Cooking on gas!

At long last everything seems to be coming together as we now have an excellent team to start the build -

Building Surveyor - Steve
Project Manager - Roy
Bricklayer - Dean
Groundworker - Andy
Carpenter - Pete
Plasterer - Tony

I had a meeting with Roy, our project manager, and Steve, our building surveyor, on site this morning. We agreed a plan to start the build within the next week or so. Materials are being ordered, sub contractors being hired, and the all important portable toilet being arranged!

As with any build, and despite its distance from the public highway, we have to erect 6 foot high Harris fencing around the whole build area and place warning notices for all to see. I expect we'll have to buy hard hats too. Regrettably though we have to evict an unwanted tenant as over the weekend a rabbit has burrowed into the bank created by our footings. Its quite surprising (although not remarkable) just how much earth the rabbit has excavated in that short time.

As we had made a number of changes to the original plans submitted to the building regulations people, our building surveyor, Steve, recommended that we retained the block and beam floor rather than going for a suspended timber floor (which he felt might have offered better insulation). But as the changes to the roof and other areas had been rejected as too significant for minor amendments, but agreed as alterations, it was felt that any more changes might have been refused as a radical change to the plans that could have resulted in a new planning application and all that entailed - NO THANKS! You can see the bureaucracy rearing its head again here, can't you? Roy has therefore sent our plans to the concrete beam manufacturers and we await their quotation.

We also had various discussions today about making the brickwork a little more interesting and think we will now choose to have a contrasting colour band around the base of the house instead of the idea of a plinth. Current thinking is that we will use a blue brick for this which should work well with the cream that will form the bulk of the walls.

I had a further meeting with Roy this afternoon where we agreed the mechanics of ordering materials - Roy has been able to set up accounts in my name that use his trade discounts (which he will pass on to me). Deliveries to site will be supervised by Roy and his men will be used to offload when necessary. All in all an excellent arrangement.

I expect our next bulletin to show "our" brickwork in place as we work our way to the damp proof course.

"Grinning" of Clifton

Brickies - where are you?.

Well, we seem to be making good progress now. (The photo isn't of our foundations - just a library shot!) Our foundations have more than a little water in them following the heavy rain of the last few days. The other problem caused by the rain is that its made the grass grow at a rapid rate so I'll have to get the strimmer fired up and attack it again during the next few days.

The house plans have all been passed by building regulations and we have now employed a project manager - Roy Bacon - to oversee the build. Roy "retired" two years ago, but is still running his company on a part time basis. His 50 odd years in the building trade, (during which time he's built everything from extensions to houses and even factories) will be immensely valuable to us as he can vet quotes, find tradesmen, and co-ordinate the build - something I lack the skill and time to do. He'll probably put in 1 to 2 hours each day, making sure everything is going to plan. What is quite "remarkable" (Jenny and David please note), is the fact that Roy refurbished the 5 existing cottages at Brookvale in 1991 when they were to be put up for sale by the farmer. So he knows the site and where the services run. He almost sounds too good to be true!

We've now received quotes for the brick and block work, (which Roy tells me are very fair), and that he knows Dean Brazier, the brickie we were recommended, and says he's a good choice.

We've a meeting arranged at Templars (our building surveyors) next Wednesday at which Roy, Steve Rogers (Templars) and I, will establish responsibilities and get down to the serious work of building. Its hoped that the brickwork up to damproof course level will be done by early July, and then we can crack on.

Its funny how nothing seems to happen for ages and then everything happens at once. In today's post I received our trade card that enables me to buy materials at trade prices from a number of leading suppliers - Jewson, Wolseley (known best for their Build and Plumb Centres), and many others.

Also received today, was our formal quotation from EDF for the supply of electricity which followed a site visit with Zoe from EDF on Tuesday last. Just to recap, you may recall that we had been quoted £22,000 by Fulcrum to supply gas to site, and £10,000 by EDF for electricity. By the time that the water and sewerage were added the total forecast cost for the provision of services had topped £35,000. This we felt was ridiculous so we looked elsewhere for gas (now reduced to £3,500) and asked EDF to be more realistic. It turns out that the £10,000 EDF initially quoted was just a guess as they knew we were on the edge of the village, and imagined that the supply would have to be fed from a rather more distant point than it actually is. Unfortunately, the electrical supply has to be taken from a point about 70 feet from the driveway. Nevertheless, the revised quote of £4000 from EDF is a hell of a lot better. Overall then, we should have all main services installed for £10,000, which was the figure I had in mind at the outset.

I've found the last couple of months very frustrating, but I feel that we are starting to get things moving at last. (Not that I haven't been a little preoccupied with the sale of Exxcom, which eventually completed at the end of May!)

Happy bunnies of Clifton

Bricks 'n Tiles

As part of the planning process, the bricks and tiles intended to be used have to be approved by the district council. We had opted for Ibstock's Ivanhoe cream bricks and Ashbury Restoration roof tiles. We will be using what's known as Flemish bond which has one brick laid in the normal way, then a half brick laid end ways as it creates a more pleasing effect.

As usual a trawl of the Internet seemed the best way of finding local suppliers. I very quickly found a company called Fendfine just a few miles away who could supply the bricks and tiles we need at very keen prices. An added benefit was the fact that they could deliver pallets using a four wheel drive fork lift that could unload from the articulated delivery lorry parked in the road, rather than try and manoeuvre the lorry down the narrow drive. It would also keep Mr Rataj quiet as well as even he couldn't call a fork lift "heavy plant"!

More progress today in the form of full building regulations approval for our first submission, although we do have to obtain approval for changes for the vaulted roof we want. That's all in hand through the ever efficient Templars Building Surveyors.

I've also made contact with a recently retired local builder, again courtesy of Templars, who I hope will act as our project manager. I have a meeting set up with him on Monday next.

Tonight our brickie is visiting to check out the plans and provide a quote, so everything seems to be starting to get under way now.

Bob the trainee builder of Clifton