That was way too close! There's been some back and forth about the setting of the hearth stone. A concrete pad supposedly big enough for it had been laid before the under-floor heating pipes were laid. Today they discovered that the pad wasn't quite big enough, so they started enlarging the hole. If they'd asked me I could have told them just how ( Read more... )

Yesterday a little tidying up of the lower edge of the plaster was done. Unfortunately that means there'll be some more painting needed, but it's progress.

Today the carpenter set to work on the floor, and by this evening about half of it was laid. It's looking very promising. The half that remains to be done may well be slightly more complicated,

Yesterday morning a digger arrived, and the day was spent digging a large hole in the front garden for a rainwater soakaway. A strict reading of the rules would say it needs to be 2 metres on each side and 2 metres deep, but the garden's on a bit of a slope, and the sub-soil is quite porus, so something slightly less deep has been deemed sufficient ( Read more... )

...was Tuesday. There's been work on some of the smaller details, like the gap between the wall and the windowsill outside. There are now fewer places where weather can get into the structure, and given the weather's turned wet recently, that's a good thing. There are still issues, but fewer of them.

Inside, most of the painting has been done. There ( Read more... )

Since last Sunday the outside temperature has been below zero (as far as I can tell) pretty much the whole time. It's also been very dry. I'm sure, if we wanted to, we could go for a walk along even the usually most muddy parts of the local footpaths. However, the dryness and the temperature combine with the wind to produce some exciting wind-chill ( Read more... )

There's still no news on the flooring, but today the ragged lower edge of the plaster, which had been roughed up when the old floor was removed, has been repaired. It still needs a skim (or sanding) but it's looking a whole lot better than it has in a while.

We had an enjoyable weekend last weekend. It was the weekend the UK filk convention would have been held. Last year's convention was the last large in-person gathering we attended. This last weekend the UK filk con teamed up with Capricon, which would have been held in Chicago this last weekend. Capricon had a lot going on in several programme ( Read more... )

...was last Wednesday. The electrician came, replaced our old plastic distribution board with a new modern-spec metal one, and finished off the electrical work. We now have heat and light in there, and there are network sockets for when we move things back and need to hook things up.

What we don't yet have is the final floor surface. It was supposed ( Read more... )

Another month, and lockdown continues.

Thanks to lockdowns and similar restrictions around Europe there's not been that much of my favoured radio activity going on, and the regular Morse practice last Thursday was also cut short, so I've been less busy than usual on the radio.

Last week I ordered a couple of oak worktops, and we've spent a bit of ( Read more... )

...was last Tuesday. The soffits and fascias got tidied up. There was no evidence of any leak on the ceiling, though. Evidence has re-appeared overnight, so that still needs finding and fixing.