Finished!

We've been very lazy about updating the blog - we blame the fact that it's finished and we were desparate to move in!  As you can see from the piccies, we are now in the bedroom, albeit without a door as we need to cut a lot more off it to allow for the thick pile carpet we have had laid. 

The builders and plumbers were back the next day and finished off the bathroom.  We now have to tile the shower area and and finish it off other bits and pieces before we can use it, but at the moment our priority are the children's bedrooms (4).  We have now completed 2 of them and are currently working on the next 2. 

For anyone reading this blog via the Elite Lofts website - choose Elite.  Marcus and Simon were fabulous and did a wonderful job.  We weren't sure exactly what to expect when they started, but they were like part of the family and treated our property as if it was theirs.  Much coffee cup returning, hoovering and sweeping of the patio was carried out and the only mess left in the house was that of our own making (ie. we didn't bother to dust! and we have stuff in boxes everywhere).  If we need any other work carried out, Elite will be our first choice.  Once again, thank you to Marcus and Simon.

Day 38 - Bathroom and Clear Out

Today the plumbers and builders worked together to fit the units into the bathroom and access hole to the floor so that we can reach one of the mascerators if needed.  The other mascerator required the carcasses of the fitted units to be butchered.  The plumbers will be back tomorrow to finish off and Marcus and Simon cleared out all their stuff from the loft and the garage and the scaffolding, with the exception of the circular saw and nail gun which will be needed when they pop back to finish off the skirting in the bathroom when the plumbers are done.   Only one problem - when they cut the panel for under the basin, the manufacturer's template was followed - but it was wrong.  So David picked up a new panel and that will be fitted when Marcus comes back.

Day 37 - The Plumbers and Snagging

After a few hours of successful decorating over the weekend, we were ready for the plumbers today.  By the end of the day the three radiators were on the walls and working, and issues regarding the plumbing in of the mascerators and fitted cupboards were discussed and ironed out.  Marcus was still away on his long weekend, but Simon was here to do items on the snagging list, finish off the architrave on the stairs, clear off the scaffolding and again, tidy up with a view to being finished tomorrow.  Marcus and Simon will both be here to clear everything out, finish any snagging and help with the installation of the bathroom (as there will be bits of carpentry to be done).  The end is in sight - or rather the end of the building work and the beginning of the major redecoration programme for the whole house.

Day 36 - Bits and Pieces

Both Marcus and Simon here today. The doors were finished off and then they were both out on to the roof to complete some more work out there including putting in some air vents.  Marcus left early for a long family weekend which left Simon to do more bits and pieces and have a sort out and clean up.  We had asked for all their stuff to be left in the middle of the room so that we can do some decorating over the weekend so that when the plumbers come on Monday the walls behind where the radiators will go will be already painted.  We are also to do our snagging list over the weekend.

Day 35 - Fire Doors and Staircases

Simon carried on with the fire doors today with only the heat strips to be stuck in them tomorrow. Marcus carried on with the new staircase handrails and spindles etc. and also cut out the old ones on the existing staircase and changed them to match. They will be back tomorrow to do a few bits and pieces but essentially their job is done. There will be a bit of skirting to put in once the plumber has finished his bits.

Day 34 - Fire Doors

The order of the day was fire doors - nine of them to be fitted and handles on existing doors that are staying (3!) to be changed. No easy task as the old door frames are not square. One door in particular had to have the top chopped off at a very odd angle. No choice on having fire doors - building regulations. An amazingly time-consuming job which will have to be continued tomorrow.

Day 33 - More Woodwork

Marcus was only here for half the day as he had to go and meet the man who would be doing his yearly electrician accreditation (NICEIC). However, Marcus was back with him in the afternoon as he has to show two of his jobs to be scrutinsed. After a while they left and Marcus will be back again tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Simon got on with more of the time-consuming jobs. We now have a bedroom door with handle! Oh, the smallest thing is so exciting! However, it now really feels like a room and we are much warmer in the hallways. He also worked on the staircase some more.

Day 32 - Woodwork

Marcus and Simon spent today finishing off the skirting boards and making the cupboards in the study area and other bits and pieces, most notable of which were the handrail and spindles for the upper part of the new staircase. That part is still not finished though as more decorative bits of wood need to be added. We are now at the point where all the woodwork to be done is fiddly and time-consuming, especially all the fire doors that need to be fitted throughout the house.

We also had a visit from the plumber who has been away in New Zealand for a few weeks. As a result of this, he can't get to us till next Monday to fit our bathroom and the radiators in the study and bedroom. But for the radiators and the bedroom door, the loft area is no longer a loft but a study and bedroom ready for decorating.

