The first pair of doors has been installed in the rear of the existing cottages. Now the temporary boardings have been removed and the new doors installed, there is a lot more light inside.
The second pair of doors will be installed tomorrow.
One pair of rear doors fitted in the existing cottages. You can also see the progress on the roof trusses in the new extension.
The new rear doors really do let a lot of light into the building. The second pair of doors will be installed on Friday.
The end bedroom upstairs is now fully boarded and we have started plastering. This is mainly around one of the windows so this will allow us to get a window finished and painted so that we can make sure we have chosen the correct colours. We will also put up the architrave and skirting boards, so that we can check these too.
For some reason, we have always used the window in this room as our “prototype”!
The rafters are hidden underneath the insulated plasterboard, but the roof trusses and purlins will remain exposed. The exposed timber has been waxed and it should be easy to get off any dust or plaster marks.
Cutting around beams with the insulated plasterboards was difficult, plastering around them is even more difficult. But they are doing a great job.
We are having to use small tower scaffolds internally to be able to reach the ceilings. This makes getting around in here difficult while the plasterers are at work.
We have always used this window as our prototype. As soon as the plasterers are finished in here, we will paint up this window and get the architrave added. We will also put up a strip of skirting board.
Although all the windows are now in, we need to sort out the finishing on the inside of the windows. These are a bit of mess – they have been altered a number of times over the years and much of the material has either fallen away or never been in place in the first place.
We have decided to box in the windows on the inside, but to used splayed panels just as they would have done originally. This ensures that the maximum amount of light comes in. However, since each of the windows is subtly different, each will have to be built by hand. Before we progress with all the windows we thought we should get one window completed as a sort of prototype. This would also help us to establish exactly how long it takes to do this job.
The original windows had a splayed finish inside. This ensures that as much light as possible comes in through the windows. We have decided to reinstate this finsih as best we can. Window board has been installed, together with the top and the angled sides. All in waterproof MDF.
The first “prototype” internal window finish complete. We have had to take into account that the walls are going to be insulated and plastered. This why the internal finish seems to stand out from the wall at the moment.
Now with “panelling” to the splayed sides and mullion covers. The waterproof MDF is a strange sort of green colour that bizarrely matches the window colour. We aren’t sure of the finished colour on the inside of the windows.
In order to keep the weather out (and make the property more secure), we have fitted some temporary external doors. I took the opportunity over the weekend to give the doors and boards a couple of coats of the same paint (Sandolin SuperTec) that we used for the windows.
The doors are only temporary as they are likely to get damaged until all the building work is finished. We will leave this on over the next few months and replace them as the project draws to a completion.
The cill has only got in today on the second set of doors. The rest of the ashlar will go in tomorrow. However, the other set of doors is complete with a temporary door and frame.
The old front door to number 8 has now become a window (the black stones underneath the window cill need to be sandblasted). The door to the newly rebuilt extension has a temporary door and frame.
The weather has been very changeable over the past few days, but nevertheless all but 4 of the 36 windows are installed. The foam and DPC needs to be trimmed and mastic applied, but we should be done by the end of Wednesday.
We are still deliberating over the window catches, but to be fair this is more of a case of choosing ALL of the hardware (door handles, light switches, power sockets etc) rather than a specific issue relating to window furniture.
The DPC and foam has still to be trimmed and mastic applied. This photo also shows the colour of the new lime based pointing.
A DPC (damp proof course) has been inserted between the stonework and the windows. The windows are then strapped to the stonework and foamed in. This will later be trimmed and a stone coloured mastic applied.
There is still quite a bit of work to do specifying the finish on the inside of the windows. However, the architect is well on with this. Most of the windows have an exposed stone surround between the inside of the window and the stone wall. This will allow us to be angled panels into the recesses (just like they were originally).
Most of the windows are now installed in the front of the property. By the time we get to the end of the week, all of the windows will have been installed.
We still have the downstairs rear windows to install, but we are making progress.
With the windows all installed, our attentions have moved to getting the openings sorted out for two pairs of large doors at the rear of the house. I always knew that there were big (particularly after having seen the quote for supplying them!), but I hadn’t realised quite how big until I saw the openings – each door is over a metre wide.
The ashlar surrounds for the window at the rear and the two openings for the doors was around £3,000 (just for the materials).
Where openings have been walled up, there are now some stones that need to be sandblasted. It just mean getting the sandblaster out again, but he is relatively local and doesn’t seem to mind. It shouldn’t take long to sort out these odd patches.
