Monday 29 October
The partner of the man in charge was back on site today and we have sorted two tricky issues.
Firstly, he agreed that one of the steel gallows brackets would be strong enough to support the half landing and stairs when the under stairs post is removed, which is good news!
Secondly, we had a long discussion about extract ducts and how to fit them in over the kitchen wall cabinets but under one of the steel beams so that there is a continuous run of lowered ceiling to conceal the ductwork. It turns out we have both been thinking along the same lines (great minds!). Measurements taken on site confirmed that what we were considering would work - such a relief. He's explained that in Polish to the guy doing the job, which is reassuring as I'm never sure whether I have made myself understood or not!
We also refined the number and location of electrical sockets on one of the walls, so another job ticked off.
This afternoon, I went to pay the balance for the kitchen cabinets which are due to be delivered in a fortnight or so (w/c 12 November). Also ordered a couple of new doors for one of the wall cupboards, having decided that it would be much easier to open a 300mm wide door at high level over the worktop than one 600mm wide which would be the same depth as the worktop itself when fully open. I'd have to duck underneath it or risk hitting my head opening it. Why I didn't think of that in the first place, I have no idea. It's so blindingly obvious...but I didn't, so have had paid the price for this afterthought....
The guys worked until 6.30 pm today, so I was expecting everything to be finished and ready for the plasterers who are supposed to be coming tomorrow. But I was a bit disappointed when I stuck my head around the dust screen after they had left....there's still some way to go and the space is still cluttered with materials.
However, there has been progress:
The underside of the extension roof is now fully boarded...
..as are the alcoves on both sides of the retained chimney breast in the old kitchen, but not the front face of the chimney breast or flank walls, where pipework and part of a gallows bracket will need to be boxed in.
There has been some tidying up of the stub end of wall where the new extract ducts will dive under the steel beam in the streamlined area of lowered ceiling...the vent ducts are here ready to be installed, then the lower section of ceiling can be constructed around them.
...and the main steel beam across the width of the house is now boxed in!
However, there is still a large quantity of materials being stored, and its difficult to see how anyone could plaster in this cluttered space.
There's still another partition to be constructed above the string course of the stairs and the other gallows bracket has yet to be installed, so the under stairs post removal hasn't been done yet. Will the plasterers be postponed again I wonder? I'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out...
However, come what may, the floor finish in the kitchen area will be installed next Monday, so I've ordered the floor tiles and stair nosing and am keeping my fingers crossed that all that needs to be completed by then to enable this to happen will actually be finished.
Tuesday 30 October
I was up early today for a hospital appointment, which was fortunate as the builders arrived shortly after 7.30am. A record! As I got ready, they were busy clearing materials and equipment which could only mean one thing. The plasterers ARE coming!
By the time I returned home, plastering was in full swing and the guys didn't leave till approaching 7pm. What a long day....But you can see the difference. Ceilings and walls plastered. Not finished yet, but well on the way!
Maybe they will finish tomorrow?
The flooring suppliers emailed to say the floor finish would be delivered on Friday; perfect timing for the tiles to acclimatise over the weekend before they are laid on Monday. The material I'm using is called Expona Simplay by Polyflor. It's usually used in commercial and leisure premises...warm underfoot, very tough, quick and easy to lay (no glue, clicking or nails) and easy to replace if by some fluke it does get damaged.
The nosing on the step down from the kitchen area to the dining living area will be brass in an antique bronze finish. This colour has some warm undertones which will contrast well with the matt grey of the tiles (so you will see the edge of the step) whilst complementing - but not distracting from - copper details elsewhere in the room.
Wednesday 31 October
It's been another day of plastering, alongside some discussions about the finer details of boxing in extract ducts and establishing the height of the step between upper (kitchen area) and lower (dining/living area) levels in the big open plan space that's now emerging from the chaos. This information has been requested by the kitchen designer/fitter who is making a couple of bespoke units to fit under the breakfast bar at the lower level.
By close of business, the alcoves on either side of the original fireplace in what was the old kitchen have been plastered - sadly just not quite enough space on the right hand side for a daybed I was hoping to fit in this space so I would be able to stretch out my back without having to go upstairs to bed. It's only 2cm short...such a pity. However, I'll find an alternative, I'm sure.
I had intended to leave the gallows brackets on the right of the chimney breast exposed and just paint them to blend in with the wall behind. Now I'm having second thoughts...perhaps they should be boxed in with a chamfered edge. It will be tricky to plaster around them if they are left exposed, I think. Something to discuss with the builder tomorrow.