T.V. Aerial Revisited

Having spent a lot of time and money erecting a new telly aerial back in December, I've been rather disappointed by the results. My plan was to be able to receive transmissions from Crystal Palace rather than via the Bishop's Stortford relay. This has worked to some extent, but even with a big masthead amplifier the analogue signal is not really acceptable. I can get some of the digital channels with enough signal quality to watch, but until the switchover in three years I would like a better quality picture. With the scaffolding coming down in a week or so I've had to decide what to do - live with the set-up I've got now, or change it. I decided to keep what I've done so far - and add to it. The other transmitter I can use is Sudbury, so I bought a wideband aerial and pointed it over in that direction. This produces a half decent analogue picture, but due to the lower power on the digital side it doesn't give me enough signal to get a reliable picture on Freeview. I've diplexed the two aerials together so that I get channels 21-37 from Crystal Palace and 39-69 from Sudbury, put them through a variable masthead amplifier turned up full and then through a 4-way distributer to feed the loft, lounge, kitchen and the stereo. This gives the main four channels reasonably well from Sudbury, plus a variable channel 5 from Croydon (just behind Crystal Palace) and some of the digital from Crystal Palace. That should be OK up until the digital switchover - then I'll just have to hope that the increased power digital transissions will give me a useable signal from one side or the other. The fly in the ointment is the diplexer, which is not screened (apparantly no one makes a screened UHF+UHF diplexer). I noticed some interferance on the analogue channels, so I hope that won't lead to fatal crashes on the digital.

Day 31 - Plastering, Electrics, Woodwork

As promised, Jim (and assistant) were back this morning at 7.30 followed a short time later by Marcus and Simon.  Jim got stuck in with the last of the plastering and Marcus and Simon worked on the electrics - smoke alarm, sockets, lights, switches.  Jim was gone by 11am and Marcus and Simon left at 2pm after testing all the aforementioned and having started on the skirting boards and the bedroom door frame.  We then moved up some of the bathroom bits and pieces and put together the carcasses for the fitted units ready for the plumber next week.  It's really feeling like a proper room now and we are so close, but of course so far, as there will be lots of decorating to do. 

Day 30 - Let's Get Plastered!

Bright and early this morning (7.15am), Jim (the plasterer) and his team of 3 turned up and within minutes were busy working on their designated section of the loft and landings.  It was a long day for them and most of the areas they were working on were awkward.  However, they did a fantastic job.  A little bit still to do but Jim says he will come again tomorrow (Saturday) for a couple of hours and finish off.

Marcus and Simon drew the short straw with both of them having to be out of the way and therefore outside in the freezing wind and sleet.  They finished off the cladding and guttering etc. to the outside of the dormer, tidied up various bits and then headed off early as there was nothing more they could do with the plasterers in the way inside.  They will also come back tomorrow to finish off the electrics.

Day 29 - Cladding

Last night Marcus and Simon cleared out the bedroom and office areas so that the plasterers would have easy access to the walls and ceilings (fortunately as the bathroom has been completely done, they put everything in there) but in the end the plasterers didn't come today. However, they will be back tomorrow (3 of them! plus assistant) and if necessary will come on Saturday morning to finish off. Simon started work on the electrics and the smoke alarms (which need to be run off the mains and connected to each other on each floor) while Marcus went to buy the cladding for the outside of the dormer. A little later, Marcus was out on the scaffolding in the rain/sleet putting it up. A very cold and wet job today for Marcus but a nice warm and dry one for Simon!

Day 28 - Last of the plasterboarding

Marcus has already cut a channel in the wall of one of the bedrooms (for mains to go down to the fuse board in the outside cupboard) on the first floor which was plastered over yesterday, and today they finished the other plasterboarding that needed to be done. This included some on the wall by the stairs, part of the bedroom wall and also the whole of the first floor landing ceiling (covering over the loft hatch). Holes for the lights and sockets and switches were cut where the plaster has been done and ordering of other bits and pieces that are required for the project.

Day 27 - Plasterboarding and Plastering

The doorbell went at 7.45am this morning and I thought that'll be Marcus, but in fact it was Jim the plasterer with his assistant Darren. They were unable to get to their Tuesday job because of the weather so had checked with Marcus that they could come and get started on our job. Nice surprise. We now have a fully plastered bathroom, bedroom ceiling and landing area. They'll be back on Thursday.

Marcus and Simon turned up just after the plasterers. They carried on with more plasterboarding and various other bits. The last bits of plasterboarding will be done tomorrow - including the first floor landing where the loft hatch is.

