DIY tools and materials, and such like) are now banished to the WC/utility room behind. I'll be able to stand at the breakfast bar while preparing food and look out directly into the garden (rather than my neighbours two storey rear wing or a blank internal wall, as happened in the old kitchen) or be sociable and chat to anyone sitting in the dining area. That's the theory anyway...
The cabinets will be "Platinum" - a light silvery grey colour matt finish, with a subtle copper trim to liven it up. The worktops will be mid grey with a matt finish, made out of a material called "Dekton". It costs a small fortune, but seems to be resistant to all the things that usually ruin a worktop (temperature extremes, stains, water, abrasion, UV light) so hopefully it will stay looking good for a very long time and be a worthwhile investment.
By close of business today, the framework for the kitchen back wall (where the three tall units will be installed) has gone up and is boarded out on one side. Almost impossible to photograph due to all the clutter standing in front. But for what its worth, here's a view looking into the kitchen area from the dining area, one step below. You'll have to use your imagination!
Thursday 24 October
Overnight I'd given a bit more thought to the position of one new wall yet to be installed. It's only a small shift, but I think it will make the hall feel a bit more spacious and be more practical when getting large items in and out of the house/garden. So my first job this morning was to check it out in the room and give a drawing showing the relevant measurements to the builder when he arrived on site. We did some trial runs with bits of wood and pencil marks on the floor and walls to fine tune the dimensions, but it was time well spent as we are both happy with the end result.
The man in charge confirmed by text that plasterers are booked in for tomorrow and Saturday, which excited me in one respect (more progress) but alarmed me in another as I looked at all the bits and pieces that needed to be finished before the plasterers can do their bit. The guy on site agreed it was a lot to finish off in one day...maybe it would not be ready by tomorrow...
The man in charge is coming to site at noon today, so we'll review progress then and make any necessary adjustments to the plastering timetable before we get down to the main purpose of the meeting. This is to discuss how to deal with payments for items which have not been done (mainly things that were supposed to be salvaged for reuse but ended up in the skip by mistake), items that are no longer necessary because of changes made by mutual agreement in the course of works, and additional expenses incurred by both sides - in my case, payments for off site storage which I've had to extend well beyond the original 10 week build period, and to repair damage to the fabric of the house and garden caused by builders in the course of the works.
During the day, the guys have finished boarding the stud wall between the new kitchen area and the downstairs loo/utility room.
The basic framework has gone up for the wall and door between the loo/utility room and coat store/lobby and more wall boards have gone up in the kitchen area and along the extension external wall.
There will be something for the plasterers to get on with when they arrive tomorrow, although not a lot of space for them to do it in.
There are still some tricky problems to resolve, like how to support the stairs and half landing when a post which had formed part of the cupboard under the stairs is removed to widen the access between the kitchen area and lower dining area level, and to make the remaining space under the stairs easier to use, unencumbered by a post sticking up in the middle. A suggestion by the structural engineer didn't work as now the old ceiling has been removed, it's clear that the joist and half landing are not on the same level. Consequently, using the joist to support a new timber under the landing wasn't an option, even using joist hangers.
However, we may have found a solution using the spare structural steel gallows brackets left over from the removal of part of the chimney breast in the old kitchen. The supplier had replaced the original brackets which were not fabricated to specification and we ended up with two new pairs when we only needed one. These structural steel brackets are designed to take the weight of a masonry chimney breast and double chimney stack on the first floor and above, so should be strong enough to support the weight of a timber staircase and landing. We'll look again next week.
The other tricky issue is the routing of ventilation ducts serving an extraction unit in the downstairs WC and a cooker hood over the hob. They were intended to go inside a long continuous section of lowered ceiling running through the loo, adjacent kitchen, below one of the structural steel beams and on out into the extension where the ducts would then exit through the roof.
