New wall / pantry window

Here's the new stud wall set up where I think it's going to stay. It'll make the bathroom a little bigger although it will still be a compact room by the time I've added a toilet.
The en-suite is also going to be bijou but if I can get an extra toilet & shower in, I think it'll be worth it.
Should also be a couple of images of the pantry window with the external skin tied in to the original brickwork (wanted it to look like there was never a window there) and the cavity insulation being replaced.

New kitchen window opening

This gave me a huge headache all though it all worked out fine in the end (subject to the building control officer giving it his blessing)... The brickie arrived almost mid-morning owing to family commitments and van trouble and then decided that the way I was going to do it was OK but he could make a better job of it and match the new opening to all the others in the building by putting a lintel on the inside skin and forming a soldier course brick arch on the outside skin. He also made the opening a little smaller in order to ensure that the reveals were made up of full & half bricks. He also thought it best that we lost the UPVC window cill on the new window and matched the rest of the cills in the property by making a cill from creasing tiles.
Anyway, to cut a long story short there were 4 tradesmen on site, the window surveyor (Steve from Anglian - thanks for being so helpful), Natalie the kitchen designer from Howdens and me Mum & Mike turned up to take the shed etc. I also hadn't slept at all on Thursday night so I'm sure you can imagine how well I coped with all the bodies & decisions - lesson learnt! Get some shut eye even if it's just a couple of hours. So a big thanks to Graham the brickie for steering me in the right direction, Gary, Richard & Matt for their hard work, tolerance & understanding this week.
Graham worked till 7 or so on Friday night before we thought it best that he went home and came back on Saturday. So he finished up on Saturday morning and also dealt with bricking up the fire opening, bricking up the pantry window (inside & out) and replacing some bricks where pipes etc had passed through the wall.

Chimney

The last remainder of the chimney (the fire opening) is now gone! So now it just needs a render set and plaster skim on both sides to hide the fact that there was ever a chimney there.

Update

Well I'm still plodding away! The water main is now excavated ready for renewal (Friday, weather permitting). Have also exposed the drainage around the back as the chances are I'll be altering that to take an additional toilet. The chimney stack is now completely down and the wall has had all protruding bricks ground off and the old sooty render chopped off. Been PVA'd ready for the render coat! The old raised concrete plinth that the original boiler sat on has also been chopped out in order to move the kitchen door. We had to plant some new 8"x2" timbers alongside two of the joists as they had been trimmed down in order to cast the concrete plinth. Then we were able to fit new floorboards. The hearth area in both the kitchen and living room will be filled to the existing floor level using a sand/cement screed. Have started making good some areas that don't require bashing about anymore. Some filling has been done and lots of materials now on site. The sub floor void has been thoroughly swept out of both our debris and what's collected under there over the last 50 years or so.
Friday is another busy one. Got my three helpers in as they have been this week. My son is also coming down as he has no college on Fridays. The Brickie is due to fit the new lintel for the proposed new window in the kitchen and some other brickie bits to do. The window surveyor is due for the final measure up (hopefully I can get an installation date booked. Also got the kitchen designer calling in for a second look as I've now changed my mind about how I want things. Oh, and my Mum & Michael will be coming to collect some plant pots and dis-mantle one of the sheds which will become a log store for their wood burner's fuel. I'm hoping she'll bring some of the bits she's been baking (chocolate & beetroot cake, breakfast bars & banana cake).
I'd also like to find the time for some sleep..... It's now 2.15am (bloggers clock must still be on Thai time!) and I need to be at the site for 7.30. Still got stuff to sort out so It's looking like another night with no kip - will need to pick up some pro-plus on my way to work... Jeepers I'm swaying, maybe a little power nap, zzzz zzzz zzzz

Bed 2

Not much happening in here - just wall paper being stripped and the salvaged materials being sifted through to see what's recycleable on the site, what can be used elsewhere and what goes to landfill!

Hall

Wall between hall & bathroom is now out. Lifted some floor boards in the hall and found there's a void under the floor of around 800mm. The whole building sits on a concrete raft / oversight which is solid and bone dry. Another stroke of luck!

Kitchen

Not much gone on in here today other than the chimney breast coming out - well almost! There is a little of the base left but all the rest is out. Also managed to salvage some face bricks from the chimney top and some other bricks for making repairs/ bricking up old fireplace opening/ bricking up pantry window.

Roof!!!!