Today - Snow!

Along with a lot of the country, we have woken up today to rather a lot of snow. Having called Marcus at home early this morning, it was decided that it wasn't really a good idea for him and Simon to venture out, so a day to enjoy the snow was agreed upon. As for tomorrow, we'll have to wait and see.

Day 26 - More plasterboarding

Marcus and Sam spent today...............plasterboarding! What fun! More plasterboards were delivered and the skip was taken away and replaced with a smaller one. The plasterer, Jim, popped in during the afternoon to discuss his role in the conversion. He'll be coming on Wednesday next week with his workers and will be here for 3 days. Marcus and Simon should be cladding the dormer during that time.

Day 25 - More plasterboarding

Marcus and Sam again today. Nothing more interesting than plasterboarding. Oh, except Marcus's father came for a quick look. Extremely dusty job - the floor looks like it's been carpeted in white!

Day 24 - Building Inspector Visit 3

The building inspector came again today, this time to inspect the insulation (with a warning not to change it once he had gone!) and to inspect the staircase. He was very happy with it all so now Marcus could get on with putting up the plasterboard. Yet another very dusty job.

Day 23 - Insulation Finished

Marcus and Sam today (Simon on holiday this week). The rest of the insulation was put in/up which all takes time because of the shapes of the roof etc. (I did try speaking to a higher up building control man to see if there was any way to lessen the depth of the insulation being put in so that our headroom was not compromised, but again, no luck. Well at least we have tried and, in fact, although David cannot stand up straight in the study part of the loft, he'll be sitting at his desk if he is in there and it doesn't feel too bad at all. Very glad we put in the extra Velux though). The plasterboard arrived and it took lots of trips up and down the stairs to get it all into the loft. A good tidy up at the end of the day as well ready for the building inspector again tomorrow.

Day 22 - Insulation and Windows

Just Simon today. Marcus was out and about doing stuff and Simon got on with the insulation. (Tried talking the building inspector into letting us do something different with regards to insulation as the headroom in the front part of the loft is so low, but he was having none of it. "U Values" is the problem. The government have set out the rules and that's that. The fact that safety will be compromised with us banging our heads all the time is not as important as ensuring that our loft is warm enough and not letting heat out into the world. Why oh why can't be it be up to us to decide whether we want to be warm or cool. Simon has said that he has never put in so much insulation in a conversion before and reckons we won't even need the radiators that are being put in. Yet again, stupid rules made by people who haven't got a clue what goes on in the real world.) Then Marcus turned up late afternoon with the windows for the bathroom and bedroom, put them in and went again! It's getting there and now we're impatient for it to be finished. Will try a higher positioned building inspector on Monday and flash my eyelashes - you never know!

Day 21 - Staircase and Insulation

Sam was here today so more of the insulation was completed. Marcus and Simon concentrated on the widening the staircase hole and working out exactly where the bedroom wall between bedroom and staircase hole could go. We have ended up with a slightly larger landing and also a little sort of cubby hole which will be useful. By the end of the day they had had a good tidy up and moved the rest of the insulation from outside into the loft. It was fab to be able to walk up and down the stairs with the coffees and now it is so much easier to see what they're up to.

Day 20 - Staircase

Hurray! There've fitted the staircase. A time consuming job (and particularly dusty and dirty), especially as a hole had to be cut into the ceiling of the largest bedroom and its concrete wall. It has taken out just a little corner of that room so doesn't affect it at all - except of course it will need redecorating. However, we are going to be redecorating everywhere anyway! The staircase hole isn't completely finished as they need to take the ceiling back some more due to building regulations about headroom. At the end of today we were able to nip up, ducking down where necessary, and even the boys got to go up and have their first look at the loft rooms. Sam wasn't here today after all (not very well) so no more insulation was put in.

Day 19 - Insulation

Today was going to be the installation of the stairs, but Marcus assures us that this will just create a chimney up to the loft for all our heat to go up and escape, so it would be better for him to concentrate on insulating the loft and putting the stairs in tomorrow. So, a very dusty day for the boys, cutting and fitting the insulation. Not completely finished yet but Sam is back tomorrow and he will carry on with the insulation while Marcus and Simon put in the stairs.

Day 18 - Floorboards

A delivery of insulation, wood and floorboards arrived this morning followed by the delivery of the new stairs which are now cluttering up the hall until they are installed.

The main job for today was floorboards. These are now down everywhere (including in the eaves cupboards) but not secured down in the bathroom so that the plumbers can do the second fix later in the job. Not much else to say really!