However, tucking the wall cabinets beneath this lower section of ceiling would reduce the space between the worktop and the bottom of wall cabinets to less than that recommended above a gas hob...my dream of a simple, elegant, continuous line of wall cupboards, with an integrated extraction unit in one of the cupboards looks like it might bite the dust.
It might just be possible to route the ducts above the cabinets at a much higher level. This would allow the wall cabinets to be installed at the correct height above the worktop/hub. The ducts would then be brought down inside the corner of one of the wall cupboards - just before they go under the steel beam - and the ceiling would only need to be lowered a little to create a streamlined box to screen the ductwork. We agreed that we'll just have to play that one by ear, as and when the ducts are ready to install when it will be easier to see the context in three dimensions ...
...If the worst comes to the worst, I'll have to rethink the type of kitchen extractor and go for a one with a chimney rather than something integrated into a wall cupboard, as planned.
Having talked about these tricky building issues, the man in charge and I took ourselves off to the local cafe to talk money on neutral ground over a cup of coffee. To cut a long story short, he was very frank about the firm being over stretched the last few months, resulting in substantial delays to my build. As I'd guessed, they were simply not geared up to deal with the amount of work they had undertaken over the summer in terms of workforce availability and capacity to manage projects, for which he apologised. He acknowledged that he should have had this conversation sooner, rather than hanging on hoping things would improve, and apologised without reservation.
...The bottom line is that the discussion cleared the air and we have agreed a way forward, including a commitment on his part to continue to pay my off-site storage costs until the build is completed and I can move stuff back home, and to cover the costs of repairs and replacements for things damaged or not salvaged as requested in the course of the build. The price quoted for the job will not be increased, even though they have incurred additional costs as a result of his poor estimates of time and materials costs. For my part, subject to those caveats, I agreed to pay the sum on which the tender was let, based on on-site valuations of work done and more hands on supervision to keep everything on track to meet my deadlines for the installation of flooring, garden doors and window and the kitchen.
Friday 26 October
I was expecting to get plastered today!
Well....the plaster has arrived, but not the plasterers. I'm told they won't be coming until next Tuesday now. This is so that all the prep work can be finished off before then, and the plastering can be done in one big job rather than a series of little ones in the middle of other things going on. Good call, I think (as long as all the prep work IS done by then!)
I've given the guys on site a timetable which shows them what's happening when, so they know the deadlines to finish certain jobs. They were talking about plastering next Tuesday and painting on Wednesday. I told them no! For a start, decoration is not part of the contract...but more importantly, the plaster will have to dry out thoroughly before its painted. That would take at least a week - certainly it won't be ready the next day!
I was out most of the day, but by the time I returned, more plasterboard had gone up. The ground floor WC/utility room and coat store have been boarded out completely (difficult to photograph)
The wall under the stairs is finished, although that might get messed up if we install gallows brackets to support the stairs and upper landing when the existing post is removed. The position of the wall light might have to be adjusted too. We shall see.
The last bit of boarding has gone in around the Velux windows. The solar cell fitments that will enable me to open and close the roof lights electronically have disappeared from the loft where they were being stored, so maybe those have been fitted too. I'll check that out tomorrow in daylight.
They will be back tomorrow to do some more...
While the guys have been working, I think I have solved the problem of how to route extraction ducts without compromising the height of wall cupboards above the worktop. I'll talk to the man in charge about that next week.
Saturday 27 October
The guys arrive shortly after 9am and I left them to get on with it while I did a bit more research about stair nosings (how thrilling is that?) before visiting one of my neighbours to find out how they supported the half landing when they removed the post under the stairs.
There was more noticeable progress by close of business...
...Solar cells have been installed on the roof lights which will enable me to open them remotely (essential when you are my height and they are much higher than me!)
At long last, padstones have been installed under the ends of the steel beams...
This may not look much to you, but the padstones have been on site since 22 August waiting to be installed and have been holding up the signing off of structural steelwork by the Building Inspector, so for me it's a big deal!
