Quiet time

Sorry for those that keep checking back here expecting some progress but it's been very quiet on the house front of late.

Nothing has really changed since the last time I was out taking photos.

The plumber is supposed to be coming in this week to sort out the pipes etc. for all the bathrooms. After that the sub floors go down which can take a couple of weeks to dry at least depending on thickness and weather.

Maybe we'll have some more visible progress in the next week or so, watch this space.

In the meantime you can click on the link to my flickr pages to see what else we've been up to recently.

Bye for now !

Now we're getting somewhere

Another long delay in getting an update out but it just means that progress seems to come on leaps and bounds each time !
Last time the roof was getting started and now that we return about 3 weeks later, we can see the roof has been completed now, and with it a nice pair of chimneys.
Also, we've now got a near full set of windows and external doors. As you can see it's really coming on now -



Wiring has been prepared inside now after our previous meeting with the electrician so all the switches and sockets are in place.
Now we are moving into the August Builders Break period in Ireland so, much like this blog, nothing much will happen over the next 2-4 weeks.
The next step is to get the plastering / rendering done outside which will lend the house a smooth appearance prior to the white paint. The the floor screed gets poured after which there is further drying time which leaves us about 10 weeks down the line when we can start getting the kitchen in...after that the bathrooms.

I was asked, after the last post's pictures, if this house is very close to the one next to it and if you look back at that post, you can see how this could be misconstrued, so I have tried to show in the next picture a better view for the space around each of the houses.



You can also see here the finish on the house next door (particularly if you click on the picture for the larger version) which is what's coming up for us.

It was unfortunate that at this point, my camera battery died and I couldn't get any more pictures but maybe a sub post in the next while will let us see more around the sides / back / inside (if they don't lock the doors that is!)

Not much else is being progressed just yet. So we'll let you know when we make any further progress on internal stuff next time.

(Warning - loooooong entry today !)

It's July, although to look at the weather you would never have thought it. I'm beginning to see why Ireland earned the Emerald Isle moniker. Since our last visit here, there's been even more good progress being made on site. Last time, we were up to the upstairs windowsills, well, we've gone way past that, up past the windows and to the roof level, and to top that, the day I went out there (Thursday), they were just finishing up putting in the roof trusses.

To give you some of idea of what we are working towards here, this is the finished product, two doors down, the owners of which have just recently moved in...

As you can see, there's not THAT much left to do on the outside, finish the roof, put the windows in, slap a door on, a lick of paint... and then the hard work starts on the inside.
Previously we saw a picture of the group of 4 houses together but the picture wasn't great. So here's what they look like when taken properly...(don't forget you can click on any of these pictures to enlarge them!)

The first two along from the left were started a good while ago so that's why they are already habitable with the second (and final) "phase" well underway with the next 2.

Panning around to the right....

So, that's the progress on site. When I was on site there on Thursday I went around the house with the "foreman" and the head electrician marking out the positions of all the light switches, plug sockets, wall lights and such like, including the basics of the kitchen.

The electricians are moving in next week to start chasing these out ready for installation. This has also forced our hand in finally committing to a kitchen design.

We've been umming and ahhing, and changing minds for months now. So this is probably a good thing. We started with regular oak / beech units with black worktops. Then we changed to a dark Walnut design with grey worktops and blue walls. Finally, having gone full circle and halfway around again we've finally decided, for now, on an off-white finish. Hopefully next week we should have a copy of the proposed plans and I'll try and scan them in somehow so we can see them here.

Once the electricians have been round chasing out all the cabling, the plumbers move in and for this we need to choose sanitary-ware for the bathroom, two en-suites and the downstairs cloakroom.

Today we've been having an initial look at flooring options as we will need to put down all the floors throughout (with the help of fitters obviously!). We've been looking at wood, laminate, carpet, tiles, vinyl everything....totally confused....

Oh well, now the kitchen is decided upon, the bathroom is next so we'll concentrate on that and the en-suites.

Finally, although the Geothermal heating guys were supposed to be coming around, further Internet and local research has now made up our mind on this matter. Whilst it would be very environmentally friendly, and even a cost saving on the annual expenditure on heating, the initial outlay is just too much, quote vary from €10k-20k+ even after the government grants and that's just money that we can't afford to plow into something like this right now, so it's back to the original, as planned, included-in-sale-price, oil burner and radiators. Apologies to all the greenies out there, but we'll put in energy saving bulbs, honest !!

