On Target (Builders and Me!)

The stone pediment to the front gable is complete.  It was a challenge to install, due to the weight of each individual section, the height at which the stonemason was working, and also the amount of reinforcement and strapping necessary to secure the units in place.  Now the roofers will be able to continue the tiling and will be working on this next week.

The plasterers are under way on the top floor, tacking the ceilings and dwarf walls.  They will be plastering walls and skimming the plasterboard during the early part of next week.  They're expected to be on the top floor for a couple of weeks, before they move down to the floor below.

We were disappointed to discover that the windows, originally due to be delivered today (4th February), will now be arriving a week late.  The manufacturers have had some trouble in their production line.  Thankfully, losing a week is a manageable delay (or so Jon reliably informs us!) and the builders should be able to cope.  Osborne Developments has a long standing relationship with the company and are confident about the high quality of the product.  In their experience, Perform Eco's service and after sales care is second to none.  We shall see!

Catching Up!

Due to a heavy workload recently, I'm a little behind with my blogging - sorry folks!

In an attempt to put matters right, I'll write about progress made over the last couple of weeks, so bear with me if you will, till I get to present day.

21st January:






Scaffolding around the chimneys now struck and we are able to see them clearly from the ground.  The combination of the brickwork corbel detail designed by the architect and the handmade Old Clamp brick looks really good.  Thought went into the style of chimney pot and the stone band around the top, resulting in chimneys that match perfectly with the house.

The roof tilers have begun fixing the slates.  They started with the garage and will be continuing on to the main roof next week.  They now have a clear run and are eager to finish the slating in one hit.

Inside the house, we spent the week ensuring everything is where it should be before the plasterers begin.  First fix on the top floor is complete and the plasterers have started to fit all the rigid insulation to the underside of the rafters.  They are also fitting the metal framed sacrificial ceiling on all floors.  Tacking and plastering won't begin until we are confident that the roof is dry and we are safe from the elements.

My heart missed a beat the other day when I walked into the kitchen to find that the studwork that had just been built to house the refrigerator and larder, was not where it was supposed to be!  I was faced with a brick wall when I tried to enter the larder!  Due to a misunderstanding, Jamie had taken his measurements from the ties in the blockwork and hadn't checked the plan for the correct positioning, so the larder was farther back than it should have been.  Poor Paul, who had just finished the work, had to redo it, but I'm happy to report that it now looks fab!  Disaster averted - in the nick of time!


Insulation - How Thick Can You Get?!



There are still electricians and carpenters completing the first fix on the floors below and once done, we will ensure that all sockets, switches and lighting are where we want them to be. 

The staircase will be finished and poured very soon.  At the moment, the staircase is covered in all the timber shuttering, so it is difficult to get an overall feel for the actual size and shape of it.  Once the timber is struck out, we can begin to finalise the detail on the cladding, balustrading, and handrail.

Jon said that the home-made chocolate muffins handed out to the trades midway through the week were a welcome sight and a highlight for those having to work in close to freezing temperatures all winter long! 


28th January:

The slating on the roof went well this week.  Despite rain, wind and low temperatures, the roof tilers made better progress that we were expecting.  The majority of the slates are now fixed.  Once they are all on, the hips and ridge tiles will be fitted and pointed in.



The boys have also been working on the gable at the front of the property.  The brickwork is up to height, ready to carry the large stone copings.  Due to the weight and design of these stones, the builders asked for input from the structural engineer as to how they should be fixing the stone in place.  He has specified a number of different straps and reinforcement, from the stone through the brickwork and blockwork, fixing into the second floor slab.  They will be working on the stone to the gable next week.

They have also finished pouring the concrete to the primary staircase and we now have a feel for the size and how it will eventually look. 

The metal grid on the ceilings is ongoing and all the first fix is complete, barring a few areas the builders are awaiting information on, namely kitchen and bathrooms.

Looks like the roof is doing its job and keeping the rain out, so the plasterers have the go-ahead to start tacking on the second floor during the early part of next week.

