Between Christmas and Easter

It is now over a year since we started the top bathroom. I cant believe how the time has flown. Since Christmas we have had a lot on our plates, with both of us getting back on track workwise.

Chris and Marlon working outside

Outside the drainage has been completed and the sunken patio dug out. Inside skylights have been put into the extension.
In the cellar meters have been moved to the back end and lots of cabling put in so that all TV , internet and phones can be used in many locations around the house.











A staircase has been put down into the basement so we no longer need to climb down using a ladder. We can now start to kit out the utility room. Life is gradually becoming more civilised.

plastering & plumbing

This all happened before Easter, some before Christmas - so a little while back.
We decided to put underfloor heating in all the ground floor rooms, so our lovely old parquet had to come up. We thought we might be able to put it back afterwards, but it just split as it was taken up because it had nails in it.

So insulation down first, then the pipes laid by the plumber, then screed to ensure a material that can retain and radiate heat over a long period of time. This works really well, where there are floorboards and pipes under neath but no screed, very little warmth is produced.Downstairs we now have the boiler room , with boiler and cylinder and all the manifolds, so that there is plenty of space if it needs to be repaired. Pump installed as well, which circulates the hot water, so when you turn a tap on upstairs, there is always hot water coming out almost immediately.

After the floors, we started the plastering. This is the plasterer on stilts up above. All of the basement and ground floor extension had to be done. Below is the media room. Although we wont use it as such for the time being, due to financial considerations, it has had all the wiring done so we can change its use later if we wish.

Meanwhile the new bathroom was being tiled. We got the guy through my builder, but it was a bit of a disaster. Guy spoke no English, he took over 3 weeks,  he made a cock-up of the alcove I wanted in the showers enclosure for washing things, the floor wasn't evenly laid, left the wrong space for the waste pipe, and made holes for the taps too big. 

What a bodge, but because we didn't notice these things till later he got a good write-up on the website, for which I apologise to everyone who uses this building company on the basis of our recommendation. Anyway, walls don't look too bad, but the floor tiles got a bit splashed during plastering, so I am going to have to do a proper clean.

Up on the roof, Chris at last got his way with a satellite dish, apparently the best option for us, although we wont get Sky Sports or Polish TV, so not sure exactly what we will get with it.