3rd December 2011
Sitting Room Decoration
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23rd November 2011
Update
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5th October 2011
Stairs
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13th September 2011
Painted ceilings
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31st July 2011
Front garden
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25th July 2011
Attic
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12th June 2011
Front door
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4th June 2011
Front door
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14th May 2011
Front garden and hall
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20th December 2010
The Big Freeze...then HEAT, blessed heat!
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10th October 2010
Kitchen update
5th October 2010
Update and upstairs
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20th August 2010
Kitchen fit
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20th July 2010
Plumbing
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15th July 2010
Attic shenanigans
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12th July 2010
Testing bath position
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10th July 2010
Upstairs (1st floor) is taking shape - walls and ceilings are up and boarded on one side. Just got to figure out how to lay out the bathroom now...
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8th July 2010
Full frames for bedroom 3 and the new bathroom completed. Full scaffolding installed, roof tiles on the extension removed, underlying reeds and lime mortar removed, roof underfelted with a breathable membrane and battened ready to be re-tiled and flashed tomorrow hopefully. New ceiling joists installed (side to side) and some patching of roof rafters. Electricians cut in sockets and 5 amp places in several rooms.
House wasn't exactly clean and tidy before, but at least it wasn't suffocating under a layer of soot. Now, there is the requisite layer of soot over every surface throughout the house, plus a layer of straw about 30 cm deep strewn across all of the first floor of the rear extension. Lovely. Had to be on site with Lili'i to make decisions on socket locations etc, and to take delivery of the bathroom suite, but slightly peturbed to look down at the sleeping babe in my arms and see her face covered in black specks.
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6th July 2010
First floor rear extension stud walls and ceiling joists installed today
5th July 2010
Last part of the kitchen ceiling removed and re-installed. Rubble cleared out. Skips starting to be filled. New bathroom walls framed and king pins installed (to take load of rood purlin). The original bathroom and bedroom 3 positions will be swapped in the new layout.
Pretty impressed to find that after six skips, people have been taking things out, not putting even a single thing in!
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2nd July 2010
Pantry wall, 1st floor chimney breast, bathroom wall and loo walls are dropped and the remaining ceiling / floor is removed. Kitchen/breakfast room wall and chimney breast are dropped. Electricians continue with first fix, installing wiring for overhead lights throughout the main part of the house.
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30th June 2010
Builder removed 2/3 of the ground floor ceiling / 1st floor floor. Joists previously ran front to back and were quite flimsy - now run side to side and are beefed up a little, with two king joists giving greater structural stability to all the walls and spreading the load evenly. Acrow props hold up the ceiling and the roof. 1st floor cupboard wall is dropped. Plumber removes hot water tank, boiler and the only radiator the house had...
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28th June 2010
Moved the temporary/2nd kitchen to the dining room. Builder removed shelves and cupboards, the wall between the 1st floor landing and bedroom 3 and their ceilings. Electricians started by installing the arteries for the rings on each floor. Builder removed plaster from the walls to be dropped, installed a platform and removed a chimney stack.
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27th June 2010
Putting up insulation in the sloped ceilings (the tiles are currently underlain by reeds fixed in place by lime mortar, starting the loooong wallpaper stripping process (lots of it), painting the sitting room, cutting back one of the enormous fig trees and getting the kitchen cleared ready for the builder to arrive tomorrow...
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14th June 2010
Rest of the ceilings brought down, starting to board out the loft rooms and landing
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5th June 2010
Pulled down most of the front room (2nd floor) and landing ceilings and walls. Discovered (as expected from our previous house) that the ceiling had been holding a few inches of fine soot and ashes, most likely used as insulation...now covering every surface throughout the rest of the house... plus me and Akel.
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2nd June 2010
The fun begins - house is cleared of furniture left behind and the smallest bedroom is removed to make an enlarged 1st floor landing / phone corner... Investigated the cracks next to the 2nd floor front dorma by pulling down the sloped ceiling and wall - discovered the vertical studs are rotated; looks like a saggy floor issue.
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29th March 2010
The day after getting the keys to our new house!
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13th March 2010
First look at the house the day after it came onto the market
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Last modified July 2010.
