By the end of last week I had to admit defeat. It was abundantly clear that we would not be able to move in this Friday. So we’re now officially a full year overdue. We’ve pushed the moving date out by a week but have neglected to inform the contractor of our change of plans. So the site has been a hive of activity for the past several days with different sub-contractors falling over themselves and each other.
There will be one small delivery of furniture on Friday, just to keep everyone on their toes. We had some things stored in a friend’s flat and that has to be vacated by the 3rd so there will something of a mini-move. Just enough to instil a little bit of panic, I hope.
This is how things looked this morning:
Taken from the kitchen (90% complete) towards the bay window.
The Oggie flooring is almost complete throughout the house and it looks beautiful. They were working on the stairs today which made the upstairs inaccessible. One or two more enterprising workmen used a ladder.
Kitchen, taken from the bay window.
Living room floors.
And the brick paving of the driveway got started this morning:
Compressing the soil in front of the garage.
Looking up the driveway towards the street.
Looking down towards the path that leads to the park.
Eventually a pedestrian gate, matching the driveway gates, will be installed in the opening on the left of this picture. The wall on the left is one we built just inside our boundary, allowing us to leave our neighbour’s old, decrepit wall intact. Which seemed to be the way she wanted it to stay.
We also started the process of laying instant lawn today so hopefully some of the dirt and dust will have settled by the time we do actually move in on the 10th. Having paving down on one side and grass on the other should make a big difference.
home-in-the-making 
Looking good. Is Kevin and his team managing to work in the front office, amidst all the frenzy?
Hi Mike. Yes. They’ve been managing pretty well, surprisingly enough. It’s made a difference having them on site too as I’m sure you can appreciate. Not so easy to sit around in the sun for hours at a time when the owner is on site all day…
It is looking good, and when the final cosmetics begin to go in, (such as the instant lawn), it will make a fantastic difference and you’ll begin to feel excited and optimistic about moving in – in spite of everything. We’re looking forward to pictures of the housewarming party!
Thank you Heather. It is starting to resemble the picture we had in mind when we embarked on all this at the end of 2012… I think we will opt for a housewarming party sooner rather than later, even if our guests have to sit around on packing cases. If we put it off until all the details are in place, it might be another year before we have any visitors… In the meantime, I feel as though I’ve developed tunnel vision and can only see and think about turning this building site into a home. I’m having London withdrawal symptoms. Not sure if I’ll be able to hold out until Xmas.
I hope you don’t hold out because then you’ll come and see us. Even if you do hold out till Christmas, you can surely give us a day or so. As it happens, London is intolerable just now because it is so hot, (forecast is 34 Celsius but it will be more – 41 on centre court at Wimbledon yesterday. London is not a city which deals well with exceptional heat, so you’re in a better place. Suffolk, though, that’s another story…sitting by the pool and counting swallows…but you’ll be doing that soon in your new house. Nearly there! Hx
Hang in there Jacqui – it will all be worth it in the end!
The floors truly look divine! The expanse of room towards the bay window is lovely. I can see your earlier vision coming to life. I think your mini move is a good strategy. I’m imaging a similar camp out in our front yard if our builders run much over schedule.