Well for the last few days, it's been a constant trickle of deliveries.

We got our skip back. In fact we have had another 2. However the last one was picked up at 7.15 this morning. Now they've gone again. 8 skips in total.

We have had 2 lorries today, well actually the same one twice, delivering massive bags. I can only describe the contents as little pebbles. 

The builders are still on the 'footings'. Not a brick in sight.

Not a lot of noise at the moment, just a low rumble that you can only hear in certain parts of the house. I'm not complaining though.

Eon (our utility company) seem to be dragging their feet, regarding the 'priority' meter move. However I am on their case and have set a reminder on my phone to contact them every week to prevent the paperwork languishing on someones desk again.

Whoa, no updated posts since Wednesday

You cannot be serious. Lets put that right this very minute.

Wow it's really hard to think back to what happened on Thursday.

Oh yes, drains!

Right let me think, we went to see Tim and Ginette, in the morning. Then we ended up at Huddersfield instead of the White Rose. This was because we didn't have as much time as we thought we might have. Also the shops that we needed were in Huddersfield as well as White Rose. We needed to get L a new school blazer which is only available from the school uniform shop in Huddersfield, so a very productive day all round.

The builders had been sorting out the drains all day. It seems there was a lot of brick and rubble to gorge out in order to place the pipes. We were not allowed to flush the toilets or run the taps. We managed fine as we had been out most of the day. Beth was in, but the builders kindly said she could use their portaloo if she needed.

Our new drainage system.

The builders needed to finish off the drains on Friday (don't worry they did connect them up overnight). We needed to stay in for various reasons, so it was a day when I'm sure I needed the toilet more than usual. The builders did connect them up at various times throughout the day and we had to do  test flushes, we did take advantage of these episodes. The building inspector came out and passed the new drains. The builder was relieved. In fact I think they were glad it was Friday. 

I also have very important news to announce.............the skip wagon came......................loaded up our full skip.................

....but didn't leave another one in it's place.

                                              

Wednesday 22 February - Week 3

So another skip at 8.30am - that's skip number 6.

More digging and removing the soil.

A big lorry load of metal frames and poles arrived. Event duly recorded by the taking of photo's.

These are for the foundations. Took the builders a good hour or so to move them into the back where they were a little more secure and hopefully out of temptations reach. I think using them will possibly be on next weeks agenda.

We are informed, "we need to be disconnected". Toilets are to be out of action tomorrow. The builders are to lay the new sewage pipes. Lovely. We had already arranged to see Tim and Ginnette in the morning. We have now hastily added a trip to the White Rose in the afternoon. We do need a few bits and bats.

Bethany will be expecting a cricket bat now, won't she?

We have been busy this week, beavering away packing boxes. We have finally managed to pack all non-essential items away in Ryan's room. So he still has his TV, Xbox and computer, don't you know they are 'essential not able to live without' items for teenagers? His pictures are still on the wall at present, we thought they are safer there then languishing in boxes for weeks on end. It won't take long to just collect up the pictures nearer the time.

I thought I might see if I can scan the plans in. Then you can all have a nosy at what  it should be like once it's finished. Watch this space.

Tuesday 21 February - Week 3

.

The guys have been cracking on with digging the foundations.

Yesterday we had a dumper truck delivered and a new skip. Wonder how many that is now?

A bloke came, spoke to the builders, got back into his pick up truck, wrote something down and went. I think that was quite normal in the present circumstances. I found out he was 'about drives'. Maybe he was a possible sub-contractor. 

I didn't post yesterday because it got too dark to take any photo's.

Onwards to today. Another skip. I almost feel like saying 'another day, another skip '. This one is full as I speak so I think it may be another one tomorrow. I really must read back and see how many that is now. I hope we are getting a discount, or at least  loyalty points.

This will be our new living room. Mmm wonder what colour the curtains will be?

Recycling centre (not including the loo!)

All packed up at the end of a hard days work.

Machinery all securely fastened up together.

Our very own spaghetti junction.

The top left hand corner is where Ryan's bathroom will be.

We are over the other side of the stumbling block.

Hi there,

Well the stumbling block is behind us and we can carry on with the journey.