When I asked the "foreman" on an estimated completion date, he reckoned, with the wind behind it might be just 3 months ... but I'm still reckoning on Christmas / Year end myself. Particularly as the whole building industry shuts down for half of August.

Things might start moving on quickly over the next few weeks so watch out for updates ...

More progress and more pictures !

The 3 weeks since my last post has certainly seen a lot of work done by the boys on site. This is despite a week of rubbish weather recently so let's see what we have now...

(viewers will be glad to know that I had my "proper" camera with me this time, although the keen eyed amongst you will spot the rather too high ISO setting left over since its* previous outing)

As you can see, the ground floor is now complete, the upstairs is now upto window sill level mostly with some walls even higher. Good solid RSJ's about the doors and windows can be seen here, this is particularly important given the upstairs has a concrete slab floor. Not often seen these days in houses around here, but a welcome addition when it is.

Also here we can see the framework going up for the conservatory on the left. This can be seen more clearly below with a view from the "back garden"...

Moving further around the back...

The large opening on the left will be the patio doors out to the garden from the main lounge. Also just to the right you can make out the back door, then the utility room window and the kitchen window.

Venturing inside for the first time... we can see the view from the lounge out the front ... the mountain in the background will hopefully be less obscured by the hill of dirt in the foreground when they've finished.

And turning around to look out back...

That's about it really, the next update will be possible more around some of the required fittings we are looking at, floors, kitchens etc.

Plus, coming next week, investigations into Geo thermal heat source providing underfloor heating...

Until then...

Another update, and things are going up ... walls that is

Another attempt at posting an update after the last one which suffered from a myriad of internal errors and the whole blogger site reverting to German which I haven't spoken in 20 years. ...

Anyway, took a quick diversion out to the site (building not web) on Friday night on the way back from picking my car up from the mechanics (which could be the subject of a whole other blog) and took some more pictures.
Unfortunately, I must confess that I didn't have my main camera with me so was reduced to using my mobile which, whilst normally excellent, struggled here with the late evening gloom contrasted by the blinding sunset behind !

Was pleased to see that the piles of bricks from the previous shots have been put to good use in the construction of the walls.



The back wall seems to have gone up the furthest where the kitchen and utility will be as they are the straightest, the ones at the front accomodate two bay windows so obviously must take longer to get right. You can just see the low wall of the conservatory on the left hand side.

The following (frankly crap) pictures show the layout of the whole site in relation to our house -



From left to right, the first two houses are nearly complete as these were started ages ago. The third is nearing the roof line with ours, almost out of view at the end.

There are two designs of house making up the 4, and they can be seen from the finished ones on the left.

Ours is going to be the same as the second one along (from the left)
Finally a view across to Beam Hill



I'll try now and get some floorplans up so we can see what they are trying to acheive internally as well...

Hopefully next time, conditions and equipment will provide some better photos !

Until the next time.

First progress report

Since our last look at the house not much has really progressed from the eye of one un trained in the house building lark, but it does look promising that there's big piles of bricks stacked up ready to be walls, I guess ...



You can seen the addition of what is presumably the red dampcourse sheeting, with the concrete subfloor now the highest level.
From the previous post we can also see where they've filled in around the foundations to bring it up to the floor level of the house.

You can also see the weather has taken a turn for the worse of late but that's not really surprising around here, still it makes for clearer pictures !

The deposit has now been lodged with the vendors solicitors so there is no going back now I suppose !!! More paperwork to come no doubt.

To answer a previous question, we are facing a bit south of west looking at the front of the house which itself faces slightly north of east...next question ?

Hopefully the next update should see some walls going up ... hopefully, although there was a complete lack of anyone in a hard hat at all when this picture was taken at lunchtime today...

Up from the depths..not quite 30 storeys high

So progress is now being made on the house. After what seemed an age of it being just a bare plot, then just a big hole in the ground there now appears, rising up from the depths, some foundations with the shape of a house on top. Finally it begins to take shape which is more of a relief for the children who thought we might be living in a field for a while... Taken just last Sunday (29th April - Andy's 40th!) this is what we have so far -

(Large version here- http://farm1.static.flickr.com/170/481649212_7667cfc076_o.jpg )

This is a view of the front looking towards the back. Facing sort of westish I think, I will check on the compass bearing and report back.

Today saw further progress in the sale agreement with us visiting our solicitors to sign paperwork etc. Now comes the hard part of departing with our deposit for what is essentially a pile of bricks in a hole !!

It's progress though and we're happy with that...

More soon...