All hands on deck

Yesterday, the doors to the house were removed and cleaned.

Ebi called for troops as the pergola went under construction. Ebi and Sylvie had prepared the wood in the workshop in Germany and brought it over. Thankfully, Cousin Kumar came to the rescue.

Here the pergola is assembled, and stabilised with the extra pieces of wood. These were then removed once the ends had been bedded in concrete pads.

Today, the bamboo flooring has been finished! Here anything heavy is enlisted to keep it in place while it glues. There really is a feeling that this is rapidly becoming our home.

It's a real family affair as Ebi's family help out again today. They are just as determined as us to see the house finished.

In the effort to get the pergola finished, we enlist the help of Simon and Kumar again. Between them and Ebi with Sylvie, they manage to get the 9 glass panels on the roof. They each weigh 90kg, so its quite some achievement. It looks perfect. The deck will come later. 

Busy Friday

Yesterday started with the welcome site of Ebi's trailer full of interesting materials, including glass for the porch roof.

Meanwhile, Neil, Steve and Matt arrived to continue their work. It was a day full of various jobs. These included the installation of the heated towel rails in the bathrooms and the removal of air from the solar thermal panel system.

Half way through the day the flat pack furniture was delivered. There will be lots of fun hours ahead while we understand those instructions!

The day disappeared with lots of small jobs started, including the preparation of the wooden worktops for the kitchen. The worktops were sanded with using a series of grades of sandpaper ready for the first coat of Tung oil. With our house move imminent these are the final stages to get the house ready, even if it's not completely finished when we move in.

Light up Thursday

Today was a busy one for the electricians Neil and Steve. They started by trying to find the conduit for the outside lights...it wasn't quite where they expected so they had to try a different approach. But they were successful.

We then started on the LED lights for the stairs, or rather the connector cables. It wasn't as easy as we'd hoped. It would have been a lot better if we had put the cables in before the staircase was lifted into the house! Instead Neil and I devised a method using tape, plastic ties and cardboard.

It was a long job so Steve and I worked on the cables after lunch.

We managed to get the LED strips in place in the staircase grooves so that they can be connected to the drivers. Each LED strip will light the tread below it.

 Steve started to insulate the sockets that are on the external walls, trying to maintain the high level of airtightness.

Now the LED spots have lamps! It's great to have light, and the room is separated into three zones so we can choose how many lights are put on at one time.

Our feature light now has power too.

The house still looks like it's in a building site with the large pile of sand in front but at least the skip is now gone. I'm hoping to improve the front garden before we move in.

Flat pack wednesday

With a couple of quiet days on site and nothing much to report on the house, we decided to take a quick trip to a certain furniture store, that we all know so well. It was not a good place for me today as I was overwhelmed by my lists. I had lists of lists and then lists of those lists. Fortunately, a cup of coffee helped and we got back on track and I ditched the lists.

Eight trolley loads later our quick trip had become a mammoth expedition that took all day. Thankfully the whole family and three kindly shop assistants helped us to take everything to the home delivery section. I think we would have needed a truck otherwise. Anyway, tomorrow we are back on site and will have to go back to sorting out the kitchen. It was a very welcome day off!

lights, doors and kitchen action

The kitchen has continued to take shape. The sink and the hob cut outs have been done; we still need to oil the worktops though so they aren't in permanently yet. The utility room sink has also been cut out, so now not only do we the kitchen sink, we have two.

The electrics are progressing with light fittings being attached. This is the downstairs bathroom LED mirror light.

The main feature light above the stairs, that I dithered over and eventually bought from a Dutch website, is now in too.

The front door also has an outside light.

The most striking development is the installation of the two glass doors by Ebi before he left. They look great and ensure the house stays light and airy. Another good job, Ebi

kitchen and bathrooms

Finally, it's possible to see the garage floor paint job. This is first thing in the morning before Brian started on the second coat. Brian had to wait a bit until the electricians had finished filling around some sockets.

The safety flooring was laid today by Steve, it went on smoothly over the levelling compound from yesterday.

Here you can see the flooring in detail; a speckled mixture of blues. This safety flooring is recyclable.

Ebi has had another busy day today. Apart from fixing the door frames, he has been busy...

....setting out the kitchen, and attaching the cupboards together ready for installation. We had some discussions about whether or not to put some wood on the sides of the units; either bamboo or beech worktop. In the end we have decided to leave them painted white; for now anyway.

Unfortunately, we had to move the fused spur for the extractor fan to ensure that the cabling is hidden a bit more. Josh has been very patient with the changes that have been involved and even done the hoovering! He and Matt spent most of the day attaching socket covers and attaching lights.

The worktops were then added, although it may mean moving some more sockets, were are keen to have the hob central over the cooker cupboard.

Everything is ready, now the kitchen sink is here!

flooring day

The details continue today with the arrival of the flooring company, they lay latex smoothing compound in both the upstairs bathrooms. Tomorrow they will return to lay the floor.

Here is the ensuite bathroom with smoothing compound.

Unfortunately, the smoothing compound meant that Paul and Ross couldn't do much on site today.They did manage to finish assembling the basin that they started yesterday before going to another job elsewhere.

Most of the day Brian did the decorating and helped with the filling and sanding in the garage. It is now all stunningly white. I couldn't take a photo because Brian has kindly painted the garage floor. Tomorrow it will need another coat. Meanwhile, Ebi has been doing bamboo flooring all day!

Now everywhere, except the top floor landing is finished. A bit more bamboo tomorrow and it will hopefully all be done. Unfortunately, we are running low on flooring so fingers crossed, we will have enough to cover the rest.

It was a long day for Ebi, he must be seeing bamboo before the eyes. It is amazing, the house looks so complete now it has floor and painted walls.

Our home emerges with the details

Gradually, the house is emerging from wraps, yesterday it was the staircase and today it's the front door, the light is coming in despite the rainy weather.

Ebi's workshop moves again, this time it's in the garage.

Meanwhile, Paul and Joss are installing the sanitaryware again. The vanity unit gets its doors. Unfortunately, the WCs need an attachment to be installed but we need to get this from Germany so there will be a little delay.

Paul is attaching the waste to the downstairs basin...

...but only after the low-flow shower and the shower door have been attached.

The family bathroom now has shower wall, thanks to Ebi, and looks nearly complete.

Ebi has been working on the bamboo floor in the main living room and finished the kitchen end so the kitchen could be moved and is now approximately in its final position. Here is the larder unit.

Having the units arrive fully assembled has saved so much time. They are well made too, with proper dovetail joints in the drawers. I am so pleased that they aren't our usual flat-pack furniture!

Staircase unveiling

This was a day of progress. The second fix for the alarm system was carried out by Mark, it is great to feel a sense of completion beginning.

The ensuite bathroom now has a basin and an almost complete vanity unit.

The family bathroom has its double sink unit now too, thanks to Paul and Joss.

Ebi has been continuing the malervlies in the downstairs bathroom, the two front rooms and the hall.  It's now all ready for painting.

Brian was thankfully on site again so he could decorate for us. He started doing the bathrooms upstairs but had enough time to make a start on the downstairs bathroom

In order to prepare for the bamboo flooring to be laid downstairs, I painted the screed with a kind of glue that binds the little concrete crumbs on the surface. When it was dry the kitchen moved again, with a lot of help!

The highlight of the day was definitely the unveiling of the staircase. I have been longing to see it without the cardboard protection.  It was gorgeous, a little dusty but just as stunning as I'd hoped.

We all lent a hand today and feel that we're making progress. I hope that it will all be ready for when we move in later this month!