Day 17 - Building Inspector Visit 2

A lot of progress today.  It started with the fourth and final Velux window being installed.  The roofers also completed the roof, it being a mild day with no frost forecast tonight.  (Cladding and gutters etc. still to be done by the builders.)  The building inspector also attended to inspect the floor joists and main structure.  He was very pleased with what had been done (his exact words to us "Where did you find him?  You did very well there.  He's very good.") and gave Marcus the specs for the insulation.  This is a bit of a blow, since he wants the insulation to be continuous below the roof joists, rather than up between them.  This brings the ceiling down anther 40 mm, which means we'll be just below 2 m.  Apparently they can be more flexible on stairs height than they can on insulation, so the whole room will suffer.  I asked him if there were any options, but apparantly that is all that East Herts allow.

With the building inspector and the roofers out of the way, Marcus and Simon got on with the electrical first fix, which includes dropping wires through the ceiling onto the landing.  I had a chat with Marcus about when he's planning to finish.  He says two more weeks, then the plasterer, then a few more days for the final fix and he'll be out by Friday 13th February.

Day 16 - Structure Complete

The day started with a hasty meeting about the bathroom.  Having spent most of the night considering our options we delivered our verdict to the plumbers, who straight away got down to moving the pipes they had already laid for the basin and shower.  They were also able to complete the macerator discharge pipe now, which luckily didn't have to change (because they hadn't done that end of it yet).  Then they came inside and connected up all the pipes in the airing cupboard.

Meanwhile, Marcus and Simon carried on with the remainder of the structural work.  They completed the dwarf wall on top of the steel beam which will become the wall of the stairwell.  They removed the purlin from above the stairs, where it will be in the way, and trimmed the joists for the last Velux window.  They also installed a big chunk of timber to support the end of the front ridge beam.

By 15:30 they were taking bags of rubbish to the skip, so we got a quick progress update.  The structure is now all complete, so the building inspector will be coming to inspect it tomorrow.

The next phase is electrical first fix before the chicken-wire goes down with insulation on top.  The evening was spent finalising where the sockets and lights are going to go.

We Have a Problem

Steve the plumber mentioned it first. As he measured up for where the pipes had to go, he said we were a bit tight between the wash basin and the shower. There wouldn't be room to stand in front of the basin, let alone bend over to wash your face.
We checked our plans and realised that we had drawn the wash basin smaller than it really is. So it was our planning error. And something has to be done about it - the bathroom will be unusable if we build it as planned. We have a few options:

• Re-arrange the whole bathroom and put the shower on the opposite wall. This would require a different window (the original has already been ordered).
• Get a smaller shower (we've already bought the big one).
• Get a smaller basin - such as a counter-top one.
• Move the walls to make the bathroom bigger - clearly not a cheap option at this stage.

After a sleepless night and a lot of thinking, we decided to go with a combination of a smaller shower and a minor re-arrangement of the furniture. This will lead to a bit of re-work by the plumbers, and we'll have to sell that big shower enclosure on ebay (what would we do without ebay?) At least now we will have a bathroom that works, even if our shower won't be quite the monster we had been expecting.

Day 15 - Roofers and Plumbers

At 07:55 this morning we had a couple of roofers sitting in their van waiting for Marcus. At 09:00 two plumbers turned up. The plumber had a delay on another of his jobs, so he was shortly joined by a third plumber. So it's been busy up on the scaffolding today! The roofers have finished the dormer cheeks with very neat looking tiles. (The front will be uPVC cladding, so not their problem.) They stopped quite early, but they will be coming back soon to finish off. They couldn't finish today because they needed to use some mortar, which needs a temperature of at least 4 degrees to cure it - which was not available today. The plumbers ran flexible pipes up to the bathroom and spent a lot of time worrying about how they were going to do our macerators. We are using two macerators, one for the shower and one for the toilet. They need separate pipes all the way to the soil stack and use different diameter pipes. The upshot is that the two discharge pipes take completely different routes across the loft and individually required their own set of head-scratching and technical advice from the manufacturers. I'd agree with all advice I've had - if you can possibly avoid a macerator, do.

Meanwhile, Marcus and Simon quietly got on with the rest of the supporting walls in the study and under the East-facing slope of the main roof. This included the stud wall to separate the bedroom and study areas. This is almost complete, and they move on to the wall round the stairs tomorrow.

