Welcome to our blog.

This blog will follow the ultimate in home improvement: demolish and rebuild!

This is our starting point: a 1930s bungalow. While not a bad house; it is too small for us with three teenage children so what should we do? A full storey extension versus complete rebuild - ultimately the stronger eco-credentials and more certain finances of a new-build helped to guide our choice.

For a number of years we've been trying to find the right route for us to build an eco-friendly, low energy home. We tried various architects and building companies and have eventually settled with a German prefabricated build. The new house will be nearly to passivhaus standards (but not quite due to budget constraints). In any case, the house will be heavily insulated and airtight.

As a family, we have not built a house before so everything is new and exciting but the risk of making a mess of things is quite high!

This blog aims to outline the day to day steps involved in our build.

Thursday 10 June 2010

Day 4 first fix

This morning Christoph, Benjamin and Mike left to go back to Germany. They decided that the rendering had dried enough to allow them to remove the plastic sheeting. The render was gorgeous, it looked good enough to eat. A BIG thank you for a job well done!


Neil, Josh and Matt continued the first fix electrics and have just about finished upstairs. The conduits look very smart. The satellite cables are also in, one of the few things allowed to break the house envelope.
The semi-recessed box is in place. Neil was most impressed that the box fitted exactly in the space provided in the wall. The power connection to the house will have to be delayed, however, because the scaffolding is up so James can't dig the trenches that are needed. Thankfully the electricity board can manage a date just a week later because otherwise the screed would have had to be delayed and that would have impacted on everything, including us getting out of our rented accomodation

Paul and Joss have worked hard today, the family bathroom now has the waste pipes in place as well as the supply. Paul is checking the system for leaks by using something that is similar to a large bicycle pump. He seems satisfied that everything is okay.

The utility room is looking more like a panic room now that most of the pipes are in place. Joss was busy insulating the pipes today. There is a certain amount of tension as everyone knows that the pipes and the wiring will be under the concrete screed, there is only one chance to get it right! Thankfully everyone is very conscientious.
On a personal note I'm quite happy to see the back of today, there has been some stress with logistics with the date for the power reconnection for example. If only everything could run as smoothly as the house assembly and rendering!

1 comment:

  1. Well done, Thank you very much indeed for such an interesting visit yesterday (16th June. We were throughly impressed by your management skills and what you have achieved so far. We wiil watch progress with the greatest interest and wish you well. John McNab

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