When we first moved into Hillside we bought a couple of wooden venetian blinds for the front windows. We made a point of not buying the (cheaper) plastic version.
To help with privacy, and maintain the impression that we were still in the house during the build, we left the blinds in place despite the dust and muck that the builders were throwing about. In hindsight we should've taken them down much sooner as we were planning on reusing them, after all part of our eco-ethos is to minimise what we throw 'away' into landfill. (To quote Bridget Strawbridge 'there is no such thing as 'away''!)
Now that we're at the stage of starting to re-dress the windows we've dug out the rather filthy blinds to see what we can salvage. With some soapy hot water the slats have cleaned relatively easily, as has most of the cord. Even on the blind most soiled by brick dust, we've been able to wash the cords back to the original white. The only thing that has so far eluded us is getting replacement box brackets as the builders managed to discard them somewhere when they removed the blinds.
You'd think getting replacement brackets was easy. Alas it isn't. Even Google has failed us as it seems that our disposable culture even extends to blinds - if a bit is missing or broken you replace the whole thing and buy a new one. We don't want to do this, so are still looking for white (ideally) brackets so that we can reuse what are perfectly good venetian blinds. So if you have any spare brackets lying around in a drawer, or shed etc, let me know.
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
Monday, 21 September 2009
Kitchen
Now that the bathrooms are all up and running (just the small matter of boxing in to complete) we've been able to start sorting out the kitchen.
You may recall from one of my posts back in March that we've bought new cabinets for 1/3 of the kitchen, the island is second hand and we'd planned on reusing some of the old cabinets for the rest. This weekend was the first opportunity we've had to start putting the cabinets in place, prior to the electrician wiring up the appliances. The quality of the new cabinets is very evident, especially with the various trims etc that have been supplied to finish off around the built-in oven. Certainly isn't like installing flimsy flat-pack!
We've also sanded down the old pine kitchen units and started undercoating them. We thought long and hard as to whether they should be restained or painted. Paint won, even though it's more work it should give a more consistent look, especially with the oak worktop. For the past few weeks I've been sceptical as to whether the old, and rather dirty, cupboards would be any good to reuse. But with a clean down, sand, and the first lick of paint, they already look vastly improved and very unlike the greasy units that we inherited in the old kitchen.
Spurred on by the rest of the kitchen I've attacked the reclaimed island unit again with the sander. We've used some eco paint stripper to get the worst of the old paint off so this time the sanding has worked well. Previously the sandpaper clogged up rapdily with gooey lumps of old yellow paint. Not this time, so the parts that we want stripped back to bare wood are almost there and the remainder is ready to undercoat.
Before we buy the top coat paint, for all the units, we've got to decide what the final colour will be. Not proving to be an easy decision....!
You may recall from one of my posts back in March that we've bought new cabinets for 1/3 of the kitchen, the island is second hand and we'd planned on reusing some of the old cabinets for the rest. This weekend was the first opportunity we've had to start putting the cabinets in place, prior to the electrician wiring up the appliances. The quality of the new cabinets is very evident, especially with the various trims etc that have been supplied to finish off around the built-in oven. Certainly isn't like installing flimsy flat-pack!
We've also sanded down the old pine kitchen units and started undercoating them. We thought long and hard as to whether they should be restained or painted. Paint won, even though it's more work it should give a more consistent look, especially with the oak worktop. For the past few weeks I've been sceptical as to whether the old, and rather dirty, cupboards would be any good to reuse. But with a clean down, sand, and the first lick of paint, they already look vastly improved and very unlike the greasy units that we inherited in the old kitchen.
Spurred on by the rest of the kitchen I've attacked the reclaimed island unit again with the sander. We've used some eco paint stripper to get the worst of the old paint off so this time the sanding has worked well. Previously the sandpaper clogged up rapdily with gooey lumps of old yellow paint. Not this time, so the parts that we want stripped back to bare wood are almost there and the remainder is ready to undercoat.
Before we buy the top coat paint, for all the units, we've got to decide what the final colour will be. Not proving to be an easy decision....!
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
Time to light?
Progress has been good this week.
