We Have Gas (Almost)

Today was a busy one at the house.  The roofers were there, putting in two vents, one for the bathroom and one for the utility closet upstairs.  It may not look like much now (and it probably won't ever look like much) but we're putting the washer and dryer into this closet.

Along with the roofers, the plumbers were busy working outside.  They removed the rusted downpipes and put in new ones.  Now water running from the bathroom sink will make it to the drain instead of flooding our back garden and running to the neighbors!  (And can you see the new windows and the raised window to the new kitchen?)

We're starting the loft conversion later this week, and there's been so much talk about thermal bridging, insulation, u-values and eaves.  The architect's specifications were to insulate a box around the room and then under the eaves.

But after we took out the cladding and got a look at what the roof actually looks like, we're talking about doing something more like this.  (I think...the idea is to insulate almost the entire roof line so we get more usable space.)

One important part of the specifications I overlooked is venting the roof.   After meeting with the roofers and the architect today we found out the vents are going to end up costing us an extra £1,000.    

Two things in the picture below.  First is the mounting pile of garbage in our front yard.  I thought I'd be able to handle it with trips to the dump, but have failed.  So it looks like we need to dish out some moola to get the rubbish hauled off.

Secondly, we're getting gas!  It has taken about six weeks to get to this point, but Scottish Gas Network is installing a gas line to the house.  As if we weren't already enough of a headache to the neighbors, today the sidewalk and part of the street was blocked off with the excavation.

They managed to bore a hole under the front garden and only had to dig up the sidewalk and next to the front door steps.  There's still more work to do tomorrow, and all this is just to get a gas connection.  (Cost?  £704.)  We still have to make arrangements to get a gas meter installed before we can use any gas.  (I just found out about needing to make arrangements for the meter, tomorrow I hope to find out how long it will take and how much that step will cost.)

The joiners have started the built-in bookcase/cabinets in the front room.

And this may not look like much, but that's the new soil pipe connection for the toilet.  I'm pretty excited about it.  (That's not sarcasm.)

And the pipes for the tub are in as well.  The plumber was very convincing about why plastic instead of  metal pipes is the way to go.  I'm still not sure about these type of pipes, but even the new gas line is made of plastic.

What's that I spy in the kitchen?  Why...it's a new combi boiler.  This house will be warm yet!

Hopefully the back door saga has come to an end.  The current door is rotten and needs to be replaced.  We've been looking all over for a replacement, and without going into the long sob story, I'll just say that we think this 'reclaimed' door may (eventually) be the right fit.  (With a little magic from the joiners.)