The ducts for the cooker hood over the hob and the WC extract have been installed and boxed in. The toilet vent box has been plastered already (the section of lowered ceiling at the far end of the little room in the photo below):
The vent box in the kitchen area is constructed ready to plaster, with the "flexiduct" already in place for when the cooker hood is put in as part of the kitchen installation:
To my great relief, there is enough space below the lowered section of ceiling containing the ducts to install wall cabinets and the extractor over the gas hob at the recommended height above both the worktop and the hob, and still allow all cabinets to be fitted so that they are level at the bottom for an uncluttered, streamlined look.
The section of lowered ceiling carrying the vent ducts carries on through at the same level tight under the steel beam, then continues just below the eaves of the extension and out through the exterior wall at the far end of the room to discharge into the garden.
Battens are already in place to support the "boxing in" of this run of vent ducts which I hope will be finished tomorrow ready for plastering:
There's still some outstanding work in this area which needs to be finished by Monday when the fitter is coming to install the floor finish in the higher level kitchen area. The gallows bracket to support the half landing at the top of the stairs has yet to be installed. Only when that's done can the existing post be removed. The little platform to support the peninsular run of kitchen units also has to be constructed by then so that the ply sub-floor can be laid over the whole lot and finished with tiles before the kitchen is installed.
We've been trying on and off over the last couple of days to get detailed information from the suppliers of the new garden doors/window about the design of the cills so that the builder can take this into account when determining finished floor levels in this area so they finish more or less flush with the bottom of the new garden doors. I think we've got all the information needed now (but it was hard work - it's not very helpful to be given a dimension without being told whether its the height, width or depth!)
However, finishing the floor inn the lower level dining area is not quite as time critical as getting everything ready to fit the floor in the kitchen area as the new garden window and doors are not due to be installed until 12 November.
Thursday 1 November
Not long after the builders arrived this morning, the front door bell rang. It was the manager of sheltered accommodation at the other end of the street asking whether I was expecting a delivery of timber.
Apparently the suppliers lorry had been unable to get down the street due to cars parked on double yellow lines and had left the delivery on street, next to the sheltered flats entrance. The timber had been there for two days and was now getting wet. One local had asked the manager if he could take some as firewood! The manager of the flats took a punt on whether the timber was supposed to be delivered to my house (the skip outside is a bit of a giveaway) and called to let me know. How kind is that?
The timber is now safely stored inside and, from noises off, work has begun downstairs...Only to be interrupted shortly after by another delivery, and a short while after that by yet another delivery!!
On the one hand this is good news - it's a sign of progress. On the other hand, it's a logistical nightmare. There's precious little space to store stuff at the best of times. Things are piling up on the road again, and half the garden is buried under building materials - there are (or were) plants under all that stuff on the left hand side) :
These deliveries couldn't have arrived a worst time, with the floor fitter coming on Monday and the need to clear the kitchen area completely so that he can lay the ply sub-floor and then tiles.
To make matters even trickier, the flooring materials for the kitchen are coming tomorrow...six boxes of 600mm x 600mm square tiles which have to acclimatise in the room where they are going to be laid for 2-3 days, AND I've got an eBay auction finishing on Sunday evening. If someone buys my freestanding dishwasher (which I must replace with an integrated model) I'll have to make sure that's accessible and cleaned up ready for collection. At the moment, its splattered with plaster and has a coating of fine plaster dust in spite of the sheet of plastic covering most of it. Not forgetting the oven that's sitting on top of it and the stuff that's been piled on top of that! This could be interesting....
There's been another flurry of emails, phone calls and texts between myself, the builder and the people who are supplying the new garden doors. They had promised to send a drawing showing the detailed design and dimensions of the cill and track in which the sliding/folding glazed door panels run, so that the builder can work out finished floor levels. The drawing promised yesterday had not arrived by today, so the builder asked me to follow up. However, following another phone call from me, the drawing has been emailed at last, together with clarification about which bits move and which bits don't move. Hopefully, that will be sufficient to determine finished floor level in the dining area, next to the garden where the new doors will be installed.
By close of business today, the guys had constructed the extract duct boxed in area of lowered ceiling along the length of the extension. They have cut the gallows bracket to size and started cutting the channel through the newly plastered wall where the bracket will be installed to support the half landing at the top of the stairs so that the post below can be removed. The position of the wall lamp outlet will need to be moved as a result, but I can sort that out tomorrow.