Another area of boarding has gone up at the end of the run of roof lights with lighting cable behind for one of the pendant lamps over the breakfast bar area (the other two pendant lamps will be suspended from the flat area of ceiling over the old kitchen to the right in this photo).
Two of the stub ends of walls supporting the steel beams have been tidied up ready for plasterboarding. The third stub end of wall will have to be built out a little before boarding.
You can now get a good impression of what the overall space will be like once all the clutter has been cleared out....It's getting there :)
Fed up waiting for the man in charge to produce a revised programme of works, over the weekend I decided to pull together key dates for those bits of the house project that I'm responsible for, liaising directly with installers and buying specialist goods and materials from suppliers.
Everything works back from the kitchen delivery date in week commencing 12 November. The new garden doors and window are also being delivered and installed that week on 14 November, so its going to be a busy time!
Before then, the specialist floor fitter is coming on 5 and 6 November to lay the subfloor and floor finish in the kitchen area, and I'm going to try to paint the new kitchen ceiling and tops of the walls (the rest will be covered in units or splash backs).
That gives the builder two weeks starting from today to finish works downstairs which must be done before the kitchen and the new doors/window are installed. There's a lot of work to be done...
...below ground vents must be finished; a DPM is to go down on the lower level floor slab, followed by insulation, underfloor heating and top screed; the new stud wall and fire rated door separating the kitchen from the downstairs loo/utility room must be constructed; the boiler is to be installed and one radiator; first fix electrics completed and gas supply put in for the hob and a future gas fired (wood burner lookalike) stove in the old kitchen chimney place...
....high level extract ducts are to be installed in a small section of lowered ceiling which will run through from the kitchen into the extension where it will house the power supply for track lights as well as the vent ducts; a platform must be constructed to support the peninsular run of kitchen units where it projects out into the lower level dining area; drainage, water and power supply for appliances must be ready and the whole space needs to be plastered one way or the other - skimmed or plasterboard, depending on the wall involved. Not forgetting the tidying up of stub ends of walls supporting steel beams and around the opening for the new garden doors...and the padstones underneath the steel beams which have STILL not been put in!
...Outside, the gutter and downpipes need to go on the extension roof and lead flashing applied to the joint between the extension roof and the vertical wall of the main house...and the solar cells installed on the roof lights so I can open and close them remotely.
The list seems almost endless, but at a site meeting this morning the man in charge has promised it will all be done in the next two weeks. I will hold him to that!
In the meantime, the guys have boarded the ceiling in the old dining room, ready for the skim coat. More progress....
At least the builder's guys had the sense to put an empty pallet in the vacant space so there is room for another skip whenever that arrives...
The kitchen fitter/designer has looked at my selection of sinks and taps and made some useful suggestions to help me make a decision based on his experience of different makes. Tap now ordered; due to be delivered mid November, just in time for the kitchen install. Sink selected, to be ordered nearer the time. Although it can be delivered quickly there's nowhere to store it at the moment so that can wait. I've been doing my research on extractor hoods and have made a decision on that. Fridge/freezer next on the list to sort out, followed by dishwasher, washing machine and drier.
I've already chosen most of the lighting for the new kitchen/diner and bought a simple wall lamp for the space under the stairs, and a matching "rise and fall" pendant lamp for over the dining room table. Another wall lamp in the same range which will illuminate my "reading corner" is due to be delivered tomorrow. Freegle has provided the etched glass lampshades for the pendant lamps over the peninsular run of units, which will be jazzed up with copper fittings to match the other lighting. It's coming together nicely!
Tuesday 23 October
One of those days where the guys have been working hard but visible changes are relatively minor, probably because its fiddly work. They have been insulating and boarding the extension roof around the Velux roof windows, ready for plastering.
There has also been a timber delivery, which I assume is for the new stud wall which will separate the kitchen area from the downstairs WC/utility room and coat store. There's just enough room to prop up the timbers in the old dining room, sticking into the ceiling void!
