All hands on deck

So the 15th December has been and gone complete with the full Christmas lunch and gifts and a few birthdays thrown in for my family. Did we get everything sorted in time? Enough to have an enjoyable day although in the morning we were still busy sorting and clearing boxes returned from storage a few days earlier!

After a couple of weeks of no builders they suddenly burst into action in the second half of November and there were some days when nearly everyone from the company was on site. The carpenter particularly felt like he had taken up permanent residence as he carefully sanded the edges of all the swollen floorboards and re-sealed the floor, completed the stairs to our bedroom and dining room, installed the new bedroom door and sorted the step into the kitchen in the new extension.

The kitchen step was a particular problem as the edge of the concrete floor ended in a lip that was too high to provide for equal steps at the right height, a Building Regulations’ requirement. We agreed that the only answer was to remove the concrete and leave a gap between it and the wooden step which we now need to work out how we’re going to fill. Completing this meant that we could finally access our kitchen from within the house and we no longer have to cross the lawn to get to it, worth the extra effort.

The last few days at the end of November were particularly frenetic as the hessian covering the outside lime plaster was finally removed and the cracks patched up, daubing the damaged panels on the internal gable end in the sitting room that had been overlooked earlier in the process, cleaning the tiled floor and finishing off the fireplace. At the same time they were clearing the site of all the remaining equipment and materials that had built up over the months.

Suddenly they were gone and it felt quite weird. It was nice not having to share our house with other people but it did leave a bit of a vacuum and a very long list of things we had to do including painting the dining room and sitting room, getting our furniture and household items back from storage and getting our other builders back to fit the extension skirting, held up because part of the space had been blocked off by the work in the dining and sitting rooms. We managed to get most of it done before the family do although the sitting room remains unpainted.

Unexpectedly on the Friday before my family lunch I also had to get the plumber back to sort out a blocked toilet in the bathroom. Thankfully it was fairly easy to fix as he found the drain had filled up with rubble from the restoration work to the outside walls.

A nice task still on the list is working out what to do with the sitting room fireplace now it has been opened up and restored. It was one of the first things they started working on in July and was one of the last to be finished. We really want an open fire although more for atmosphere than warmth as most of the heat will go up the chimney. We couldn’t have an open fire in the hall because the opening was so big it would have needed a permanent air vent the size of our window for it to be compliant with regulations. The sitting room fireplace is more narrow and, with a metal plate, we can reduce the height of the opening by half which is acceptable to both our insurance company and our HETAS registered installer. We’re really looking forward to getting that done in the new year.

Another task for the new year is curtains for the sitting room. I managed to find a real bargain in our local Barnardos shop, a couple of pairs of good quality, lined plain red curtains for £7 each. Our local blacksmith is making the curtain poles, very appropriate for our home which was a smithy for centuries. Unfortunately, he’s been so busy for Christmas they’re unlikely to be ready until the end of January. We have a temporary solution for the front window looking out onto the village green but the other two, along with the glazed door, are uncovered and it does mean the room is a bit chilly despite the best efforts of the infrared heating panel.

So in the last week we’ve switched from building mode to entertaining. First was the family lunch then drinks and nibbles for friends in the village at the end of last week. It’s been nice starting to use the house as intended and we’re finding our thoughts about the space change the more we use it. We’ve had great fun moving around sofas, lamps and tables to get the best out of our new space.

It’s amazing to think that we started this project 22 months ago in February 2018 with the restoration of the chimney and hall. There is more to come with the restoration of the external gable end wall probably in May next year, painting inside and out and getting the garden back into shape. With open gardens due in June we will still have our work cut out!