Monday
Arrived to see Jason had done most of the leading around the Chimney on the roof.
Linda was ill today…must have been something she ate for Sunday lunch?? 😉 (Private Joke)
Dave and I needed to put some additional support on the plasterboard in roof of larger property so I climbed into the loft and had to pull all the insulation back and forth until all the batons had been screwed into place from Dave below.
Next job was to cut the bottom of some of the walls in the smaller house which were now all plastered…this was to bring them above DCP level as we expect to have the under floor heating installed by end of week.
To prepare the floor, we had to first put the membrane down which is a thick black plastic sheet that needs to overlap above all the skirting boars (once they are in place)…
In the afternoon we started measuring the various plaster board sizes and I cut them so we were ready to do Dot & Dab the next 2 days with Terry coming in.
We were also expecting the large Celetex sheets to be delivered which are much wider/longer and 100mm thick so not heavy but awkward to carry…and of course they arrive at 4pm so we had to move them all into the smaller house quickly before end of day to keep them dry and protected over night…
Tuesday
Terry was in today so we did Dot & Dab in morning and afternoon so had to clean up twice as you can’t leave the tools for very long…thank god the weather wasn’t that cold as projected for Thursday!!
We managed to get most of the lounge and kitchen done and will finish hallway and study tomorrow…
…and carried on cutting the remaining boards ready to place on the walls the next day.
The electrician also came in and wired off the mains box in the smaller house and tested the connection in both houses to make sure all wiring was working and hadn’t been damaged during the process of running it in the roof and walls…
We also started laying Celetex on top of the membrane in smaller house…
Wednesday
Ed was in to dig a trench from the property to the side of the road and the main power so Western Power can connect us on Friday…and he also knocked down the fence out the front and it was interesting to get an idea of how much space will be cleared at the front of the property…
We finished off the dot & Dab by lunch time although we were 2 sheets short of what we needed and 1 bag of instant mix so we had to order that and will do it later in the week.
Dave and I quickly fixed the outside electrical boxes to the front of each house which is where the mains electricity comes into…
Ed moved to the back of the house and started digging out a trench to the back of both kitchens to feed the waste water pipe…but this proved very difficult as the angle of the pipe we had placed when laying the blocks wasn’t as flexible as we needed.
Lots of chiseling and digging and we finally got 1 done by end of day and will have to do other one tomorrow.
Dave and Terry carried on laying mebrane and celetex in the lounge of the larger house…
Thursday
We finished of the smaller house and put a sheet of polythene on top of all the Celtex and taped all the sheets together…this was ready for the plumbers who came in and started laying the pipes for the underfloor carpet…
Dave and I then focused on getting the pipe connected to the kitchen in larger house and with more digging and chiseling of the stone and mud it only took 30 minutes and we were able to run the long blue water pipe back up into the kitchen and leave the long curled bundle which will be run around front of the house…
We also had a delivery which was a large lorry delivering just 2 plaster boards and 1 bag of adhesive..
We then went back to the larger house and finished laying the membrane, celetex and polythene sheet so by lunch time it was all finished and the plumbers could then move into the larger house to lay the underground heating…
Linda had been varnishing all the door frames and skirting in the smaller house all morning and it looks really great with the white painted walls rather than white trip…and suits the overall cottage feel of the house.
By Lunch time the plumbers had finished installing the underground heating in the smaller house…
…and the control panel and taps were installed for heating in kitchen…
After lunch, Dave, Linda and I then focused back in the smaller house and painting upstairs with a 2nd and 3rd coat and by end of day upstairs was almost done!!
…and by end of day the plumbers had also finished installing the underground heating for larger house along with control panel as well…
Friday
We started the day with my favorite job of the moment…Dot and Dab!!…although we only had to put up 2 more plaster boards so didn’t take that long and I finally took some pleasure in the clean up process as it won’t happen again for a while until we start the next house!!
When the underground heating was installed, the edges between the Celetex and wall were filled with a thing silver spongy material which pushes the membrane up the wall allowing the self leveling cement (being laid on Monday) to form a tight finish and seal…but a few places were misses so I completed that…
The next door neighbours Tree surgeon also came in and started cutting some of the trees back that are across the other land we have and where we will build the next detached houses so was good to that clearing…
Western Power also came into connect the power from the street to our properties so in next few weeks we can turn the POWER ON in the houses!! 🙂
We had a quick trip up road to get the big cooked breakfast before rushing back as Rob (Plumber) was coming later to fit the bathroom so we set about finishing the painting upstairs in the smaller property …this was the 3rd coat of paint and by end of day we had completed upstairs painting and the bathroom was part installed…
Linda had also been varnishing the 4 doors for upstairs and along with the stained wooden door frames, skirting boards and Architraves it looks really great against the white walls and adds real ‘farmhouse’ character to the new builds…
Lots more painting next week as well as the plasters in for a few days (so more jokes and swearing!!) and its time to decide on kitchens and get them delivered ready to install.
Property Development in Mark 