I was surprised to see props in place where the new garden doors are going to be installed. I do hope that this isn't a sign that the lintel supported the wall above the door opening has been installed at the wrong height and needs to be adjusted....!!
Although there's been progress today, most of it hasn't been in the right place i.e. the area where the floor finish is going to be installed on Monday. The edge of what will be the change in level between the kitchen area and the dining area is still an unsupported mess...
...the platform for the peninsular run of units has yet to be constructed...
...the areas where the new floor is to be laid is even more cluttered than before with the materials which were delivered today....the post under the stairs has yet to be removed...pipework for water, gas and drainage needs to be put in place and when all this is done, they will need to clean up and fix down all the loose floorboards ready to take the ply sub floor. That's a tall order, even if they work on Saturday as well as tomorrow (and ruin my plans for the weekend again...)
It's going to busy tomorrow for other reasons: the floor tiles are being delivered; the Building Inspector is doing a visit and the partner of the man in charge os coming to site to sort out finished floor levels. I need to tell him that can wait; priority needs to be given to getting the kitchen floor ready to lay on Monday!
Friday 2 November
A lot has happened today...
Flooring materials have been delivered, both tiles and nosing for the step between the upper (kitchen) and lower (dining) level. The tiles are stacked in what will be the downstairs loo..
...The step nosings in long cardboard tubes are stacked on the stairs along with a lot of copper pipes which also arrived today, there being no space large enough anywhere else to store these long items
I assume the copper piping is for the new (yet to be installed) boiler/hot water feeds. With luck, I might have central heating and running hot water by the end of next week (or more likely the week after). Not before time. I'm really noticing the cold now, and am fed up carrying a fan heater around with me as the only source of heating in the house.
The Building Inspector has visited and is happy with the replacement purlin in the loft (subject to seeing the structural engineers drawing, which I've asked the man in charge to send on to him) and with the replacement loft windows. Downstairs, he's happy with the padstones which have been installed, including padstones at either end of the steel above the new garden doors which weren't actually specified (that was why the props were there) but hey...better safe than sorry! He's also happy with the "rodding" eye access into the soil vent pipe inserted at his request, even though its not quite where he thought it would be. Next inspections will be when the underfloor ventilation is completed, insulation laid and underfloor heating installed, then screeded over.
The partner of the man in charge has been on site to calculate the height of the finished floor level in the dining area now he knows the detailed design of the cill/sliding channel of the new garden doors. He has recalculated the height of the step between the upper and lower level and I have passed on this information to the kitchen designer/fitter.
While following him around downstairs, I tripped over an electric cable and fell flat on my face (or rather "chinned" a pile of timber) as a result. Nothing worse than a bruised, scraped chin and a sprained wrist fortunately - I think it shook the builder more than me. Taking pity on seeing me covered in dust with a bloody chin, he kindly replaced taps in the existing bathroom, one of which has been dripping for ages but couldn't be repaired as no one seems to stock a replacement for its non-standard ceramic "washer" disc.
There's been a discussion about exactly where the extract flues for the ventilation ducts running through from the kitchen and downstairs loo will exit to the outside...they can't go straight through the outside wall at the current level because there's a steel lintel in the way. However a small right angle bend will allow the ducts to exit above the lintel and this bend will be disguised by a slim "box in" at high level. This will match a similar "box in" at the other end of the extension which houses the electric cable for one of the kitchen pendant lights. So visually, it will all tie in very nicely. I hope!
While all these discussions and deliveries have been going on, the narrow platform on which the peninsular run of kitchen units will sit has been under construction. This run of units projects out into the lower dining area level, so needs to be raised up to the same height as the rest of the kitchen area. It will continue beyond the peninsular units to form the new step down from the kitchen into the lower level dining area, and then return into the alcove to the left of the fireplace in the old kitchen for a neat finish. It should make sense if you look at the photo below. This platform also creates a generous void below the kitchen cabinets for services supplying water and drainage for the sink and dishwasher above.
In spite of this progress there's still quite a lot to do before the floor finish can be laid in the kitchen area on Monday, so the guys will be back tomorrow to finish the platform, put up the gallows bracket to support the stairs/half landing so that the post below can be removed. Then floorboards have to be fixed back (there are still gaping holes where they have put in drainage below floor level) and the whole area cleared and cleaned.
I wouldn't be surprised if they were back here on Sunday to finish off....
Plans to visit my daughter in London over the weekend have been abandoned. The house project is consuming most of my time at the moment...
