I stood back and looked at what we’ve been busy on for the last three months and for the first time this week, I was looking at a house. Yes, we’ve only slated the garage and utility, yes the right hand side original house is an empty shell inside and we still have no electrics, plumbing, plaster or floors, but in that central newly built section, nicknamed the ‘West Wing’, as the third dormer has gone over the bathroom, everything looks joined up and like a house not a building site.
It’s right about now I start getting excited about finishing touches and by that I mean builder & exterior finishing touches not cushions and candles, those fluffy interior delights are definitely scheduled for next Spring!
No, I mean things like windows and rainwater goods, bi-fold doors and handles…. the items which turn a pile of bricks and holes in walls into a working property.
I’m using a local company Jackson’s Joinery – ask for Tom and tell him I sent you – to make the initial first floor four windows needed, the garage, two bedrooms and bathroom. They’ve made fabulous windows for me and my clients before now and I trust them to do a great job. Although very simple two panel windows have been designed, little details like what beading to use, what colour to prime in and how deep a cill to use all come into play. These are the sort of decisions which can be the difference between a good scheme and a great one and are SO worth taking time over. You can see the difference in two quite similar priced windows below, if I hadn’t gone to the joinery workshop to talk through the windows with the makers, I’d have been automatically given the standard trade one on the left. Which one would you go for (as if I can’t guess with you lot!!)…..
More scaffolding has gone up to allow the final bits of brickwork so Builder Cat & I had a play around up in the gods, balancing on beams and exploring around the chimneys…
Plus this week Mr M did a sterling job of blocking up the old bedroom window in what will be our new bathroom. There’s absolutely no light in there at all now until it’s knocked through to our bedroom so it was just him, some tripod lights and a monster dust covered spider who wasn’t in the least bit phased by his presence. I got the job of crawling into the eaves to fill from above once the block work reached joist level, so glamorous!
This weekend’s jobs will include sourcing some beautiful handles suitable for double glazed units which need to be super secure but still sexy – no mean feat. Also measuring for all our Kingspan insulation to keep the new build snug as a bug in a rug, packed into every gap and filling every space between timbers. Then making a final decision on our bi-fold doors, which company to use and which final finish – no turning back after eight huge doors are given the go ahead so they’ve got to be right! So mine’s a busy weekend…. how about you?
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