After a week - no I tell a lie -  6 & 1/2 working days of no activity on site. The builders are to return on Monday.

Friday 10 February 2012 - Stumbling Block Number 1

The builders didn't tun up this morning, that was after they had gone home early yesterday.

Yesterday, we had gone out shopping. When we got back the builders had packed up and gone. It had been raining consistently so assumed that was why they had packed up.

Fast forward to today. The builders just didn't turn up. I thought initially that it maybe the weather again. However it seems the existing house is built off what they call a raft foundation (a more expensive foundation than a standard foundation). This is due to ground conditions. This foundation has to be designed by an engineer. The architect met with the engineer yesterday. The construction company are now working up the additional costs. These should be ready to present to Kirklees on Monday. This will stretch an already stretched budget further. 

It seems that the building work is on hold at the moment. 

Thursday 9 February - Week 2

Nothing much to report today.

There are that many holes in the garden now, some of them have merged together . Looks like World War 1 trenches.

Builders were rained off this afternoon. Lets hope tomorrow's predicted snow doesn't make an appearance.

Wednesday 8 February - Week 2

The relative quietness continues. Just the low rumblings of the digger today.

Yesterday, we had a toilet flushing session to identify all the waste pipes. We even got some of the neighbours to join in. I actually think we have enough manhole covers in our garden for half the street.

Still lots of digging, they managed to fill a whole skip since yesterday. Skip number 4 I think today (yes, no 4, just checked yesterdays post). Decided to take some photo's of the skip wagon today. (Ok, I asked Beth to go and take some, so photo's today courtesy of Beth).

It's quite interesting how they swap the skips over.  

Firstly, they lift the full skip on top of the empty skip.

Then  the bottom skip is lowered in to place with the full skip inside .

The full skip is then lifted clear away leaving the empty skip behind.

Ryan had an extra day off college today, something about an emergency staff meeting. 

So we packed his books away in boxes, well apart from a couple. We took the opportunity to sort through them, a pile for L, a pile for giving away and some that are only fit for the bin.  He still had 4 boxes full. Must remember to get a thick black marker pen to write on the boxes, it will be so much easier when unpacking everything.

At about 3pm, a little tanker pulled up outside the house. The tanker had big pipes wrapped around it.

I persuaded Beth to go back out to take a picture. She came back in saying she felt like the paparazzi.

My initial thought was maybe they're having to clear out the drains. It soon became apparent. It was a 'Liquid Waste Removal' tanker. It was to empty out the portable loo. Urgh.

A conversation with Dan (our builder), revealed some facts about the portaloo. The model, we have in our garden, is supposed to cope with 7 men working a 40 hour week before it needs emptying. Dan's not convinced. 

Apparently it used to be 10 men but has now been reclassified for 7.

Holes all over the garden.

Our gas, electricity, water, a redundant BT and a ntl  (Virgin Media's predecessor)  cable/pipes.
No digger for this little lot, has to be dug out by spade.

Tuesday 7 February

Today's news  is.......hardly any noise.

The drill thing has gone, the truck driver came for it today. It didn't get a teary farewell party. 

The skip was changed this afternoon. That means we're on the third one now.

Lots of string fastened around the garden today, marking out where our new walls will be.

We also had a digger delivered. The builder did say, it was too big to dig out manually.
It arrived just as Jo arrived to take me out for coffee and cake ( well tea and toasted t-cake really). I am available for tea shop dates, should anyone be at a loose end.

A couple of test holes have been dug. The architect and engineer will have to come out and inspect them, see what the soil is like, to decide what foundations need to be laid. I think the builders are on more hole digging duties tomorrow.

We now know the names of our two main builders, Dan and Tom. 

The arrival of the digger

The digger sat in the middle of our imaginary new front room.

  

Monday 6 February 2012 - Week 2

What a day!

Noise, noise noise and even more noise.

I remember when Beth was a little baby. Sometimes she cried and cried, to such an extent, that even when she'd stopped, you could still hear the sound of her crying in your head. 

