About to start a 6-month extension build...

[AppropriateAdult]

... and moving in with the in-laws for the duration. Come join me on this wild ride!

God I feel stressed today apparently last day with them inside at my husbands demands we were both up til midnight painting as decorator so slow

Well, we’ve been over to the house this afternoon and it’s a mix of good and bad.

First, half the team are off sick, so main builder has been there on his own all week, until today, when they had one guy in mist coating. Apparently the others aren’t expected back until the end of next week!

New doors and windows look good, bar the arched ones, which aren’t fitted yet, but I was able to see them and he showed me how they won’t look so squat once the window ledges are on. Discussed how high they are going to be too and it will do, for now. Still don’t like them, but am choosing to see them as a temporary option until we get our stained glass designs made up. (Realistically this will be at least a couple of years.)

Bedrooms are all looking good and here’s the good bit from today - we have 1920’s cast iron fireplaces in two of the bedrooms, but the fronts have been boarded up and painted over for years. While we were there we got him to take the boards off and all the original pieces, basket, backplate, even cute little cast iron hearths etc were all inside and in decent enough condition. The back panels have a maker name and the date 1926 stamped into them, so they will be a lovely addition to the renovation when they’re reinstated. Dd is very excited about it and is already planning ornaments and battery candles for the hearth.

Overall, it’s not great, as they are way behind because of people being off sick and various other delays, but once they are all back in, things should speed up and hopefully come together pretty quickly. No way we’re going to be back in before August though, which makes things very tricky and stressful being at PIL’s.

Plastering starts Tuesday!

@Driverpicksthemusic so glad the windows are salvageable for now. That must be a relief. And yay to the fireplaces! We have a 20s house and found additional chimneys but not fireplaces sadly so having to get reclaimed. Do you have downstairs ones? If so, what are they like? We went for a cast iron fireplaces with art deco surrounds, all salvaged from 20s properties. Hoping they look okay. It looked like tiled was another option, but couldn't find tiled ones that weren't broken or the wrong size.

@Toooldtoworry that's coming along at a pace! Are you living there still? Can see a little dog on your sofa

@A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 yes, still living there. Won't be moving out. The dog! He's a Mummy's boy!

@Toooldtoworry ah gorgeous! Couldn't live in mine with the builders, doors open and fences down etc. he's an escape artist!

Thankfully not had to suffer fences down, etc. We've got 3 dogs. One is at Grandma's relaxing and I have him and my other boy at home.

The worst bit for me is yet to come I think.

@A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 The downstairs fireplaces are damaged, but were later additions anyway.

We’re opening up the one in the kitchen for the range to go into. That was late 1930’s tiled, but quite damaged and the hearth had been smashed off it. The one in the living room was also tiled and quite ugly, with a few broken tiles. It’s being removed and neatly plastered around for now, until we can find a replacement we like.

A bit of research, plus knowing what was found inside next door’s chimney, suggests there was probably an old cast iron type range in the kitchen one originally.

@Toooldtoworry Your dog is so cute!

I am grateful we only have one very small dog these days, after 30+ years of owning large breeds. Not sure how I would have navigated living on site with two big Lurchers, especially as one of them had cognitive decline and bad arthritis for the last year or so. There’s a lot to be said for having a dog you can pick up and carry around when you are navigating living in a building site.

My current dog is a proper mummy’s boy too, so is never far from my side. Took him back to the house on Saturday, as we had some measuring up to do and the builder wanted us to mark up where we wanted sockets in our new bedroom. He was so pleased to be home, bless him, he shot through the front door then came to a sudden stop and looked horrified at the scene before him. He turned and looked at me with a look of genuine shock!

This is due to be the last week here minus coming back for one day in a couple weeks after gas meter moved ( we kept pestering for this to be booked in a long time ago ! ) so they have to come back to plaster bathroom ceiling and build steps at side of house - annoying.
The decorater has trashed brand new flooring in 2 rooms so somehow this is being rectified this week presumably Saturday in their own time but again I just want the house back I don't want people here on the weekend my husbands away all week. Need this to go smoothly and then tk crack on ! Please cross your fingers for me ladies this has been so much tougher than I expected

@mrssunshinexxx will keep my fingers firmly crossed.

I ordered the wrong width door thresholds and I need to call and fix that problem today.

Things are rattling on, but I have a couple of things in addition that they don't have the time to do so they're going to have to come back at some point.

@Driverpicksthemusic I see your point about being able to pick a dog up. I've got 17 years until retirement so anticipate we'll have lost these 3, or be close to it by the time we retire and I was thinking smaller, SBT size might be a good idea.

@mrssunshinexxx I hear you. I completely lost the plot with it all this weekend, threw my toys out of the pram and ended up staying at my parents with my eldest two dc for a few days. This was following on from our visit to the house and the builder admitting they are now massively behind. I could handle it better if there was an end in sight, but we are now two weeks away from when we should have been back in with absolutely no idea when we will actually be able to do that. My PILs are due back later this week and they were only expecting us to be there for a week after that. Dh is away for a week at the start of August and I just can’t face staying with my IL’s without dh there, but it’s looking like I won’t have a choice.

I’ll keep everything crossed they get through those last few bits and you finally get your home back. x

@Toooldtoworry We really wrangled with whether or not to get a small dog. We lost our last dog when he was 17 and a half and he was such a huge presence in our home/family. We knew it was sensible though, after we had another Lurcher that was just shy of 30” to the shoulder and when he became seriously ill I had to try and lift him into the car on my own to get him to the emergency vet several times. I have a chronic health condition and we realised I am just not going to be able to keep doing that.

