Light at the end of the tunnel

We’re at the ‘bitty’ stage of the project. Some days we have a number of trades on site and it’s all go, then on other days no one at all when it feels like it will never end. The dependencies between the different elements are more acute with the electrician needing to complete his ‘first fix’ tasks before the plastering can be finished and the plumber needing the utilities to be connected so he can test and sign off the heating system.

Despite some days when I feel like nothing is happening we have made great progress. The back door and windows are on making the building secure. It also meant the rest of the cladding could be added along with the guttering. Due to the size of the roof we needed deep flow guttering to ensure it could cope with a heavy downpour. After a bit of searching we found this in cast iron which we have to use as it’s one of our planning conditions to preserve the heritage feel of the property.

The big news is we have a finished floor. More than two months after the concrete was poured it was dry enough, finally, for the sealant to go on. Although it will take a couple of weeks to harden work can continue if we put the Ram Board – heavy duty breathable cardboard – back down and ensure nothing is left on it overnight. This can affect the sealing process and leave marks which, although they will disappear in time, is something we’d rather avoid. We have a set of maintenance instructions and we’re good to go.

I’ve also spent a considerable amount of time on errands to ensure we have all the fixtures and fittings necessary to complete the build from switches and plug sockets to extractor fans and smoke detectors. The electrician wasn’t happy with our choice of fan for the bathroom and, as he needed to do it immediately, we dashed out to the local plumbing merchants to buy the one he suggested. A useful lesson to check what’s needed with the expert first!

We had an enjoyable day out to Bristol a couple of weeks ago to get our salvaged lights which will help cement the industrial look. We visited Source Antiques last summer on a recce and returned for this more serious shopping trip. We went via Chipping Norton to look at wine cabinets and Swindon on the way home to see how our kitchen is coming along.

Source is a treasure trove of reclaimed lights from factories here and across Europe. In a cluttered warehouse with lights everywhere it’s quite difficult to see the wood from the trees. Tom helpfully hoisted a number of lights up on his fork lift so we could see what they would look like from our four metre high beam. It did the trick and helped us make a decision. Three lights from an old cellophane factory in Bridgewater for the kitchen and one from a Polish paint factory for the utility room. The only challenge now for our builder and electrician is how to fit them!

As for our kitchen we found our man at the Homebuilding and Renovating Show in Surry last summer. He’s a cabinet maker and makes kitchens from plywood which we thought were stunning. They will be finished with a mix of oak veneer and metal. He’s making the worktops from the rafters that came out of our garages knocked down last summer to make way for the extension. As they have a fair amount of woodworm and holes he’s going to seal them first with a black resin, sand them down and then finish off with a wax. It should look stunning and certainly unique.

Some more good news, our gas hob and sink with tap have arrived in the UK from Italy and will be delivered next Tuesday. So that completes our kitchen which we hope will be installed by the end of March.

With luck we should be done by April except, probably, for the gas supply. We’ve put in an application to move it closer to the extension. Our local planning officer helpfully agreed that the meter cannot be fitted to the front of the house as required by Cadent Gas, our distributor. So I’m back with Cadent to get a deviation from their own policy so it can be fitted at the back of the house and out of sight of the road. If their policy people give the okay it could still take up to three months to get it moved as they’re going to have to dig up the road to connect to the main supply. So there is light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s a very long tunnel!