There’s been lots more infrastructure work since the last post; the underfloor heating and electrical first fix have been (mostly) completed, so there have been lots of detailed questions to answer (where exactly will this power socket/ phone point/ security light sensor go??). It makes a big difference being based so close to the site – we’ve been popping in for a few minutes every day.
Condemned cabling from the lower ground floor…
The oil-fired Aga was collected, leaving space for work on the pantry to begin…
We got some useful insight into the flexibility of the build team too; we were worried that the manifold for the underfloor heating had been installed in such a way that its position would prevent the pantry being laid out as planned. Jon and Shaun’s response; “no problem, we’ll move it once we’ve built the other wall”. And relax…
The biggest near-drama this week has revolved around the height of the extension. After the scaffolding had been put in-place, half of the wooden frame was constructed at rapid speed on Thursday. It was exciting to see so much progress be made in such a short space of time…
…However, a good-natured conversation with one of our neighbours later in the day got us thinking about the height of the extension. It was pretty imposing, so we compared the plans with a photo and realised it would end up being higher than had been planned. Cue an email to James and Corin at CDMS Partners…
And here’s where the benefits of having solid architectural and build teams really come to the fore. By mid-morning, they’d held a phone call to discuss the situation, agreed to pause further construction and come up with an outline corrective plan.
At this stage, we don’t fully understand how this situation arose, but believe that compared to the drawings, the extra physical height was required to accommodate ceiling, installation and roofing, with the falls of the roof as planned for drainage purposes.
James has worked quickly to reconfigure the roof, and by late morning today new drawings had been produced that lower the overall height of the extension by 20cm or so. Tomorrow we’ll confirm if this means the whole timber frame needs to be pulled-down and if so, what the schedule impact will be. We’ll also find out if the ceiling and full-length window heights will be the same.
So, a frustrating week, perhaps most of all for the build team. But at least they got to take out their frustrations by dismantling the east chimney…
…and the view from the new guest suite will be worth it when it’s all finished:
The Upside Down House 
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