Crowtree Cottages

Finished!!!

2011-12-19T15:00:00.000Z

We've recently had decorators in and barring a few bits of touching up and hanging of pictures - we've finished the house! Bloody hell!

Some views of the living/dining room with our fab and funky green walls!

Our nice stripy stair carpet.

The dressing room wardrobes.

Our own ensuite - we splashed out on ourselves here (excuse the pun).

Wallpapered wall in our bedroom.

The other ensuite bathroom (its not that big so this is as much as I can get in with the camera!).

We bought next door in the summer of 2006. We started building work in the winter of 07/08. We kicked the first builders off site in March 2008. We got new builders in from June 2008 and they finished their stay with us in January 2009. Since which time its take us just under two years to get round to finished the 20% of the house which was still bare plaster and floorboards - two bedrooms, two ensuites, a dressing and a staircase and decorate the whole lot. But its done! And we love it!

We're starting work on the back garden over the winter - knocking down the sheds (four of them!), landscaping etc to give a complete blank canvas. And who knows, we might even get some plants in before the spring!

We keep chipping away!

2010-10-21T11:20:00.002+01:00

With around 20% of the house still bar plaster and floorboards, and other bits still needing finishing, we keep chipping away. The kitchen is finally finished with the new glass mosaic splashbacks installed at long last. And we're very pleased with them!

And then there is the garden! With a fleet of sheds bough with the two cottages, we want to knock down the old ones and eventually end up with just the one new shed and the garage. So the first stage is the erection of the new shed under the willow which will mean that it will be completely hidden in summer.

More next week when the two ensuite bathrooms in the old no.3 part of the cottage should be installed!

Some more progress at last!

2009-11-09T19:55:00.006Z

Its been some time since we had anything significant to add to this blog, but this last couple of months we've made a wee bit more progress inside and out.

Above, a new fence and gate added in September ahead of getting this little chap.

In October Steve knocked down one of the five sheds we inherited when we bought the cottages. The 'wet shed' (named cos its roof was like a sieve) stood just left of this shed and in front of the table and chairs. Can't wait to get the others pulled down!

And this last week, Steve's brother Jon came down for the week and has done out the boot room. Oak flooring (recycled from the one we took out of the house) and hand-made units (made from left over kitchen casing (the dark walnut bits) and bought English oak (bench top and shoe-shelving top). Above, the bench with under-storage for boots, below, a cupboard unit hiding the electricity gubbings made from MDF and incorporating room for brooms, brollies and a couple of shelves to tidy things away! We might just keep ti this colour!

Above, shelves for shoes and a corner unit to with wee compartments in to which we can stuff out hats, gloves and scarves. Just got to hide those pipes now.

Jon's done a brilliant job and we're thrilled to have something handmade by him as part of our house! Click here to see how it used to look.

No news is good news

2009-03-18T17:13:00.003Z

We're getting the odd email that we haven't posted anything on here for an age. Well, the reason being is that we've finished the building work and we now just have about 20 years of finishing off, decorating, etc. Half of the first floor (two bedrooms with ensuites and our dressing room) are bare plaster walls and floorboards and will take a while to be completed. Anyway, if you become a follower or subscribe, you'll no doubt get some alert or email when we do eventually get to putting something else on here!

New year, new kitchen, new shower-room

2009-01-05T19:47:00.007Z

Well, to be absolutely honest, it was thankfully all installed before xmas, just, and we've just loved having both a new kitchen and the fab space it brings to the house over teh holiday period.

Still a bit to do - splashbacks etc, and like most of the house, we now just have to get round to decorating it!

The downstairs shower-room was also finished just in time for Elsie's (Liz's Mum) arrival for three weeks. This was a dummy run of her groundfloor bedroom and shower-room ahead of her moving in with us in February. And she's got on with thigns brilliantly. Just a few tweaks - like moving the drain in the floor so the rooms drains properly!

The corridor from the kitchen to the living room with the sliding door to the shower-room on the left, and just visible, door to Elsie's bedroom on the right.

Xmas and colds stopped play over the holidays. It was nice to have a rest, and with both of us falling to the xmas lurgy we wouldn't have managed much anyway!

No smoke without fire

2008-11-28T19:10:00.014Z

Or, in our case, very little smoke with fire.

Its gotten cold so we've started using our fab new Nestor Martin (model IT33) woodburning stove.

Have stove, need fuel! Since we don't have our own sustainable wood source (i.e. a forest) on our doorstep (yeh, this is the fens, all the trees died off years ago to form the very land we live on!) we needed to buy in some seasoned wood. Many suppliers only do local deliveries or collection, but several do nationwide delivery. But it aint cheap. Some wanted almost the price of the wood again just for delivery!

Whilst searching for both a supplier and a good price, I came across various other fuels for stoves. So, we ordered a trail pack of Agrol Heat Logs and they are fab! They are small, dense blocks made from 100% sawmill waste. No resin or glues or anything to bind them, just pressed into dense blocks which burn slow and hot, with greater heat output than wood and much less ash waste. So, we've just had a pallet delivered (and it took me an hour to unpack it and stack all the packs in the garage). Costwise, it should work out cheaper as we get more burning time and more heat per cubic meter than we would from wood. Lets see how it does over the winter!

Just for Sylvia!

2008-11-28T18:28:00.016Z

We have a follower! Welcome to our dear friend Sylvia. This post is dedicated to you.
Sylvia was the first to start following us online, the first to post a comment (and always happy to point out my carp spelling - get it!) and now the first to sign up as an official follower (whatever that is!)! Thank you Sylvia.

And just for you Sylvia, here's a couple of photos of the much talked about boot room! Sorry they ain't anything special, but it is a small room and getting a decent photo ain't easy!

I think if you click on the images they get bigger.

Top is the door from the kitchen in to the boot room and the back door (which will be our main entrance, hence the reason for the boot room in the first place).

Middle, again looking from the kitchen doorway to the outside window. Boilers aren't the most photogenic of things are they. Excuse the pile of sheepswool in the corner (and no, I'm not from Yorkshire or Wales).

Bottom is looking through the outside window.

So Sylvia, not much to show you of a room measuring little more than 1.5m x 2m. But its looking like it will be a great space for us to mess up to save messing up the kitchen and the rest of the house!

Week 20

2008-11-07T17:51:00.010Z

Work continues but we are nearing the end! This week saw lots of small jobs being fettled - skirting, door handles, bathroom vents. Matt and Ging tiled the downstairs shower-room and, the kitchen was started at long last. Matt put the sassy brown floor tiles down and the kitchen units are going in . . . slowly. The kitchen supplier hasn't supplied everything so this is as far as we have got by the end of the week. Thankfully our new Siemens appliances arrived in time.

