Plans and dimensions

The pink line running more or less parallel to the boundary is the dreaded sewer we need to dig up and renew...see pipes

Slabs

It has been raining of course, no, pouring, for the last 3 or 4 days bar a few hours of brilliant sunshine appearing out of nowhere and disappearing quick..
The lower slab has been cast (somehow), this is the area of the dining room/ study/ cloakroom. The pile of gravel is waiting to level the upper part ( kitchen area) before slab is cast.
In the meantime we are still spending most of our time in calculations: John is positioning the air supply for the room sealed log burner, yesterday he was trying to work out where the chimney flue could go to comply with Building Regulations. House is so tiny it is really like trying to fit a puzzle on a postage stamp!

Rain and more rain

Wonderful sunny weekend spent calculating and re-calculating the exact position of the soil pipe (crucial) and realising the front door wasn't opposite the stairs (it sounds trivial but one small mistake leads to a big gap somewhere or one's bumping head upstairs or no space to fit a bath or opening a door...
Now rain of course, and not a little and much wind (hovercraft service was suspended) but they did manage to cast the slab!

East trench

South trench

West trench

North trench

Trenches trenches...

We have been so lucky, weather has stayed dry all week for the most critical part of this phase: trench digging. It could have been a quagmire. Graham, Kevin and Louis are real artists and have carved beautiful straight trenches through a stiff multicoloured clay showing bands of yellow, pink, grey and dark red. Neighbour John, a potter has asked for some and might make a pot with it. It is a shame we have to put concrete in those trenches!

Nipper the jack russell

Digging foundations

A perfect sunny day (quite miraculous) for digging clay..and pouring concrete

Demolition

There we are, the project has started. Today must be a quagmire though! Rain & rain....

Beach Cottage, project starting at last

Beach Cottage as it has been  the few years we have own it...after 2 years of drawing, planning, thinking, spending, discussing and all over again a few times we have started at last! Maybe I should have started writing about this project from the beginning of trying to gain planning permission, but it has been so frustrating that we couldn't have spent more time agonizing over it.

So, here we are.

John and I removed (carefully) the asbestos (thankfully a few bags full only) and after obtaining a special permit (free! - the first free bit of paper we have received so far...) deposited it at the dump.

Demolition today under the very capable management of Louis, but still a couple of conditions from Planning, some clarifications from Building Control and the wretched Party Wall Award to be given before excavations can begin.