With the exception of one radiator, thanks to the supplier not sending the correct brackets, the heating system is now complete and ready to be filled and pressure tested tomorrow.
Plumbing in the ensuite is also complete and should be finished in the bathroom tomorrow. All that remains is the kitchen and utility, which is waiting for us to sort out the cabinets, just one of many jobs...
Once the heating system is complete and tested we can fire up the boiler, which should be interesting with the pellets! So much so that our plumber, who hasn't included for commissioning the boiler, is keen to get involved as it's something new and (presumably) could give him valuable experince/knowledge for future jobs. It'll also be a lot less expensive than Nuway who have quoted £500. There was a slim chance this would happen today but it didn't as we ran out of time - it'll hopefully get fired up next week instead, once the final rad is inplace and once we have the UFH controllers installed.
Exciting times!
With the exception of one radiator, thanks to the supplier not sending the correct brackets, the heating system is now complete and ready to be filled and pressure tested tomorrow.
Plumbing in the ensuite is also complete and should be finished in the bathroom tomorrow. All that remains is the kitchen and utility, which is waiting for us to sort out the cabinets, just one of many jobs...
Once the heating system is complete and tested we can fire up the boiler, which should be interesting with the pellets! So much so that our plumber, who hasn't included for commissioning the boiler, is keen to get involved as it's something new and (presumably) could give him valuable experince/knowledge for future jobs. It'll also be a lot less expensive than Nuway who have quoted £500. There was a slim chance this would happen today but it didn't as we ran out of time - it'll hopefully get fired up next week instead, once the final rad is inplace and once we have the UFH controllers installed.
Exciting times!
Monday, 14 September 2009
28 weeks?
That's what the builder stated in his quote for the work, a programme of 28 weeks. He started onsite a year ago today, and with the exception of a few snags, he only finished 3 weeks ago. I make that more like 49.
Okay, so Christmas was 2 weeks lost, and the freezing cold in February meant that there were a couple of weeks when the brickie could do very little as it was too cold to lay mortar. It seems like an age since he constructed a makeshift 'oven' to thaw his bags of sand! On top of that the builder lost the plot at the start of the year when he had problems with floods in his house, taking his focus off our build. This combined with a chippie and plasterer who were part-time, one due to a serious illness in the family, the other due to having taken on a milk-round to combat the effect of the recession on the construction industry, have all helped to extend the programme way beyond what we were expecting. It's just as well that extending our stay in our temporary accomodation hasn't proven to be a problem.
Arriving at the anniversary whilst still not being back at Hillside is frustrating, but is made far less of an issue now that the plumbers are back onsite doing the second fix. Most of the radiators have been hung and work on the bathrooms is due to be completed this week. With the electrician also back tomorrow to coordinate what he's been doing with the plumber it could mean we can fire the boiler up before the week is out.
There's been light at the end of the tunnel for a while now, but living in a tunnel isn't much fun. At long last we are in the last few feet of the tunnel entrance it seems. We can't wait to get out into the light!
Okay, so Christmas was 2 weeks lost, and the freezing cold in February meant that there were a couple of weeks when the brickie could do very little as it was too cold to lay mortar. It seems like an age since he constructed a makeshift 'oven' to thaw his bags of sand! On top of that the builder lost the plot at the start of the year when he had problems with floods in his house, taking his focus off our build. This combined with a chippie and plasterer who were part-time, one due to a serious illness in the family, the other due to having taken on a milk-round to combat the effect of the recession on the construction industry, have all helped to extend the programme way beyond what we were expecting. It's just as well that extending our stay in our temporary accomodation hasn't proven to be a problem.
Arriving at the anniversary whilst still not being back at Hillside is frustrating, but is made far less of an issue now that the plumbers are back onsite doing the second fix. Most of the radiators have been hung and work on the bathrooms is due to be completed this week. With the electrician also back tomorrow to coordinate what he's been doing with the plumber it could mean we can fire the boiler up before the week is out.
There's been light at the end of the tunnel for a while now, but living in a tunnel isn't much fun. At long last we are in the last few feet of the tunnel entrance it seems. We can't wait to get out into the light!