Although work will continue tomorrow and maybe Sunday, I'm going to publish Week 22 today as getting plastered (downstairs) represents another big step forward! There maybe a weekend colour supplement, depending on what happens over the next couple of days...
The partner of the man in charge was back on site today and we have sorted two tricky issues.
Firstly, he agreed that one of the steel gallows brackets would be strong enough to support the half landing and stairs when the under stairs post is removed, which is good news!
Secondly, we had a long discussion about extract ducts and how to fit them in over the kitchen wall cabinets but under one of the steel beams so that there is a continuous run of lowered ceiling to conceal the ductwork. It turns out we have both been thinking along the same lines (great minds!). Measurements taken on site confirmed that what we were considering would work - such a relief. He's explained that in Polish to the guy doing the job, which is reassuring as I'm never sure whether I have made myself understood or not!
We also refined the number and location of electrical sockets on one of the walls, so another job ticked off.
This afternoon, I went to pay the balance for the kitchen cabinets which are due to be delivered in a fortnight or so (w/c 12 November). Also ordered a couple of new doors for one of the wall cupboards, having decided that it would be much easier to open a 300mm wide door at high level over the worktop than one 600mm wide which would be the same depth as the worktop itself when fully open. I'd have to duck underneath it or risk hitting my head opening it. Why I didn't think of that in the first place, I have no idea. It's so blindingly obvious...but I didn't, so have had paid the price for this afterthought....
The guys worked until 6.30 pm today, so I was expecting everything to be finished and ready for the plasterers who are supposed to be coming tomorrow. But I was a bit disappointed when I stuck my head around the dust screen after they had left....there's still some way to go and the space is still cluttered with materials.
However, there has been progress:
..as are the alcoves on both sides of the retained chimney breast in the old kitchen, but not the front face of the chimney breast or flank walls, where pipework and part of a gallows bracket will need to be boxed in.
...and the main steel beam across the width of the house is now boxed in!
However, there is still a large quantity of materials being stored, and its difficult to see how anyone could plaster in this cluttered space.
There's still another partition to be constructed above the string course of the stairs and the other gallows bracket has yet to be installed, so the under stairs post removal hasn't been done yet. Will the plasterers be postponed again I wonder? I'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out...
However, come what may, the floor finish in the kitchen area will be installed next Monday, so I've ordered the floor tiles and stair nosing and am keeping my fingers crossed that all that needs to be completed by then to enable this to happen will actually be finished.
Tuesday 30 October
I was up early today for a hospital appointment, which was fortunate as the builders arrived shortly after 7.30am. A record! As I got ready, they were busy clearing materials and equipment which could only mean one thing. The plasterers ARE coming!
By the time I returned home, plastering was in full swing and the guys didn't leave till approaching 7pm. What a long day....But you can see the difference. Ceilings and walls plastered. Not finished yet, but well on the way!
Maybe they will finish tomorrow?
The flooring suppliers emailed to say the floor finish would be delivered on Friday; perfect timing for the tiles to acclimatise over the weekend before they are laid on Monday. The material I'm using is called Expona Simplay by Polyflor. It's usually used in commercial and leisure premises...warm underfoot, very tough, quick and easy to lay (no glue, clicking or nails) and easy to replace if by some fluke it does get damaged.
The nosing on the step down from the kitchen area to the dining living area will be brass in an antique bronze finish. This colour has some warm undertones which will contrast well with the matt grey of the tiles (so you will see the edge of the step) whilst complementing - but not distracting from - copper details elsewhere in the room.
Wednesday 31 October
It's been another day of plastering, alongside some discussions about the finer details of boxing in extract ducts and establishing the height of the step between upper (kitchen area) and lower (dining/living area) levels in the big open plan space that's now emerging from the chaos. This information has been requested by the kitchen designer/fitter who is making a couple of bespoke units to fit under the breakfast bar at the lower level.
By close of business, the alcoves on either side of the original fireplace in what was the old kitchen have been plastered - sadly just not quite enough space on the right hand side for a daybed I was hoping to fit in this space so I would be able to stretch out my back without having to go upstairs to bed. It's only 2cm short...such a pity. However, I'll find an alternative, I'm sure.
I had intended to leave the gallows brackets on the right of the chimney breast exposed and just paint them to blend in with the wall behind. Now I'm having second thoughts...perhaps they should be boxed in with a chamfered edge. It will be tricky to plaster around them if they are left exposed, I think. Something to discuss with the builder tomorrow.