Above, the kitchen is in what was the old kitchen and ground floor extension of no. 3. The door goes into the second reception (sitting room - Steve's old office) and the corridor leads to what was no.4 with doors off for what will be Elsie's (Liz's Mum) bedroom, shower-room and through to our main living room.

Below you can see the kitchen units running down into what was the old extension, now with new vaulted, windowed ceiling and the folding/sliding doorset.

Meanwhile, outside, Jon was busy making our new front door canopy. Its loosely modelled on what would have been here when the cottage was built in early 1900s.

Below, with the last of the muck pile taken away, 16+ tonnes of gravel has gone down on to the drive. Oh what a difference it makes!

And some views of how the house is looking from the great outdoors.

The main build is over, and this is the last we saw of the four guys together. We have a week of Phil the plumber and Danny the sparks while the boys move on to another job, then Jon will be back to finish off the kitchen and do some general fettling. And we'll begin decorating! We havent even finished what was no.4! Still, we have the downstairs to fo over the next 5 weeks ahead of Elsie arriving for her xmas hols with us.

So, its fitting we say thanks guys, you've done a brilliant job turning what looked like a lost cause into a fanstic pad for us.

And to Ging and Sean - have a great time in Les Arcs. Enjoy the skiing ;-))

A shot of the motly crew that is, Jon Avory & Sons. From left to right:
Sean (Porn Boy) Avory (or is it a Bee Gee?), Jon (its all good) Avory, Ging (the Ginger Lover) Wilson and Matt (Yo! Westwood) Avory.

And dont worry, there'll be more updates until we are pretty much done! Hey, you'll want to see the finished kitchen and Sylvia has already put in a special request for photos of the boot room. Its always been full of rubbish and its a wee bit small for getting a photo of, but Sylvia, we'll try. Just for you!

Week 19

2008-10-30T13:46:00.010Z

Well, our original 18 week schedule came to an end last Friday, but, as you can see from these photos, things arent quite finished!

To be fair to Jon and the guys they would have been off site last week had we not ended up with additional unforeseens and extra jobs we undertook whilst we had the house back to bare walls and floors. To be honest, we're amazed that we are only over-running by a week when we must have added 3-4 weeks additional work on to the job!

Internally the whole of no.3 is now plastered out (no more photos - there's only so much excitement a photo of a newly plastered wall!), but the last week has mainly been about windows and patios.

Below, the additional first floor windows (x3) and the ground floor boot room window went in last week.

Once these were in, and the frame for the folding sliding doors installed, Dain returned to finished the ground floor rendering. Rendering done, Jon jumped on the folding sliding doors this week and bingo! What a difference!

And this is what they do.

And from the inside, all closed up . . .

. . . a little bit of fresh air . . .

. . . and bringing the outdoors inside.

Outside Ging and Sean have done a superb job with the second of the patio areas, this one outside the new kitchen, complete with shallow ramp down to the lower patio level behind no.4. We're really pleased that we've managed to pave the entire area with slabs we already had - a great bit of recycling!

Here you can see the rear of the property from the kitchen folding sliding doors (old no.3) across the back of old no.4.

And the obligatory shot from my favourite viewpoint!

All the windows have been dressed with Aluuwood (alluminium with fine wood veneer) blinds. here are the blinds in the ground floor gable end windows of the new open plan living room.

With the kitchen and shower-room floors going down this week, all internal doors hung, its down to all those fiddly jobs. Oh, and the fitting the new kitchen!

Watch this space as Fri 7 Nov approaches. Will the guys be off site?

Deja Vous!

2008-10-12T18:36:00.004+01:00

Now enjoying life in a renovated no.4 (the first time we have physcially 'lived' in this cottage since we bought it in 2006), the memory of the muck and hassles of ripping out seemed a dim and distant memory. But they're back!

One of the shocks (and major add-on expense) of ripping out no.4 was having to put a new ground floor through the whole property. And, guess what? When we started to take up the kitchen and extension floor in no.3 we got a similar shock. Apart from having a drop of over 40mm from one end to the other, once the top screed was removed, we found nothing but brick and rubble below. Oh hum.

So, Sean and Ging got to it and with one of those very noisy pneumatic drills (you know, two noise levels [1] bloody noisy and [2] off) they soon had the floor up.

With the floor up, one of those big mixer lorries turned up and the guys barrowed the mix round the back and in. The driver even had the audacity to say to Jon that he would charge waiting time if they ran over 20 mins. You can only guess what Jon made of that suggestion!

One of the big differences between Jon and the guys and the 'bastards' we had before, although whilst it was an additional cost, the guys got it done and dusted in no time and it just wasn't stressfull at all compared to what the 'bastards' put us thorugh in no.4. Thanks guys!

Elsewhere, doorways got new lintels . . .

. . . Sean (I'm just too good looking) built us a nice brick pier to support the steel holding up the new dormer (the very steel that only needed to be the width of the kitche, but the pillocks who put it in (see 'bastards') put it in the whole length of the two cottages! When we revealed just how tight they had got this end, only an inch on to the end brick wall (hence needing extra suppoer with the pier), Jon commented 'the bastards only just managed to get it on this end, but had 9m too much the other side!' . . .

. . . and then some walls got boarded, some got stripped and UPVA treated, and . . .

. . . then the plasterers got cracking!

And to say its been a busy week would be a major understatement! As well as Jon, Matt, Sean (I'm gorgeous) and Ging making their noise, Phil the plumber and Danny the sparky (with new sidekick Jamie) were in as well leaving their mark. Here is part of the kitchen ceiling with water pipes and leccy cables heading in all directions!

Roll on week 17!

Week 15 - so it must be make over part 2!

2008-10-01T21:42:00.007+01:00

Well, things just dont stand still here! No sooner have we vacated no.3 and are still unpacking in no.4, the guys begin ripping out no.3! First off the kitchen, bathroom and utility room are knocked into one and the back opened up for the folding, sliding doors.

This is what the back looked like a month ago . . .

. . . and by the end of Monday it look like this!

And from the inside . . .

Above you get first sight of the change in ceiling height in the new kitchen and the three velux roof windows.

With ripping out complete, downstairs Sean and Ging start knocking out new doorways, inserting lintels and making good the door surrounds.

Below, the upstairs (Matt and Kev) is cracking on at pace too with walls ripped out, doorways crated and stud walls already going up. Oh, and the sparkies have already begun first fix! Bloody hell!

Below, the third skip of the week is soon filling up with bricks and rubble and the pile of timber and other waste awaits the next skip.

