It's finished....

....well almost!  There are still a few little bits to finish off and then the snagging list to attend to (punch list to my friends across the Atlantic!).  However, I think it is fair to say, we are done and now thoroughly enjoying living in our new home.  It has been two years since we left our family home of 24 years and so, after nine months in a rented house,  and then the at times difficult period we have just had living through the build, it now all seems worthwhile.  Here are some before and after pictures for you to enjoy and this is my final blog post so thanks for all your interest, encouragement and kind comments I hope you have enjoyed seeing this project come to its fruition.

View from the West

BEFORE!

AFTER!

 View from the South

BEFORE!

AFTER!

View from the East
 

BEFORE!

AFTER!

 

Details.....

When you are doing any sort of project it is often the details that can turn a very nice outcome into a really exciting one.  The details for this house have been really fun to do.  Some have come from our upcycling of original features and some have come from newly purchased items.

Early in the project we decided on using copper as a metallic finish because of the super 1960s light fitting in the kitchen.

We found some lovely copper light switches and socket covers to use on the wood panelling and we think they look really great - White plastic ones just looked dreadful! The website sockets and switches has lots of options.

We also paid attention to ceiling roses using copper in some rooms and brushed steel in others depending on the light fittings already in place. 

- on the right here is a copper ceiling rose in the dining room - and below the brushed steel original lghts in the lounge and garden room which are brushed steel. 

 Another important detail throughout the house has been the use of black framing and in some places (like the house bathroom) hardwood framing.

Black framing in the dining room

 

Hardwood framing in the bathroom

Outside, our use of a small section of purple cladding once again lifts what could be an ordinary, but very nice, outcome into one that is a bit different. 

purple cladding - that tall, thin window is another detail that provoked much discussion at the design stage but looks great from both inside and out.

One thing we have learnt from this project is that getting some of these details and design decisons right early on can really lift the final result. Sometimes details seem expensive but often deliver far more than you expect when in place.   We haven't got everything right by any means but we are really pleased with the result and in a very few days the builders should be offsite and the project will be completely finished.
 

Reduce, Re-use, Recycle.......

First the exciting bit of this week's project has been the application of the purple cladding!  The garage door will also be treated with this product from Rockpanel - the colour is RAL 3011 Brown red - so more aubergine than purple really!  The fixing of this product has been brilliant and our thanks go to Frazer Carter Group for their meticulous work and attention to detail.  Fitting in with the theme of this week's blog Rockpanel is a product that has achieved A+ BRE certification in the BRE Green Guide - A+ being the product with the best environmental performance.  Just the sills to fix now (Saturday) and the white horizontal pelmet in this picture to be clad in grey aluminium - next week!

....... all through this project decisions have been underpinned by the mantra of reduce, re-use, recycle - but this is not always an easy thing to achieve.    However, we have got some real successes - like the re-used light fitting and bench seating in the kitchen for example.

Reduce

The last few elements of the reduce agenda are now being put in place.  (The reduce agenda is all about cutting the amount of fuel it takes to run the house - both in terms of heating oil and electricity.)  These last elements are the loft insulation and we have just laid a 300mm layer insulation throughout the roof space (there was almost none in there when we bought the house).  Building regulations currently require a minimum of 270mm.  Next, because the scaffolding is finally down, we have been able to begin work on the flat roof above the garden room.  This has a temporary cover over it and it doesn't have its full layer of insulation yet.  It is interesting how the lounge and garden room are noticeably colder than the rest of the house because of this!  Once this is done the house is completely wrapped in its insulation duvet and we should find, once all remaining drafts have been eliminated, that our use of heating oil is substantially reduced next winter.  There is a new snug fitting back door to be installed and a few holes and gaps still to be tracked down and filled. 

We have also used LED lighting throughout the property - both replacement bulbs in traditional fittings and some new LED light fittings in other areas.  This, together with the solar thermal for the hot water, should reduce our electricity usage.  The solar thermal has already been working well and providing us with piping hot water from even the shortest spell of sunshine. 

Re-use 

The re-use part of the agenda has been really good fun and some of the original features in the house have been kept, updated and refurbished.  The staircase has been given a new lease of life as have the vanity unit and hardwood trims in the house bathroom.