It was like that today, but only with the drill thing, the builders were using to break up the concrete base of the porch. It was right outside the front door for most of the day. What a lovely sound when the builders had their lunch break. May be more noise tomorrow because at the end of play today, 'only' the top 6 inches of concrete had been removed. The concrete that's now visible has been reinforced with thick metal rods. 

Was going to do lots more packing of boxes. But I couldn't hear myself think. So ended up not doing any at all. Must really get started. We have only packed up the conservatory, porch and under the steps. These are the dumping areas for the stuff that we don't use that often if at all. 

My head is in a bit of a spin, just thinking about juggling packing up the house and preparations for our little two week jaunt. Only 7 weeks on Sunday.

The idea is while we are away, then the builders can crack on with some of the internal work.

You can just see how much concrete has been removed by the step down from the front door. It was previously completely level.

Friday 3rd February - Day 5

Skip no 2 today. Not that we have two skips in the garden. More that the full one was swapped for an empty one. Trying to think back to what happened is quite difficult. Oh a drill thingy was hired today, to help break up the concrete base of the porch. It hardly touched it. Seems to be breaking up the drive fairly ok. 

My poorly builder is back today feeling better. Not 100% though, think he's just wanting to get today done with.

The builders don't work weekends. So no updates till Monday at the earliest.

No photos today cos L had an hospital appointment at 4.15pm and it was dark when we got back.

Thursday 2 February 2012 - Day 4

Well we are still a builder down. The bloke really didn't sound well though. So I'm not surprised he's still ill.

Jobs for today were to finish the demolition of the porch. Take up the paving slabs around the front of the house.

Next is the job of breaking up the concrete base of the porch. It seems they weren't skinny with the concrete when the porch was originally built. The builder is hoping it's not been reinforced. He may need to bring in some equipment to help the job along. He did use technical builderish words. But that's my translation. (Is builderish even a word?)

Two electricians came to have a look around today. We found out the burglar alarm is being replaced and relocated, along with the main electric fuse box. Apparently, the fuse box has to have 20% spare capacity and ours is full (we also have a second fuse box added at a later date to accommodate some disability equipment).

Welcomed good news. It may seem fairly trivial however, it means they can be placed at a wheelchair friendly height. No more loss of  power due to being on my own when the electric trips. It doesn't happen often especially now we've got a different washer.

Wednesday 1 February - A New Month, A New Day - Day 3

The portaloo arrived at 8.40am this morning.

Even more builders turned up today, another two van loads. Not for us though (different construction company). A family across the road are having a bathroom extension. So the street definitely looks like a building site now.

Caused a bit of confusion for the lorry driver delivering building materials today. He obviously didn't look at the house number on the invoice sheet. No building supplies for us yet, we're still at the demolishing stage.

We knew the builders had arrived this morning just from the sound of coughing. Well the guy wasn't well and ended up going home. Hope you feel better soon!

The porch has just about gone, can't believe how much bigger the house looks with no porch on the front.

Tuesday 31 January - Day 2

Oh forgot to say yesterday, the builders are awaiting the arrival of a portaloo. They've not asked to use ours, so they'll be mightily relieved (get it?, never mind) when that comes, hopefully sometime today.

Well the builders were here early this morning, and had started work by 8am.

Lots and lots of banging noises today. Hope no neighbours work nights.

The skip arrived this morning, must remember it's not for personal use!

The porch partly disappeared over the course of the day. It's a lot lighter in the hallway now. So that's what the cobwebs look like in there.

Our original front door has now been returned to it's status as the only front door (not that we are allowed to use it, of course). Wonder if it feels important? Not for long though, cos it's destined for that old front door in the sky place - the skip.

The shed now has a new temporary home plonked in the back garden.

We've had the electrician here disconnecting the electricity supply to the rapidly disappearing  porch. We had to do without partial electricity.........    

............ for all of 15 minutes. "Phew!" I can hear you say. Thing is, that was the internet connection down as well. Will have to face the trauma of more electrical disruptions later - won't think about that for now.

By the end of the day, metal fencing appeared. Hope the postman doesn't come before the builders tomorrow. The letter box is somewhat off limits - bright side,  maybe no junk leaflets for a while.