Most recent entries are at the top. Scroll down to see how things have developed.   

17 Feb. The last of the scaffolding has gone, so that the extended size of the sewing room is clearly visible. Inside the new stairs are in place, the shower rooms have their first tiles up; the wardrobes and cupboards are complete and the walls and woodwork have a first coat of paint.  

27 Jan. More scaffolding has gone. In the new bedrooms the wardrobes and cupboards are being built; the stairwell has been plastered and the master bedroom is being used as a workroom for staining and drying timber cladding ready to finish the exterior. 

13Jan 2013. After a two week break, the builders are back at work. Little visible change externally except that the render has been tidied up where it ran onto the brickwork, and glass is in the windows. This makes a big difference to the bedrooms, which are now fully lined. The shower rooms are lined and laid out, with the W/C cisterns concealed in the storage space. The new landing walls are packed with insulation.

22/23 December. Scaffolding has been removed from the South side, showing the new build. From the North side some scaffolding remains, but the dormer over the staircase is clearly shown as well as the two 'light-box' windows for the bathroom. Inside, the builders have put up temporary stairs to provide indoor access to the top floor. The window frames are all in, but not glazed yet, making it very dark inside!

8/9 Dec. The sewing room is roofed and windowed (the plaster showing the size of the original room) while the bathroom has been removed to make room for a shower tray. Outside, the dormer over the stairs is complete, the tiling is finished and the woodwork stained.

1 December. Inside the house the Bathroom has been stripped out and the line of the old roof is clearly visible on the chimney. Outside,  most of the tiles are on, though detailing around the eaves and the chimney is outstanding.

24 Nov. The new sewing room walls are coming up, the roof is fully covered with the first roof tiles in place.

16/17 Nov. The roof rafters are all up, and the stud partition walls forming the shower rooms. The size of the enlarged sewing room can now be clearly seen.

10/11 Nov. The first floor ceiling / Attic floor is in place, and the blockwork for the top floor walls is coming up. Visible here are the small windows which will let light down into the master bathroom and dressing room. Strange to see the chimney 'inside' the structure.

3/4 Nov. The roof and first floor ceiling are almost completely gone.

Next up were the scaffolders, who covered the whole house and put on a 'tin roof' so that the existing roof could be safely removed.

Before they could start though, we had to move ourselves (and all our stuff!) out of harm's way. This took several weeks but with a lot of help from friends and hired 'and and van' we got the house emptied:

The whole project has been more than four years in the planning, getting going when we appointed E. Francis Architects in 2008. After much discussion and thought, plans were submitted in September 2011 with approval obtained in November. There was then a careful tender process leading to the appointment of General Building Services to do the actual work.