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06 Apr 2008: Building a snowman..
...would be easier than building this bungalow in the weather we are having today! We really do feel that we got a raw deal with the weather during this build! It was the wettest summer for 150 years...with severe weather warnings being a regular occurrence.  (2).jpg)
The best weather was in April 2007 and we hadn't got planning permission to start the build so that didn't help! Now we have had snow in April! It hasn't stopped work today as we have been painting the walls in the study, entrance hall and master bedroom. The Graco paint sprayer is just a godsend. Paul hates painting; “women's work' he says! Bloomin’ cheek... But as there is a clever tool to use, he seems to have changed his mind.
We are still waiting to have the bathroom wet room drains fitted and the floors screeded. Neil from Waterworld Solutions has had a really sexy curved drain made in Holland (Oh dear, I used to think of big hunky rugby players as sexy - now it is aluminium gutters and floor drains. How times have changed!!!) Once the bathroom floors are in we can get on and start the tiling. I think we will really feel as if we are getting somewhere once the tiling begins.
We have fabulous 600mmx600mm polished porcelain tiles for the main living area. We went to the Tile and Stone show last year and were spoiled for choice - I would recommend the show to anyone building as there were lots of good ideas and interesting products on show. We opted for a company called QPC - we liked the people and they were interested in our project. As the area is quite large, we wanted a large tile and one that was very neutral. I can't wait for these to go down which is likely to be in the next couple of weeks. .JPG)
Before the tiling we have to prepare the concrete floor so that it is level and then - as we have avoided expansion joints, we have a Schulter matting and a debonding material that we apply so that any possible movement in the floor won't crack the tiles. Weber have been very helpful as they understand the problems and seem to have the right product to deal with them. There technical expert James Mead has been brilliant.
One thing I am a bit worried about is changing the attitude of the workmen when the build becomes a home rather than a building site - dropping rubbish everywhere, leaving tools out where they were last used and walking about with muddy or gritty boots will no longer be acceptable and that is going to be hard attitude to change!