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, 19 August 2010

Plumbing thursday

A day of plumbing....Sam and Bob arrived to do the little jobs that remain, including  the sinks. Here is the new shiny filter tap all ready for action, just waiting for the mains water.
The utility room sink is also plumbed in.
The perplexing problem of the rainwater harvesting tank had us all confused. Here Bob and Justin are considering all the options. Fortunately, after contacting the manufacturer, the solution was found and rainwater was pumped into the system.
Here is the control panel showing that the tank is 100% full.
It's not often we'd want to photograph a loo but this was the moment when the rain water flowed into cisterns for the first time! Hooray!
As Ebi, Sylvie and the children are having a couple of days' well-earned rest, we took the opportunity to dissect out the kitchen, sand it and give it a quick lick of paint. Tomorrow we'll try to find time to do the other sides of the doors.

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