Cubism

Well, the house is still a black cube. Both my timelapse cameras might as well have the last week's pics deleted as they will show no change.

That doesn't mean there's been no change though. Inside, Lyn has sealed all the joins in the panels, by a combination of airtight tape, purple paint (yes that's a thing) and spray filler. This is because at a certain point, which will obviously be after we fit windows and doors and finish the roof, the house will be tested for leaks.

Take that, Victorian brick house ventilation types.

If it (the house) does leak, we'll do what all good cyclists do in puncture situations, and blow it up. No we won't, that was a joke.

Outside, the drains are nearly finished, work has continued on digging and planting the gardens, and today this:

Paul is rebuilding the front doorway arch. It's needed doing for a long time and it will allow that whole wall to be pointed in the same way as the North and South walls, which Lyn and Andy have made such a lovely job of.

We've also taken delivery of a huge amount of insulation material, which will make this the warmest house in the world. It's being fitted as we speak.

We're still on target to move in late August. Can't believe it's come round so fast after the trials we went through.

More soon.

Monolith

Starting to look a bit monolithic..

More soon

First floor.. and ROOF

A few pics of the upper floor and roof

Good eh?

The house got rained on overnight, which is not ideal but it will cope alright. Soon it will be covered in black membrane, including all the openings, so the trades are going to have to work under temporary lighting. If we have a heat wave (don't laugh) I'll not envy them working inside a black box. Plenty of tea would be my advice. Actually one of the potential problems with living in this type of house is overheating in Summer. The upper floor rooms all have south facing windows as well. I think we'll need some good blinds.

Today I handed over the electrical design drawings (overly grand name for some noddy sketches) so the electrician can quote us for his part. 

More soon

Ground Floor

So it's Wednesday, the crane arrived Monday and leaves today, and progress has been nothing short of meteoric.

I've just returned from my usual lunch-time stroll to site, and the first floor is well underway. I'm told the house will be roofed and parapeted by Monday. We are beside ourselves with happy.

In the last photo above you can see the pieces of cardboard, representing our large items of furniture, which we've been using to plan where everything will go. As mentioned, this is the whole ground floor as it will be - there'll be no more walls or partitions, so living room/dining room/kitchen are all here. The staircase and downstairs loo will be behind the partition to the right. Must say, that French window is going to be impressive.

Meanwhile, instead of watching all this happen, my very grown up and responsible mrs has been pointing the remaining chapel walls..

The scraped, and the scraped not

More soon :-)

Digging

Half the house arrived yesterday on pallets. The rest will arrive Tuesday and be craned into place by a crack team of experts from McVeigh Offsite.

By Friday a house will stand where we always hoped it would. Cannot wait.

We're digging and sowing seeds all over the place. Mostly wildflowers, which will probably flower next year. It's hard work for a desk jockey, but good for my beleaguered back muscles.

The tilled, and tilled not

We had hoped to finish and sow seeds in this section adjacent to the road, but sitting here now, with a pint and a broken body, I realise it's good to know one's limits.

More soon

Progress

So progress is being made all over the shop. We now have the scaffolding inplace, inside which the house will be constructed in just two weeks time

Also the permanent steel is now the only steel, having been properly bonded to the front wall..

..and the old steel has been put to good use..

I had a little walk around at first floor level

We're now able to check out what will be the views from bedroom windows. Particularly the main bedroom, which will look out of the three windows towards Kinder Scout and Chinley Churn.

The trusty cameras are still busy time-lapsing the project from two angles, and I spend whole evenings cutting out the parts where nothing changes, preparing a nice movie for when it's all done. 

There's now a working platform to help with construction of the upper section of the house..

Lyn found some video she took in the very very early days. Shocking to think how much growth there was actually inside the chapel.

More later..