First Fix Finished (Almost!)

We're now approaching the end of the first fix.  The electricians are doing their final sweep through the house, the carpenters only have a few days left and the plumbers have pressure-tested all their pipework.  They carry out two pressure tests - after capping off the pipes, they pump up the pressure of the air inside the pipework and then monitor the pressure to see if it holds.  If it doesn't, they locate the points at which the air is escaping and rectify the leak.  Once they have carried out the air pressure test, they fill all the pipes with water and keep the system on test, checking that it holds for a number of days.  They can then be confident that there are no leaks in the system - hopefully!

Windows to the World

Not such good news to report.  The company that the builders are using, Perform Eco, was supposed to deliver the windows and external doors at the end of January.  This got delayed until 4th February and we are now being told they don't know when they can deliver.  Think we're going to have to ask the builders to put a bit of pressure on the company for a date, as it could put the build behind schedule.  Jon says they'll have to push other activities harder to make back the time.

You have no idea how many windows Paul and I drove past, looking at different styles! We're going for Georgian style sash windows and were keen that there be three rather than four panes across each window.  The height of the windows on the ground floor are typically much taller than those on the first floor and where the number of vertical panes weren't equal, we then had to decide where the bottom edge of the top sash windows would appear.  We opted for more vertical panes showing on the bottom sash windows.

As a general rule, the builders usually plaster from the top floor downwards.  There will sometimes be good reasons to work in a different order, but this is likely to be the way they do it on our build.  Clive and his team of plasterers are eager to start tacking, skimming and plastering the walls and ceilings as soon as possible.  Unfortunately, however, the windows need to be installed first!

Snow Stops Play

We had hoped that the tiles would go on before Christmas, but the chimneys needed to be built first and due to the extremely cold weather, this wasn't possible as the cement wouldn't set.

Octagonal Lantern in Roof

Tarring the Roof

This week, however, the boys have been busy and the chimneys are almost up.  Jon says they're hoping to finish them by the beginning of this coming week.  The work includes the brickwork corbel detail and band of stone at the top.  Once the stonework is finished, they'll be putting the chimney pots on and creating a concrete flaunch above the stone.  They are, of course, heavily dependent on a clear day's weather for this to happen.  Once the scaffolding around the chimneys is struck, they will then be able to start slating the roof.

Steaming Ahead!

Paul and I drove up to Newport Pagnell between Christmas and New Year and met up with Tim Hutchinson, who runs the UK division of V-Zug, a Swiss company that manufactures high quality kitchen appliances.  We met Tim last May at the Grand Designs show in London and were very impressed.  The company has only recently come over to the UK, but I think it's going to be very successful, if the quality of the products is anything to go by.  We wanted to look at their steam ovens and coffee makers.  The ovens range from simple steam to combination and the company's Combi-Steam XSL has a massive 51 litre cooking volume, much larger than the Miele.


I'm waiting for Tim to get back to me with prices, but my only worry is that it may be too deep to fit into the space Jamie's earmarked for the steam oven (it needs a depth of 550mm, whilst the Miele sits in a 350mm niche).  I'm trying to think of alternative locations, without compromising the symmetry and design of the kitchen.

Staircase to Heaven?

Ah, yes, the staircase! 

You may think I have ideas above my station, but I'd always wanted a beautiful stone, winding staircase, with metal balustrading and slender Georgian handrail.  And so that's what we're trying to achieve, although it will be no mean feat if we manage to do it on budget.  The staircase up to the second floor will be in wood, but with the same balustrading to continue the theme through and link both together visually.

Sadly, one of my suppliers, a creative and talented metal craftsman, who was going to do the balustrading for us, has bowed out of the project.  We're therefore relying on one of Steve Osborne's suppliers, to come up with the goods and I do have a concern that they won't be able to come up with exactly what we want. We shall see ... watch this space!

