7th July 2006. Twelve days since last update of blog.
The main activity is plastering, it is a big job, going to take over three weeks.
(The Finns made the timber frame of the house in four weeks,
but they worked 10 hour days, 7 days a week. The plasterers work maximum 6 hours,
and then just four days a week.)
Brian Moore, the building inspector came on the 27th June.
Behind him is Unix (the dog), and behind unix is a metal plate on a wad of plastic.
This is there because underneath is a stinking manhole cover, we have complained to Northumbrian water about it.
The same day, Paul Brewitt of Northumbrian Water came and we explained the problem.
He was totally understanding and said he would have the covers changed to air tight ones.
Also whilst here he discovered one of the manholes needed cleaning.
Next day a crew came and cleaned the manhole. Not a pretty sight.
The day after that another crew arrives to replace the manhole covers.
Good for Paul Brewitt. But the crew leaves after an hour because they cannot get the correct covers.
They are on order, it will take two weeks.
They did notice that although the manhole is cleaner, it was not flowing correctly.
Same day! Another crew arrives to clear the blockage in the sewer.
But they cannot find the manhole downstream in a tangle of brambles,
and will have to return another day with a metal detector. Keep you posted,
this stinking manhole saga I think has some way to run.
Here is a prettier sight. My sister, Sally, and sister inlaw, Karen, came up from Wetherby
to see progress on the house. To the left of them is Marge's rescue bed,
where she moved plants to, to save them from the building operations.
Although just plonked down without much planning, the bed looks very nice.
(Thought I ought to include some nice pictures to make up for the manhole ones.)
Next day, on my routine dog walk, came across a swarm of bees.
But what about the house. This is supposed to be a blog of a house build.
We have been installing the Kingspan insulation between the floor joists upstairs.
It is just 25mm thick, very light, and firm.
Although you can cut it with a knife, when cutting three sheets at a time,
The Black & Decker electric saw came into its own.
Whilst I'm busy upstairs inside, Margie is busy downstairs outside.
Emily and Leanne came to stay on Saturday 1st July.
The wood treatment colour on the can is Larch, but I think Tan is a better description,
The same colour as Lianne's sun tanned skin.
On the 5th July I laid some underfloor heating pipework. It was very hard work,
wrestling the stiff pipe into place, and I do not think I did a good job.
To lay the pipes you have to cut notches in the floor joists. I finally found a way to do it.
First place a 60mm strip of wood against the wall and use that to guide the router cutting the first notch,
to just half the depth, and using several pieces of wood, just 30mm wide, successively packed in,
to cut the other notches. Set the router to full depth cut and repeat.
In the middle of the floor you have to nail pieces of wood to guide the router.
The finished job looks just fine.
There is a lot of wood chippings to clear up.
I write this on Friday 7th July. The plastering will be finished early next week.
The way forward then is:
clean downstairs, plasterers make an incredible mess,
three coats of emulsion, (30 litres!), the first diluted so it soaks in and seals the plaster,
lay the underfloor heating pipework,
then get the chippies back to lay the floor, install doors and stair and wall cladding,
electricians to do their second fix,
plumber to do his,
commission the ground water heat pump and underfloor heating,
then can think about moving in.
Still a lot more to do, front gate, block paving, garage door, ...
and the rest of our lives sorting the garden out.