Recycling is high on our list, so the guys are allowed to salvage what they want - copper piping, cabling etc, and Danny the sparky took our old back door away with him for his own house.

Rooms with a view

2008-10-01T21:33:00.003+01:00

Sat at my new office desk today, on the phone, I spied a Merlin chasing a Meadow Pipit. Wow! Merlin is already on the house lise, but having the vista to watch a Merlin chase a pipit across the fen was something else. Even when the birds had gone from view I sat and for the first time I really appreciated just how great some of our 'new' views are.

Above and below, Steve's new office window views - one across the fen, the other across the front garden and to the fen beyond.

Below, Liz's desk view is also across the front garden and fen.

Below, the new lounge window view across the fen.

The bedroom and bathroom look east over the back garden and fen. A view which will be much improved when we get rid of the 'village' of sheds we inherited when we bought no.4.

Ready for the big push!

2008-09-28T22:21:00.003+01:00

Whilst Steve sunned himself in Lesvos for a week, Liz was left at home to start packing up for the move and to oversee the last elements of no.4 ahead of the move.

The major and long-awaited event was Jon fitting the bespoke staircase he has made us. Hand crafted to our spec in maple, beech and oak, it is a work of art!

Once the stairs had gone in the carpets could go down. Jon also fitted the oak window sills throughout.One of three zebrano Jaga Knockonwood radiators in the living room.

For the next month or so we have a temporary kitchen installed in the living room.

And Steve arrived back on Thursday evening and from Friday (26 Sept) we spent three days switching from no.3 to no.4! We're knackered!! Once we have things resembling some order we can resume the decorating. Only the office got completed before the move. Here's a few photos of sorting to be done.

Above, Liz's end of the office; below, Steve's end of the office.

Meet the builders #2 = Sean (Mr Good Looking)

2008-09-14T22:37:00.008+01:00

Known as: good looking, gorgeous, any any other complimentary remark about his sheer good looks

Age: c.21

Job: general builder - chippy, bricky, etc (see Ging), and being simply too good looking to be real

Marital status: hooked up but talks a good single bloke's talk - well you do when you're so good looking

Likes: just being good looking, beer, women, mirrors - oh, and bike racing (presumably for good looking blokes only) and Ging

Dislikes: presumably dirty mirrors, bad hair days - he's a chippy bloke really and hasnt really expressed any major dislikes!

Heard to say: 'well, when you're as good looking as me Steve . . . '; 'its all brand new'; and my favourite banter moment with the good looking one -

Sean: you ever been to America Steve?

Steve: no

Sean: what never?! (he clearly thought I should have been being so well travelled and good looking myself)

Steve: no

Sean: I'd love to go

Steve: why?

Sean: (pause) . . . to 'do' all the women!

Steve: what all of them?

Sean: well, I'll have a good go!

Oh, and did I mention he is good looking? Not sure about the face furniture though.

Sean is so good looking I thought he deserved a second photo.

Slap and tickle

2008-09-14T22:02:00.005+01:00

There is no such thing as a quiet week here and this week was no exception. The noise levels were ramped up when Sean and Ging returned to join and Matt and Kev on site, whilst Jon began a marathon stint in the workshop crafting our oak window sills, some cupboard doors and . . . our hand-built wood staircase! We cant wait to see all this wood added to the interior.

On site, more major steps forward. Below, Mat and Kev fitted the downstairs bathroom window and once in, we welcomed Dain to site to slap on some render the first section of the back back. And what a huge difference it has made unifying the back and hiding the mish-mash of brick and block work. The rest will get done in phase 2 and the new kitchen and bootroom have been done. We've ot decided on the colour yet, butthat can wait until the end of phase 2.
Once the render was done, Sean and Ging laid the slabs along the back, Ging on slab slicing and Sean on tickle duty. And don't they look nice. OK. We know. They are bog standard concrete slabs. But they were free. With our environmental ethos we are reusing as many of the slabs we already had around the house (four different sorts!). They looked a mess before we started work, but re-laid, they look great. It makes a big difference when even masic slabs are laid well.

Below, Ging (left) and Sean hard at it. Note the lack of builder's bum here. More a case of builer's boxers. . Not an ideal day to hang out your smalls with all that dust flying around!

Inside, we've been slogging away ourselves with the never-ending decorating. We got all the base coats slapped on and we began to slap on the top coats.

And here is what we are using - ECOS organic paint. Organic paint! Great stuff. And it don't cost the earth either, around 5% more than top end Dulux/Crown stuff and cheaper than your fancy dan Fired Earth or Farrow & Ball slap. We found them whilst searching fthe web or eco-paint and then found that they are also rated by my beloced Which? Top stuff! Below, Liz slaps on the 'citrica' in the bathroom which ties in with the orange in the border tiles. Wait til you see the other colours we've bought!

Like our new oak floor? Niiiiiiiice!

Week 11 - shine on!

2008-09-07T21:28:00.003+01:00

Its been another one of those bits and pieces weeks. Matt and Kev have been chipping away at finshing jobs on no.4 such as sealing the the new windows, a bit more guttering, removing the old bathroom window (but didn't quite get to fitting the new shower room window which replaces it), etc.

Liz and I have been plugging away at the decorating. We still can't get over just how much prep is involved when doing what is effectively a new house. We've got as far as getting the first of the top coats on with Liz glossing the skirts and doorways upstairs. We're just about managing to keep up by putting in the hours - I was in there at 05.30 on Friday, and we both put in 10+ hours on both Sat and Sun - we're knackered!

Three major items did get done though, the first being work on the ground floor shower room (part of no.3 but being started from this side now), the new back door was installed and we got second fix electrics!

Above, the smart new back door at the end of the covered approach. It will open into the new bot room which leads in to the new kitchen (both phase 2).

And below, second fix electrics meant leccy throughout the house inc. here in the office. Note the view through a rain-spattered window - it hasn't stoppped raining all week. but at least we aren't flooded like other parts of the country.

Week 10 - busy, busy, busy

2008-08-30T21:30:00.007+01:00

The team were down to Matt and Kev, as Jon went to work on another job with Ging as cover for Sean who was swanning about in Egypt. But its been no less busy, in fact, its still been relentless. And its been a week of bits - finishing slating the new kithen roof, guttering, tiling the bathroom, pointing bits of brickwork etc. But the weekend ended with a biggy - the installation of the French doors at the back of the house.

The back just gets better and better. The French doors complete the windows to be installed in no.4 (the white window on the right is at the back of no.3 and will be replaced next week). Above you can also see the canopy, completely slated in Welsh slate (from the old rear roof we took off for the domer extension - the new dormer extension roof is barely visible from the ground so we've used new slate for economy). Also, the oak posts, the left hand one sporting new downpipe!

