Appliances installed (well some of them)

Allcastle are back at work this week. We had our appliances booked to be installed on 14th Jan. This included the freestanding cooker, rangehood, hot water heater & 2 bathroom heat lamp/extractor units. The cooker was delivered early that morning but not the rangehood as it was found to be damaged when it was inspected at the warehouse. We were told another one would be couriered out to us later that day. The plumbers came later that morning to install the hot water heater and the gas connection for the cooker. We also mentioned about our ensuite taps which had poor water presure. They had look and found the ends of the taps had become blocked up with grit. A quick clean and the were sorted. Later that day the electricians came to install the bathroom heat lamp/extractor units and connect the electric for the cooker. They were also supposed to install the rangehood but it had still not been delivered so this wasn't done. Later that afternoon the rangehood was delivered but the electricians had already gone.

We re-booked the electrician to come out and fit the hood, this took 3 phone calls to get someone to give us a date. When the electrician arrived and took it out of the box it was the wrong one. We needed a full stainless steel hood and they one that had been supplied was stainless steel and glass (very nice but doesn’t go with the stainless steel splash back).

We were back on the phone to Allcastle to make them aware of the mistake. CS asked did we install the splash back ourselves, to which we explained we paid extra to have the one in your show room and that Allcastle installed before we got the keys. Unbelievable!

Still waiting!!!

They also fitted the Heat lamp / extractor unit's to the bathrooms up stairs. These are made by Heller

Main Bathroom

Ensuite

Back garden

View of the garden after we got the keys!!!! Where should we start with this one.



After a bit of strimming it looks a little better.



Day two - we took to the trees and bushes with a chainsaw, trimming branches. We were amazed how much bigger the garden looked. We just have to get rid of the rubbish. Thank goodness there is a council clean up in a week.



Still a bit to go down the back.



Few hours later!!!

We hired a stump grinder for the day to get rid of the old stumps......not a bad little tool. Quite easy to use and quick.

This area did have a heap of privet stumps and a huge pile of wood.

This is the biggest stump we had to tackle.

That afternoon....no more stumps.

View from "what will be" the deck. Still a little work is needed.

View to the right.

We decided to call in the professionals to lay some turf, they arrived early Saturday morning.

After a few hours things are looking better.

Even later that day, we have grass........beautiful grass!!

The Veggie patch and Frangipani look much better.

Our orange tree.

Grass all down and looking like backyards should. We just need to sort out the decking now.

View towards the back of the house.

Wood Flooring

We decided to install Armstrong - Maple floating wood flooing in the Entrance and through the Hall to the main living area and Kitchen. This was laid on 3.2 mm acoustic underlay.



All the skirting downstairs was tacked on, which we asked for as part of the building contract. This made it easy to remove so that the flooring can be laid with a 8mm gap (to allow for expansion) from the wall and the skirting, then re-installed to cover the gap. This looks a lot better than having an additional trim put around the skirting to cover the gap.



The arcitrave also needed to be chiseled out to allow the flooring to slide under it.



Main living area



Entrance



Kitchen / Dining



Hallway



Main living area



All the flooring has been laid now, just need to fix the skirting back on to walls.

Driveway

We started the block paved driveway last weekend and managed to get it finished today after a few hard days work. We're really pleased with it and it was worth all the hard work.

The following pictures show how things progressed each day.

Day 1 - Saturday

The pavers had been delivered ealier in the week.



We hired a bobcat to remove the unwanted soil and rubble.





Day 2 - Sunday

We managed to finish removing the soil to the correct level ready for the roadbase.



Day 3 - Monday

We laid some weed fabric to prevent unwanted weeds growing through the pavers.



The roadbase was delivered.



This was then spread and screeded to the correct level.



Day 4 - Tuesday

Once the roadbase had been screeded it was compressed with a compactor plate. The river sand was then delivered.





This was then screeded ready for the blocks to be laid.



The blocks then began to be laid.



Day 5 - Wednesday





Managed to get the main part of the driveway finished on Christmas Eve.



Day 6 - Thursday (Christmas Day)

Day off :0)

Day 7 - Friday (Boxing Day)

We began to cement in the borders and cut the blocks for the curve of the driveway.



Day 8 -Saturday

We made a start on the path at the side of the house.





The roadbase was put down and compacted.



Day 9 - Sunday



The blocks were layed on river sand and washed sand was brushed into the gaps of the pavers.



Here it is finished off.