It's all about the bricks

Right, where were we? Winter was approaching, things got cold and damp, the days grew short and building slowed down a bit. But now we're off again, running.

Here's a re-cap on what went on in the dark months.

How to build a floor. Step one, empty the house.

Then bring in the gravel. Lots of gravel.

No doorframes or heads were harmed in this process.

Level the gravel. then level it again.

Then work through the night compacting it.

Lay down plastic, then add sand. More sand than you think, or more than I thought anyway.

so for a while there we had a beach inside! Just coz.

See!

Right! Time for those bricks. 2000 second hand reds arrived as ordered.

sorted and cleaned

and on to the fun part.

and on, and on. This is still happening, to be completed soon, but meanwhile, outside, just for something different...

I built a wall. Nice to stack bricks up for a change, rather than lay them down.

April already?

So the long summer came to an abrupt end and we were reminded what building is like when the weather turns to damp, as it does. Reluctantly I moved out of the comfort of my in-house workshop and focused on the outside bits, while I still could.

Joe the digger man came round and before long there were trenches going in all directions

which were swiftly filled with pipes and buried again.

In the bathroom, the shower, which I'd lined earlier, turned green. I like it. Pity it won't stay that way.

Then the hard working eave lining team reunited and finished off the jigsaw right the way around the back of the house.

Day one.

Joe the digger man also left me with a trench. The beginnings of something big.

wait for it

Wonderful stuff. The hard part is knowing how much to order.

Here's an example of too much.

So what does one do? Make pavers!

And then Michelle got involved.

Wall. The start of.

And some paving. Why not.

And finally some more sexy shots of the front of the house. It's now rendered and waterproofed, so next time you see it the plastic will be off the windows and there may even be some doors!

New year, same but different.

So, how did we end up at the end of the year? Externally not a lot has changed, but now the roof is connected to the water tank and that's filling up nicely. Michelle has started rendering around the windows and getting distracted with some cool arty bits that will be revealed soon.

Internally, I admit, may look like a bit of a shambles, and, well, it is.

The plumbing and wiring are in

But the big news is the batts we've had in storage ( and moved several times ) are finally making their last journey!

this one being numero uno.

and eventually the smallest room of the house was cozy.

and lined. About this time I cracked a rib and had to stop building for a couple weeks. Frustrating, as we're in the middle of five weeks holiday from work, but not much can be done about that.

                          

 and here's a taster of the fancy stuff to come.

This and that.

Yep it's been a while. But things have been going on and progress has been made, mostly to the front wall, but I felt there were already too many photos of the scaffolding so I've been waiting for it all to go before the BIG REVEAL.
But first, the progress so far.

After a day of scratching our heads trying to figure this out, Wazza (genius plasterer) and I got stuck in to the eave lining.

but after two days we only got this far.

Eventually it was done and I could add the fascia proper.

and paint it.

Next, Chris (genius roofer) could return and fit the front flashing, thus finishing the roof!

                                          

TA DA!

And so thats where we're at. The final render will go on eventually but right now the focus is on installing the wiring and getting the plumbing sorted.
Stay tuned.

All hail the Render Queen

So one rainy day Michelle decided to tackle the fun job of smearing mud all over the walls to make a uniform surface and to fill any cracks, technically known as rendering.

I think she quite enjoyed it

Looks like a real one!

On a sunnier day I put in the last of the glass; very satisfying indeed.

OK so not everything goes according to plan. The fascia that I'd made out of plywood and was very proud of got a bit friendly with the rain and swelled up and twisted and generally ruined itself. So I ripped it off and replaced it. Broke my heart but the result is even better than the first version.

and it's made from marine plywood which as the name suggests is waterproof, and just to be sure I've sealed it. Ha!

Meanwhile the render queen was back in action, turning this wall from this....

to this. I know it's abit hard to see and it's dark because it's wet bit stay tuned cause before your very eyes....

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