Day 14 - Two More Windows

Today should have been the roofer again, but he was delayed on another job - he's coming tomorrow. Marcus and Simon spent most of the day putting two Velux windows in the North-facing slope of the study. There being two windows, they spent a lot of time cutting the tiles to fit the space between. A sharp shower in the afternoon tested the waterproofing. They also completed more work on the purlin wall on that side of the study. We can now see much better how the internal walls are going to be arranged, and the reason they're doing some things the way they are. Not all as we would have designed it had we started with a clean sheet - but of course we didn't - we started with a roof that we had to be supported safely.

Day 13 - Simon Alone

Monday 12th January, only Simon was here. Marcus had to go out and order the windows and do other things that builders do when they're not on site. Simon worked away on the details. He erected the stud-work for the bathroom and the supports for the purlin walls across the centre of the house. He also did some other details, such as putting wooden chocks in the ridge steel beam to take the plasterboard, and noggins all over the place.

Day 12 - A Very Busy Day

Just before 8am the skip man arrived with the skip. Unforunately we are at the end of a dead-end road which he didn't realise and he therefore had to reverse all the way out back on to the main road and then reverse down our road. Skip is now at the bottom of the garage ramp. Simon appreared just before the skip man left and then Marcus turned up with Sam the labourer, swiftly followed by the large lorry delivering the tiles for the sides of the dormer. (There was nothing else on the lorry and it looked rather ridiculous with just our few tiles!). Then the roofers appeared. So by the end of the day the dormer roof was completed and watertight but the cheeks will have to wait until they are back on Tuesday. Sam kept busy (and warm, it was freezing) filling the skip and carrying tiles up to the top of the scaffold while Marcus and Simon concentrated on removing the old roof joists. David and I had decided to go up and take a look over the weekend but then David rang to tell me he had done his back in (as of today, he can still hardly walk) so if I wanted to have a look I'd have to do it while M&S were there. So, braving the cold and the ladder, I climbed up to the top of the scaffolding. However, now that they have covered the framework, the only way into the loft is up another ladder and through the window hole. Not a very elegant way to enter my bedroom for the first time. Anyway, once inside I was very impressed. No floor yet (can't have one till all the plumbing and electrics are done) so it was a question of being very careful walking along the floor joists. There was a little bit of our old boarding around and of course as the head height is not much I was able to put my arms above my head and hold on to the new roof joists as well. I even made my way over to the Velux window and had a look outside.

Next week should be busy. The Building Inspector is due back, the roofers are coming on Tuesday to finish their work, more Velux windows should be put in (another 3 to go), the plumber is coming to do his first fix, Marcus may well do his first fix of the electrics (he's a qualified electrician) and with any luck the staircase could be in by the weekend. Fingers crossed.

Day 11 - More Dormer Work

Today was spent putting the sides and front onto the dormer frame (and presumably other bits I don't know about). Not much else to say really, except got Marcus to take a photo of the inside as well.

Day 10 - We have a Dormer!

Marcus was greeted this morning with Nicole informing him that we have changed our minds about the size of the bathroom window following a redesign of the layout. Now it's going to be 1500 and as they are building the dormer today, leaving the holes for the windows to the bathroom and bedroom, there is no going back. Well, we could change it again, but that would mean paying more money to have the work redone, so we had better be happy with what we have decided! And then they were off. Marcus was up onto the ridge and started taking the ridge tiles off. Unfortunately, they are old and were extremely well cemented on. He has to resort to the angle grinder to remove them. Then off with the tiles and felt - and we had a big hole where our roof should be. Then up with the new wood for the frame and then the beginnings of the new flat roof, the plywood. Unfortunately they lost time this morning with the ridge tile problem and so they couldn't quite get to where they would have liked to have finished for the day, despite working their ***** off. So they weatherproofed it all, cleared up and called it a day, especially since it was now dark. It looks fab. Can't wait to go into the loft and see how it really feels.

The other event of note today was that the plumber, Steve, turned up for a site meeting. Having spoken to Marcus and both of us, all is agreed and seems to be fine - and he wasn't even too shocked that we were going to have not one, but two macerators in the bathroom. Reason for this is that we can use one for the basin and toilet and another for the shower. This means that the one for the shower can be located beneath the floor, thereby keeping the shower tray on the floor and leaving plenty of headroom once we are in the shower. If the shower tray had to be raised it would be a tight squeeze, though not impossible. He will be back towards the end of next week for the first fix.

Day 9 - More of the Same and a Window!

The rest of the floor joists were laid down today and then a nice surprise, there was time to do one of the Velux windows in the study. It really feels like it's taking shape now. Decisions were reached on the new bannisters and spindles. Also finalised the finishes of the dormer - white plastic cladding along the back (to match what's on the lower level) and tiles to the sides.