Sunday, 13 September 2009
Sickness
Finally, after months of being bug free, illness has arrived at Hillside. Not that we're ill, thank goodness, as it it would seriously limit the work we could do to finish the build and get us back into the house.
When C mentioned yesterday that she got within a few feet of one of the rabbits that venture into the garden I wondered if it was really that she caught it by suprise or something more sinister. Today I saw first hand, and it confirmed my suspicion, when I found a rabbit up by the veg patch that could only just see me from a few feet away through it's infected eyes. Yes, myxomatosis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myxomatosis) has arrived.
I remember telling my mother, during a summer holiday back in the '80s, about a rabbit that I'd been able to stalk to within a few feet. I got so close I was able to take a half-decent photo with my old SLR and it's small zoom lens - http://www.flickr.com/photos/danrandom-archive/2269603542/ . It was only when asked how the rabbit looked, and I had to admit it had weird, almost closed and swollen eyes, that my mother pointed out that it was almost certainly very sick with myxomatosis. On the one hand I feel sorry for the rabbits as it looks like such a horrible illness, and a nasty way to die, but with some very obvious damage being incurred to the garden plants recently, with tops taken off geraniums, strawberries and sweet peas to name a few, I'm quite happy to see some of the culprits removed. Sounds harsh I know, but then nature is after all!
I'll miss seeing the rabbits playing at the top of the garden and in the horse paddock for a while, but rabbits being rabbits you can be sure the population will recover and they'll be back!
When C mentioned yesterday that she got within a few feet of one of the rabbits that venture into the garden I wondered if it was really that she caught it by suprise or something more sinister. Today I saw first hand, and it confirmed my suspicion, when I found a rabbit up by the veg patch that could only just see me from a few feet away through it's infected eyes. Yes, myxomatosis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myxomatosis) has arrived.
I remember telling my mother, during a summer holiday back in the '80s, about a rabbit that I'd been able to stalk to within a few feet. I got so close I was able to take a half-decent photo with my old SLR and it's small zoom lens - http://www.flickr.com/photos/danrandom-archive/2269603542/ . It was only when asked how the rabbit looked, and I had to admit it had weird, almost closed and swollen eyes, that my mother pointed out that it was almost certainly very sick with myxomatosis. On the one hand I feel sorry for the rabbits as it looks like such a horrible illness, and a nasty way to die, but with some very obvious damage being incurred to the garden plants recently, with tops taken off geraniums, strawberries and sweet peas to name a few, I'm quite happy to see some of the culprits removed. Sounds harsh I know, but then nature is after all!
I'll miss seeing the rabbits playing at the top of the garden and in the horse paddock for a while, but rabbits being rabbits you can be sure the population will recover and they'll be back!
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
Worktop
With all our efforts focused on getting the bathrooms ready for the plumbers we've missed a few things off the work schedule. One of these is sourcing the kitchen worktops.
We had hoped to be able to recondition and reuse use the pine plank worktop that came with the island unit, but after sanding it down at the weekend it doesn't look in good enough condition. The burn marks from an iron and saucepan (judging by the shapes of the marks) give it character but aren't really what we want on the island. It may prove good enough for the utility though, we certainly don't expect it to end up in the wood burner! So it's time to source an alternative.
We want to stick with wooden worktops for their obvious sustainability credentials, so granite etc and laminates are out of the question. We did consider recycled glass but the budget can't cope! On the wood front Norfolk Oak do some very nice large plank worktops (we'd like to avoid really small staves)...but their prices are suitably large so that's a non-starter. So C has done some investigating and a local joiner can (it seems) supply a very similar sounding oak worktop for considerably less than Norfolk. So we'll be calling in to see them tomorrow to see what the product looks like. Let's hope they're good as they sound.
We had hoped to be able to recondition and reuse use the pine plank worktop that came with the island unit, but after sanding it down at the weekend it doesn't look in good enough condition. The burn marks from an iron and saucepan (judging by the shapes of the marks) give it character but aren't really what we want on the island. It may prove good enough for the utility though, we certainly don't expect it to end up in the wood burner! So it's time to source an alternative.
