Finishings.
24 Nov 08Kitchen worktop fitted...by Granite Transformations - John and Lewis do the technical stuff.
Its coming together
Dog's on guard...
Sparkly worktop...sparkling...
Extractor hood goes in and appliances get fitted properly..
Door frames in production... mass production.
Electrician puts in an appearance to fit the LED's into the floor by the windows...
Hinges being fitted to the doors after being made on the jig...jig is sitting on the pile of doors...
Stair posts go in...don't worry about the wood infills - these are plywood templates for glass manufacturing...
Its well ... a shiny door hinge!
There's materials everywhere!! Flooring, skirtings, facings and a plate for the staircase..
Jimmy works so fast he is just a blur!!!
02 December 2008
Stevie cracks on with hanging doors and fitting facings and skirtings..
Meanwhile Jimmy gets on fitting a faceplate to the midfloor, a trim piece ..then its back to flooring!
Flooring done right the way through to the kitchen!!!
Will the solar gain work? Well it was 2 degrees outside and 19 degrees inside ...that's in a house with no heating yet and plywood for a front door!!!
Back to the staircase...time to make some modifications!!!
Loads of head scratching...its not so easy this!
Test fit - no screws, no glue yet!!
Work stops over the weekend to dig the trench for the telephone connection...the ground is frozen - its been minus 5 degrees overnight but we need to get the cable in for the telephone... our job to dig the trench, get the cable into the box, BT make the connection and charge us the money!
It works!!! The channel I made with the router - adjusted between skirtings and facings matches up and avoids the dreaded skirting blocks!!! A great sense of achievement and a job well done by Stevie.
07 Dec 08
Will we get in for Christmas? It won't be for the want of trying... a busy weekend... but first.... some artist shots of the setting sun showing the edge of the canopy framework.. the beauty of Scotland
Our roofline...
Right back to work! Charles is back with his helicopter and Jimmy gets a trip from Dalgety Bay to his house for some more scenery shots...
Perthshire from 1000 feet..
the fair city of Perth..
Jimmy's new house ...half built but getting there....
hovering above ground....
The village!
We've landed so ...the self builder and the helicopter pilot come SIPS Industries owner have a look a Jimmy's work!
Reason for the visit was delivery of the fish tank ...all 2 metres of it! Takes six of us to carry it...
Made it ...in one piece!
After giving all my family a short trip in the helicopter Charles heads off for home!
Back to the serious stuff... door frame painted to match the cladding...
Plywood templates made for the stairs...glass to be made as per the templates...
then the biggie...can we move the boiler into position????
yup you've guessed it..its going down that hill... whether it wants to or not !
We slide it down on sheets of OSB using a rope round the pick up truck towbar as an emergency brake!
250 kilos with one hand!!! and a rope if you look closely!
A wee bit of advertising for the manufacturer!
Time to unpack it...
Well that was the easy bit...so how do we move it the last 5 yards....
Drilling holes for pipes then its over to the plumber!
As you can see from the flash photography the boiler move took most of the day ...so in the dark the water pipe was bedded in sand for a track inspection by Scottish Water so we can get the water switched on..
Over the last week Jimmy has been left to do his own electricals as the sparky has gone AWOL!!!!
19 Jan 09
Lots of skirtings/facings and doors fitted. Some even have handles and the toilet has a lock!!! Now that's progress !
25 Jan09
Started tiling after the builder let me borrow his boys toys. Giant Tile Cutter!
So coated the floor with a PVA /water mix the night before and switched off the UFH..
Not only does the builder give me a loan of his kit, he even assists getting started...so we make rapid progress. Putting Marbella Limestone down. An off white tile with a very slight crushed shell/sand grain sparkle through it...
Builder heads off and Jimmy gets on with the job in hand..
Job Done! 48 hours before I can walk on them to clean and seal before grouting...
So we are in and chipping away at the odds and ends...but house is perfectly livable and we are in...
We may be in but there's a whole new section of work to do. Work starts on the utility room...
this is down in the underbuild for those who have visited...for the rest of you it makes no sense!
So its framing out with 4 x 2 timbers
Look a door ( no handle) skirtings and facings! A handrail on the stair! Need to get the glass ordered!!
31 Jan 09
Prep work for tiling. PVA / water mix applied to the floor...girls bathroom
Guest bedroom...after all the building a bit of deconstruction. Stevie takes part of the wall down to make way for a pocket door. Plan is to install the pocket door into the guest en suite to maximise space.
Built in vaccum system is up and running... a nine metre hose picks up the debris and feeds it through the pipe into the garage into a great big box...needs emptied every six months... very quiet in operation ...we like it!
The door at the top of the stairs leads to the garage. Have treated it like an outside door and fitted a lock for security and self closer because my family doesn't know how to shut doors...and fire safety I suppose...
Kitchen is 99% finished...just a few wee odds and ends to do but you get the idea!
Giant clock stuck to the wall..very fiddly to fit but we like it!
Tiling starts in the girls bathroom...black polished granite tiles 300mm x 300mm... that's the easy bit now lots of cutting!
Almost there!
Toilet's out to make way for the tiles... better not flush it!
09 Feb 09
So what happened in the last week?
Tiling and grouting ...
A big box arrives..
Inside the box is my mechanical heat recovery and ventilation system with auto summer bypass and built in humidistat..
Downstairs living room grouted...