The ducts for the cooker hood over the hob and the WC extract have been installed and boxed in. The toilet vent box has been plastered already (the section of lowered ceiling at the far end of the little room in the photo below):
The vent box in the kitchen area is constructed ready to plaster, with the "flexiduct" already in place for when the cooker hood is put in as part of the kitchen installation:
To my great relief, there is enough space below the lowered section of ceiling containing the ducts to install wall cabinets and the extractor over the gas hob at the recommended height above both the worktop and the hob, and still allow all cabinets to be fitted so that they are level at the bottom for an uncluttered, streamlined look.
The section of lowered ceiling carrying the vent ducts carries on through at the same level tight under the steel beam, then continues just below the eaves of the extension and out through the exterior wall at the far end of the room to discharge into the garden.
Battens are already in place to support the "boxing in" of this run of vent ducts which I hope will be finished tomorrow ready for plastering:
There's still some outstanding work in this area which needs to be finished by Monday when the fitter is coming to install the floor finish in the higher level kitchen area. The gallows bracket to support the half landing at the top of the stairs has yet to be installed. Only when that's done can the existing post be removed. The little platform to support the peninsular run of kitchen units also has to be constructed by then so that the ply sub-floor can be laid over the whole lot and finished with tiles before the kitchen is installed.
We've been trying on and off over the last couple of days to get detailed information from the suppliers of the new garden doors/window about the design of the cills so that the builder can take this into account when determining finished floor levels in this area so they finish more or less flush with the bottom of the new garden doors. I think we've got all the information needed now (but it was hard work - it's not very helpful to be given a dimension without being told whether its the height, width or depth!)
However, finishing the floor inn the lower level dining area is not quite as time critical as getting everything ready to fit the floor in the kitchen area as the new garden window and doors are not due to be installed until 12 November.
Thursday 1 November
Not long after the builders arrived this morning, the front door bell rang. It was the manager of sheltered accommodation at the other end of the street asking whether I was expecting a delivery of timber.
Apparently the suppliers lorry had been unable to get down the street due to cars parked on double yellow lines and had left the delivery on street, next to the sheltered flats entrance. The timber had been there for two days and was now getting wet. One local had asked the manager if he could take some as firewood! The manager of the flats took a punt on whether the timber was supposed to be delivered to my house (the skip outside is a bit of a giveaway) and called to let me know. How kind is that?
The timber is now safely stored inside and, from noises off, work has begun downstairs...Only to be interrupted shortly after by another delivery, and a short while after that by yet another delivery!!
On the one hand this is good news - it's a sign of progress. On the other hand, it's a logistical nightmare. There's precious little space to store stuff at the best of times. Things are piling up on the road again, and half the garden is buried under building materials - there are (or were) plants under all that stuff on the left hand side) :
These deliveries couldn't have arrived a worst time, with the floor fitter coming on Monday and the need to clear the kitchen area completely so that he can lay the ply sub-floor and then tiles.
To make matters even trickier, the flooring materials for the kitchen are coming tomorrow...six boxes of 600mm x 600mm square tiles which have to acclimatise in the room where they are going to be laid for 2-3 days, AND I've got an eBay auction finishing on Sunday evening. If someone buys my freestanding dishwasher (which I must replace with an integrated model) I'll have to make sure that's accessible and cleaned up ready for collection. At the moment, its splattered with plaster and has a coating of fine plaster dust in spite of the sheet of plastic covering most of it. Not forgetting the oven that's sitting on top of it and the stuff that's been piled on top of that! This could be interesting....
There's been another flurry of emails, phone calls and texts between myself, the builder and the people who are supplying the new garden doors. They had promised to send a drawing showing the detailed design and dimensions of the cill and track in which the sliding/folding glazed door panels run, so that the builder can work out finished floor levels. The drawing promised yesterday had not arrived by today, so the builder asked me to follow up. However, following another phone call from me, the drawing has been emailed at last, together with clarification about which bits move and which bits don't move. Hopefully, that will be sufficient to determine finished floor level in the dining area, next to the garden where the new doors will be installed.
By close of business today, the guys had constructed the extract duct boxed in area of lowered ceiling along the length of the extension. They have cut the gallows bracket to size and started cutting the channel through the newly plastered wall where the bracket will be installed to support the half landing at the top of the stairs so that the post below can be removed. The position of the wall lamp outlet will need to be moved as a result, but I can sort that out tomorrow.
I was surprised to see props in place where the new garden doors are going to be installed. I do hope that this isn't a sign that the lintel supported the wall above the door opening has been installed at the wrong height and needs to be adjusted....!!