Kev and Matt completed slating (again with slate from our old roof) what is currently the new roof over our utilty and bathroom, but which will be the new bootroom (new bit on left) and kitchen/diner. The Velux windows will greatly improve the lightas this is northfacing. In phase 2 (from late Sept) the existing back door and window will be removed and replaced with folding sliding doors. The opening on the left is for a non-opening window in the bootroom.

Above, the new bathroom window, with floating mullions, with a great view across the fen. The new (ungrouted) tiles also on view.

Below, we've been busy too - decorating! The last two weekends and every weekday night for the last two weeks we've been slogging our own dear little backsides. And boy, there's a lot of prep to do when you are doing a house from scratch. Upstairs is ready for final coats and downstairs base coats are going on.

This is still my favourite view! And even better now the Fench doors are in.

Week 9 - and let there be light!

2008-08-21T22:04:00.015+01:00

Wow! We are only at the end of week 9! Much has happened in the couple of weeks we have been back from the high Arctic. And much of it has been to do with light - the long-awaited installation of our windows and the completion of our sunpipe.

We took delivery of our windows from Dendura in February and they have been in store ever since! We've dreamed of the day they would be installed, and that day came this week.

Matt (left), Kev (centre) and Jon install the first of the gable end windows. Oh - it was a tight fit. Needed persuasion, as they say in the trade!

Above, both sets of gable end windows are in! Wow! And this is what it used to look like!

This is what things look like from the inside -

Above, the lounge. Below, the office, showing well the view over the adjacent open farmland. You'll notice that in the office skirts and architraves are in, Matt's been busy installing the new oak internal doors and we've even started painting!

Back outside, a great view of the gable end looking down the back and the first three of the six first floor rear windows have also been installed, and Josh has been busy with the paint brush on the weatherboarding.

Below, a view of the house from the field behind us. The boared windows behind no.3 will be installed in phase two during the autumn. This also gives a great view of the new rear roof - how flat does that look! You can just make out the roof window of the sunpipe to the right of the wee flue top at the left hand end. And . . . the new first floor extension has been weatherboarded! Don't it look fab!

Above, Kev has been busy slating the canopy and boot room/kitchen roof.

And below, Matt finished the installing the Velux sunpipe at the top of the stairs where there is no other natural night other than what ambient light comes up the stairwell from downstairs.

Back inside, another major event was the installation of the new woodburning stove in the lounge.

We said goodbye to Josh today who starts his a new teaching job in London. Good luck Josh and thanks.

Day 32 - plastered, pillared and plumbed

2008-08-06T18:26:00.009+01:00

We went to the high Arctic on holiday on 24 July, leaving Jon and the guys to it. Returning yesterday, the progress the guys had made in just eight working days has been fantastic and no.4 looks little like we left it!

Above, the whole of no.4 has been plasterboarded and Matt, Kev and John are already plastering the ceilings. The nice pink plasterboard around the chimney breast is special fire retardant board which will house our new woodburning stove.

Outside things have moved on at pace as well. The new canopy runs from the parking area the length of the back of the house to the back door in to the boot room. The canopy is supported by three whacking great hunks of oak - they still smell nice, and they certainly look gorgeous! They will eventually blend well with the oak French doors which will sit behind them.

Above, the view looking from the boot room door out to the garage. The canopy will provide a great dry walking area between the cars and the house. The oak pillars will eventually get wee brick plinths.

The reverse view from the parking area to the boot room door. The two sets of French doors from the rear of the living room will open out under the canopy.

Above and below, the new canopy joins the boot room and Jon has built the boot room/kitchen roof, complete with four Velux roof windows (one over the boot room, three over the new kitchen). The canopy and boot room/kitchen roof are now ready for slating (but Matt and Kev are busy elsewhere on the house!).

Phil the plumber has been in and done first fix and Jon has started preparing the weatherboarding (below) for the first floor extension.

So, blink and you'll miss these guys! Go away for 12 days and the place changes beyond recognition. It's great! See here for our last post and what we left behind.

Interlude - for us but not the builders!

2008-08-06T10:16:00.003+01:00

Female Polar Bear cub nr Binnebukta, Wilhelmøya, Svalbard, 30 July 08

Whilst the builders continued with the house we went on a long-awaited, once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Arctic. Steve will get a trip report with photos (like this of his above) on his Toadsnatcher blog asap.

By the way, the above Polar Bear cub was seen with its mum and brother at 'Binnebukta' which in Norwegian translates as Bay of the Mother Bear (bukta = bay, binne = mother bear).

We'll stick an update of how Jon and the lads have progressed during our absence on here asap. What an amazing difference in just eight working days! Come back soon for the update.

Blocks, wool, oak, slate . . . and light

2008-07-23T18:12:00.006+01:00

Sunpipe The Velux suntunnel took another step forward when Ging cut out the rafters to accommodate the mirrored tunnel.

Thermafleece!
We're using Thermafleece (made from British sheep!) to insulate all the external walls in no.4, the new bootroom and all the roof spaces, etc. Thermafleece is as green as you get when it comes to insulation - its renewable (sheep grow their wool back for more clipping for more Thermafleece); its zero GWP (global warming potential); zero ozone depletion; safer to use (unlike many man-made fibre insulations); its long lasting (it will last as long as the house stands); it will keep us lovely and warm whilst helping to reduce our carbon footprint; it breathes. Unfortunately I couldn't catch Ging in his funky space suit he wears to fit this stuff. It might be nicer than fibreglass etc, but its still dusty old sheeps wool!

Bootroom progress Jon (upper) and Josh (lower) crack on with the gables of the bootroom. Its a dusty old job cutting up them blocks!

Jon's handywork at the end of the day. Very neat!

Oak postsThe three oak posts for our rear canopy (a covered walkway running the length of the back of the house from the garage end to the back door) arrived today. You could smell them from miles away, a lovely sweet, fresh cut smell. And they each weigh a ton!

One nice new roof

Matt and Kev finished the main new roof section - don't it look just sweet! Just a wee bit of work on the gable edge before they move on to . . . roofing the bootroom and the canopy!

This is what the site is looking like at present.

Meet the builders #1 - Ging

2008-07-23T12:53:00.002+01:00

Name: released only on a need-to-know basis (police, Inland Revenue, etc)
Known as: Ging (the Ginger Lover); the Lover
Job: general builder - chippy, bricky, etc - you name it, Ging'll have a go!
Marital status: available
Likes: beer, women, adventure weekends involving cliffs, Red Tube (and he seems to like hard work too!)
Dislikes: thems that walk slow or stop right in front of him in town; thems with push-chairs bateering there way through shops; fibreglass insulation (apparantly); not having his build buddy Sean with him (aagghh - Sean is currently invalided out and off-site after a fall of his bike)
Once heard to say: I like Mock the Week. I even get some of the jokes.

