24. "Be Prepared"

24.  "Be Prepared"  Motto of John the Baptist Primary School, Leicester

Intentionally we have had several weeks without building work demanding our attention so that we could cover all the research we needed to do.  The intention being that we are fully conversant with the architect’s drawings; we (I say ‘we’ – you know who I really mean), know how to build the house; what materials are needed; and where we are going to get them all from.  It has been time very well spent and the weather has justified our decision, because it really hasn’t been very good outside.  The slab has just managed to dry out at last.  It looked like a swimming pool in there for the first two weeks, with more recently it representing a rather handy ice rink.   We could well have promoted it as a useful local attraction.

  

In the last week we have made a great leap forward putting all our new knowledge together, making the decisions that we needed to make, assessing all the quotes we have received, and now placing the orders.

This is a typical list of the things we have been able to prepare for, and items we have ordered:

The scaffolding, including its own sheeted roof, arrives on Thursday 28^th.  This will protect the builders from the weather and enable them to ‘keep working’!  

The steel roof beams around the top walls of the studio are being delivered and erected next Thursday.

A quantity of various building materials so that the builders can erect all the timber infill within the steel frame, is to be delivered next Friday. Max has spent hours studying all the architects' drawings, making lists of all the different materials and researching what is available and which is most suitable.  Hours and hours.

He has done the same for all the specialist fixings. So he is familiar with exactly what is needed, depending on what particular materials we are joining, the forces that need to be taken account of, and the right sizes in all applications - a never ending list - he's researched into and whose are best, and where he can get them for the best price.  Amazing work.  His order will be delivered next week.

We have ordered the material to build the two chimneys – with a builder lined up for later in March

All the floor finishes are ready to be ordered this coming week, with the appropriate installers lined up – probably not until later in May, but we don’t want to be worrying about that sort of detail when we are busy building.

The front door is provisionally scheduled for delivery April 22^nd.  It awaits a final decision on the colour.  Four colour samples should arrive early next week.  This is very exciting!  Hopefully we will be able to finally order this by the end of next week. 

The windows are scheduled for delivery mid April.  We visited the fabricators this week and they are making good progress.  They are really First Class.  Fate seems to have gone our way here after all.  They are more used to commercial operations so it all seems very well managed and efficient.  They are also extremely helpful especially in the detail.  They seem to be enjoying a one off house, rather than a school with 376 windows all the same!

All the roofing has been ordered with the specialist installer all lined up. Has to be done prior to the windows going in – so by late March / early April

The bathroom fittings are all specified and ordered.  This is mainly so that we know exactly where the first fix will all be positioned.  We have decided to put a bath in the guest bathroom (no pressure of course – our daughters wouldn’t ever dream of  'suggesting' that we really ought to have one) – now that we have a grandchildren on the way! 

The plumber and electrician are both lined up for the first fixes in April.

The lighting has been selected, not yet finally approved.

All the electrics and lighting have been positioned on the plans, so we know where everything should be positioned and quantities to order.  I’m hoping to finalise this during the next week.

This week, I have completed the door ironmongery specification and hope to get it sent out for a quotation.  Fortunately we don’t seem to have many doors in the house!

Blind details and curtain details are being considered before it’s too late and this is where the window fabricators have been so helpful.  I do like these details to be integral to the system, rather than added on as an afterthought.

External window sills have been specified, I need to decide on the material for internal window sills.  Another job for the next week!

The kitchen was ordered some time ago, the woodburning stove is also ordered.  We've seen it and it's looking good.

The builder is coming to see us at the weekend for him and Max to go over the first week’s schedule and discuss the materials and fixings.  We need to be sure he is happy with what he will be working with and he has all the right tools.  There will still be time to make final changes.

This week we will be checking the order of activities and updating the gantt chart. Planning what to do is one skill, knowing how long it is all going to take is quite another, so the gantt chart will be a guide only!  We will just have to see how we go, but we are trying to be realistic in our estimations.  

One more week to ‘be prepared’.

This was my old school motto – will it work for us this time?

Sorry there are no photos this week - next week there should be some of the scaffolding and the studio steel.  I'll try and get the resolution of the video set right so that it loads onto the blog.  Last time it blew the system!  Lots to learn.