Re- fitted vanity unit with new contemporary basin

Panelling from the dining room re-used in the master bedroom

 

Re-used book cases and children's desk (now my desk) in the garden room

Recycle

The recycle part has meant many, many trips to the charity shops and the local authority recycling centre. On the downside it has been a disappointment to us that we have still had to send many skips of old building materials and general waste to land fill.  It is a good job that projects like this don't happen often in the lifetime of this house.  Finally, of course, there has been a lot of use of online auction sites both to sell our old items and to purchase some nice new mid century pieces for key positions in the house. 

Ebay sideboard purchase - looking lovely!!

- Latest purchase G Plan bedside tables

 

The swan emerges......

 .......we took a couple of days away again this week so that the stairs could be stripped back and revarnished.  When we returned we found that our swan has begun to emerge from underneath the scaffolding. 

Still a few bits to finish and tidy

The purple cladding is still to be applied - we have had some issues with the finish of the product and so it has been delayed while we get really good panels.

This is what it was like as we began the project

This was taken at the very beginning of the project and one of the changes we made was to echo the white panelling under the windows with larch.  This helped on cost grounds but we also liked the idea of referencing the original 1960s design.

This is what we were aiming for  - it has been tweaked a bit along the way.

The stairs have been quite a challenge!  Under the carpet muffs that were on each step the wood had been protected from the sunlight but 40+ years of bleaching on the outer edges has taken some dealing with - but it is done!  A big thank you to our decorators for persevering at our request - yes, I know we could have put carpet back but when the stairs were put in originally they were all wood...... like this. Fab!

The panelling has also been repolished and stained where it had faded and we decided to paint all the white bits of the staircase black and we like this effect better because of that super black skirting and cornice detailing that is in the dining hall.

This is what the stairs looked like when we bought the house

Finally this week, we have carpets and flooring in almost all of the house now; just the kitchen, front porch and landing to go... the garden room/lounge was fitted while we were away and Wow! - we love it. 

The new carpet fitted in the garden room - and our fab room  divider!

It's all so mid century here now - what with the room divider, the ebay furniture buys and the fabulous bones of this house - we are thrilled with the progress!  In the next couple of weeks we should see this project drawing to a close and we get our home back - brilliant!

It's all about the cladding..............

The original 1960s house as a comparison

This week has been almost all about the cladding.  Finally it was time for the Rockpanel cladding to be applied.  

This is the final part in the jigsaw and is being used to cover the parts of the original house that were built in brick.  The new extension has been clad in aluminium (zinc finish - a bit stealth bomber!) and also in larch and the detail that was originally white on the 1960s house has been picked out in larch. 

The weather has thrown everything at us this week wind, snow, hail, rain, cold... but the guys have worked on throughout with some brilliant attention to detail.

Window detailing and you can just see the colour of the cladding (pale grey) under its plastic wrap.

  The Rockpanel cladding is being applied by a specialist company, the Frazer Carter Group, based in Hessle - over the river in Hull. It is being stuck onto the timber battening beneath (I am told not to think sticking but rather chemical bonding!!) between the panels there is a thin black strip  which gives a really nice detail.   They are doing a seriously great job and it is their first application on a domestic property as they are much more used to working on offices and schools.

Inside the house the decorators are busy and now finishing the landing and bedrooms.  the joiners have also been finishing off skirting boards and the remodelling of the original 1960s vanity unit in the house bathroom.

The dining hall about finished with its smart black detailing.

The remodelled vanity unit taking shape

The electrician has also been on site this week continuing the replacement of all lights with much more energy efficient LED lighting - Reduce!!  This includes replacing the tubes under the pelmets in the dining room and lounge with LED strips - a nice 1960s feature.  The electrician also commissioned the crucial MVHR system - lots about this in earlier posts - and, after a couple of hiccups, it is quietly whirring away now extracting the hot stale air from the kitchen, bathrooms and landing and replacing it with fresh, filtered air that has been slightly warmed (in the heat recovery bit!) and that is blown gently in to all the bedrooms and living areas. Brilliant!  

By the end of next week all the work inside the house should be about finished and it will just be outside details and landscaping - OH we are so near the end now!!!!  We can't wait for the scaffolding to come down.......

Wrapping our house in its duvet.......

The final layer of insulation has been going on this week ready for the decorative rainscreen cladding.  We can already feel the difference inside the house.  In fact, in places, the house is almost too warm and so the need for the mechanical ventilation and heat recovery system is very apparent.  This system has yet to be commissioned but should even out the air quality once it is working. The heat recovery element ensures that heat is not wasted as the fresh air drawn in from outside is warmed using the warm stale air that is being extracted - it's all clever stuff!  The solar thermal panels are installed and working and this week's sunshine has given us lots of lovely hot water - so all good there!

