Day 50 - Plastering etc

Plasterers at work in my bedroom. (Obligatory builders bum on show)

Lots of plastering going on today - some in the loft bedroom but my bedroom was completely plastered by the end of the day and looks great. I spent the day measuring for and choosing bath, shower, basins etc as well as looking at tiles. The loft bathroom is an awkward space, half with restricted height and quite narrow so it's a challenge to fit in a shower that won't feel cramped. I'm compromising on the size of the basin to allow a large enough shower to fit in.

Exterior drain. The remaining space will be tiled

Elsewhere the pipes for the radiators are in place, a tap is fitted on the terrace to water my plants, and the drain at the foot of the exterior steel staircase is in place. Nasco changed his original choice for a more sturdy round drain which looks very solid and stood up to an hour of the hosepipe running through it without any leaks! I've got to finalise tile/bathroom/wood floor and bathroom radiator choices this week so lots to fit in around work.

Loft bedroom part plastered

Day 48 - New Fireplace & More Plasterboard

New fireplace

Having been in Germany for a couple of days for work, it was high time I visited the flat to see how it was getting on. There had been a lot of progress. For a start I now have a fantastic new gas stove in the sitting room. It just needs to be connected up but otherwise it's all installed.

Plasterboarded Loft

Secondly almost all of the plasterboard is in place. The ceiling in the sitting room will be slightly lower as I didn't want to remove the lath and plaster with all the mess and extra cost involved. Instead we are boarding over the existing one. The stud walls are in place in the middle bathroom and I really need to choose bathroom fittings.

The sitting room ceiling going up

Day 44 - Roof Details & More Plasterboard

Nick putting in the edging tiles on the front roof

Rescued Ridge Tiles

The past week has been hectic with work so I've either been in the car driving to and from work, sleeping or filming. I managed to drop in for ten minutes or so this morning before rushing off to a job. The roof is pretty much finished now, with the edging tiles going on the join between the front pitched roof and the flat roof over the loft. The ridge tiles on the front roof look much better than the ones that were there before. The guys had rescued them from the skip on another job and I'm glad they did as it looks great.

Kitchen/Sitting Room plasterboard

Inside there is a lot more plasterboard up which is still ongoing and the squared off archway between the kitchen and sitting room is in place. I had my first look at the steel stairs leading to the terrace and they are very solid. The wall on the left as you go up will be rendered and on the right will be covered with slate. At the bottom as the stairwell is open to the sky, they are putting in a drain covered with a grill and the remaining space will be tiled. Finally they have installed the soil pipe from the loft bathroom loo which goes under the floorboards and out to join the other soil pipe from the original bathroom.

Steel staircase leading to the terrace

Day 41 - More Plasterboarding

I left dusty footprints on my shiny new roof!

Progress on the plasterboard

Another job in London today so I dropped in on the flat for five minutes before heading off to the City. The terrace looks fantastic and they have put up more plasterboard as well as starting work on tidying up the hole in the brickwork where the chimney breast was removed. The flat roof over the loft needs to be finished off and then the roof will be watertight. The steel stairs that will lead up to the terrace should arrive tomorrow. I won't be able to visit again before next week so my next visit should be an interesting one with lots of new things to see.

The removed kitchen chimney breast filled in

The fireplace and surround is being replaced next week

Day 40 - Fast Progress

The new plasterboarded stud wall

I was unable to go up to London today but Tom was there most of the day and sent a few photos. Work is really progressing fast now. I'm amazed how quickly the plasterboards go up. Tom sent me a picture at 9am showing the stud wall separating the kitchen from the passageway and by the afternoon there was a neat new wall.

The finishing gel coat on the terrace flat roof

The terrace flat roof has been coated with a gel coat on top of the fibreglass base and looks incredible. The decking will sit on top of a tapered wooden frame (so that although the GRP surface has a slight pitch, the deck will be level). Rain will pass through the decking and drain off the roof through the channels cut in the timber balustrade base. I'm in London tomorrow for a job and can't wait to see it all for myself.

Day 38 - Plasterboard, Slate and Fibreglass

Plasterboarding the sitting room

I have a job tonight in London so dropped in to have a look at progress. It was a hive of activity at the flat, with plasterboard going up in the sitting room, slate being laid on the mansard and more fibreglassing being done on the flat roof. The rear loft window aperture surround has been leaded and looks very smart. Also the party walls have been newly rendered and look very sharp.