This morning was dry & cold which allowed the roofer to show and remove the chimney above roof level. Fit a new section of underfelt, extend the battens and close the roof up using new tiles. He also repaired the leaking garage roof too, and for less than his original estimate. I hope this lucky spell continues.....

Living room

Not much gone on here either. The walls have had the vinyl paper removed leaving an easily removable paper backing - just needs a good wetting down & scraping off. The fireplace is out and chimney base open.

Hall

Taking out the airing cupboard has made a huge difference to the hall. Unfortunately we're going to close it down again when we move the bathroom wall but hopefully the bathroom gain and an additional light in the hall will compensate for what will beome a small corridor area between the main hall and the kitchen.

Bathroom

All stripped out!

Kitchen

Todays progress in the kitchen. Pantry now gone, all tiles off the walls, most of the units gone, floor coverings up and base of chimney opened up ready for use a rubbish chute when the weather allows the roofer to do his bit. Yep that's right, the weather was too bad today so we kept busy elsewhere. Let's hope he can do his stuff tomorrow (Tuesday) or else we'll start to run out of things to do!!

Site tea room (aka Bed 2)

Priorities!! Bed 2 has become the tea room and not much has happened in there today. Floor coverings up and wall paper given initial strip.

Excited!

I can't bloody wait, 8am tomorrow morning will see four bodies and myself on site to strip the building out and start preparing for first fix. Fingers crossed the weather man is wrong and the roofer will be able to turn up and do his bit. If he's delayed due to weather then this weeks schedule is up the creek on the first day - not good! There is plenty to do, however a fair amount is external and it's no fun working in the cold and rain. Please be wrong Mr weatherman.

A busy week!!

Well I've trawled through my backlog of commitments and have managed to set a week aside for my project. On Monday the roofer should be along (weather permitting) to take the chimney stack down to below roof level. He'll then repair/extend the roof timbers, underfelt, battens and then fit new tiles to leave the roof water tight.
An 8yd skip is also due to be delivered mid-morning in preparation for the demolition to come....
Also got some labour arriving on Monday to take the remainder of the chimney down to floor level, the pantry needs knocking out and the airing cupboard (currently in the hall where I propose to move the kitchen door to). The existing wall & doors between the bathroom/WC and hall will also be coming down in order to allow some room to be taken from the hall so as the bathroom and WC can be made bigger.
All floor coverings to be taken up and the walls stripped. May be able to start cutting some chases for the electrics and installing the galvanised back boxes in the right locations. I'll be stripping out the existing old boiler and heating system.
Hopefully get some time to tidy up the external areas. Possibly excavate the drains to expose them for the building control guy and I may be able to get the iron water main excavated so as I can replace it with an uprated blue poly version. Could do with lifting some floorboards to allow inspection of the sub-floor void and supporting structure. Also will allow us to plan cable and pipe routes.
Then towards the end of the week the brickie should be arriving to install the new insulated cavity lintel in the kitchen for the proposed new window on the South wall.
Right I'm off, building control notice to fill out and send off! And some emails to organise window surveyor and kitchen designers visits for some time next week. Will put some more piccies up as things progress.

Kitchen

This is where a great deal of the work is. The pantry is being knocked out as is the chimney breast, in fact the entire stack is coming out (roofer lined up for this Monday). The limited units will be stripped out too. There will be a new window opening formed adjacent to the back door both of which will be new UPVC double glazed units along with the existing window on the east wall. The kitchen door from the hall will be re-positioned so as it is directly in-line with the back door which will allow me to steal the room from the hall that I want for the bathroom & en-suite. Obviously re plumbed & wired, new kitchen (possibly fully integrated appliances), new floor coverings and a redec. Oh, new boiler in here too!

Bathroom

This room needs some serious work. New window & lighting and a major refit and reorganise of sanitaryware. Again I'm going to try to steal some room from the hall to make the room bigger - it is tiny at present and really lets the building down. If I can make it bigger I'm hoping to fit a full size bath with shower over in here, a basin and a new WC which I personally think would be of benefit. It's not a huge building but you could find four people living there and one toilet is not ideal.

WC

This room will be re-fitted, new sanitaryware, new window, lighting and redecoration. I am considering stealing some room from the hall and fitting a shower enclosure in here where the door is now. Then I'll knock through to Bed 2 in order to form a small en-suite.....Just an idea at the mo but could work, where's that tape measure?