Although there's been progress today, most of it hasn't been in the right place i.e. the area where the floor finish is going to be installed on Monday. The edge of what will be the change in level between the kitchen area and the dining area is still an unsupported mess...
...the platform for the peninsular run of units has yet to be constructed...
...the areas where the new floor is to be laid is even more cluttered than before with the materials which were delivered today....the post under the stairs has yet to be removed...pipework for water, gas and drainage needs to be put in place and when all this is done, they will need to clean up and fix down all the loose floorboards ready to take the ply sub floor. That's a tall order, even if they work on Saturday as well as tomorrow (and ruin my plans for the weekend again...)
It's going to busy tomorrow for other reasons: the floor tiles are being delivered; the Building Inspector is doing a visit and the partner of the man in charge os coming to site to sort out finished floor levels. I need to tell him that can wait; priority needs to be given to getting the kitchen floor ready to lay on Monday!
Friday 2 November
A lot has happened today...
Flooring materials have been delivered, both tiles and nosing for the step between the upper (kitchen) and lower (dining) level. The tiles are stacked in what will be the downstairs loo..
...The step nosings in long cardboard tubes are stacked on the stairs along with a lot of copper pipes which also arrived today, there being no space large enough anywhere else to store these long items
I assume the copper piping is for the new (yet to be installed) boiler/hot water feeds. With luck, I might have central heating and running hot water by the end of next week (or more likely the week after). Not before time. I'm really noticing the cold now, and am fed up carrying a fan heater around with me as the only source of heating in the house.
The Building Inspector has visited and is happy with the replacement purlin in the loft (subject to seeing the structural engineers drawing, which I've asked the man in charge to send on to him) and with the replacement loft windows. Downstairs, he's happy with the padstones which have been installed, including padstones at either end of the steel above the new garden doors which weren't actually specified (that was why the props were there) but hey...better safe than sorry! He's also happy with the "rodding" eye access into the soil vent pipe inserted at his request, even though its not quite where he thought it would be. Next inspections will be when the underfloor ventilation is completed, insulation laid and underfloor heating installed, then screeded over.
The partner of the man in charge has been on site to calculate the height of the finished floor level in the dining area now he knows the detailed design of the cill/sliding channel of the new garden doors. He has recalculated the height of the step between the upper and lower level and I have passed on this information to the kitchen designer/fitter.
While following him around downstairs, I tripped over an electric cable and fell flat on my face (or rather "chinned" a pile of timber) as a result. Nothing worse than a bruised, scraped chin and a sprained wrist fortunately - I think it shook the builder more than me. Taking pity on seeing me covered in dust with a bloody chin, he kindly replaced taps in the existing bathroom, one of which has been dripping for ages but couldn't be repaired as no one seems to stock a replacement for its non-standard ceramic "washer" disc.
There's been a discussion about exactly where the extract flues for the ventilation ducts running through from the kitchen and downstairs loo will exit to the outside...they can't go straight through the outside wall at the current level because there's a steel lintel in the way. However a small right angle bend will allow the ducts to exit above the lintel and this bend will be disguised by a slim "box in" at high level. This will match a similar "box in" at the other end of the extension which houses the electric cable for one of the kitchen pendant lights. So visually, it will all tie in very nicely. I hope!
While all these discussions and deliveries have been going on, the narrow platform on which the peninsular run of kitchen units will sit has been under construction. This run of units projects out into the lower dining area level, so needs to be raised up to the same height as the rest of the kitchen area. It will continue beyond the peninsular units to form the new step down from the kitchen into the lower level dining area, and then return into the alcove to the left of the fireplace in the old kitchen for a neat finish. It should make sense if you look at the photo below. This platform also creates a generous void below the kitchen cabinets for services supplying water and drainage for the sink and dishwasher above.
In spite of this progress there's still quite a lot to do before the floor finish can be laid in the kitchen area on Monday, so the guys will be back tomorrow to finish the platform, put up the gallows bracket to support the stairs/half landing so that the post below can be removed. Then floorboards have to be fixed back (there are still gaping holes where they have put in drainage below floor level) and the whole area cleared and cleaned.
I wouldn't be surprised if they were back here on Sunday to finish off....
Plans to visit my daughter in London over the weekend have been abandoned. The house project is consuming most of my time at the moment...
Although work will continue tomorrow and maybe Sunday, I'm going to publish Week 22 today as getting plastered (downstairs) represents another big step forward! There maybe a weekend colour supplement, depending on what happens over the next couple of days...
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