This partition was specified as a metal stud on the plans, but the man in charge says that timber framework will be stronger to support the kitchen units. It will be the same thickness as a metal stud, so won't reduce the space available in either room, which was my main concern. The kitchen is a tight fit to make the best use of available space and builders are not good working with small tolerances...
The man in charge has cancelled the meeting we were supposed to have this afternoon to discuss how to deal with items on the schedule of works that have not been undertaken (like salvaging certain fittings for reuse, only to find them in the skip) or are no longer necessary (such as replacing a bathroom radiator which can now stay as is because of a change to the way bathroom drainage has been installed). The meeting has been rearranged for Thursday afternoon, when we'll also review progress on site.
I've been in touch with the kitchen designer to confirm the best time to get the kitchen appliances delivered so that they don't clutter the place up while the fitters are installing the cabinets. Only the sink needs to be there on Day 1, so that will be sorted out tomorrow.
Wednesday 24 October
Came downstairs first thing in the morning to find a note through the letterbox to say that props have been delivered. I assume this is to prop the steels while the padstones supporting each end are installed at long last. I do hope so!
The guys turned up much later. Apparently they were stuck in traffic...But they are here now and they got a LOT of work to get through today and tomorrow as the man in charge tells me that plasterers are booked in on Friday and Saturday to plaster the ground floor.
That means that today and tomorrow the guys have to support the steels, put in the padstones, tidy up the stub ends of walls supporting these beams and around the opening for the new doors to the garden, construct a stud partition to separate the kitchen from the loo/utility room and finish all the boarding out. A tall order. Fingers crossed.
I've ordered the kitchen sink for delivery on 12 November, and another light fitting has been delivered today. That just leaves the track light with spots to order for downstairs lighting. I can't do that until the plastering has been done and the cupboard built for the boiler/underfloor heating manifold, so that I can measure the space available.
I've also asked for advice from the floor fitter about nosing for the step down from the kitchen area into the dining area. I'd wanted copper to match the little copper details that are being used on the kitchen cabinets, tap and light fittings, but it looks like that's only available as a corner protector for walls rather than floors. Might have to settle for antique bronze finish instead which is the nearest colour finish I can find in pukka step nosing...
The kitchen supplier has kindly provided free of charge a couple of carcass panels which the kitchen fitters can use to top and tail the square void where two wall units meet (there being no ready made cabinet to fit into the space). However, the void will be put to good use with a socket tower - usually used as a pop up tower in a worktop, but we are installing it upside down so that it can be pulled down from the corner when needed but pushed up out of the way at other times.
The guys on site have gone through all the measurements again (check twice, cut once) before installing the new partition wall which will separate the kitchen area from the downstairs WC/utility space (shown along the top of the layout below).
In case you are wondering, the square spider shapes above are supposed to be bar stools...it's the best representation the supplier could come up with!
And below is the supplier's visualisation. It won't look quite like that as the worktop will drop down at 90 degrees to form a "waterfall" end terminating the breakfast bar, and there will be a couple of bespoke units at either end of the breakfast bar on the dining area side, to provide some additional storage.
So....a compact, but efficient layout which is dedicated to food storage, preparation, cooking, washing up plus storage of crockery, cutlery, oven and bakeware and electric kitchen aids. Other activities which went on in the old kitchen (laundry and storage for non-cooking stuff like cleaning materials and equipment, DIY tools and materials, and such like) are now banished to the WC/utility room behind. I'll be able to stand at the breakfast bar while preparing food and look out directly into the garden (rather than my neighbours two storey rear wing or a blank internal wall, as happened in the old kitchen) or be sociable and chat to anyone sitting in the dining area. That's the theory anyway...