Nick laying slate on the mansard

Day 37 - Fibreglassing the Flat Roof

The terrace area partly fibreglassed

I went up to London at the end of the afternoon today and although it was only a half day, the guys had fitted the edging strips along the party wall and opposite edge as well as having made a start on fibreglassing the lower flat roof. The terrace area will be covered with a hardwood decking so the roof covering won't be seen (and will be well protected). The tricky bits are ensuring the drainage channels through the timber strip that supports the glass balustrade are completely watertight as they are very awkward to reach inside. They had also fitted the skylight above the loft stairs which looks great and gives a lot of light to that top landing. I'm glad I went for it in the end.

Edging detail... very neat!

Skylight in position on the upper flat roof. There will be a dome on top to cover it,

Day 35 - Building Control Issues

My bed for the night!

It was a wet and windy night last night and I had a disturbed nights sleep with the scaffolding plastic flapping. Before crawling into my sleeping bag I looked out through the rain towards the city lights and imagined what it would be like up on the terrace in the summer. I woke up when the guys arrived on site at 8am.

The timber base outline for the glass surround to the terrace

Planning permission for the terrace was granted on condition that the terrace be enclosed with opaque glass so I stayed in London all day and went to order it at a place in Balham. I was shocked how expensive it was but there's no way round it. After that, I called the building control officer as I realised that the mansard boundary to the terrace isn't high enough to meet building regs (although it was built according to the plans which were passed by the planning permission department). I will have to order a further strip of glass to sit on top of the loft mansard in order to increase the height enough to satisfy building control. Ouch. More expense.
We were also told that where we had removed plaster on the exterior walls of the sitting room, it would have to be replaced with thermal plasterboard. This is thicker and more expensive than normal plasterboard, but at least the room should be easier to keep warm. Meanwhile the guys were busy running cables for the downlights, building a timber base to take the glass surround, and laying some more slates (under the mansard window aperture). I enjoyed last night so much, I'm having another night on the tiles tonight.

Day 34 - Slates Completed on Front Roof

I've just dropped in on site and the front roof is now completely covered in slate. The Velux windows are fantastic, very light and easy to open. The building control officer is coming tomorrow to sign off the insulation. As I'm meeting friends this evening in Battersea, I've decided to camp on my terrace later tonight and save on two and a half hours of driving. I'm looking forward to it!

Top-hung bathroom Velux

Day 33 - Velux Windows

Velux windows going in

Tom has just sent me this photo showing Ivan fitting the skylights. It's very exciting to see them going in as it means we're a step closer to finishing weatherproofing the roof. The roof slates will probably be completed today or tomorrow, then they can start on the flat roof covering which we are going to do in GRP (fibreglass). The lifespan should long outlast the more traditional roofing felt. Also the steel staircase that runs up to the roof terrace has been ordered.

Day 31 - Insulating the Pitched Roof

The front pitched roof with insulation

The pitched roof above the loft is now fully insulated at the front. Next step is to lay the breathable felt and then the tiles which they have started doing. Also the Velux windows will need to be fitted.
I had a scare on Friday when I received a letter from the council saying that my building control plans application had been refused due to lack of information. Having called the building control officer he explained that he can sign everything off as we go. After his earlier visits he is happy that everything is being done as it should be. His next visit is once all the insulation is in so that he can sign that off before it's all covered up.

Day 29 - Roof Slates & Skylight

Tiling the front roof

I was in London today so went to the flat to see how the guys were getting on. It was snowing as I drove up and on site it was bitterly cold but the three of them were working hard. Ivan and Nick were re-covering part of the front roof with slates. There is still a lot of insulation to go in. but all of it is on the flat parts of the roof. I made a last minute decision to put in a skylight on the flat loft roof. It wouldn't fit directly above the loft staircase as one of the steels was in the way so it's more above the landing just in front of the steel.

Looking up the loft stairs to the skylight opening

Day 28 - Terrace Wall

I haven't been on site since last week as we've had Easter so the guys couldn't build Friday-Monday. Tom went up today and sent me some photos of progress. Here is one of the wall that's been built up along one side of the terrace. The existing wall was loose and the capping was crumbling away. Ivan has topped this one off with some solid coping stones which should last a good few years!

New layers of brick and coping along terrace wall