At the moment, a wooden structure has been erected, onto which concrete will be poured to form the stairs and this will then be clad in stone.  Again, another worry I have, having visited a show house built by another local and very well known property developer in the area (no names, in case I get sued!), is that because some of the steps will be curved, the stone will have to be cut to fit and it looked really ugly the way the developer had done it in the show house.  I have voiced my concern to Andy, but he is confident that the supplier will do a good job and that the joins will not be visible.  I use the same stone supplier and they are very good, so will be keeping a close eye on what's going on!

Paul and I visit site on an almost daily basis and every day there is a little more to look at.  With Christmas almost upon us, it feels like such a long time ago that we were decorating our tree in a house that doesn't exist anymore!

Henry steps up to the mark at the end of term!

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions!

It's been a month of decision making for Paul and me.  With only block walls and concrete floors as a guide, it can be difficult to make choices so early on in the build, such as bathroom layouts in the roof, when you're not quite sure what the angle of pitch is going to look like.  It's an endless balancing act, trying to achieve the highest quality in the overall product and design, against the inevitable cost that comes with it.

We've finally chosen our kitchen supplier, after having worked with two different companies on the project.  It's been a tough call between the two, as they are both extremely good quality brands.  Alex Beaugeard, from Mark Wilkinson Kitchens, is my contact there and a designer with creative flair, who I've known for a while.  Alex knew that it has always been a dream of mine to own one of their kitchens.  At the end of the day, however, we decided to go with Extreme Design and my contact, Jamie Harding, as logistically it was perhaps more practical (Steve Osborne is using Extreme Design for the house at the bottom of the garden and one across the road which he is also building).  I'd given both Alex and Jamie the same brief, so the designs were more or less identical - I'm going for a 'New England' look, which I hope will prove both timeless and appropriate in either a modern or more traditional setting.  Jamie is great to work with and extremely enthusiastic about the project.  As a passionate cook, the appliances were as important to me to get right as the kitchen furniture itself and I've opted for Sub-Zero and Wolf products.  As well as looking beautiful, the kitchen will be a real work-horse, so investing in some heavy duty appliances will hopefully pay off.

Other decisions now made include external doors and windows (although the front door supplier has not yet been chosen), which should be installed in January, the audio visual specification (we will get services installed for certain elements we can't afford to do at the moment, but may want to do later, finances permitting) and I'm currently trying to bring our sanitaryware quote down to within budget, which is not proving easy, as the things I like always seem to be too expensive!!

Bricks, Mortar .... and Shortbread!

How do you ensure your builders tackle their work with gusto and do a top notch job?  You bake them copious quantities of shortbread, flapjacks, triple chocolate muffins, carrot cake, lemon drizzle cake ...

Spaghetti Junction!

The electricians were first through the door and are now most of the way through their first fix. I popped up to London to visit John Cullen in the King's Road in London for some lighting inspiration. It's a great showroom to visit, where you can see different scene settings and the staff are extremely helpful. I took away some samples to show the head electrician on our project.  Choosing the right fittings and the positioning of them is key. One of my pet hates is seeing 'runway' lighting strips in ceilings. So many new builds seem to have this and often it's overkill. Lighting should be there to create mood and drama, as well as provide good ambient and task lighting. 

Two very good books on lighting, which I've pored over are The Lighting Bible and Perfect Lighting.  Both of these contain great ideas and recipes for lighting different  scenes and objects and are well illustrated.


Even choosing the right sockets and light switches has been important to me, as I wanted to find something elegant, that would stand the test of time and not be too commercial looking.  Do you go with chrome/brass with black or white inserts?  I decided on white inserts, as most of the flex from table lamps will be white and they will blend in better with the wall colour.  However, if you were going with dark coloured walls, then black may be the way to go. I would prefer to go with the screwless plates, but this would blow the budget, so will have to bite the bullet on that one.

The plumbers and carpenters are also working their way through now.

That's Life!

