August 23rd - first fixes

Today sees the completion of another two weeks of continuous work on the site. That is seven weeks so far.
Significant work has been made on the roofs (rooves?) but a couple of days heavy rain has prevented the completion of the flat roof which, in turn, has held up work on getting the slates on the main pitched roof areas. Three of the pitches drain on to the flat roof so it has to be finished before they start putting on the roof tiles.

The roof-lights are in the flat roof and that completes the building's fenestration.

A good portion of the electrical fist-fix is done and the heating and hot & cold water first fix is also done.

The heat pump location is by the back wall of the garage. The "Aquapump" is located in the garage. This requires a couple of buried insulated pipes bringing the hot and the cold water into the house. They has completed the work and filled in the trench before I got a chance to photograph it. 

This array of pipes, mostly for the underfloor heating, will be hidden under the flooring on the ground floor. The area in the photograph will be the coat cupboard near the staircase.

Today - Friday, August 21st promises to be dry and so fingers crossed that the flat roof guys get over and finish the job.

August 9th

Another five days of work on the site, that makes five since the resumption. Work continued of the roof(s) and, very key, the windows and front door were delivered and installed. This was completed by Thursday evening and so we set off for Westport on Friday morning - having checked that the workers were on the site that morning.

We won't be back in Ballyferrier until next Monday so we only can hope that work continues without us being there to chivvy them along. According to our understanding of the schedule, this week should see the first fix for the plumbing and more work on the roof.
Cheers

Fingers crossed

Frontage of the original house

New door in the wall of the extension, creating a new location for the "front door" 

Living room windows looking over Smerwick Harbour and Mount Brandon

The three "new" windows in the upstairs of the original structure. The old house had three windows of (more or less) this size but the were positioned about 60cm lower so you had to stoop to look out if standing. Moving the apertures through the roofline was the main cause of contention with the builder that caused close to a three-month delay.

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...

An update from Sheila

Time either passes very slowly or very quickly here in West Kerry. It also takes a long time to make things happens and for us that meant no work on site for 11 weeks which is both annoying and frustrating. 

And here it happens so easily. 

Week 1 Architect/Project Manager to our builder.  

The builder is given the instructions and drawings to knock into the roof on the old house in order to raise up the height of the windows. 

Week 2 Builder to Architect/Project Manager 

Builder is not happy carrying out the work as instructed as he believes the roof will collapse due to the condition of the rafters.  

Week 3 

We engage a structural engineer. The report when it finally arrives confirms that the roof is in good enough condition for the work to be carried out as per the drawings. The builder then produces a quote for this unexpected work which is way beyond what we were expecting. 

Week 4 

The builder proposes a new roof which would enable us to raise the roof level by one concrete block. This all sounds appealing to us and we ask for a quote. 

Week 5 

Quote for roof comes back and is in the opinion of our architect unacceptably high. 

Week 6  

The quote for the new roof is sanity checked by our quantity surveyor who agrees that it is way over the top. The builder is told to go back to the original instructions but is still concerned. 

Week 7 

Builder engages his own structural engineer 

Week 8 

Builders structural engineers confirms what our structural engineer said which is reassuring. A formal quote for this work is requested. 

Week 9 

Formal quote is received, and it is way beyond our expectations. Our QS reviews it and agrees. The builder is told to revise it and we await a new quote. 

Week 10  

A new quote is received. We meet with our architect/project manager and agree the strategy.  

Week 11 

Agreement is received in principle and work should recommence this week. Only now the scaffolder has gone on holidays and new company is needed!  

And that’s how weeks can pass by in West Kerry without any building work going on. 

The question now is will we be in the house for Christmas. When I say that I mean Christmas 2019... and if we are in can we cook a turkey. A turkey other than the builder 😊  Time will tell but at least work should restart fairly soon. 

April 17th report

This might be best read by clicking through the link to the blog itself.

After horrendous wind and rain on Monday, it looks like there will be no work on site this week. This snap, from the road, shows the house at a key stage.

The next step for the extension is to get the roof on. For the original structure, the next step is to break into the roof line to extend the first floor window apertures to their full size. This is the bit that the builder has been hesitant to do and we had to get a structural engineer in to certify that it was safe to do it.
The snap below is a view of the first floor of the original structure. On the right you can see the windows that need to be enlarged into the line of the roof.

The aperture on the left will be made into a doorway that will lead in to the new rear extension, in to a space we will use as a pantry and then on in to a utility / plant room. From this point of view, I am standing where we intend to put the dining table and the kitchen will be (largely) on the back wall.  For the snap below I now have my back to that back wall and looking to where I was standing for the snap above.
Now, on the left are the windows to be enlarged into the roof line. The aperture on the right will be expanded and this is, approximately, where the stairs will rise from the ground floor.

By the side of the blue sheeting you can see the start of demolishing part of the wall to create the connection between the old and the new - the way to the new living room.

A glimpse through the part demolished wall into the living room in prospect.

One final snap for this message. I am not sure why we did not realise this before, as it has been part of the plan from the start, but we have an unanticipated view.

This is the window in the back of the new living room, we didn't think through that we would have a view as good as this.  I think that this was partly because, in our mind's eye, the window was going to be higher up the wall and be more like a letterbox. As it is, we are delighted - hope the neighbours are as well.