En-suite tiling with travertine...
Up the front edge of the bath also...
The giant tile saw gives me the chance to avoid using tile decor strips on external corners as it will cut 45 degree mitres..then shaved off the nose to get rid of the sharp edge and the ragged finish...takes about an hour to cut 5 tiles to this finish!
10 Feb 09
Here it comes! For those of you who know me...this picture will make sense... to others there's a story too long to tell here.. Its out in May of this year after 5 years of waiting since American Idiot.
Will we get in for Christmas? It won't be for the want of trying... a busy weekend... but first.... some artist shots of the setting sun showing the edge of the canopy framework.. the beauty of Scotland
Our roofline...
Right back to work! Charles is back with his helicopter and Jimmy gets a trip from Dalgety Bay to his house for some more scenery shots...
Perthshire from 1000 feet..
the fair city of Perth..
Jimmy's new house ...half built but getting there....
hovering above ground....
The village!
We've landed so ...the self builder and the helicopter pilot come SIPS Industries owner have a look a Jimmy's work!
Reason for the visit was delivery of the fish tank ...all 2 metres of it! Takes six of us to carry it...
Made it ...in one piece!
After giving all my family a short trip in the helicopter Charles heads off for home!
Back to the serious stuff... door frame painted to match the cladding...
Plywood templates made for the stairs...glass to be made as per the templates...
then the biggie...can we move the boiler into position????
yup you've guessed it..its going down that hill... whether it wants to or not !
We slide it down on sheets of OSB using a rope round the pick up truck towbar as an emergency brake!
250 kilos with one hand!!! and a rope if you look closely!
A wee bit of advertising for the manufacturer!
Time to unpack it...
Well that was the easy bit...so how do we move it the last 5 yards....
Drilling holes for pipes then its over to the plumber!
As you can see from the flash photography the boiler move took most of the day ...so in the dark the water pipe was bedded in sand for a track inspection by Scottish Water so we can get the water switched on..
Over the last week Jimmy has been left to do his own electricals as the sparky has gone AWOL!!!!
19 Jan 09
Lots of skirtings/facings and doors fitted. Some even have handles and the toilet has a lock!!! Now that's progress !
25 Jan09
Started tiling after the builder let me borrow his boys toys. Giant Tile Cutter!
So coated the floor with a PVA /water mix the night before and switched off the UFH..
Not only does the builder give me a loan of his kit, he even assists getting started...so we make rapid progress. Putting Marbella Limestone down. An off white tile with a very slight crushed shell/sand grain sparkle through it...
Builder heads off and Jimmy gets on with the job in hand..
Job Done! 48 hours before I can walk on them to clean and seal before grouting...
So we are in and chipping away at the odds and ends...but house is perfectly livable and we are in...
We may be in but there's a whole new section of work to do. Work starts on the utility room...
this is down in the underbuild for those who have visited...for the rest of you it makes no sense!
So its framing out with 4 x 2 timbers
Look a door ( no handle) skirtings and facings! A handrail on the stair! Need to get the glass ordered!!
31 Jan 09
Prep work for tiling. PVA / water mix applied to the floor...girls bathroom
Guest bedroom...after all the building a bit of deconstruction. Stevie takes part of the wall down to make way for a pocket door. Plan is to install the pocket door into the guest en suite to maximise space.
Built in vaccum system is up and running... a nine metre hose picks up the debris and feeds it through the pipe into the garage into a great big box...needs emptied every six months... very quiet in operation ...we like it!
The door at the top of the stairs leads to the garage. Have treated it like an outside door and fitted a lock for security and self closer because my family doesn't know how to shut doors...and fire safety I suppose...
Kitchen is 99% finished...just a few wee odds and ends to do but you get the idea!
Giant clock stuck to the wall..very fiddly to fit but we like it!
Tiling starts in the girls bathroom...black polished granite tiles 300mm x 300mm... that's the easy bit now lots of cutting!
Almost there!
Toilet's out to make way for the tiles... better not flush it!
09 Feb 09
So what happened in the last week?
Tiling and grouting ...
A big box arrives..
Inside the box is my mechanical heat recovery and ventilation system with auto summer bypass and built in humidistat..
Downstairs living room grouted...
En-suite tiling with travertine...
Up the front edge of the bath also...
The giant tile saw gives me the chance to avoid using tile decor strips on external corners as it will cut 45 degree mitres..then shaved off the nose to get rid of the sharp edge and the ragged finish...takes about an hour to cut 5 tiles to this finish!
10 Feb 09
Here it comes! For those of you who know me...this picture will make sense... to others there's a story too long to tell here.. Its out in May of this year after 5 years of waiting since American Idiot.
22 Feb 09
Well back to work, some odd jobs on the go at the moment, run out of tiles so need to order more. Cutting holes in walls through block work and the panels to allow connection of the heat recovery system but ran out of connectors... this hole is for the guest room en-suite above the shower..
Well back to work, some odd jobs on the go at the moment, run out of tiles so need to order more. Cutting holes in walls through block work and the panels to allow connection of the heat recovery system but ran out of connectors... this hole is for the guest room en-suite above the shower..
Shower cubicle formed....
15 March 09
Been making my own fire...Its a gel fire so we can have a real naked flame in the house without a flue/chimney etc etc...
Been making my own fire...Its a gel fire so we can have a real naked flame in the house without a flue/chimney etc etc...