Just a fun touch here - a plumber's radio!!!

Our approach all along has been fabric first so that we can really cut down our dependence on fossil fuels.  So, solar thermal for hot water, a log burner, triple glazed windows, lots and lots of insulation and a very tight build with the minimum of holes left in the envelope of the house.  We have been constantly going round looking at the work and having insulation stuffed between floors, into crevices and holes and insisting that any gaps and holes are carefully filled in. This is in line with our mantra of reduce, re-use, recycle, and insulation is the key factor in achieving this.  We still have the door through to the garage to seal, a full layer of roof insulation to add and the garden room roof to insulate and cover once the scaffolding has been removed.  

A nearly normal dining room and friends coming round to christen it on Saturday night!

Inside the house things are really coming together and it feels more like a home.  The decorators have been busy and the choice of Dulux colour Timeless (an off white) throughout has proved a good one.  The house is now light and bright with just splashes of colour from accessories and one or two feature walls. 

Dark blue feature wall in the TV room - just pictures to hang now

The original scheme has some really great black detailing in the dining room and staircase and we have kept this and we think it looks fabulous.

We intend to paint the stair spindles and riser supports black too.

The joiners and decorators have also done some great work on existing wood features and making new ones like the room divider in the garden room - below.  

One of my really comfy 1960s Ebay chairs in front of the stove!

 

A corner of the kitchen takes shape - we left the brick wall incorporated into the kitchen - it was originally  an outside passage

The beautiful Marmoleum tile floor is finished in the master bathroom and work progresses in the house bathroom with the remodelled vanity unit and hardwood coving detail.

Getting the details right..........

 

Fitting the two solar thermal panels on the roof for the hot water system.

Whilst there is plenty of big stuff still to do including guttering and downpipes and the final cladding - more on this in my next post - the last couple of weeks have also been about the small (yet very important) things.  We are fortunate to have some very skilled guys working on site who have been working hard to mix old and new seamlessly.  The new windows have been sealed into the existing hardwood frames with beading and the work has started to bring the re-used panelling back to its original glory.

 This is great joinery detailing that has been done round the new window on the staircase.  It also means we have sealed up all the tiny gaps and so our house is more and more draught free - important as we have put in quite small radiators. - see earlier posts

The re-used panelling (from the dining hall) has been stained and polished up as a feature wall in the master bedroom - all ready for carpeting next week!  The window sills have also been stained to match the new windows.  




The decorators have also been very busy this week and have finished the master bedroom, dressing room, en-suite, kitchen and TV room.  This means that next week we can carpet, and finally move into, our new bedroom.  We can also move back into the kitchen and reveal the kitchen units from under their blue plastic protective covering and unpack all the kitchen equipment.  All that is left to do is the flooring, the splashback and cooker hood and then finally the fridge can be put in place. 

Shelves and decorating finished in the kitchen

The covers come off the cream gloss units

  




























I have also made another very successful Ebay purchase - an unusual mid century Zebrano wood sideboard.  Zebrano wood is an African hardwood The darkly stained hardwood goes brilliantly with the dark wood worktops and details in the kitchen. 

We also have a lovely ensuite bathroom and the floor will be completed in here next week.  Some lovely wood details have been achieved here such as the bath panels, mirror and a shelf detail on top of the boxed in pipework. 

Master bathroom ready for the floor covering

View from master bedroom through the dressing room to the bathroom.  The wardrobes have been made from a mixture of up-cycled original wardrobe fittings and new wood.

This is the family bathroom, newly plastered, with the original hardwood vanity unit being re-fitted.  More great joinery from the team including matching in the original hardwood coving detail.







 

  
The new Rais Q-Tee wood burning stove blazing happily in the sitting room - Oh and we have the heating back on so the house is toasty for the first time in three months! Actually, it was really funny when the heating came back on as we were too hot!  It shows that the mechanical ventilation system is essential to maintain good air quality in our super insulated well sealed house - this has yet to be commissioned.




  
So, all in all, we have made huge progress in the last 2 weeks.  Rooms are ready for floor coverings and occupation.  Heating is on and bathrooms are being fitted.  The house is finally turning from a building site into a home and the furnishings and finishing touches can start.  These seemingly small details, which are so important, can make the difference and turn an ordinary room into something a bit different. Next week I think there will be some brilliant pictures to show for all this effort .........