The gas board have also disconnected the gas supply so that we can move the pipework at the front of the house. This leaves black marks on the stonework where the sandblaster could get to the stonework as the pipes were in the way. This can all get picked up when he comes back.
The windows are all in and they are covered on the inside with some lightweight plastic to protect them while the inside of the property is being plastered.
The last of the wagons collected the waste spoil in Friday and the site is starting to look altogether more tidy.
We have now replaced the ashlar above the window to the left. The window head is now the same thickness as the other windows, but the stones that have been used to wall it up need to be sandblasted. There are two pairs of doors at the rear and the stone surround for the first of them has gone in.
The newly rebuilt extension is looking really great. Still a bit of tidying up to do and some pointing, but we are definitely getting there.
Now all of the windows are in, we have covered the insides with a lightweight plastic to protect them while the inside is being plastered. The windows were installed with the final coat of paint already on.
The new windows arrived today. All hardwood and already painted the finished colour – Sandolin Superdec Jungle Green.
We only managed to get two windows in today, but there will be more carpenters onsite tomorrow, so hopefully progress should be a bit quicker.
To be fair, we have had some big thunderstorms today and this has hampered progress. The weather forecast is improving for the rest of the week.
The windows arrived around mid morning today. Around 4 in total. It will probably take the next 3-4 days to fit them all.
We only managed to get two windows in today. It took half a day to get the windows to where they were going.
The foam around the window will need to be trimmed. But this is the first window to go in…..
We are using stone surrounds for all of the window openings. Just as it would have been in the original cottage. We have removed some of the newer “Artstone” window surrounds and replaced them with ashlar. Artstone is a man-made aggregate product (a posh name for concrete!).
Unfortunately, one of the window surrounds at the rear of the property seems to have developed a very blotchy appearance. We have decided to return it to the quarry and not pay for it. It will be replaced with new stone from a different quarry (the same one we have used for the other ashlar windows that have not developed a fault).
While the ashlar has been removed, the masonry above is held in place using 3 acrows with “strong boys” (metal platforms) attached. It doesn’t look great, but the new ashlar should be back in place on Monday. Just in time for the new windows to be fitted.
This looks a bit precarious with 3 acrows holding up the masonry above, but I am told it is quite safe. All the faulty ashlar has been removed and the new cill has been fitted. We need to let the mortar set on the new cill before fitting the rest of the ashlar.
This was fitted about 3 weeks ago and in the last week or so has turned all blotchy. It is going back to the quarry and the replacement ashlar has already (from a different quarry).
We have replaced a number of the ashlar window surrounds and this is the first to go “blotchy”. It wasn’t like this when we put it in, but it looks as if there is something in the stone that has oxidised over time.
And the house looks very different. The rebuilt extension is going to be sandblasted tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon. We are doing the sandblasting at the weekend since it isn’t really possible for anyone to work on site while the sandblaster is working.
The new windows are being installed on Monday, so there is quite a bit of work to be done this weekend in preparation.
The scaffolding was removed today to reveal the front of the property. There will be a new porch built to the left, hence, this part of the building has not been sandblasted.
With the scaffolding gone, you can see the rear of the property. The large set of 4 windows on the ground floor are going to be replaced as the new ashlar has a fault in it. Ho hum.
The work on the roof of the rebuilt extension has ground to a halt as the wrong Velux windows were dispatched. The correct ones should be with us on Monday when the roofing work can recommence.
Now the floors are in upstairs, it is possible to walk around and get more of a feel for how some of the rooms are going to work. I thought it might be a good idea to mark out the partition walls upstairs on the floor in masking tape. I wasn’t quite sure what this might achieve, but I thought it might further provide an insight into the rooms and what they might feel like.
When I stepped into the family bathroom upstairs, I realised that it has a great window at the far end. The view is great – looking across the fields and Hagg Wood beyond. This part of the building is not overlooked at all. I thought about being able to have a bath and admire the view.
Then it occurred to me! This cannot happen as there is obscured glass being fitted in this window. I had only specified the type of obscured glass earlier in the week. The windows are due to be installed a week on Monday.
Anyway, a quick call to the joinery making the windows and the glass has been changed to clear. If I hadn’t marked out the bathroom walls on the floor, I would never have realised.
Now the floors are in upstairs, we are mark out where the upstairs room are going to be. The masking tape marks out the family bathroom.
With a view this good, why would you put obscure glass into the windows?
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