We're in - and it's almost finished!

Well, Neil managed to get The Barn to a stage where we could move in when we flew back to UK at the end of June, and we were delighted with how it looks - open, light and finished to an very high standard.

Of course, there were many things that weren't quite completed - we hadn't chosen the wall tiles, the woodburning stove hadn't arrived (it was delivered and fitted the next day), the driveway and garden still need a lot of work - and there are a number of things that need rectifying.  But overall, it's looking great, and it all works very well.

The bedrooms are not overly generous in size, and the garden is not expansive (and it seems a little more enclosed thanks to a new fence our neighbour has put up while we were away) but the rest of the house extremely spacious and pleasantly airy.  The level threshhold to the barn doors makes it seem like the flagstone patio and stone floor in the entrance hall are one big room, especially when the barn doors are fully opened as they were during the lovely weather recently.

And two days after we moved in, the water board contractor turned up for his fifth attempt to connect us to the water mains.  They finally managed it this time, but only after 2 days of digging and moling from about 100m up the hill and across the road.  I'm so pleased I opted for the fixed price option rather than "paying just what it costs us and getting a refund if we manage to do it more efficiently".

So the furniture vans (yes, plural) arrived with all our stuff.  The big one couldn't quite get all the way up the drive due to it's steepness and because it's only surfaced with loose sub-base at the moment.  So we unloaded it from there.  Then the smaller Transit van came in, was carefully guided so that his front wheels didn't go over the unfixed manhole cover to the soakaway - only for his rear wheel to cross it dead centre and shatter the lid, leaving the wheel wedged in the manhole opening.  So we unloaded that one from there, then spent nearly an hour trying to jack it back up enough to get some scaffold boards underneath.

Of course we had to test the various systems, especially the heating and hot water.  They say the underfloor heating needs to be switched on for at least 24 hours to come through - and we chose the warmest day for a fortnight to put it on.  We were roasting in bed that night, so had to keep windows and rooflights open all night.  Misan really enjoyed the church bells every hour and the Bill's cockerell's crowing from 3am that day!  We also had to run the woodburning stove for 2 hours on full heat to burn off the initial paint smells, so had the barn doors open that evening yet still had the fire alarms going off as the fumes made their way around the barn.

Our site insurance policy was due to expire on 30 June, having already been extended by 3 months from the original anticipated completion date of Easter 2011, so one of our first priorities was arranging buildings and contents insurance - which our preferred provider would not offer until we'd got the Building Control completion certificate - which the local authority would not issue without the electrical and air source heating certificates and the drains tested - all three of which we had to arrange pretty hastily as soon as we got back.

Oh, and did I mention that we didn't have internet access or a landline when trying to sort all this out.  And between the local authority and the Post Office, someone had not registered our address, so it didn't show up on postcode databases, which meant that some organisations like banks and insurance companies could not give us quotations because their system said we didn't exist.  We couldn't get things by email (except on my blackberry, which can be pretty limited when it comes to reading insurance terms and conditions), the highly insulated barn suppresses a mobile phone signal so you have to go up the garden for the best reception, and if anyone did manage to send things by post to The Barn that wasn't much use as it was still being redirected to Hong Kong.  It's amazing that we managed to achieve anything - but we did, and it's nearly all sorted on the insurance, certification and registration fronts.  Just need to get the building works finished now!

The Calm before the Storm

The Calm

Hong Kong this week has been on the edge of a typhoon (hurricane) although it seems to have passed by for now and didn't get any worse than a blustery March day in UK but with temperatures around 28degC rather than the biting winds we get at home.  Mind you, they say there's another one closing in, due this way on Tuesday, the night we go to the airport ...

On that note, it's all gone quiet on the barn front, too.  Hardly a peep from the Project Manager this week, just one call asking what type of light bulbs we want, and an email asking for the pre-construction SAP test results.

We could be worried about this, considering we've got the removals van booked for middle of next week to deliver all our furniture!  But we suspect it's because they're so busy finishing off loads of things that they don't have time for pleasantries, and just want to get on with it.

The water was due to be connected on Tuesday (just gone) - assuming they could find their main in the road this time.  Then the heat pump was due to be commissioned and the underfloor heating tested on Wednesday.  The carpets are due to be fitted tomorrow (Saturday).

The Storm

And we've just spoken to Neil on the phone to get an update; it's as we suspected - in his words, manic.

