July 16th to August 12th

Work completed between July 16th - August 12th, 2010

- Sandstone patio

- Installation of long awaited sliding glass doors with flush triple track system

- Tiled basement & extension kitchens, bathrooms & utility rooms

- Laid, sanded & varnished parquet floors

- Painted basement bedroom, lvg space, bathroom, utility room & kitchen

- Painted mezzanine level bay window bedroom (not pictured)

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We're almost done!! 13 days to completion!!!!!!!!

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Newly plastered walls AND screed flooring completed

entrance area to basement freshly plastered

(skylight above this alcove area)

Alcove area (looking with basement bedroom at back)

under arch to the left is the doorway into the den area of extension

Basement: alcove area to right and this room is a bedroom space

Basement: looking from bedroom into

open-plan kitchen/living space

Basement: lvg space/open-plan kitchen

(utility room to right)

Basement: open-plan kitchen & lvg space

Front door entrance to basement

Front of house (basement entrance - old PVC door)

Antonio removed the old institutional-looking

wrought iron railing and what a difference it has made!

Front entrance to basement:

Well area - Black sandstone coping stones to be

laid by Antonio on top of well walls

To be rendered & painted white on Aug. 17th

Base of well area to be tiled with black quarry tiles

Improved garden & newly laid patio

(view from first bedroom floor window)

Full view of patio from inside extension before sliding doors

are installed (kitchen space to right)

External view looking in to kitchen space (left) from patio

(I love my flush floor level with patio!)

Lovely kitchen space with very appealing

orange waste pipe (it's the 2010 "in" colour for plumbing

pipes :) the den is in the background (right)

Laying out planks and organising wood scheme

for the den and extension areas

3/4 finished laying wood floor

more wood laying process

(sliding doors were installed!)

Newly laid Iroko hardwood flooring in the

den & extension

Newly laid Iroko hardwood flooring first pass with sander

Completion of first pass of sander

(our fantastic flush floor & tracking system with sliding glass doors)

Den (bathroom & utility rooms thru door on right)

repeat

- the last remaining staircase to be sanded and varnished

- new under-the-stairs cabinetry

Looking forward to August 25th, 2010!!!!!!!!

Serious progression ...

We're making progress. Tami's nieces arrive on July 5th from Las Vegas and then her parents fly in on the 7th, so it's a race to the finish! Tiling of kitchen areas, utility rooms, and two bathrooms should take place the first week they're here, but the glass sliding doors have been delayed by the manufacturer by a week, so it's of no surprise we're delayed again. The weather in London has been amazing for the past three weeks with hot (80s) & sunny days. With a new patio and mini-kitchen all ready for our use we can't complain too much because we're just about at the finish line. Enjoy the photos!

23/06/2010

- new coping stones on roof parapet wall

25/06/2010

- plastered ceiling around skylights

Antonio standing in what will be the utility room

Ladder is where kitchen will go

Mixer is where eating area will be

- new plaster on ceiling and around skylights

- dug out patio area

- nice patio area dug out

01/07/2010

Insulation laid on floor before the screed is put down

New plaster, new plumbing pipes laid, first fixing electrics completed, DPM & insulation laid

kitchen area (utility room through stud wall)

insulation throughout

new patio sandstone laid (YAY!)

Acko drain flush to new floor and patio level so it's a seamless entrance and exit through glass sliding doors...(installation 13/07/2010)

lower ground level mini-kitchen

newly installed kitchen for flat (glossy white)

kitchen to left - utility room & storage room entrance (middle)

Extension Progress - June 9, 2010

Open plan kitchen- den

Kitchen skylights

Hi-tech roof membrane

Extension Progress - May 29, 2010

We're making some serious progress on this project! We can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel getting brighter and brighter by the day!! Tomorrow (May 29th) we are getting the roofing specialists in to complete the roof. Tomorrow will be a BIG day for us because the roof we're getting is AMAZING!! We're really excited about it... pictures will follow. It's a high-tech rubber material that is pulled taut over the roof and is weatherproof for up to 30 years.

