Has anyone seen our kitchen?

Missing in action: one new kitchen. Has a glossy vanilla complexion, answers to the name "Manhattan" and was last seen on the screen at Wickes in April. Seemingly left the warehouse on 15 August but failed to complete its journey due to 'weight restrictions' in Oxford. Tried again on 22 August using exactly the same method of transport and (unbelievably) suffered the same result. Missed very much by its new owners and loving contractors ready who are ready to put it together.

Yes, if it wasn't so frustrating it would be funny. The long-running love affair with Wickes has come to an end following two failed attempts to deliver the kitchen and a number of heated phone calls. Delivery is now promised for 29 August using a 7.5t panel van, some time between 8am and 8pm, although it will certainly be the only kitchen on the vehicle and therefore the only delivery it will make. Mr Builder has been quick to suggest an alternative from Howdens that will cost less and be delivered in 24 hours, but the fact that this is a pre-assembled kitchen does make me question his motives a little. Still, if things screw up again we may have to go down that road.

Despite this hiccup we had a pretty good site meeting on Friday with Mr Architect (after the distasteful haggle over the granite pricing we decided to focus our communications through him rather than Mr Builder). OK, we're still short a kitchen, the bathroom is nowhere in sight (Mr Builder apparently thought he'd ordered it but had only obtained a quote), and we've still not seen any flooring samples, but his calm, reassuring tones make us feel much better about it.

The lack of a dissenting voice did enable us to reclaim a feature that appeared to have been missed, and in a very British way we'd avoided bringing up. The recessed shelving next to the toilet had just not happened, despite agreeing it at a previous site meeting, and had disappeared beneath plasterboard and final plastering. This time we managed to ensure it did go back in, and actually we are making it much bigger than previously planned. Mr Builder is sure to grumble, but now we don't have to be there to hear it I don't care so much!

Mr Electrician had been in and installed all the plug sockets, switches and TV aerial points. He's doing the spot lighting next. I caught him on my own on Thursday and spent 10 mins going through the kitchen layout with him. It seems that he was still working from an old version of the plans and had not been told about any of the changes agreed lately. My Plumber was up in the attic the same day putting the finishing touches on the new boiler and associated piping.

We had a fruitless trip to Homebase at the weekend to try and purchase the very fancy pendant light we'd seen for the dining room. Sold out. Bugger. Also failed to pick up any paint sample charts. But did do the grocery shopping. Hey ho.

But...victory of victories - it would seem that as Mr Builder couldn't match our bathroom quotes we are getting exactly what we wanted for the contract provision price. Yippee!!

Undercoat on

A blue-y white
Originally uploaded by Burrow Life.

We're back from a much-needed break in France, and today had our first site meeting since the rather frustrating one before we left.

The most obvious difference was that a coat of white undercoat had been applied throughout the house and did a great deal to make the space seem bigger and brighter. The picture above shows that even with a blue tarpaulin covering where the windows will be it still feels very light. Quite a relief.

Other than that little real progress had been made on the ground. Apparently the electrician had been in and moved some light positions (we didn't know they were wrong!) and the frames are in for the kitchen and bathroom doors. However, much will be happening in the next week, with the kitchen and bathroom being fitted.

Probably worth pausing there to mention that Wickes had ruined their spotless record for customer service by being total dickheads with regard to actually delivering the kitchen. Despite being told very clearly months ago that our street was narrower than Kate Moss's backside, they tried to deliver using an 18-tonne truck. Oh yes, and they called us 3 times while we were in France to remind us it was coming without checking on any of this. Delivery is now scheduled for next Tuesday thanks to Messrs Architect and Builder handling things in our absence.

A more noteable victory in the bathroom; Mr Builder can't beat our superb quotes for the fittings, and so he's off with our wish list and filling it early next week! So by our next site meeting we'll have a bathroom!

Lots of other progress made today: We've selected a really nice hardwood called Idigbo, which once stained will match the oak floors nicely (samples for the flooring being left for us this week). We're having adjustable shelving for the unit in the living area. We've agreed to put the kitchen up but leave out the (suspected) un-needed unit for now. We've decided to take a risk with Building Control getting sticky with our rainfall drainage not going into a soakway, as they don't seem to want to see the place until it's finished.

So overall we're not actually that much further forward than the last blog entry, but it feels like things are really starting to move quickly. I think we've benefitted from a bit of distance from the whole thing for a while too - it's good to be excited about the project again.

Measuring up

A further visit to collect non-existent bathroom catalogues (again) revealed that the stud wall had gone up that separates the kitchen from the living area. All of a sudden things have begun to look different - namely much smaller.

A quick check on our plans shows that the anticipated width of the kitchen/living area is around 300mm narrower on site than they show. This impacts on the width of the breakfast bar as, if installed as planned, it would leave a gap between the end and the wall of less than 600mm rather than more than 800mm. To compensate we may have to drop a 300mm cabinet that was going to house our waste and recycling bins. Best wait to see what it looks like when it goes up I suppose.

Bit disappointing

Plastered!

Plastered!
Originally uploaded by Burrow Life.

An inevitable headline for the latest house development. Last night's visit (to collect non-existent bathroom catalogues from Mr Builder) allowed us to view progress made since Monday.

It's interesting how the plaster finish changes the feel of the place. It is particularly effective around the skylights and other windows, although in the extension it does make everything feel a bit smaller. Fast emerging as our favourite feature is the small dividing wall creating the dining room and entrance corridor - it works really well.

All hell done break loose

Well, not exactly. But 'Get Over It' was on TV the other night and that is one of my favourite Martin Short lines in it. And it is broadly applicable to last night's site meeting.

Firstly, Mr Architect was back to his trick of being late. Regardless, the Wonderful Paula from Wickes came down to measure up and ensure the kitchen would fit. She was also able to talk to Mr Builder with such confidence about dimensions that I've not been able to that the whole thing was done in a few minutes. Good start. It didn't last.

It soon became apparent that our excellent bathroom research at the weekend had been somewhat pointless as Mr Architect had given us the wrong ceiling value on the bathroom costs, so rather than achieving a saving we were actually too expensive. This then descended into a contractual debate we'd hoped not to be involved in, and resulted in Mr Builder having to run around trying to source similar items for less and get our approval by the end of the week. Not good.

Apparently there is still a dispute with Building Control over what happens to the rainwater draining from our roof. Mr Architect had specified that it should join up with our waste water drainage from the house, but (seemingly) in the knowledge that Building Control like it to drain to a soakaway in the garden. If he fails to win his argument with them we could be looking at an extra £300+ for the necessary work. Not good.

Mr Builder had also come up with 3 quotes for the granite worktop for the kitchen, but all were beaten by my quote from a local supplier. This was fine until we heard we had to add a 15% markup to give Mr Builder some profit out of the whole thing. Not at all good.

And to top it all the recessed spotlights in the new extension will cause a problem with the roof insulation specified, so they tried to persuade us that different lighting might be better. Rachel suggested they work out the problem and give us what we specified. Attagirl!

So all in all a pretty negative site meeting. Glad we're going on holiday to leave the whole thing behind for a while