On Monday it was back to work on the 4 bed new build.  I was doing the brick work for an internal wall, while Stu was supplying the muck, then working his way through a list of those little jobs that needed doing but we have kept putting off.

On Tuesday and Wednesday Stu and I were working in Sawtry replacing and hanging some new internal doors for an older lady.  Our coffee was served on a silver tray, with a selection of short bread biscuits to choose from, service doesn’t come better than that!  On Thursday it was back to the new build, for me to finish off the internal brick wall and Stu giving the place a good old tidy, top to bottom.

Friday, it was back to Peterborough to give the walls of the new built in wardrobe that we did a week ago a plaster skim.  We were all done by mid afternoon, so I was then ‘officially’ on holiday, and off for a week of R and R in Viva Espana the following week!  When we start back to work, we have a couple of weeks work to do in Yaxley near Peterborough, re-fitting a roof area, and making good a rendered wall.

Monday was a good day, as it was a Bank Holiday and we didn’t have to work!  On Tuesday and Wednesday Stu and I were putting in some new brick work under all the new doors at the new build as the existing brick work had to be changed as it wasn’t suitable.  On Tuesday we also put in the utility door and the last window, so everything was now fitted on the door and window front.  Stu went round and put in the expanding foam around all the frames, so the build is now officially water tight, no more wind rushing in through those gaps!  While Stu was doing that, I made a start on the brick work for an internal wall in the hallway.

On Thursday we were in Peterborough, altering some stud work for a client and building in a new built in wardrobe.  We worked well during the day and had everything done that I wanted, so we just need to pop back to finish things off with a plaster skim to the new plasterboard walls.

On Friday we travelled over to Northampton to finish a job we did a few months ago.  Back when we did the original work it was raining, and therefore not good weather for doing some external render repair work.  It was blue sky when we arrived in Northampton, and it was blue sky when we started rendering, and guess what? We had a nice little rain shower come over just as I was finishing off, hoping it wasn’t about to wash away my work!

On Monday Stu and I got the last of the felt onto the single storey roof, then made a start on the facia, soffit and guttering.  The rain was heading in late morning and getting heavier and heavier, so we called it a day at lunch time.  On Tuesday we carried on roofing, getting the tiles fixed and putting on the dry ridge tile system.  In the afternoon we made preparations for the windows and doors to be fitted the following day.

As there was going to be a lot of lifting and carrying to be done, I got my Dad in for assistance and also my mate Danny.  The first job was to get the two, three metre long sliding door units installed.  As they couldn’t be lifted by the four of us, I moved the first one into position with the Telehandler, so we just had to pull and lift the unit into place.  This is when it first came to light that once we put on the metal straps to the doors so they could be fixed into place, that the doors were slightly larger than the opening.  On checking the paper work, the window people had not allowed any size tolerance on the sliding doors.  They had allowed a tolerance on all the other windows and doors, all of which fitted nicely, but the two biggest and heaviest units they hadn’t, and with the windows and doors coming over from Denmark, there wasn’t much we could do about it!  So we therefore had to start to cut the block work and brick work to allow the door to fit.  I was not amused.  By the end of the day we had them both fitted, but what should have taken two hours tops, ended up taking seven hours.  I am now in talks with the window people, surprise, surprise!

On Thursday Stu and I continued to fit the smaller and lighter windows in the morning, and in the afternoon I took my van for an MOT, which is going to cost me £600 to have the work done so it passes.  I wished I hadn’t of bothered!.  On Friday the sun was out, so we pointed up the roof tiles on the single storey roof, and then phoned the scaffolders to let them know they could remove the remaining scaffold.  In the afternoon we put in the remaining windows.