Well, it's been a long time since my last blog and so much has happened. Apologies for the delay, dear reader (if there is anyone still out there who hasn't lost the will to live, waiting for an update!). I'm afraid day to day life has got somewhat in the way of my literary ambitions.

I came down with a bad chest infection, which lasted a good three weeks and have been trying to play catch up with clients ever since, in the run up to Christmas. Seems everyone wants furniture/curtains/blinds, etc. in before the festive season, so work has been pretty manic recently.


However, thanks in no small way to Jon, our Site Manager, I'm back on track with bits and pieces to report re progress on the build.

Externally, the house is looking good, but we are assured that there is still a long way to go and things will only get busier. The majority of the brickwork is now completed and the timber roof structure is up. The roofers have insulated between the rafters and the breathable felt membrane has been fixed down with batten. This is an important stage to have reached for the builders, because we are now dry inside (hooray! just looking out the window as I write, I don't think I've ever seen so much snow!). Work has therefore been able to commence internally.

Taking Shape

The internal walls on the ground floor are up, so we can walk around the rooms and imagine how they're going to look when finished.

A Job Well Done

I'd like to mention Gary here, our brickie foreman. A significant part of Gary's job is to work out the exact positioning of the walls and instruct his bricklayers accordingly. He has to be one step ahead of his team all the time, ensuring that he knows the orientation of all the walls and openings, heights of windows and doors, position of stonework, inclusion of damp trays and any other details pertinent to the build. He has to relay all this information to the bricklayers before they start to ensure that none of these details is missed.

At the same time, Gary has to keep production moving smoothly and quickly, because every bricklayer (or trowel as they're known in brickie lingo) is expected to lay about 400 bricks or 200 blocks a day for a house of this size. So the more trowels on site, the more pressure Gary comes under to stay ahead. To quote Jon, "if mistakes are made, then time is lost rectifying them and if the momentum is not kept up, then Gary's company would not earn a margin on the job and he would be quickly replaced. Not an enviable position to be in."

I'm happy to report that Gary is doing a fantastic job, aided and abetted by his team of trowels!

Holiday Pics!

We're on holiday! I'm sitting in the lounge of a hotel that has internet, so that I can access e-mails, etc. and find out what's happening on site (sad, really, I suppose, as I should be by the pool on a sun lounger, reading the latest Dan Brown novel, but instead, I'm agog to see the latest pictures Jon has sent, one or two of which I will attach to this post).

According to Jon, "Gary has reached the top of the second lift and the first floor steels have been fitted. Gary was meticulous in the positioning of the padstones, the concrete pads that the steels sit on. Where they normally allow a 10-20mm tolerance, they are actually close to millimetre perfect on both height and lateral position. This will result in a very flat structural first floor, which is not necessarily critical, as the level is always corrected in the screed, but it's better practice as it avoids shallow areas in the screed, which could potentially lead to cracking."

All the scaffolding has been lifted to within 750mm of first floor slab to avoid the fitters falling from a height. Osborne insisted that all the rooms were swept to allow for airbags to be inflated on the ground floor, to act as a fall arrest for the floor fitters.

Scaling the Dizzy Heights

I recently took a fellow interior designer friend around the site and under Jon's supervision, we scaled the scaffolding and walked around the property, looking down into the rooms. Both internal and external walls are going up fast now. By the time we get back from our summer holiday, no doubt we'll see a huge difference. The first floor will be in!

We've Turned A Corner!

The quoins (corners of the building that stand out from the rest of the brickwork) are going up. Gary, the head brickie, spent an afternoon of his spare time, drawing out the design of the quoins, to ensure that long bricks met with short bricks and vice versa, as you can see from the photograph.

Frame structures, showing where the windows will eventually go in, have been installed, so that brickwork can be erected around the framework, thus leaving the openings for the windows.