They're busting a gut to get finished by next Weds, and continue to be frustrated by the plumber and the water company.  He says they've "dug up half the village" looking for the water main and still haven't found it.  The temporary solution that the water authority have adopted is to tee off the neighbour's service pipe and run a surface pipe across their drive and the verge over to our place.  So we have water, but they're still looking for the main to make our permanent connection - and it's close to a year since we applied, and paid up front, for this 'service'.

Meanwhile Neil tells us that the week the plumber decided to go on holiday is the week when they've discovered 2 or 3 leaks in the plumbing system, and found a fault in the shower pipe (that had been installed and covered in wall tiles, which have had to be removed).

They also found that the shower screen was damaged when they took it out of the box, and the replacement part that was posted express was the wrong part, so that might not be fixed by next Weds.

The good news is that the warranty company were happy with everything, and just want some evidence that the existing trusses have been treated for woodworm, then they'll process the certification as quickly as possible so that we can get the 10 year warranty in place.

The primary Building Control inspection is booked for next Monday or Tuesday, and Neil hopes that we'll get the OK from them too and get Building Regs sign-off.  And the commissioning of the heating systems started yesterday and continues today - fingers crossed that those systems all work properly.

And the interesting news is that the planning officer made a site visit a few days ago and took some photos.  The planner made some encouraging noises about how impressed he was with the conversion.  Mind you, Neil refused to allow him into the kitchen - he's sticking to Misan's instruction not to let anyone see her pride and joy until she's seen it!

We're looking forward to seeing it ourselves next week.  In the meantime, here's a few reminders of how it looked when we first got it back in autumn 2009 ...

Divine Intervention

The contractors that the water authority sent out to make the connection to the water main dug their trench across the road, didn't find the pipe, backfilled the trench, resurfaced the road and went home!  Neil got back on to Anglian Water who explained that they didn't know where their main was, so they came up with a solution - and a few days ago out came a man with some divining rods and traipsed about until his sticks crossed and he declared that the pipe was below there.  The contractors are coming back next week with a bigger digger and they're gonna keep digging until they find the main.  It's not quite 12 months since we applied for the water connection, but it ain't far off!

Fortunately things are going a bit better inside the barn.  Most of the stone floor is laid now, the kitchen is almost finished and the wardrobes have been fitted.  Some of the internal doors have been hung, and the patio flagstones have been laid and look really good.  The hot water cylinder and heat pump are in, waiting to be connected up.

We've chosen the carpets for the bedrooms and stairs and they should be fitted at the end of next week, although there's a delay in delivery of the wood burning stove so that won't be fitted until a few days after we've moved our furniture in.

The electrical works are almost completed.  We chose the exterior light fittings today, using the internet to see what's available and letting Neil know our preferences.  Completion of the plumbing works might be a bit more problematic, as the plumber goes on holiday next week just at the time when the water connection should finally be completed and we'll be able to test and commission the heat pumps and underfloor heating.  That's another headache that Neil has to sort out; it's tough for him at this stage of the job, but he's used to it and he seems to be keeping on top of things.

So he could have done without hassle from the council about getting their approval to construct the tarmac driveway across the highway verge.  They want to know where all the utilities are, insisit on the paving works being done by someone on their approved list and threaten to prosecute if we don't do it all as they say.  Apparently they are one of the stricter councils on these kind of things.  Sound familiar?  Didn't we encounter one of the strictest water authorities when it came to complying with these new (and poorly implemented) water regulations?

And as I'm writing this we get a call from Neil.  The carpet we've chosen for the bedrooms is not available until mid-July (not good if we're having the furniture delivered at the end of June), despite them saying an hour earlier that it was in stock and could be delivered next week.  So we've just changed to our second choice, which is not wool but has a lower tog rating (important for underfloor heating performance) and is in stock - or so they are saying at the moment.

We've got balls

One of the recent queries from Neil the project manager was whether we want oak balls on top of the newel posts on the landings and gallery.  We've said yes.  Fortunately we've had loads of photos of the barn sent here in the past few weeks that have helped us decide things like this.  We had some from Shaki, some from Neil and about 60 from our son David who took them with his i-phone then couldn't download them onto his laptop, so he ended up sending each photo in a separate email straight from his i-phone!

It's good that a variety of people have taken photos for us 'cause they each see it differently and take ones from alternative angles.  The inside is progressing well now, with the staircase and gallery just about finished (apart from the balls) and the floor finishings starting to be laid.  The floor tiling in the utility is done, and next week they will be laying the limestone floor in the hall/dining room and kitchen, and maybe hanging the internal doors.

