Sunday 26 July 2015

#8 Gonna Build a House.

Update to Gonna Build a House...about two months late.

29th April 2015
It's now July 26th and the house is done. 

Almost. 

A few things are still to be delivered like some downstairs window blinds, and some furniture items, but that never stopped anyone from moving in before and hasn't stopped my family from moving over to the new house tonight.  

What a weird situation it is, but we'll get used to the new housing arrangements pretty quick!

On my last blog about the house, we were at the 'getting finished on the outside' stage. The interiors took shape as oiled as clockwork and things like this photo below were hand crafted in situ.

29th April 2015
What is it? 

The spiral staircase...

This was created in what is the family living room of the downstairs open plan area and was then moved into position. How the joiners/ builders managed that I don't know, because the house was a 'no entry' place at that time.

Upstairs, the bedroom built-in wardrobes were also being constructed and all mirrored doors were in place. 

The whole house was really looking great, the joinery work an impressive thing to see coming to life.

By the 13th May the plasterer was in to do the joins in the plasterboard walls and to get the place ready for the final paintwork.
13th May 2015



The outside of the actual house might have been almost done but the landscaping wasn't. That was underway by the 15th May 2015. 

Tons of granite chips were delivered for the hard landscaping around the house. 





15th May 2015

 



A few days later, on the 19th May, turf was laid around the back and down the side of the house. There was still plenty to do, though, to improve on the front of the house and to the inside.


 
19th May 2015








The 20th May came and the stairs to the upper floor were completed with hand rails, bannister and top railing.

Things were happening on the driveway, i.e. more channels dug, for the gas to be laid in though by then the othe services were up and running.

The kitchen and utility areas were built in with only some finishing tasks to be completed. 



20th May 2015

The first coats of paint had been applied to the interior walls but it was to take around 5 coats for most walls to be covered properly. Since the painter was only scheduled to work on Friday and Saturdays, that job took a few weeks to complete with drying stages in between.

The house was looking stunning.

The builders had moved out - their job done to perfection.


By the 6th of June, it was beginning to look like the images you'd see on an estate agents brochure. The outside was spectacular, not a trace of building materials had been left around and the original driveway had been scrubbed clean. The workmanship was superb both inside and outside.

What followed to the interior is too private for me to blog about since it isn't my house, and it's not my garden either.

The purpose of this series of blogs was to highlight the stages it takes to create a new house which meets the required specifications for energy saving and local government requirements.

The last comment will be to add that the beautiful red bloc paving outside the front of the house wasn't the first way that area was finished . The level laying of granite chips up to the front door had meant a step up into the house via the front door and the patio doors. That step- up wasn't sufficient for the current local authority regulations. Since a wheelchaor user would have had some difficulty to enter the house, the planning department insisted that a concrete ramp be laid into the front door.

The planning department then compromised and agreed to a gradual slope being created with lok-bloc pavers leading to a level area directly ouside the front of the house, with easy access for a wheechair user.

With all the services in, and all of the red tape and legalities tied up, the house is now ready for entry. I hope any readers of this blog will join me in saying congratulations to both my daughter and family, the builders and the contracted tradesmen for a job fabulously well done!

Welcome to the new home... 

Slainthe!

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