We want to stick with wooden worktops for their obvious sustainability credentials, so granite etc and laminates are out of the question. We did consider recycled glass but the budget can't cope! On the wood front Norfolk Oak do some very nice large plank worktops (we'd like to avoid really small staves)...but their prices are suitably large so that's a non-starter. So C has done some investigating and a local joiner can (it seems) supply a very similar sounding oak worktop for considerably less than Norfolk. So we'll be calling in to see them tomorrow to see what the product looks like. Let's hope they're good as they sound.
Monday, 7 September 2009
Convenient
I switched the submersible pump on yesterday....and nothing happened. Rather wierdly the pump controller (a pressure switch that operates the pump if the pipework system pressure is less than 3 bar) came wired with a 2 pin Euro plug. Also in the box with the rainwater kit was an adaptor, so I plugged the controller into the mains using this. But with it not working I thought I better reread the instructions.
They quite clearly state that the loose 3 pin plug that was supplied with the kit should be used for the controller...but as it came pre-wired I ignored this. So yesterday I snipped the cable and wired the 3 pin plug on - not really expecting a result as both 2 and 3 pin plugs have live, neutral and earth wires. But rather strangely this did the trick, and the pump works, pressurising the pipework system to almost 4 bar before switching off again.
So today the plumbers have been in and installed the first of the WCs along with the washbasin, giving Hillside it's first ever downstairs WC (unless you count the privvy that was demolished back in the 70s) and running water has returned to the house, we're no longer limited to the tap in the garage. Convenience indeed!
They quite clearly state that the loose 3 pin plug that was supplied with the kit should be used for the controller...but as it came pre-wired I ignored this. So yesterday I snipped the cable and wired the 3 pin plug on - not really expecting a result as both 2 and 3 pin plugs have live, neutral and earth wires. But rather strangely this did the trick, and the pump works, pressurising the pipework system to almost 4 bar before switching off again.
So today the plumbers have been in and installed the first of the WCs along with the washbasin, giving Hillside it's first ever downstairs WC (unless you count the privvy that was demolished back in the 70s) and running water has returned to the house, we're no longer limited to the tap in the garage. Convenience indeed!
Saturday, 5 September 2009
Flushing
The plumbers return briefly on Monday whilst inbetween jobs. They'll be returning to do most of the second fix in a week's time, but Monday should see them get one of the WCs up and running.
To enable this to happen the rainwater harvesting system needs to be functioning, as it supplies all the harvested water to fill the WC cisterns rather than using costly treated drinking water from the mains. So I've spent much of today sorting out the rainwater harvesting system - this involved connecting the submersible pump in the rainwater tank to the pipework system in the house and doing more work on connecting the guttering to the tank. The latter isn't complete as I don't yet have the necessay bits to connect the galvanised downpipes to the below groud pipework that feed the tank. But the pump is now fully connected, so the water in the tank can, in theory, be used for flushing but I need to test the system and check there are no leaks. A job for tomorrow I think.
One thing I was able to test was the level gauge - the rainwater system comes complete with a remote gauge that I've located in the garage, which allows us to check the level of water in the tank which is currently around 70%.
If all goes well we may have a flushable WC on Monday, even if there won't be a door on the cloakroom....
To enable this to happen the rainwater harvesting system needs to be functioning, as it supplies all the harvested water to fill the WC cisterns rather than using costly treated drinking water from the mains. So I've spent much of today sorting out the rainwater harvesting system - this involved connecting the submersible pump in the rainwater tank to the pipework system in the house and doing more work on connecting the guttering to the tank. The latter isn't complete as I don't yet have the necessay bits to connect the galvanised downpipes to the below groud pipework that feed the tank. But the pump is now fully connected, so the water in the tank can, in theory, be used for flushing but I need to test the system and check there are no leaks. A job for tomorrow I think.
One thing I was able to test was the level gauge - the rainwater system comes complete with a remote gauge that I've located in the garage, which allows us to check the level of water in the tank which is currently around 70%.
If all goes well we may have a flushable WC on Monday, even if there won't be a door on the cloakroom....
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