The big step forward this week was getting approval from Anglian Water to our pipework and taps so that they can now connect the water supply - almost a year after we paid nearly £1500 for the privilege.  It seems like the water aithorities make it really hard for anyone who proposes rainwater harvesting/water recycling to get approval.  Of course, that will be nothing to do with the fact that it means you'll be buying less water off them, will it?

The sewer connection was also completed a few months ago, so we're now able to conclude what it's cost us to connect to electricty, water and sewerage, all three of which are in the road immediately adjacent to the barn - and it's a staggering £11,400!!  Just as well we challenged the first electricity connection estimate and managed to get them to reduce it by almost £4000.  And we've still got Calor gas bottles to buy and a phone connection to do, but we guess they won't be astronomical bills like the big three.

Plastered

No sooner had I posted the last blog yesterday with the photos from Easter (OK, I started it over a week ago then didn't get round to finishing it until last night), than we get some new ones that we requested from Neil showing the inside with most of the plastering completed.

It's exciting.  They give us a better idea on room layouts, and we can even see that the kitchen fitting is well under way - there's boxes with labels like 'Refrigerator' and 'Microwave Oven' written on them, so even the appliances have arrived.  But of course I can't post any kitchen pictures on the blog - Misan has to be the first to see her new kitchen!

My two favourite photos are ones from the landings, showing the gallery, exposed trusses and fireplace.  We're really starting to get a feel for how the interior's going to look.  The good news is the rooms look light (although the photos are obviously taken on a sunny day).  Whether we'll fit all of our furniture in (including the antique Chinese furniture that we've bought in Hong Kong) is another matter.  Might be like when we moved in to the rented house in Whitnash - an emergency garage sale as we move in.

We have a new Arts Consultant

Easter's been and gone - my, how time flies when you're busy.  We had a lovely break in Vietnam, and our Project Manager went off for a week's holiday himself.

But work continues on the barn.  Before he went away, Neil sent us a few photos of the progress on the interior.  By the time he'd sent them on Maunday Thursday, we were already in Hanoi.  Then he phoned us on Good Friday and we were in a beach bar in Halong Bay.  We'd just met an English guy who lives in Stockholm and was on holiday with some giggly Vietnamese ladies who were all intrigued by my beautiful wife and wanted their photo with her.  So we were in the the process of emailing it from my Blackberry via UK and Sweden back to the guy who was standing next to me in Halong Bay when Neil phoned and wanted to discuss the width of the driveway.  Isn't modern technology amazing!

Things are going on well on the inside now.  The interior is almost fully plastered, and they're fitting the kitchen this week.  Misan is frustrated - she wants to instruct Neil to lock it up once the kitchen's in as she wants to be first to see it!

They're also doing the landscaping and driveway this week.  We've had some long emails and phone calls with Neil to try and agree details, and we think we've managed it, although we'll leave some things 'till later like a (possible) pond and (maybe) a sliding gate.

Good news on the services front, too.  The electricity is finally live, and the sewers are connected.  Just waiting for final approval of the plumbing installation now by Anglian Water, then the water supply will be linked up, too.  That has been a real nightmare for Neil, as he's had to source taps that are WRAS approved, not an easy process (he's even been calling manufacturers in China to ensure he proposes approvable products).  Apparently WRAS is a mandatory scheme that has been around for 5 years or so but not all authorities enforce it and even suppliers and manufacturers aren't fully aware of it's implications.  Of course, our water authority had to insist on us complying with it, hence the headaches for Neil!

And the news from Hong Kong is that Misan has a job!  She's the Visual Arts Technician at the local college.  That's it, she'll be able to choose the barn decorations with confidence now!

Shaki's shots

Our daughter Shaki sent us about 60 photos after she'd visited the barn last weekend.  The good thing was that she took some from different angles to what we're used to, including a few from across the road.  The Barn looks pretty exposed to the world now that the overgrown hedgerow along the front wall has been removed, so I think one of our first jobs in July (although it's not the best time of year to do it) will be to plant a new hedge along the wall to give us back a bit of privacy.

We can also see from the interior shots that the first fix electrics and plumbing are well on.  Seems like we have wires and pipes everywhere, which is understandable to some extent when you consider we have underfloor heating and also need a separate plumbing system to bring the harvested rainwater into the bathrooms to feed the cisterns.  The understairs cupboard was meant to give us some much needed storage space, but it looks like it's come in handy as a hub for the control systems.  Being green is not cheap at initial build stage, let's hope we get a payback on running costs.

There's also a nice little photo of the planters that we left at the barn because they couldn't go into storage - some lovely spring bulbs have flowered amongst all the builders rubble.  Shows that spring has finally arrived in the village.