A good bank holiday weekend was had! We had Richard Browne (our plumber friend) come round and lay all the piping for the kitchen ready for appliances and heating etc.
Andy also lay all the wiring for lighting, plug sockets etc which runs on top of the pipes (not pictured).
Saturday was spent cutting insulation for the floor. We had previously started this a good few months ago but the insulation started curving and shrinking which was weird so we started again.
Sunday we got to put our lovely scaffold board flooring down!
Andy did a fantastic job of sanding it all and cutting it to fit the curve.
Once it was down we were able to get a couple of coats of varnish on, giving it a fine sanding in between each coat to stop the shine and keep it looking rustic.
I'm so pleased with how it has turned out, it looks great!
We have stopped at the end there because we need to wait until the new back doors are in. The next planks we put down will be butted up right up against the door. And as we don't fully know what style of door we want, we don't want to put it down and have a gap.
Monday was spent in our lock up sorting out our kitchen! We pulled it all out and decided what we wanted to take back to the house to see what fitted and what looked good. It also gave us a chance to organise everything and do a bit of a inventory ready for when we put the bits we don't use back in ebay. You will be pleased to hear it survived the winter and is damage free.
All week, we've been putting things into position and working out what we like and don't like and what fits.
We think we have finally cracked it this weekend and have roughly put it all into place:
Nothing is fixed down yet including the doors and I will be painting the cabinets. We also need a worktop which Andy has decided to make himself from new scaffold boards so they are nice and chunky and match the floor.
We aren't having any wall cabinets as it looks too cramped but we are going to have shelving and hooks next to the Rayburn to hang sauce pans and things.
The big cabinet to the right is the fridge freezer and the cabinet to the left is where our hot water tank will sit. Because our heating is being run by the Rayburn, the tank needs to be as near as possible to the cooker. The bathroom will be too small to house an airing cupboard and our hall is also too small for one so its ok in the kitchen.
Our corner units we bought as part of the kitchen set were too big so we will need to open up the cabinets in the corner so you can get access into the corner so it isn't wasted space. It will be a sort of custom made corner unit.
Andy also wants us to have a "pop up" microwave on one side and a "pop up" appliance of some kind on the other side to make use of the wasted corner space, keep the tops clear of appliances, and because he wants a mechanical toy to play with!
It's not a bad size kitchen for the size of the house and we will be able to have a dishwasher, washing machine and Belfast sink in there too. We haven't gone down the route of having another cooker or hob for summer use when the Rayburn is off. We will probably buy a plug in single halogen hob, perhaps a Geroge Foreman type grill and with the microwave that should be adequate for summer cooking. The hot water tank will also have an immersion which will mean our summer bills will be pricier than our winter bills!
I will show updated pictures when the kitchen is fully painted and fitted.
No update on the planning front. I haven't spoken to our architect for a few weeks so will have to call him for an update on building control plans also. I think we are just going to do what the council want. If they want us to plant new trees - fine but they will be very small saplings and may disappear as soon as the project is finished!
We will be ready to pull down the extensions soon and then the digger we bought can come out of retirement for the mass digging of foundations and trenches that is to come!
Edit:
This is the kitchen a year ago!
By this rate, our house will be finished in 5 years!
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