The kitchen extension-Phase 2

So hilariously in my last Kitchen extension blog, which was on March 1^st, I signed off with these haunting words, “hopefully we can make a good start with the extension now, but who knows what obstacles will come up”.

 Ha, how we laughed and laughed after realising the obstacle would be a global pandemic, which would bring the whole world to a complete standstill.

So at the end of February, Ricci Wilson, our beloved builder came in to make a start.

 Adam had already cleared the area of decking in preparation and the concrete underneath had been broken up and removed.

Ricci begun to dig the footings for us and check that there were no hidden structures underneath. Once he had completed the footings, we had Building Control over to check over the site. After lots of wobbling their head, and tapping their finger on their lips, they agreed we could proceed.

Next stage was to build the ground up to damp-proof course level and then begin to build the end wall.

Enter Coronavirus….

So March 23^rd everything stopped. The UK went into lockdown and we were forbidden to have anyone externally enter our home. Reflecting back it seems like a horrid dream and unfortunately one we are all still living in.

 After around 9 weeks of nothing, the restrictions on the construction industry were lifted a little and we could have our builder back in. He adapted his working so that he wouldn’t need to enter the house and set up a kitchen in our shed so he could at least make a cuppa!

Luckily we still had the kitchen wall intact so Ricci could work externally without coming inside. Next job was to get the roof watertight. Fiberglass was laid all around the gap for the roof light to ensure it would be weather proof, ready for the internal wall to come down.

 Traditionally we would’ve had the roof light installed before the wall came dow, but due to the pandemic things just didn’t run as smoothly and we had to reschedule the work to when it was available to get done.

So the wall came down and up went the RSJ. Electricians then came in to do the first fix electrics. We had already pre-planned where we wanted lights and sockets and given them this information.

 Plaster boarding then went up and plastering (a rare commodity during a global pandemic) was completed.

 Floor screed was the last job to be done by the builders and two steps were built in externally by the back door.

This was the end of the building work. Next job was making it all look pretty, my favourite part!