Entry 10: Redundancy helps progress
Entry posted by BotusBuild in Progress speeds up
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So a quick recap - back in December 2023, what may be my last ever employer decided to ask me to leave. I had mixed feelings about this. I took several weeks to think about next steps and actually get around to writing a father of the bride speech which I'd been putting off. After the wedding in March (a great day and a great speech!) I started to look more seriously for a new job, but being the wrong side of 60 now, the IT industry is not a good place to be looking especially when so many other people have been let go as well.
Coming up to the end of May, we sat down and took some tough decisions; we bought a static van on a site about 3 miles from the plot, I stopped looking for a new job, SWMBO did an internal job transfer, we rented out our current house (instead of our original plan to sell up) to three newly qualified doctors (our niece and two others on their first F1 rotations in our local hospital so that worked out well), and we spent 6 weeks decluttering, and moved down SE Cornwall (Kernow) at the end of July.
In the last blog entry I ended with a list:
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Finish ventilation system
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Finish insulating the GWW
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Finish backfilling
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Electrics
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Floors
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Walls
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ASHP and HWC
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Kitchen
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Bathrooms
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The remaining plumbing
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Outer wall coverings
This is how it looks today
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Finish ventilation system -
Finish insulating the GWW (Great West Wall) -
Finish backfilling (on the back burner)
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Electrics (first fix) -
Floors (now on the back burner)
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Walls(En suite partition walls to be done) -
ASHP and HWC (being done in January)
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Kitchen (planned for January or February)
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Bathrooms (temporary loo and basin installed, cold water only, temp bathroom planned for January)
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The remaining plumbing
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Outer wall coverings (rendering done, stone cladding starting next week)
What I missed off the list, and has taken most of our time:
- Sound insulation (R35 rockwool and resilient bars)
- Plasterboarding
So a few photos are required I think:
MVHR unit in place (since removed as plant room walls have been put in and waiting to be plastered inside)
Ventilation distribution boxes and pipes fitted:
Plaster board arrived (in May):
My cold water manifold has pipes attached for the first time (one now being used for the temporary toilet and basin), no picture of it but just to the right is the hot water equivalent:
We powered up the sewage treatment plant for the first time (nearly 4 years after it was first installed!):
We started plasterboarding, first a large room into which we moved all our stuff that was in storage so saving a hefty wedge per month on storage fees, and then the much larger and more complex open living area:
We took some time off in early October and went sailing for a week, and when we got back some kind fellows had installed some scaffold (first time on this build), and in the following few weeks we had the renderers in thanks to the Kernow weather gods:
Meanwhile back inside, we finished plasterboarding the large living area, and during this last week the plastering started (kitchen area first!). We set off a couple of insect smoke bombs as we had a cluster fly infestation and wanted rid before plastering started 🙂 :
Dare I add a what's next list 🙂 ?
Well, here goes ....
- Plastering finished in the open plan area this coming week (by others)
- Remainder of stone cladding arrives and work begins to get the most inaccessible (high) parts put up before the scaffold gets taken away - this means cladding two 7m x 2m wide walls
- Plumbing pipework ready for ASHP installation
- Gabion basket and pad for ASHP to be installed on
- Mist coat and first coat on plaster (SWMBO is at the ready)
- Begin fitting upstairs UFH
- Front door being fitted (January) by others
- Take 3-4 days off for Xmas
- ASHP installation (January) by others, that will allow for hot water and the downstairs UFH to be available ...
- Fit a temporary bathroom ...
- Fit out utility room as temp kitchen ...
- ... and this is why - Move out of static van for the month of February (rules is rules!) and decamp to the house
Well, I'll let you know how it all goes 🙂
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