A quick update

Tuesday, July 30th
Three workers on site today and I was able to access the 1st floor to discuss the position of two rooflights. I grabbed these three photos
Aperture now ready for the living room window

Opening between the living room and the dining/kitchen now framed out

The opening at the top of the stairs has also been framed out. This snap gives a good guide to what will greet you as you reach the top of the stairs - not bad eh?

Obviously, the clutter should be gone and the floor swept.

Week four of the resumption

At least two workers were onsite every day last week and they always seemed to be doing something We had a site meeting with David (architect/project manager), Denis (the contractor) and Frank - the electrician. We finalised the electrical requirements and he is supposed to get on with the chasing out this week. w/b 29/7.
Had a not very satisfactory discussion about a revised completion date. We told Denis that what he proposed was unacceptable and if he wants to keep the job he needed to think again, and fast
No pictures this time as there is nothing much to show by way of change. So here is a photo of a tractor - guess what the parade was celebrating.

Week three of the resumption

Well, we have rafters on the roof of the extension.

Workers were on-site for three of the five days. One of those days was when the carpentry firm doing the roof was on-site and they achieved all this on the one day. Not sure what was being done by the others on the other two days. I am not too enthused by the work done over the last three weeks and am currently a bit pessimistic about a completion date.
On the positive side, it does look as the structure will be ready for the window installers in the week beginning August 5th.

Before and now on July 13th

Not quite the same viewpoint

A second week of work

We are still keeping our expectations on build progress at a low level but we have seen work happening every day this past week. Importantly they have progressed the two key issues that have delayed things.

Here is the first - the creation of three window opening in the roof line at the front of the original house.

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The key to this was to create windows that you could look through while standing. The second picture gives a hint of the reason and result. You can just about make out the view of the Three Sisters through the scaffolding. Before the change you would have to be sitting down or crouching to get this view.

The second "roof problem" was the need to connect the new extension to the roof of the original building. Again this needed to be done to create a full height doorway from the kitchen area to the pantry and utility room.

The the first picture below shows the progress on this from the outside  and the second shows it from the inside.

Still plenty to do. The wall level of the original house needs to be built up to join the new flat roof. The aperture to the front right of the photo is where the new staircase will arrive into the dining / kitchen area. As you look into the picture three walls will go up. The first, furthest from the point of view will create the pantry. The second, moving towards the point of view will create the utility room that will be accessed via the pantry. The third wall will span the new extension from front to back - joining the new at the edge of the top of the stairs. The room created by this will be the upstairs WC. You can make out the apertures in the roof that are for three skylights, one on the pantry, one in the WC, and - the nearest one is over the staircase.

Last - now getting a sense of the form of the  house, first from the Dun Quin side

 Second from across the road. 

Cheers

Have we made progress?

As reported by Sheila, we have had more than three months of nothing being done on the site. This week some activity returned, as evident by the erection of scaffolding.

What can't be seen is that they have taken the step that has delayed things for so long, that is, breaking into the roof line of the original structure to facilitate the connection of the new to the old as well as the enlargement of three windows in the kitchen / dining area.
What has also been completed is the demolition of the section of the side wall that creates the gap through from the new living room in the extension to the dining / kitchen area. Two more sections of wall have been demolished to create access from the kitchen to the pantry and utility room and to allow access to the dining area from the top of the re-sited staircase.

Three months ago the main contractor was adamant that doing this would cause serious problems with the original roof structure. It didn't.

Let's hope the resumption of work continues to next week.

Meanwhile...

If only I was a shepherd...