Four weeks in

2008-07-21T18:21:00.004+01:00

Rome wasn't built in a day. Or four weeks. Well, neither was our house going to be! Here we are though, end of week four (out of scheduled 18) of our renovation (week 1 reset with the new builders - we think very little of BJAS - Before Jon Avory & Sons).

Much of what the guys have done over the last four weeks has been documented already, and week four was more of the same but also included some important milestones.

More stud wallsGing and Kev cracked on with battening all of the inside of all the external walls to no.4. These will be packed with Thermafleece before plasterboarding over. This should reduce our heat loss through the brick walls to virtually zero.

Boot room mk. 2! The frame and brick piers left by the cowboys got ripped up. A nice new concrete (sorry, we had to use some somewhere!) floor poured in, a new timber inner frame and a nice course of blockwork (which will later be rendered). Jon's been a busy boy here! And Josh just kept on mixing those mixes and clearing up others' mess! Note the outside brew station on the block.

Sunpipe!

A major event for us Matt starting to fit the Velux suntunnel. The above two photos show the sited external roof window (nice flat fit and finish - none of those hideous little crystal domes other manufacturers use) from above in the slate roof, and from inside looking up form the landing through the rafters. A mirrored rigid tube will be connected to the external window to transfer the light down through the attic and through a diffuser above the landing at the top of the stairs meaning natural light during daylight. All the latter has to wait until everything is plastered up before we can see it in action. The guys did comment just how much light this little window let through when they cut the hole in the roof to accommodate it.

Sparks
And another milestone was seeing the term 'first fix' in practice! The term was consigned to memory banks long ago, and to finally see first fix electrics going in was brill. Danny (Hereward Elecrtical) and Andy came in over the weekend to first fix the inside whilst they had free run of an empty building.

Day 19 - only day 19!

2008-07-17T18:20:00.009+01:00

It's hard to believe that we are still only in week 4! So much has happened and the guys pace is relentless.

Outside at the front, Jon sorted out the mess that was the doorway to no.4. It soon went from this . . .

. . . to this . . .
. . . to this!
Thankfully we had a large stock of recycled bricks from the various new window openings tha twe could use here. Once the mortar has dried and the bricks wiped then soon weather in. Interestingly, Alan Lamb, former occupant of nearby Crowtree Farm, told me which brick, Bundy (the stamp on the bricks) our house bricks came from! I can go and look at the flooded pit with new eyes now.

This is what the front currently looks like.

Round the back the concrete slab for the boot room floor was poured after Hunts Building Control had passed the base.
On the roof, Matt and Kev have been busy, in the wet, putting thr ridge back on over no.3. Just some more slates and the ridge to go on no.4 now. Just look at that roof - crackin'!

Here's detail of Matt's leadwork around the chimney.

Inside, Ging has been largely on his own (Sean bust his arm coming off his bike at the weekend - no sympathy from any of the lads!) and has cracked on big time getting the studwork up for the walls. Here's the studwork round the stairwell which will form the back wall of our new office space.

And here's the studwork for the new bathroom. Much more to go!

And what of Josh. Well, he's been a busy boy both here and elsewhere. He had his graduation this week (Jon swapping builder's atire to be suited and booted), was interviewed for and offered a teaching job in London, and here he's sweated his nuts off labouring for whoever needed it.

Oh, and Sean came on site today cos he was bored on his own at home! Lets see if he's fit to return to action on Monday.

One of the great feelings I have had this week is the sense of Jon and the guys now 'owning' the site. They've pretty much redone all the things the cowboys had screwed up (roof, floor, joists, boot room, etc) and the site no longer bears any resemblence to the mess the cowboys left us in. I can honestly say that it's a pleasure having Jon Avory & Sons here and it is now the renovation experience I had hoped we would enjoy. Thanks guys.

Day 15 - weathertight!

2008-07-12T11:46:00.011+01:00

Well, for the first time in many, many months the house is again weathertight! The guys have finished creating all the new window and door openings - the two gable end window openings, two french door openings, and altered the first floor dormer windows which were too high - and once done, they could all be boarded up to keep out the elements!

Inside you can see the newly lowered window openings (the top strip was filled in later). They had been made 20cm too high! They look and feel right now and Liz can even see out of them! With the first floor dormer floor joists now finished, Sean and Ging layed the new floor.

On the roof, Matt and Kev cracked on through the crap weather (not a great week weather-wise for roofing) and got as far as they could until they ran out of slate. About 10% more to do next week.

This is what those living a little further down the drove from us see as they whizz past. Just wait until those gable end windows are in - its gonna look fab! This is what it used to look like -

Day 13 - wet, but spirits definately not dampened!

2008-07-09T18:04:00.006+01:00

No photos of the exterior today cos it not stopped 'issing down! The guys have been great (again), simply donning waterpoofs (for them outside) and getting on with it despite the constant rain.

Rain just doesn't dampen spirits or slow down work (not that we can see any road!). Jon finished rebuilding the back wall complete with new opening for the two french door sets; Ging and Sean completed reinforcing the floor joists to the first floor extension (nice work guys!) and fixed the brickwork around them; Kev and Matt continued on the roof until they ran out of slate (just proves how much roof surface we now have in that the old roof had a pile of slate left over, the new roof they are about 10% short); Josh laboured all day clearing barrow loads of crap, mixing barrow loads of cement, etc - not fun on a wet day! And Jon, not one for resting on laurels, began knocking out the opening for the ground floor living room window. i'm telling you, these guys graft. Everyday sees visible progress - it's great!

The three photos below show you to some extent the new open plan living room, including the new french door opening and the new opening going in for the new 2.6m wide window.

Taken from the corner by one of the french door openings.

Looking back diagonally across to where I took the above photo.

The two french door openings from taken from the same spot. Our new living room is gonna be large, bright and airy - cant wait!

A builder's brew needs sugar!

2008-07-09T14:06:00.004+01:00

Ahead of the guys starting work on 23 June, Liz and I stocked up the essential brew ingredients - tea, milk (at least for first few days) and sugar. Day 13 and the consumption of tea and milk is as expected, but sugar consumption is amazing - they've stirred 3 kilos of sugar in 12 days into their brews! Mind you, with not a belly between them, they clearly work it all off! Builders nationally must account for a significant percentage of annual sugar sales! At least we're giving them Fairtrade (an Fairtrade tea too).

Day 11 - exposed rear!

