Close of play at Day 6

Day 6

The house seems to have shot up and is now already looking very impressive. It is day 6 of the build and the roof trusses are on and all is ahead of plan. We have had a few problems with lack of delivery of part of the roof trusses so rather than delay work we bought them in from elsewhere and Skye Homes will have to cover the cost. Also they ran out of nails - not enough supplied. But these are all teething problems and easily sorted out. The kit has gone up very easily and the carpenters say they are ahead of schedule - so much so, they finished early this evening.


Day 2 saw the groundfloor walls go up and Day 3 the first floor was put in. Day 4 saw the first floor walls in place and Day 5 the beginnings of the roof. Today a large crane arrived and the trusses were put in place and the roof is well on the way to being finished.





We have also had Brian here - he is installing the sewerage system. A large blue drum (which takes all the sewage, oxygenates and purifies it) has been buried in the ground and a mound built to take the outlet water and filter it back into the water course.




Phil has put the first stages of the waste pipes in under the ground floor and is now looking forward to getting to work on the inside and to some of the jobs he wants to do himself.
Tomorrow the steel frame is due and they will be able to put the garden room at the front of the house in place.

Day 1 of the Kit Erection

The first day off work and what a change. I went shopping and to have my hair done in Oban for the day and arrived home to find the kit up to first floor level. The scaffolders arrived to put up the same and it really is taking shape. Both Phil and I are very excited. The carpenters are working all this week and then weekends until they finish - however they plan to get the main build done this week.
Imogen and Ken have a large wedding on in the hotel today so it is very busy here. Thank goodness the site is well out of the way of the hotel!

Eilean Beith arrives on site.

It is two years to the day that we moved out of Queen Hoo and at last the day has arrived when we can see our new home arrive on site even if it is in pieces.

Despite the terrible weather we have had over the last couple of days the foundations are now ready for the carpenters to start putting the frame up and Phil and I are very excited. The windows had arrived unexpectedly yesterday and apart from having the wrong ironmongery look superb. They are made in Cumbria whereas the frame has been made in Stonehaven on the East Coast

At 8am this morning the first of the lorries arrived to deliver the kit. Great excitement for our hotel quests as they had plenty to watch whilst having breakfast. Off loading the kit from the lorry has been quite a job as they could not get the lorry into the drive let alone up on to site and so a JCB telehoist was hired in complete with driver. (£150,000 worth of equipment) to move all the kit. (of course it didn't cost us that.)




The roof beams are 40ft long and somewhat difficult to manoever round the pine trees. The roof trusses look huge and no doubt another special piece of equipment will be needed to put them in place.

Just as the last peice of kit was being off loaded I went out to the site to find Phil lying on the ground - blood pouring everywhere and two very anxious labourers standing by. He had ducked under the beam of the JCB - come up too quickly and bashed his head. A 2 inch gash on his bald head - blood gushing, we manage to get him in where he allowed me to dress the wound. It probably could have done with some stitches but, as those of you who know Phil, getting him to hospital is not easy! Just a shame I did not take a photo of the scene as it should have gone into the record books.
This afternoon I rushed into Fort William and bought him a white (for the Boss Man) hard hat - he is now not allowed out on site wiothout it!

The carpenters arrive tomorrow to start erecting the kit. I can't wait to see my new home take shape.

Phil Hires a Digger

This week Phil has been doing some of the work himself. As we have time on our hands prior to the frame arriving he decided to save money and fill the foundations himself. Well to me it looks a bit of a mess but he assures me, although he has found it difficult, he is getting there. The gravel he bought cheap is ideal for filling in but has a lot of huge rocks in it which have to be removed nearer the top.




We have had a bit of a set back this week. Because of the delay in planning permission the carpenters have started another job and will not be available until the middle of August!!! We think we have got some one else - Dave - and he should be able to start at the end of May beginning of June dependent on his price. Luckily he will be between jobs and has a window of three weeks. It was a bit of a worry for 24 hours but we are now hopeful things will go ahead as planned.

Week 4 and the foundations are well on the way to being done. The bricklayers - Mark and crew have been here all week - bar Monday when they got rained off - and now they have got the blocks up to ground level. Next week Phil has to ordered a load of gravel to fill in - which he assures me he can do himself. We have another three weeks before the kit arrives so plenty of time and the bricklayers are here the week before to finish off before that goes up.