The cabinets will be "Platinum" - a light silvery grey colour matt finish, with a subtle copper trim to liven it up. The worktops will be mid grey with a matt finish, made out of a material called "Dekton". It costs a small fortune, but seems to be resistant to all the things that usually ruin a worktop (temperature extremes, stains, water, abrasion, UV light) so hopefully it will stay looking good for a very long time and be a worthwhile investment.
By close of business today, the framework for the kitchen back wall (where the three tall units will be installed) has gone up and is boarded out on one side. Almost impossible to photograph due to all the clutter standing in front. But for what its worth, here's a view looking into the kitchen area from the dining area, one step below. You'll have to use your imagination!
Thursday 24 October
Overnight I'd given a bit more thought to the position of one new wall yet to be installed. It's only a small shift, but I think it will make the hall feel a bit more spacious and be more practical when getting large items in and out of the house/garden. So my first job this morning was to check it out in the room and give a drawing showing the relevant measurements to the builder when he arrived on site. We did some trial runs with bits of wood and pencil marks on the floor and walls to fine tune the dimensions, but it was time well spent as we are both happy with the end result.
The man in charge confirmed by text that plasterers are booked in for tomorrow and Saturday, which excited me in one respect (more progress) but alarmed me in another as I looked at all the bits and pieces that needed to be finished before the plasterers can do their bit. The guy on site agreed it was a lot to finish off in one day...maybe it would not be ready by tomorrow...
The man in charge is coming to site at noon today, so we'll review progress then and make any necessary adjustments to the plastering timetable before we get down to the main purpose of the meeting. This is to discuss how to deal with payments for items which have not been done (mainly things that were supposed to be salvaged for reuse but ended up in the skip by mistake), items that are no longer necessary because of changes made by mutual agreement in the course of works, and additional expenses incurred by both sides - in my case, payments for off site storage which I've had to extend well beyond the original 10 week build period, and to repair damage to the fabric of the house and garden caused by builders in the course of the works.
********
During the day, the guys have finished boarding the stud wall between the new kitchen area and the downstairs loo/utility room.
The basic framework has gone up for the wall and door between the loo/utility room and coat store/lobby and more wall boards have gone up in the kitchen area and along the extension external wall.
There will be something for the plasterers to get on with when they arrive tomorrow, although not a lot of space for them to do it in.
There are still some tricky problems to resolve, like how to support the stairs and half landing when a post which had formed part of the cupboard under the stairs is removed to widen the access between the kitchen area and lower dining area level, and to make the remaining space under the stairs easier to use, unencumbered by a post sticking up in the middle. A suggestion by the structural engineer didn't work as now the old ceiling has been removed, it's clear that the joist and half landing are not on the same level. Consequently, using the joist to support a new timber under the landing wasn't an option, even using joist hangers.
However, we may have found a solution using the spare structural steel gallows brackets left over from the removal of part of the chimney breast in the old kitchen. The supplier had replaced the original brackets which were not fabricated to specification and we ended up with two new pairs when we only needed one. These structural steel brackets are designed to take the weight of a masonry chimney breast and double chimney stack on the first floor and above, so should be strong enough to support the weight of a timber staircase and landing. We'll look again next week.
The other tricky issue is the routing of ventilation ducts serving an extraction unit in the downstairs WC and a cooker hood over the hob. They were intended to go inside a long continuous section of lowered ceiling running through the loo, adjacent kitchen, below one of the structural steel beams and on out into the extension where the ducts would then exit through the roof.
However, tucking the wall cabinets beneath this lower section of ceiling would reduce the space between the worktop and the bottom of wall cabinets to less than that recommended above a gas hob...my dream of a simple, elegant, continuous line of wall cupboards, with an integrated extraction unit in one of the cupboards looks like it might bite the dust.
It might just be possible to route the ducts above the cabinets at a much higher level. This would allow the wall cabinets to be installed at the correct height above the worktop/hub. The ducts would then be brought down inside the corner of one of the wall cupboards - just before they go under the steel beam - and the ceiling would only need to be lowered a little to create a streamlined box to screen the ductwork. We agreed that we'll just have to play that one by ear, as and when the ducts are ready to install when it will be easier to see the context in three dimensions ...
