Flying solo

Today was my first time on site in charge without my main builder Ken as back up and expert guide. He and son Joe have done everything they can until the roof is on and the floor is laid and polished. In effect this means they won’t be back until the beginning of January. They did a great job of plastering our ceiling before they went leaving the massive roof steel exposed. It will be a great talking point for our new kitchen!

I had deliveries of wire mesh and insulation for the floor to manage with neither driver wanting to try and get down our drive. The wire mesh was placed easily on the drive instead of the driver’s first choice of the village green and M and I were able to move it ourselves by hand.

By the time the insulation arrived I was on my own and the driver clearly thought I wasn’t up to the job of helping him unload. Our roofer Nick kindly stepped in and helped him carry the packs down the drive. They weren’t heavy, just awkward and I would have been happy to do it. There aren’t many women working in this world.

The sliding door frame was installed as planned on Monday and is protected both from the floor installation starting tomorrow and the risk of falling roof tiles. The doors will go in once the scaffolding for the roof is down sometime early in the new year. We’re still on course to finish the main part of the build by the end of January. The plan is for the kitchen and utility room to be fitted in February.

Despite a very dull, grey day the rain held off until mid-afternoon and progress on the roof has been amazing. The hand made clay tiles are just stunning and have been worth the wait and, hopefully, the expense. It’s fascinating seeing it against the three roof types of the existing house as it has evolved over the years – thatch on the original wattle and daub cottage, concrete on the actual smithy when it was converted into a sitting room in the 1960s and machined clay on the 2003 extension. Valuable advice we’ve had on adding to an old building – don’t try and replicate and ensure the different stages in its life can be recognised and understood.

One challenge that has only just reared it’s ugly head is possible theft of materials from site. Our neighbour spotted someone looking around our building site mid-morning yesterday when I was out and the roofers weren’t visible working on the other side of the building. When challenged he went off with his mates in a van. It has spooked us a bit so we’re parking our cars on the drive when we’re not expecting deliveries to make access difficult and are going out and checking everything with a big torch before going to bed. It is a risk. All we can do is make it very difficult for anyone to make off with stuff.

On a more positive note we pick up our new ‘blacksmith special’ curtain poles for the hall on Friday and the beams are being stripped of decades of paint next week. I’m making slow progress on the hall doors and have nearly finished one. The original wood looks like oak and because of its age it has dried out a bit. Our local wood reclamation yard has recommended Fiddes supreme wax polish to help feed and restore it. Another task before Christmas as we’re going to use our hall as our dining room given the extension won’t be finished which had been our original plan for Christmas this year.