2008-07-07T21:06:00.004+01:00

The beginning of week three sees two new hands on deck, Jon's two other sons Josh (fresh from getting his 2:1 at uni) and young Max who is on site as part of his schools 'go to work with a parent week'. So, we now have seven (!) on sites, Jon Avory, four sons Matt, Sean, Josh and Max, Kev and, of course, Ging the Ginger Lover in all his glory!

Day 11 sees the back wall of no.4 dismantled, brick by brick. So, by mid-afternoon we had a gaping great hole in the rear of the house!

Below, young Max spends most of his time chipping off the old lime morter so as they can be re-used when it comes to refacing part of the front (replacing the painted bricks revealed by removing the front porch).

By the end of the day the wooden frames mark where the french door openings go, and the first couple of courses of breeze blocks are in.

Two weeks in and still smiling!

2008-07-05T21:16:00.008+01:00

Well, so far so good. Each day brings a broader smile as progress continues. The week started badly of course finding out just how many more thousands we had to spend to fix the roof, the non-existant foundation for our new pillar and the upgrading the first floor floor joists - and it hurt! Alas nothing we could decide not to do, so we have to bear and grin - but the cash flow is definately not too great.

The new first floor gable end window from the inside showing the new steel lintel.

The building inspector he say 'OK' to our hole ready for filling with concrete for the new foundation of the pillar in hte middle of the living room. Neat hole! Take a bow Sean Avory. I've told Sean if I ever see a neater hole I'll send him a photo!

The guys have started building some of the internal walls (above, the other side of the all is the downstairs shower room and the doorway leads in to the corridor to the kitchen) and making ne opening - below, this is the enlarged landing opening off which will be our new office, one bedroom and one bathroom. A neat bit of work by Ging the Ginger Lover as he is known by the guys!

The whole of the new roof came off and binned. The guys put in new rafters, nicely bolted top and bottom (you should have seen the few nails the cowboys used to secure their botched job), to provide the required degree slope for the slate roof (and better than the 4 degrees under the minimum slope for slate the cowboys achieved) .

Here's Kev (left) and Matt relaying the Isolair sarking boards - 95% recycled wood mill stuff (sawdust, pulp, etc) and 5% laytex. Great U value rating will help insulate this large roof. The roofspace will be insulated with Thermafleece. Below, by the end of the week re-slating had started! What a great week for roofing. Bar one major shower, it was blue skies and suntans all round.

Its a joy to watch real builders at work. They roll up at 8 each morning, most of them clutching a tin of Red Bull for their high energy needs for the morning! Its a great spirit on site a the guys wander around in the sun in shorts and no shirts topping up their ever-present builders tans. Roll on next week!

Day 5 - more steps forward, more steps back!

2008-06-27T17:45:00.017+01:00

Kev throws bricks at Ging through the newly finished window opening

It's been a great day for building - blue skies and sun (ok, and the odd shower!). Above you can see the finished first floor gable end window opening - compare it to the photos below for the change (from original, through the mess to finished opening). Shoot, it sure looks pretty don't it. Eventually there'll be another deeper window opening mirroring it on the ground floor.

Progress included replacing the existing supporting end brick pillar that the cowboys had done with this new, tied-in pillar. Looks good to me!

Whilst worked cracked on, 'Big Al', our structural engineer brought in to look at the work from the cowboys which started the job, reported back with some bad news. They say bad news comes in threes, well, here's ours!

1) roof to the new first floor extension

Well, the cowboys who erected it have managed to make the slope well below the tolerance for natural slate! Matt and Kev had already begun stripping the slates for relaying, but now the whole bloody lot has to come off! Also, the window opening the cowboys put in are too high so they need to be lowered. So, this first floor extension is going to be pretty much redone one way or another!

2) floor joists to first floor extension

A double-whammy here! See the large piece of steel on the left, well, that shouldn't be there! And the floor joists running up to it, well, they're the wrong size. Yes, you've guessed it, they're too small! Removing the steel and replacing all the joists now would be a nightmare (and a disaster). So Big Al has calculated that doubling up all the existing joists will over-compensate for the weight of the steel hanging unsupported cantalever-style over the back ground floor wall.

3) new supporting pillar in our new open plan living room

Here you can see our nice new steel pillar which is the midway support for the new steel that runs the full width of the cottage supporting the floor above. Problem is, that from photos I took during the excavation for the new concrete floor the cowboys laid, we can see that they didn't reinforce below the pillar to the spec on the plans, and it was never inspected by the building inspector (he loves us!). So, its dig a bloody big hole through the new floor around it and retro reinforce the thing.

Oh, bloody, hum. We'll find out on Monday how much more this little lot will cost us.

More progress when we went from this . . .

. . . to this.

We were going to have a false door here, but we might not be able to get that paint off, and with brick damage either side of the two windows, it might be best if we rebuild this wall between the two windows.

One step forward, two steps back

2008-06-25T18:25:00.004+01:00

Its our 'new' day three (date reset on Monday!), and things just keeping cracking on apace!

The gaping hole left in our first floor gable end (left by the last lot open and insufficiently supported!) gets attention at last! Jon is rebuilding the end pillars ready for the steel to go in. It will be boarded whilst the interior gets done before being filled with a lovely oak frame window.

Meanwhile, out of view on the new firstfloor extension dormer roof, Matt and Kev are stripping the slate off the new roof ready for repair and re-slating! Oh hum.

Order! Order! For Jon Avory & Sons begin work

2008-06-25T09:06:00.008+01:00

Well, they've only been on site two days and Jon Avory & Sons have restored order and calm. We now have a building site, not a bomb site!

In the two days, Jon, Matt and Kevin have taken the site from this . . .

. . . to this!

Around 80 tonnes of soil and rubble left over from the last builders, plus another 10+ tonnes of soil have been removed from site and 32 tonnes of hardcore down as well as a complete site tidy, inside and out, meetings with local building inspector and structural engineer, and we're ready to get rolling! It's nice to be smiling again about the renovation!

Hello John, we've got a new builder (and he's called Jon)

2008-06-18T20:34:00.004+01:00

Well, at last we've found a new builder and work recommences on site on Monday! Hoorraayy!

The hardest part of this, apart from living with the mess the previous builder left behind, is simply regaining the confidence and trust in another builder to get the job done without leaving us high and dry and ripping us off like the last one. So, knowing you can't tar everyone with the same brush, we're really pleased with the new builders. Jon Avory & Sons are a small family firm well established in Peterborough. So, hears to cracking on as from Monday!

Bastards!

2008-05-28T13:59:00.008+01:00

IMPORTANT NOTE - this post relates to the work undertake by Hampton Construction (not Jon Avory & Sons).