Anyway, we're moving forward and looking forward to the first & second weeks of July when we should reach completion of it all.

Enjoy ... :)

House before extension goes up.
3/4 of lean to (left) has been taken down. Bay window is still up at this point.

Extension has gone up. Steels are in place and bay window has been removed and basement

has been completely opened up for construction plans. Roof joists are being put into place.

Roof joists being cut and installed into steels.

View from extension (the background is the den)

This is the den area of the house. We'll be having a pellet-burning stuffa in the fireplace (the aluminum tube is the lining for the chimney).

The den looking out to the extension (where the builder's legs are hanging

from the ceiling).

What was the lean-to and is now shaping up to be a bathroom & utility room with skylight.

Looking from the backside of the basement apartment (hasn't been closed off yet) into the bathroom and utility rooms (skylight visible in bathroom)

Side part of extension flat roof skylights

Front of extension: large skylights

Internal Photo updates

It has been a long time since I have posted anything. Antonio and I took a few weeks off from all major work having to do with the house, apart from the interior painting and such. Let's just say it has been an emotional and psychological roller coaster through this project, and one that we hope to end soon.

We only recently began the demolition of our old lean-to in the back garden and finally construction of our extension has started. We have been told it will take between 8-10 weeks for completion. We began one week early and hope that everything (front & back gardens included) will be done by the end of June. Our nieces will be arriving at the beginning of July for a few weeks so we hope to have the back garden landscaped, patio completed pizza oven constructed and barbecue ready to go for our first family dinner!

This blog is to catch up our readers on the progress that was made in the house and outside from my last post. I have only shown one photo of the ground floor reception room because we have been using the Reception & Dining Rooms as our storage rooms for our amazing collection of boxes that contain all of our kitchen and dining paraphernalia (for lack of a better term), most of which will go into the extension (once it's completed).

Enjoy the photos and I will update soon!

All photo captions are below each photo and work in a left to right description.

Front of house at end of March 2010

Front door color dilemma: Antonio likes it white, but since we're living in London it is essential that we give the door a color. Giving the door a color gives the house and door an identity. We had mutually chosen a color some weeks ago, but now Antonio is wavering to leave it white. We should have it painted its official color before the arrival of my nieces on the 5th of July 2010 (I hope!). I'll keep everyone posted :)

From Mezz landing looking at hallway and main entrance door

From main entrance door looking to mezz landing (Piccolo Uomo)

Looking backwards from mezz stairs

Door to left leads to the Dining & Reception rooms

Door to center/right is the main entrance door

That's Josie sitting next to our hallway radiator

Door to right leads to the Dining & Reception rooms

Steps leading up to mezzanine level & door next to "Piccolo Uomo" leads into the Mezz guest bedroom (to its right is another door which is for the Mezz bathroom)

Steps leading down go to the current "Dirt Pit", but also to what will soon be our cosy den, 4th bathroom & utility room which will open up onto the extension.

Steps down to Mezzanine level

Our original mahogany banister is currently being stripped and repaired, along with its 37 spindles.

Door on right is to Mezz bathroom

Door in front is the Mezz bedroom (bay window bedroom)

Our beautiful planks and Antonio's craftsmanship at installing the new banister & spindles. Antonio stripped, sanded and installed it all by himself. (Great Job, Cutie!)

Master bedroom door in front and 1st guest bedroom to the left.

Master bedroom - we're still without closets, so we're surviving with plastic containers (very classy!) :)

Master bedroom - we love our windows! (note: old torn chair is a Victorian chair that I will be re-upholstering myself in August - Antonio has a love/hate relationship with that chair :) )

Landing to the "white room" & bathroom; The "white room" which is serving as a storage space now til we get a carpenter in to build closets & shelves.

Top floor bathroom (black & white) with our "signature" walk-in shower :)

Shower & our new window (we re-opened it)

Landing looking back to master bedroom with the "white bedroom" to my back and bathroom door (to the left in photo)

Reception room (sigh) - it's serving as a storage space for our china, crystal and kitchen items meant for the extension area.