Roof

The roof structure is very nearly complete.

Two dormer windows need to be fitted into the front and side elevations and them the battens & felt can be fixed













Work has now finished for the Christmas break but, hopefully it'll be weathertight early in the New Year.

Roof Structure

The roof is now starting to take shape.

The majarity of the roof structure is being made on site with only one small area using trusses.



The blockwork on the end elevations is progressing well and as can be seen, pads to support the steelwork are in place.

The steel should be lifted in to place early next week and from there, the roof timbers will be fitted fairly quickly

we're hoping that the roof is felted & battened by 19th December when the builders start their two week Christmas break. The windows are on site and are being painted prior to fitting and glazing.

If all goes to plan, the house should be weathertight by the start of the new year.

Joists.

We are now up to joist level.

The floor joists have been going in this week, together with some steelwork required to support the first floor.

Works continues on the stone work to the West elevation.

We think it looks great!

All the timber is now on site for the roof.

There are trusses for the small study area but the rest of the roof structure is to be made on site by the carpenter.

The builder is hoping to have the roof felted & battened by Christmas.
All the windows & doors but 2 should also be in place and glazed by then.

Stone Walls

As part of the planning permission, 2 of the walls had to be faced in stone.

Unfortunately, these two walls only face the rear garden and for all the extra expense involved, cannot be seen from the road.

It was suggested that we use Swansea stone to match that used on nearby houses but, our builder was keen to use stone from Middle Mill Quarry which is just down the road and has been used on several projects close to our plot.

Initially, PCNPA wern't happy about using the local stone and asked us to build a 1 metre section for them to look at. Someone made a site visit at the end of last week to have a look and take several photos. We received a verdict a few hours later - they were happy and we could continue!



The majority of the walls are now up to full height and within the next day or so, the joists will be fitted and the roof construction will start.

The roof is being constructed on-site rather than buying in trusses.
The timber has already been delivered - there seems to be enough to construct a whole street of houses!

Going Up!

Despite the awful weather, good progress is being maintained.

We're now up to the top of the windows just about all the way round.



The wall shown below is to be clad in local stone which should be done in the next couple of days.



The weather looks good for the next few days so hopefully we'll be at joist level before too long.

More Walls

Massive progress again today. This short video is taken exiting the Utility Room into the Kitchen/Diner with views to the Sunroom/Patio and the Lounge to the left.

Walls

The walls have started to go up.
Really impressed by how much can be done in 1 day of good weather.

The Slab is finished - Now, building begins!

Today, the weather was great.
The slab was 'poured' and, it looks great.




Weather permitting, construction starts next week and we're really looking forward to seeing the walls go up.

Foundations & Garage

The weather hasn't helped over the last couple of weeks.

The foundations are just about ready for pouring the slab.

After the scalpings and bindings to fill the foundations, the Radon Barrier (Red Plastic Sheet) has been laid, drains brought up through it and a course of blockwork laid on top, ready for the floor to be poured.

The large double garage has also progressed well. It's of cavity construction and now up to shoulder level. The builder is hoping to power-float the floor next week.

Drains!

The footings have been dug and poured for the detached double garage.

Today work has started on setting out the drains for both the sewerage - for connection to the sewer main and, the rainwater which will run to a soakaway at the bottom of the rear garden.

Weather permitting these will be finished tomorrow and, once inspected, the slab can be poured.

Out Of The Ground

We've been away for over a week.

The weather has been much improved and things have progressed a little.

Drains etc are being laid this week before the 'slab' is poured.

We can now see the layout of most of the Ground Floor rooms :)

Construction Starts

Trenches were dug yesterday and passed.

Today, construction finally started.

The Building Regs guy visited and also appeared happywith work to date.

The footings were poured!

Doesn't sound very exciting - doesn't look very exciting but, ... it is the first stage of construction!

Background - leading up to the start of building

We became aware that this plot might be available back in the summer of 2006.

Around a year later we agreed to buy the plot which was part of a planning application for around 9 dwellings, all on reasonably sized plots. From this point on, we had some input in to what we wanted from the plot as we are friends with the owner.

Because we are in an area governed by Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority (PCNPA), there are strict guidlines concerning new builds and, in fact any changes to existing properties.

These guidlines can be very frustrating, especially when you've seen something stunning that you really want - blame Grand Designs! There are several ideas we'd have liked to incorporate but would have had no chance of having Planning Permission granted

However, we think that the role of the PCNPA is very important to preserving our environment and have been happy to get the most out of this plot that PCNPA would allow.

The plot was sold to us as fully serviced and has gas, electric, BT, water & sewage to the plot entrance.

Full planning permission was granted on 15th October 2007.

The plot became ours on 3rd April 2008.

Building Regulation Plans were approved on 14th May 2008.

On 29th August, nearly 12 weeks after we had paid Welsh Water £1112.00 to connect less than 2 metres to our tap, boxed, insulated, trench to the correct depth, we finally had water to the plot!

We had decided from the outset that we weren't capable of Project Managing ourselves and selected 3 local builders to tender.

Price wasn't the most important in making the decision but, one quotation was far greater than the other two. In the end, we chose the more expensive of the remaining 2 because we felt we would have a much better working relationship.

During August our builder, Richard, cleared the top soil, had the drive area filled with hardcore and generally got ready to start building. The weather was awful - the worst August in over 30 years and we wondered if building would ever start!

MONDAY 8th SEPTEMBER.

Work started - it took all day but, the trenches were dug and then... a PCNPA chap arrives on site to say that he has had a complaint from a neighbour that our new build is not sited correctly on the plot! He took many measurements and said he'd call back within the hour. Great News - he confirmed that the siting is correcct! The NHBC inspector came on site late afternoon and passed the groundwork for the footings.