Apologies for the long silence. There was a media temple/wordpress hack that put us off-line for a while and it proved more complicated to get the Larick House site up and running. So finally here goes: This is ridiculous I know but we have had to apply for yet another extension. When we finally got ourselves set to invite the Building Inspector along, it turned out that we need a larger window in one of the bedrooms to act as a fire escape. Somewhere along the line we took our eyes off the ball and ordered a window that’s hinges don’t open wide enough. We also need to get barriers, aka juliette balconies, for the opening windows.
Between that and losing the certificate that Gordon would sign to say the electrical installation was ok and dashing off to Australia for the somewhat early arrival of our new grandson, we ended up giving Argyll and Bute another £50 and the house build insurers another £300+ to keep things ticking over until we got back from Oz.
We left Duncan and Jackie rebuilding the big wall in very cold conditions and Duncan smoothed out the edges of the pond while the machine was here. At least if anyone falls in now they will be able to walk out rather than have climb. There has been no word from the crocodiles about this but we have had a few visits from a heron (daft thing doesn’t realise there are no fish).
Also, please excuse the small diversion while we sing the praises of Jo and John and baby John. 5 weeks premature and a caesarian section is not the easiest way to begin parenthood – and I’m not sure that having 2 mothers around helped all the time either, but they are being just fantastic parents and we know they will continue to be. When we first saw baby John he was a tiny little stick insect who had to be woken to be fed through a tube every 2 hours. By the time we left he was sucking heartily, sleeping for 4 hours and enjoying bath and storytime. It was a privilege to have been able to share those early days and has given us a bond we may not otherwise have had quite so stongly.
While we were away, Emily and Richard were doing their best in our garden with the fickle spring, first of all attempting to get in some seeds and potatoes when it was freezing cold and the second time when we had the hot spring drought. By the time we returned in May, spring and summer had passed and we had the most awful rain and wind that left many trees and shrubs scorched and salt blasted. It looked like autumn. We tried some catch up planting but the garden has been very disappointing this year. We take some comfort from the fact that most people are saying the same.
Back to the house. The replacement window went in fine as we kept the width and extended it downwards, so didn’t have to do anything structural. The balconettes went in very well too, (especially once we put the seals in the right way up) and you hardly notice them from the outside or the inside. It was worth paying a bit extra to get something that looks ok as well as satisfying the regulations.
We were very fortunate in that the building inspector was very reasonable and, while being fussy about the things that mattered, was very helpful in terms of “I was just passing so I thought I’d call in and check things unofficially.” Thus saving us £100 for the windows failing and having to re-apply.
The drain test (thanks to our eco angels Val and Ted for loan of equipment) identified a leak under the utility room floor where a pipe joins in from above. It was never likely to leak water out of the top, but it did leak air so had to be investigated and sorted. Some of the runs were quite long and had to be done in bits as we were short of enough balloons but again the inspector was fussy about the runs in and around the house and less interested in the bits away to the septic tank.
We had to start from scratch with the electrical report and find a new electrician who could sign off a Home Inspection Report. As he had not designed and installed the system he had to do a thorough series of tests which took 2 days. This was partly because some of the readings were less than perfect and he and John took the opportunity to find out why. It was mostly to do with plaster in the socket boxes but there was also a bit of a mystery in the garage connection which he bypassed and will come back to fix later.It was a great feeling to finally obtain the certificate. People who didn’t know us said, “Oh so will you be moving in now then?”But the work isn’t finished. We still have decorating to do and furnishing to finalise and the garden will take an age. And the summer was full of promise, so more news to come….