We've ended up living one of those building jobs from hell in recent months. What seemed to start out fine, suddenly soured and we've been left high and dry. But we have at long last got shot of our old builder and are now searching for a new one. Not easy, builders dont like taking on other builders work.

Here's some photos showing you just what a mess the bastards left us in.

The plastic cover over teh flat roof we had to do after the roof gave up and the bathroom was flooded by a torrent of water gushing through! The weatherboarding has already started to come off (just weeks after it went on!), and the window opening remain exposed to the elements.

And the unprotected roof ridge leaked and the wet patch over our bed just got bigger with every downpour!

This is what they called adequately covering the join between our roof and our neighbour.

Live electric cables left hanging in the air!

They knocked this whole in the gable end the day before they took off for two weeks holiday! Not only was it exposed, but the three accros they've put in place aren't doing much to hold up the end of the roof!

Once they start . . .

2008-02-21T15:50:00.005Z

IMPORTANT NOTE - this post relates to the work undertake by Hampton Construction (not Jon Avory & Sons).

They can't stop. Or can they? well, yes they can. Despite cracking on at pace, the site suddenly becomes ghostly with no builders here for four days! It can't be that cold can it?

Just look at difference now! First floor extension complete across the whole back of both cottages and the cladding is going on. Windows should in place within the week and the cladding will get painted.

Progress!

2008-02-11T18:43:00.002Z

IMPORTANT NOTE - this post relates to the work undertake by Hampton Construction (not Jon Avory & Sons).

Can you believe it - we're updating our blog and we've got progress to report!!

With the new ground floor done, and winter taking hold, Max and the guys turned their attention to the outside! Brrrrr! So scaffold went up at the back and they began stripping off the old first floor dormer extension (above).

In next to no time the frame of the new first floor extension began to take shape (above) and the new pitched roof added (below).

It even looks like were getting somewhere on the inside, with the Thermafleece insulation being stuck between the timber frame.

And before we knew it, the slates were going on to the new back roof - wow! The only down side of the roof was the state of the original. It was pretty much shot. The guys have saved around 50% of the slates, so we're using new slate on all the back and then when we get to sticking the three solar panels on the front, the whole front roof will be stripped, re-felted, re-battened and re-slated using the original slate saved from the front and back, so it should still look old and match the neighbours!

Frame it!

2008-01-13T19:04:00.001Z

IMPORTANT NOTE - this post relates to the work undertake by Hampton Construction (not Jon Avory & Sons).

Now that the long Christmas break is over, Max and the lads are back and its full steam ahead. It was nice to have the break from the work, but its really exciting to see some progress and think that it'll all be finished this year. The floor was finished just before Chrsitmas to give a great new space. It feels warmer already, the effect of the damp proofing and insulation making its mark.

With all this progress, we wondered what had happened to the smallest room...

The footings and frame for the boot room were also finished before Christmas. This will be the most used entrance to the house, where we can dump our muddy boots and wellies. The front door will be for visitors!

Now the scaffolding is up at the back, the old dormer is mostly dismantled and the new framing is up - all in a few days! Now we need it to stop raining so the roof can come off. It could take a while!

Muck, rubble and mud!

2007-12-11T20:02:00.001Z

IMPORTANT NOTE - this post relates to the work undertake by Hampton Construction (not Jon Avory & Sons).

Lack of blogging does not mean lack of work. I nearly said progress - now that would be pushing it!

No, between work, sourcing lots of things for the house (solar panels, radiators, etc), Steve swanning of to Botswana (see here for some pretty pics), both being under the weather and generally being emotionally knackered, we simply ain't had the time!

Ahead of EDF (we could be very rude but won't cos we might just end up in court as it is - they are sooooooo bad!) coming in to switch the leccy supply to the whole terrace (our two cottages and our our neighbour's Debbie and Tony's supply), the ever increasing mountain of rubble had to be taken off site. Enter one man and his grab truck. Now, this thing really can do some damage. Its a good job we needed to redo the drive!

Anyone who has watched any of those property developing programmes or Grand Designs will be familiar with the term 'unforeseens'. So are we.

The first 'unforeseen' was actually a foreseen that we hoped would not materialse. But it did. The back wall of no. 4 has been knocked about so much it couldn't withstand our new alterations, so, down it must come and a new wall up in its place. But that can't happen until the existing leccy cables running along its length are removed.

So, the leccy cables had to be done. Having finished the waste and rain water trenching and piping, much of the back garden had to be dug up again, even deeper this time, to lay the new leccy cale underground the whole length of the cottages. EDF came along today and laid the new leccy cable underground. You've got to admit, the back garden does have a certain something!

So, to a real unforeseen. Our builder, Max, was concerned about the state of the concrete floor. And with good reason. It took us a week to pick ourselves off the floor and decide to go ahead with this extra spend (and boy was it an 'extra'). The old floor came up and the bare earth (no foundations on these fen cottages) and in came the digger. Yep, a digger in your living room! I wonder what Liz is thinking she's going to put in that hole?

Above you can see the acros supporting the new steels that have just gone in having just taken out the main wall through the cottage to create our one large open plan living space. So, whilst Max played on his over-sized Tonka toy, Vas and Pete barrowed out the waste to create, another mound of muck and rubble! This is less than a quarter of what needs to come out. Its gonna be some pile!

And how are we feeling? Surprisingly calm! We have loads to think about. We're constantly thinking ahead looking at things we need to order in so things start to deliver as and when Max and the lads need them. We ain't really needing much yet - there's still much more coming out than going in!

We've had our stressful moments, especially when having to think about major overspends on unforeseens, but we settle back down once the decision is made and await the next one!

digging in the garden

2007-10-28T17:43:00.001Z

IMPORTANT NOTE - this post relates to the work undertake by Hampton Construction (not Jon Avory & Sons).

It's not just the house that's getting some attention! I'm not sure this wasn't all just an excuse to play with a nice yellow digger! I don't know what they're looking for, but I hope they find it soon.

Steve was a bit upset that he had just spent time mowing the grass!

This large water harvesting tank needs a hole to sit in.....

and here it is!

Stripping out

2007-10-28T17:33:00.002Z

It's surprising how quickly a house can be reduced to its bare boards! Luckily we never liked it anyway!

Liz's office and spare bedroom number 1 soon became one room in preparation for our new office.

The story so far

2007-10-28T17:13:00.002Z

We owned no. 3 (left) and in August 2006 we managed to buy no.4 (yippee!).

We've spent the last 12 months designing, redesigning, costing, recosting, applying for planning permission, getting planning permissions, and, searching for a builder! But we are there, and on 22 October work began on converting the two cottages into our dream fenland home.

