Mud, mud, mud

It's about 11 metres from the house to the street. The first trench that I dug unearthed some old foundations. It wasn't worth trying to go through them, so I had to start again and go around. We've been luckier the second time. I still have to deepen the trench to 2ft (60 cm) and at the house end I have to dig a tunnel (similar to a prison break) under the concrete path to the house wall.

The Ikea kitchen units arrived this morning, so we will be busy assembling them over the weekend. Then it will be time to start thinking seriously about the kitchen and bathroom plumbing.

Blast off - Frog End goes Space Age

Yesterday we finally completed the underfloor insulation in the dining room and replaced the floor boards. Just in time before the builder returns today.

Before

After

Both the kitchen and the hall have solid floors which will heat up and cool down very slowly. The dining room and living room floors however are suspended over a large air gap that is the same temperature as the outside air. Having the insulation is already making a huge difference by stopping the drafts that were coming up from under the floor. Here's a photo of the other side of the room looking towards the hall.

The new water pipe is now in the living room, so at some stage that floor will have to be lifted too to route the pipe through the outside wall. We can also insulate under the living room floor at the same time.

Yesterday we finished taking up the floor in the dining room and I managed to find a route diagonally through to the lounge for the new water pipe. It wasn't possible to coil it under the lounge floor, so for the time being it's hung on the wall! It's funny to think that all of our water will come through that pipe. Stage 1 on the journey to the street is complete- it can only get harder from here on..!

Today, Helen and I started on the underfloor insulation, and we are half way through laying the insulation boards and sealing the edges with a low yield foam, more pictures tomorrow. We're very glad that the floor will be going back down tomorrow. Hopefully with the floor back down there won't be as much dust in the house.

Dust masks, before and after!

William is hoping that things will get back to normal soon. He hasn't liked being without a floor in the dining room. But before the floor was taken up he wasn't too bothered.

Business as usual

This morning we took part in the first stage of the decadal Exeter otter survey for Devon Mammal Group. In February we will be surveying the watercourses in Pinhoe for signs of otters.

A good nights sleep

We were both feeling unwell yesterday. There has been a lot of dust in the house, and a lot of extra noise. Fortunately the builder is busy today, so we have a long weekend on our own, and after 12+ hours sleep some of the worst symptoms of a cold that I had yesterday have past.

What's under your floor?

I finally finished taking up the dining room floor this afternoon, so it will be a lot quieter over the weekend as we are only cutting the insulation and fitting it between the floor joist. I've nailed some battens across the underside of the joist to support the insulation board.

Here is the first bit of insulation, and also the new HEP water pipe.