The fireplace in the hallway has posed an interesting dilemma. Because the house is on three storeys, we've been told by Osborne's technical architect that on no account can we have a gas/open fire. We've been advised that our only option is to go for a glass-fronted fireplace. I didn't like the sound of that and so Paul and I spoke to Yemisi, our architect, the borough council, and my main fireplace supplier, for confirmation. Whilst it is not illegal to install a gas fire, it would be inadvisable. A certain amount of time has to be allowed for anyone on the top floor to be able to vacate the house safely, in the event of a fire. So there is it. Jon, our Project Manager, called me to say that he had spoken to one of Osborne Developments' suppliers, Marble Hill Fireplaces, and that his contact there, Robert, had been extremely helpful and had convinced Jon that glass was the way to go - in an extremely stylish manner!

I called Marble Hill, got in the car and drove to Twickenham, to the company's showroom. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Instead of the cheap, tacky, glass front I had envisaged, the fireplaces looked smart and very classy, at home both in a modern as well as a traditional surround. I left Robert, feeling that we wouldn't, after all, have to compromise on either looks or safety. Of course, these things come at a cost! (Well, there's a surprise!) Robert has since sent over a quote to Andy who, I understand, took a sharp intake of breath on reading the quote. I don't know what the costings are yet, but will obviously get my supplier to do a comparative quote.

There seems to be a building bug going around! My mate, Jane Blake, who has moved to the USA with her family, is doing a new build which looks amazing! Like me, she's keeping a blog of the process. Interesting how the film, Julie and Julia, has brought out the bloggers in all of us!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has a problem working out how to get photos properly positioned on the blog! And I don't know what half the buttons and gizmos are for. I will have to spend some time working it all out, but am so busy at the moment trying to keep clients happy, as well as involvement with our build.

Other friends, the Tates, just down the road in Wraysbury, are also building. They're roughly at the same stage as us at the moment and we've visited each other's sites to look at progress and swap stories.

We had an update meeting on Friday, just before Andy left to go on holiday. Stone sills are just going in now. The staircase design still needs to be finalised and Andy said he would get detailed drawings drawn up, so that we can get exact costings for the stone and balustrading.

I walked around the rooms with Paul, imagining the finished product. Funny how some days the space looks small and then other days it looks much larger! We were told this would happen.

We went over to a showhouse at the weekend, which is a little smaller than our build, but looked positively huge to us!

Rising Damp - I Don't Think So!

Concrete slabs now laid, with SVP's (soil vent pipes) and drain pipes in position.

Steve is taking no chances with the damp proofing course. The builders have put in 3 DPC's at different levels, which is great news for us. It's another indication of a good quality build.

Three steels have been erected, so we can now see how high the ground floor ceilings are going to be. The builders are also beginning to position the internal blockwork, delineating the layout of the rooms. The build is slowly starting to come alive!

Framework shows where the windows and doors will be and the bricks are laid around these, so that later on the actual windows and doors can be installed in these spaces.

Off To A Good Start!

Looks like it's going to be a good, solid build. Foundations are 1.8m deep. External brickwork will be 4" thick, with a 4" cavity and 6" thick internal block work. Engineering bricks are used in some areas, rather than concrete bricks, as they can take more load.

The Bricks

Our budget didn't allow for the brick we wanted. I drove to various parts of the country, looking at houses built in different bricks. In the end, I kept coming back to the one we'd liked all along. It's called Old Clamp Blend by the York Handmade Company and we'd driven past a house nearby early on and taken a great liking to it.

Not knowing what the brick was, I took a gamble and wrote a letter to the owner of the house, asking if they could tell me. It was the start of a friendship, borne out of mutual interests, which I hope will endure over time.

The owners couldn't have been more helpful. I was invited round, given a tour of their beautiful home, coffee and lots of information on the suppliers they used, as they had built the house themselves.

So, decision made. Over budget already, even before we start! However, Paul and I agreed that the exterior is as important as the interior - it's the first indication a person has, driving up to the house, of the quality of the build, so it has to be right. I can see I'm going to be my own worst client! Somewhere along the line, I will have to come in under budget on other choices, to get back on track.