...If the worst comes to the worst, I'll have to rethink the type of kitchen extractor and go for a one with a chimney rather than something integrated into a wall cupboard, as planned.
Having talked about these tricky building issues, the man in charge and I took ourselves off to the local cafe to talk money on neutral ground over a cup of coffee. To cut a long story short, he was very frank about the firm being over stretched the last few months, resulting in substantial delays to my build. As I'd guessed, they were simply not geared up to deal with the amount of work they had undertaken over the summer in terms of workforce availability and capacity to manage projects, for which he apologised. He acknowledged that he should have had this conversation sooner, rather than hanging on hoping things would improve, and apologised without reservation.
...The bottom line is that the discussion cleared the air and we have agreed a way forward, including a commitment on his part to continue to pay my off-site storage costs until the build is completed and I can move stuff back home, and to cover the costs of repairs and replacements for things damaged or not salvaged as requested in the course of the build. The price quoted for the job will not be increased, even though they have incurred additional costs as a result of his poor estimates of time and materials costs. For my part, subject to those caveats, I agreed to pay the sum on which the tender was let, based on on-site valuations of work done and more hands on supervision to keep everything on track to meet my deadlines for the installation of flooring, garden doors and window and the kitchen.
Friday 26 October
I was expecting to get plastered today!
Well....the plaster has arrived, but not the plasterers. I'm told they won't be coming until next Tuesday now. This is so that all the prep work can be finished off before then, and the plastering can be done in one big job rather than a series of little ones in the middle of other things going on. Good call, I think (as long as all the prep work IS done by then!)
I've given the guys on site a timetable which shows them what's happening when, so they know the deadlines to finish certain jobs. They were talking about plastering next Tuesday and painting on Wednesday. I told them no! For a start, decoration is not part of the contract...but more importantly, the plaster will have to dry out thoroughly before its painted. That would take at least a week - certainly it won't be ready the next day!
I was out most of the day, but by the time I returned, more plasterboard had gone up. The ground floor WC/utility room and coat store have been boarded out completely (difficult to photograph)
The wall under the stairs is finished, although that might get messed up if we install gallows brackets to support the stairs and upper landing when the existing post is removed. The position of the wall light might have to be adjusted too. We shall see.
The last bit of boarding has gone in around the Velux windows. The solar cell fitments that will enable me to open and close the roof lights electronically have disappeared from the loft where they were being stored, so maybe those have been fitted too. I'll check that out tomorrow in daylight.
They will be back tomorrow to do some more...
While the guys have been working, I think I have solved the problem of how to route extraction ducts without compromising the height of wall cupboards above the worktop. I'll talk to the man in charge about that next week.
Saturday 27 October
The guys arrive shortly after 9am and I left them to get on with it while I did a bit more research about stair nosings (how thrilling is that?) before visiting one of my neighbours to find out how they supported the half landing when they removed the post under the stairs.
There was more noticeable progress by close of business...
...Solar cells have been installed on the roof lights which will enable me to open them remotely (essential when you are my height and they are much higher than me!)
At long last, padstones have been installed under the ends of the steel beams...
Another area of boarding has gone up at the end of the run of roof lights with lighting cable behind for one of the pendant lamps over the breakfast bar area (the other two pendant lamps will be suspended from the flat area of ceiling over the old kitchen to the right in this photo).
Two of the stub ends of walls supporting the steel beams have been tidied up ready for plasterboarding. The third stub end of wall will have to be built out a little before boarding.
You can now get a good impression of what the overall space will be like once all the clutter has been cleared out....It's getting there :)
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| Looking into the kitchen/diner from the garden end of the room |
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| Looking out of the kitchen area across the dining area towards the garden |
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| View into the kitchen/diner from the lobby to the new downstairs WC/utility room and coat store |
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