Initially we thought Whippet, as we’ve had Lurchers for years and are drawn to sighthounds, but then I happened across the English Toy Terrier and after and lot of research decided to give it ago. They are compact and small enough to pick up, but not as small as a Chihuahua and don’t have any health issues or malformations like a lot of small breeds - they’re a bit like a perfect big dog in miniature form really. They’re extremely loyal and devoted to their family, aloof with strangers and absolutely chock full of personality and fun. Ours really is an absolute joy and the fact we can take him pretty much anywhere with us is a bonus. Dh took longer to adapt to having a small dog and bond properly with him, but they are thick as thieves now and adore each other. In fact the dog is sitting on my lap right now in a strop because he hasn’t seen dh since Saturday. Here he is:

Oh @Driverpicksthemusic how gorgeous.

I have a chronic illness too, and osteoarthritis so have started weight training blasted menopause is soon to hit too in the vain hope I can keep strong in my old age.

@Toooldtoworry @Driverpicksthemusic thanks ladies. It's so much more stressful than I anticipated but I think having an unplanned but very wanted pregnancy hasn't helped as the first trimester I felt like actual death. Plus a 2 and 3 year old and a husband who's never here I've been managing it pretty much. The end is so close he said today they might even finish on Thurs eeeeek

Oh goodness. Pregnancy is hard enough at the best of times.

Very cute! Dogs are just the best! We have a gorgeous rescue, he's lovely, but has some anxiety issues. I'd love another dog but my partner thinks it's biting off a bit more than we can chew right now, what with the toddler and baby, and our dog who can go through very anxious phases.

@Sunshineclouds11 oh no, how badly is the floor trashed? I'm so sorry! Can it be easily fixed?

@Driverpicksthemusic Im sorry that's rubbish. I think it is so very tough, and nearly all our projects are probably delayed? It's so hard when you've a date in your mind, and it keeps getting pushed beyond that. Thank you for the info re the fireplaces. Maybe cast iron is okay for ours also. I was really second guessing it myself

@A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 you certainly have your hands full whereas we have 3 dogs and no full time at home children (I have a part timer). Dogs are great for the soul.

So far we are on target time-wise. Feeling anxious about the painter and decorator though but we'll see.

@Toooldtoworry three dogs and a child sounds pretty full on to me. Have you picked your colours?

Kitchen? That's going to be white, wood effect and royal blue with a sparkling white work top.

We've got a tree trunk and glass dining table.

Utility and shower room will be grey.

Decorating will be grey walls (boring) but I wanted neutral so I can add colour with rugs, etc. Also I lived with magnolia with army quarters my whole life so sick of anything like that.

@Toooldtoworry oh that sounds lovely! That's so funny about the magnolia. I was testing paint samples, and some warm neutral whites for the kitchen, and the builder was like 'yuck that looks just like the old magnolia paint'. Things come in cycles I guess. Won't be going with that one though!

Just had our daily update. A couple of trims left to do in the valley and around the window, but we are weathertight, the velux is in and the extension has finally been knocked through. Still have one small wall to come down, but it’s getting there.

Upstairs just needs a second sand and coat of primer, then undercoat, but the hall, stairs and landing haven’t been started yet.

Bathroom and en-suite fittings, taps, showers etc have all been decided and one of the builder’s trade friends is currently seeing if they can get any of the prices down on those. Tiles for the bathroom have been chosen, I don’t love them, but they suit the design and were an absolute bargain. En-suite tiles are still being debated. The original ones we wanted are now out of stock everywhere, which helps a bit, as we can’t afford them anymore anyway!

Bit the bullet today and ordered a cloakroom sink that has a 6 week delay on it. Could do with it sooner really, but I have looked at so many and this was the only one that felt right for the space, so we decided we’d rather wait and have what we really want.

Apparently it will be all hands on deck next week, with everyone back on site. My kitchen is due to be delivered any day from Wednesday, so we need the living room cleared to store it in initially. I think dh and I will go over at the weekend to shift some stuff ourselves to make sure that happens.

I am back at my parents at the moment, sleeping on their sofa, as dd has so many extra curricular things going on it just wasn’t feasible to be driving back and forth constantly. Last event is Saturday, then we have a week till she breaks up and no more stressy school-runs.

I’m still peeved about how behind the builders are, but my mental health has benefitted from being at Mum’s for a bit and at least things seem to be moving in the right direction now. Hopefully there will be a burst of progress next week once everyone is back on site.

@mrssunshinexxx hope the floor is cleaned up ok?

We are almost watertight I have the electrical first fix happening, actual floorboards upstairs so we can walk around but now have to get various wiring things sorted like the alarm very quickly before they start plasterboarding! Actually feeling a bit overwhelmed with the decisions!!

Thanks @pashmina696 floor sorted they worked half a day 2 of them for free jet washing it. Floor fitter was supposed to finish on Friday then said he'd come today but screed wasn't dry enough annoyingly so he's coming Monday and Tues but it's hard not having a lounge with 2 young children they can't really have their toys out at the moment so feeling like a rubbish mum!

That's good news! It's hard living through it but it will be worth it in the end

Sounds like it's coming together now, I know where we are at but not really sure if we are ahead or behind schedule! I have also chosen tiles and bathroom stuff - waiting to get pricing on all of it at the moment. What tiles are you after? I feel I have seen every tile for sale!!