This is the not-so-attractive dormer extension thats gonna be ripped down to make way for a new first floor extension that will run across the full length of the back.

who and what we are using

2007-10-28T17:05:00.015Z

Ian McCannoch | Tiler | Werrington PE4 6QY
Tel: 01 733 321 435 | 07 771 513 909
After having two different lots of the builders do our previous tiling (bathroom, shower-room and kitchen) with mixed results, we finally found a tiler we can trust 100%. Ian is a real professional. Meticulous and very skilled. He also has that rare commodity among workmen - he communicates! Can't rate him highly enough.

Overall rating: 10/10. Faultless.

PRB Plumbing & Heating | Whittlesey PE7 1TY
Tel: 07 721 040 047
Phil re-plumbed the entire rebuild in 2008 and has been back since to service our two boilers and install two new ensuite bathrooms. Excellent workmanship. Always left site tidy. His boiler installations were said to be the "some of the best work I have ever seen" by a Ferroli boiler engineer.

Overall rating: 9/10. Near faultless. Can be difficult to pin down at times. But he's worth waiting for.

Jon Avory & Sons | Carpenters and Builders | Werrington PE4 6LT
Tel. 07 729 263 335
After finally getting rid of Hampton Construction (Max Williamson, Vas, Danny/Stamper and Pete - DO NOT USE THEM!!! - rating 0/10 - we had to redo 95% of the work they undertook inc. replacing the slate roof they put on, rebuilding all the extensions they put up, underpin the new supports they put in without adequate footings, etc, etc - see here for the state they left us in - hey cost us tens of thousands), we finally got back on track, and quickly, with local and well-established firm Jon Avory & Sons (Matt and Sean and occasionally Josh) and team (Ging and Kevin).

Overall rating: 7/10. We think there construction skills are excellent but their overall internal finishing skills let them down. A big downer has been they have not not been back since they left to snag despite many phone calls. We've given up on them and moved on.

Rod Mepham | Chartered Building Survey | Ramsey, PE26 1DQ
Rod took our basic design for the two cottages and brought them to life on the plans. His trained eye meant he was able to tweak some areas, but we're pleased that the overall design remains about 90% our own. Rod also oversaw our planning applications (one for the building work and the second for our solar panel) and the building regs.

Overall rating: 8/10. Improved on my own plans. Slight black mark for not spotting something which ended up costing us money unnecessarily.

Dendura (previously called Lamwood) windows and external doors
Lamwood make stabilized oak windows and doors from wood sourced from sustainable woodlands in Germany and Europe. We found them at the Homebuilding & Renovation Show at the NEC in March. They make seriously nice windows. We went up to their factory near Uttoxeter yesterday for a guided tour of how our windows will be made. The jobs they had going through are mega compared to ours. We plan to do use Lamwood in two phases, 1) during the course of the renovation for all new windows and doors for the rear and gable end elevations, and 2) when we have saved up some more pennies, we'll replace the nasty uPVC front windows and doors with oak sashes and doors.

Overall rating: 10/10. Simply brilliant windows and doors and fabulous service.

Velux

We're using Velux's suntunnel and four of their GGU 0059 M08 roof windows.

Overall rating: roof windows 10/10, sun tunnel 7/10 - a week link in insulating the roofspace.

Thermafleece
A natural insulation made from British sheep wool. It has a great thermal (0.039 W/mK) so will keep us snug in winter and help to keep the heat out of the rooms in summer.

Overall rating: 7/10 - I think we could have done better with one of those super-thin foils which we will probably add as a retro-fit from the outside when we come to replace the outer cladding in 10+ years.

Jaga radiators

We couldn't resist some of Jaga's fab Knockonwood low H2O models for our new living room.

They just look so cool! Check one of ours out here.

Overall rating: 10/10. Stunning, efficient and effective room heating.

Isolair
We're using Isolair as our insulating sarking boards for the new roof areas and to board the first floor extension. Isolair is made from 99.5% waste wood from Swiss forest/timber yards (where it is made). It has great thermal conductivity (0.047 W/m.K) so helps to keep us warm in winter and cool in summer.

Overall rating: 10/10. Seemed to work well and were easy to cut to fit.

Freewater UK water harvesting
We're using Freewater UK's Rainman Standard T.

Overall rating: its not yet working and Freewater haven't been very helpful. I woudn't use them again.

Agrol Heat Logs

Having done our comparisons, we're going to run our new woodburning stove on these heat logs. They are basically bricks made from 100% sawmill waste. No glues or resins to bind them, just dense sawdust. They have are much denser than wood so burn slower and give off a higher heat output and per tonne is significantly higher than wood. They also burn much purer so leave virtually no soot residue on the stove glass or flue and reduce to much less ash than wood. They also fit our eco drive brilliantly. Unless you happen to have your own sustainable wood source growing outside the house, whatever wood we bought to fuel the stove had to be transported. At least this way we are using a by product which would otherwise go to waste and not require any trees to be cut just for our needs. Great!

Overall rating: 10/10. Great heat output and they create a great flame.

Our plans

2007-10-28T16:32:00.002Z

These aren't quite the finished plans (I didn't have small enough images copied to hand to scan for here), but these aren't far off final plans.At the front, the main change will be the removal of the existing hideous porches, reinstate an original type canopy over the main door (no.3 on left), and add a false door to no.4.

Its all change at the back! The current eyesore that is the dormer extension on no.4 goes and is replaced with a new first floor extension across the back of the entire property. This will house three bathrooms, a large double bedroom and our dressing room.

On the ground floor we are extending the current extension behind no.3 to include a entrance-cum-boot room which leads into the enlarged kitchen diner with folding-sliding doors, and the flat room replaced with a pitched slate roof. Two sets of french doors lead out of the new main reception under the canopy and on to the garden.

The ground floor will be rendered and the first floor extension will be clad with black weather boarding (barn style)

Here you can see the extent of the first floor extension, the extension of the current roofline to form a canopy along the rear of the house to the back door, and the new gable end windows for the main reception (ground) and study.

The new kitchen/diner replaces the kitchen, utility and bathroom of the current no.3. Receptions 2 and 3 are pretty much as they are now, but in no.4, the existing reception and kitchen are combined to form a great new large reception room with open staircase. The shower-room will serve reception 2 which doubles as a ground floor bedroom.

Upstairs, bedrooms 1 and 2 are as they are now, but with the addition of ensuite bathrooms and a dressing room for bedroom 1. The study is formed out of two existing bedrooms (and will double as another spare bedroom) whilst bedroom 3 and the bathroom are formed by the new extension.