More than 200 tons of earth & slate moved to create one patio!

Well, the first two weeks were all about ripping and digging out, but this week we actually built something!

Slabs & Walling Stone

The week started with us venturing out to look for walling stone and paving slabs. The slabs are not so urgent, but the walling stone could be, depending on which one we choose and where we get it from. We like the Trebarwith stone (see below), from a quarry near Tintagel, Cornwall, but it has been known to have a lead time of up to 30 weeks. It is beautiful though, but I am still a bit concerned as it can sometimes have a bit too much brown in it.

We want to include some local cornish stone to tie the exterior finishes into our surroundings. Unfortunately we are having to rip out a beautiful slate wall to build the garage. This gives us the difficult task of finding a stone that we love, is contemporary, will suit our overall aesthetics but will also partner well with the original wall (oh and not break the budget!). Much of the stone you see around Cornall and particularly here in Padstow tends to be very brown. We would like to find something that is a bit more grey but not so grey it makes it look "hard" as our exterior will be white render, light grey slate roof and matt black aluminum windows.

These are some more stone options, with slightly shorter lead times, thankfully. I quite like the Celtic Tumbled, but worry it is too bland. We can't ponder this for too much longer because along with the windows we need to get off the pot and get them ordered.

We are also going to need 200 sqm of paving. I know, scary isn't it. We are spoilt for choice with paving, but again need to tie it in with the other exterior colours AND, with that much paving, ensure it doesn't end up resembling a car park!

Interior Flooring

While we were out and about we took the opporunity to have a look at what these stone companies had available for interiors. We are leaning towards a wood look, but most probably will opt for porcelin vs engineered oak as it is more hardy and less likely to suffer sun discolouration (we will have some big windows and patio doors) What is so frustrating is the teeny weeny samples that these companies have and expect us to choose from!

Below is the sort of vibe we are aiming for. Still need to nail down the exact colour. I think I am going to put together some mood boards for each room to help aid this process:

Building vs demolishing

So lovely to see something being created this week vs being demolished. Our builders are very sensibly creating the patio area eary so they are able to lay off materials, erect scaffolding to take off and rebuild the roof etc. They will leave all the surfaces unfinished until the end.

We were a bit late getting down to site on Monday, but what good timing, as we arrived just as the cement lorry did.

and then the blocks were delivered for the retaining wall.

Boundary Wall

Our neighbours have been absolute stars, putting up with the disruption of having the garage taken down (which was effectively our boundary wall), so we were determined that the first job we should tackle was to get their boundary wall built back up and finished so that they could get their garden back to normal as quickly as possible. I know they are still going to have a building site next door through the summer, but at least we have got the worst of the disruption out of the way. Paul and Jim are so patient and have gone out of their way to work with our neighbour Derek to move his greenhouse, get the wall to a height he is happy with and they will help put the greenhouse back once the wall is rendered and painted.

Decisions need to be made, already!

No sooner had the blocks arrived and we were working with Paul and the electrition on where lights were to be positioned on the new wall, around the parking area and up the steps. I was a little surprised at how urgent this seemed, but once the 3 man team arrived to lay the blocks I understood. These guys were like machines and the walls were done and dusted in a day and half! Luckily we are pretty good at making decisions. Click through the pictures below.

Building Regulations and Structural Engineer Visits

We also had the very much needed Building Regulations visit which I am thankful to say iti didn't throw up any issues at this stage. We also had a visit from our Structural Engineer, Peter. In two short weeks we had developed a long list of questions for him regarding things like, foundation requirements for the changes to the front door and dining room door areas, the roof structure and the Garage. The Garage is a challange as it is being dug into the front garden, has a seriously high retaining wall, will need really good damp proofing and we plan to put grass over the top of it. It was good visit, with the only outstanding item being the structural details for the roof. Peter has done a draft which was detailed enough for the builders to price, but now he needs to calulate the loadings etc. for the steels and add these to the drawings so that we can get the steels and trusses ordered. He has promised 3 weeks. I will call and see how he is doing in about two weeks just in case!

Well that's it for this week, who know's what next week will bring. Until then...