Tree surgeons and architects

Sorry for the delay with an update! We went away for the bank holiday weekend so no work was done on the house.

You may remember me saying in the last post that we were due a visit from both the architect and the tree surgeons. Well, they both came!

Lets start with Duncan, the architect. We had another chat around what we wanted and told him we wanted to make the place symmetrical and have 2 bedrooms.

Duncan agreed.

We then said we wanted to pitch the roofs on the extensions and have a vaulted ceiling, so perhaps have the extensions made out of oak frame.

Duncan did not agree.

He said oak frame would be expensive and you would be covering most of it up. He also said that pitch roofs wasn't a good idea. Firstly, it's making more work in that we would need to start messing with the conical roof. Secondly, because the pitch would be so shallow, we wouldn't be able to have tiles so would have to have slate. But this isn't an issue as I quite like slate.

Duncan suggested we go with flat roofs.

Andy and I weren't expecting this as flat roofs are what are there now and quite frankly, they look like sheds. That's all I could imagine them looking like.

But Duncan sent us some examples:

Having seen these, we think it is actually a good idea. We like the over hang and the roof would be zinc, not felt, and the cladding could go vertical not horizontal like a shed.

Also, if we are cladding and/or render the outside, then we could build out of blocks.

It seems like a quicker, easier and cheaper options.

Duncan has already given us a first sketch but I don't want to share that with you as I want you to see all of them at the same time along with the final sketch ;-)

Now for the tree surgeons. It started off a bit wobbly as when they initially came to do the quote, the caravan and shed weren't there. This meant it would take them a bit longer to get around them and get branches down.

But, they did it!! And what a difference:

The lads left us the wood so we can chop it up smaller and let it dry out to use  in our wood burner Aga thing in a couple of years. We just need to find somewhere to store it. It's a lot of wood...

The tree to the left in the 2nd photo is

Playing havoc with our drains. The other tree's roots are coming up through the asphalt on the drive. It would be a shame to chop any of the trees down completely  as the chestnut trees line a lot of the lane, but these 2 are starting to become a pain...

There aren't any TPOs on them. But we are going to wait and see. 

Bean watch update: they've turned black and will start being harvested any day now! It will be odd having open space again!!

Caravan update: sky light was leaking. Now fixed! 

Leaks and levelling

Last weekend, the Briham residence (as we shall now be referred) had to contend with a leak. 

Andy was preparing the gaps in the floor for filling and then he noticed a pool of water where the mains comes into the house. 

This was naturally a bit of a bugger. Andy's good chum and plumber Ricardo Browne came to the rescue and replaced the leaking pipe. He mentioned whilst he was here that he had installed many Rayburns and Aga's, which was useful information as you'll find out further down.

Whilst he was sorting out leak, Andy took out a couple of the doors that are in the corridor going from the main bit to the bedroom.

A little thing like taking an unattractive door off can make such a huge difference I think.

We also had another chap come and assess the house for installation of a Rayburn. As mentioned before, our central heating and hot water is going to be powered by wood. It might well be a pain for Andy in the dead of winter at 6 in the morning to go and start a fire as I want a bath, but its the cheapest option in the long run. 

Electric will cost us a fortune and we can't get gas mains and have no where to put a propane tank and propane isn't cheap.

Anyway, the chap said he can fit the Rayburn and tanks and connect it all up as soon as we want it so that we can have hot water and a cooker available. Then he will just leave some pipes ready for when we finish the place and put radiators in.

He quoted us nearly 8 grand. That's a hell of a chunk of our budget. That's 2 quotes we've had now of around the same price so I think we are going to have to source a reconditioned Rayburn and tanks ourselves and Ricardo do the plumbing in. 

We also bashed some more render off the wall. We're not removing all of it as we are going to have it rendered exactly the same and some of it is sound. It's just a matter of removing the crumbling hollow stuff. 

It's a fun job to do on those days when we can't really be bothered to do something but feel we ought to do something.

This weekend, we put self levelling latex down on the floor. Whilst the quarry tiles are lovely, the floor was cracked and terribly uneven across the room. Pulling them up is easier said than done so we early on said we would have to level, insulate and then we're going to have floor boards as the finish.

We ran out 3/4s of the way through and Andy had to go and get some more, hence the obvious join. But again, it's not going to be the finished look.

We still haven't got the digger back from its service but that's understandable given its harvest time and the combine harvesters take priority over out little Kubota.

The Architect is now back off holiday and is coming round tomorrow for another chat and then we'll hopefully get some sketches soon! Yippee!

I am also very excited about the tree surgeons coming on Wednesday!

Caravan life is still ok, although our sky light is leaking, but its nothing that a saucepan on the floor can't sort out!

Andy bought some insulation so the plan for the weekend coming is to crack on with that for the roof.