After returning from the Alps last week we came down to earth with a bang! As we pulled up the house, we found an enormous steel girder waiting for us- a good omen that our builder was set to go on Monday morning as planned.
We had no idea what to expect that Monday morning, but it started with a 0740 text to say that they would be with us in 20 minutes. Bang on the dot of 8am, the vans pulled up and they were off and running. As we chatted through the last minute details of the project with the builder, the lads were getting unloaded and were clearly ready to get started. As we popped up stairs to collect a few last minute things for our travels, they began. The noise was tremendous as the ceilings were ripped down with immediate effect. We left the house in a haze, unsure what we would return to at the end of day 1.
When we returned at the end of day 1, we couldn’t believe the transformation. It was similar to when we first saw the house and we could see the potential beyond the horrific decorations. This time, we could see the space that we had wanted to create, and we could look beyond the akroes propping up the first floor, the miles of grey electricity cables hanging down from the roof space and the bare walls, smashed clean of plaster and back to the bare brick. In stead of being horrified like we had initially feared we may have been, we were so excited at the progress the team had made in 10 hours and we could both see the green shoots of our dream coming to life.
Day 2 was a bit of a disaster- nothing to do with the build- just the fact that I had succumbed to man flu! The weather was terrible, but we needed to vacate the house to let the builders do their stuff, so we did the only sensible thing- decamp in the van to a remote moor side park up, drink tea, eat comfort food and snooze the afternoon away to try and sleep off the cold. It worked a bit…but the cold hung around for a few more days. Harry the sparky did a fantastic job on day 2, getting the entire ground floor first fixed and making sense of the myriad of cables that hung down from the roof spaces. My OCD needs were fully catered for, with all wires safely packed away and routed in a very methodical way!
Day 3 was a complete transformation- with the ceilings being reboarded and the walls being lined with a variety of materials. In my DIY evolution, I have now become an expert on recognising the various incarnations of plaster board. how foolish of me to think that there was only one type of board. FYI we do have standard plaster boards for the roof, but we also have blue ones that are sound deadening for adjoining walls, pink ones that are fire retardant for the RSJ and mega thick kingspan ones that are used to insulate outer walls…look at me…I almost sound like I know what I am talking about! The downstairs now looks really light, really clean, modern and spacious. We cannot believe the change in less than 72 hours, or the speed in which the lads worked. In other news in day 3, we also got the long awaited quote for the additional work that the builders we actually carrying out. It was with relief that the builder was true to his word and the quote was really reasonable- good job really as the lads were half way through the jobs anyway!
By day and 5 we found ourselves with the building project nearly complete- with only half the downstairs walls still to be plastered on Monday. On Friday night we were all set for a cozy night back in the house after the builders had finished for the week. After a good days climbing of Whernside, I was gasping for a beer and a hot shower at the end of a really challenging week. We got back to the house to find downstairs really tidy and clean- the builders are really good that way. We unpacked the van from our week on the road, however when we got upstairs , we realised that the last remaining heating had been cut off during the week and the house was colder than normal- AKA bloody freezing! Undeterred, we settled down for the night, only then to realise that we also had no water as it had also been cut off for the work- which meant no hot shower, or no flushing toilet. This realisation was a real low point for us both, knowing that our only option was to repack the van and wild camp for the night in the hills- sound in the knowledge the van has electricity, heating and water!
Other renovation progress
Kitchen quote accepted and ready to roll- we finally managed to pin our kitchen fitter down to a supply and fit quote that we are happy with…just. We still feel that we have probably being shafted on the supply cost by the fitter- but I cannot rant about Howden’s trade only policy any further. We decided that we were getting the kitchen that we want, within our budget and if the fitter is making a margin on the supply- so be it. We cannot let that eat us up any longer.
Wood burning stove- we averted a minor disaster earlier in the week when we contacted the chimney sweep to check on the stove installation. He confessed that he hadn’t seen our confirmation email from before Xmas, but had now found it. He did a lot of scurrying around in the background and managed to make up for lost ground. He has booked us in for an install at the end of March and has managed to secure a stove delivery slot in that timescale. A good recovery from a situation that could have sent us sky high with rage!
3 Peaks in 3 days
We love the Yorkshire 3 Peaks and the 3 Peaks challenge…but this week wasn’t the week to try and tackle the full challenge, so we tried to distract ourselves from all the building chaos with our own little micro adventure.
We found time between the house renovation work to nip out and tackle Ingleborough, Pen-Y-Ghent and Whernside in 3 days...just because they are there and waiting to be climbed. We love our micro-adventures and this was a good one- challenging with all the other life stuff we have going on, but equally attainable with a bit of hard work.
Check out our YouTube channel here to see how we got on.
VW Bus magazine publication.
We were delighted this week to receive the proofs of our latest article due to be published in VW Bus magazine later this month. Even better- the editors have decided to break it into a 3 edition series on our summer French Alp road trip on a budget. It is so lovely to know that people are interested in what we do and the little adventures that we have. The proofs looks amazing, with loads of images that we are really proud of.
An afternoon at Betty’s
After a week of building work, poor weather and a bit of cold, we decided this was the week that we would finally treat ourselves to a trip to Betty’s tea rooms in Ilkley. We had been bought vouchers as a gift when things were going badly in 2021 as a way to cheer us up, but we had never got round to using them. It was so lovely to take time out, sit down together with no distractions and enjoy the ritual of waiting for the tea to brew. We obviously supplemented the tea with copious scones, cream and jam, but that just made the treat even better. Thanks Julie for the treat, it was just what we needed!
So that’s it for another week. It’s been a manic one, even by Jackie and Richard proportions, but we have absolutely loved it. Spending time in the van whist the house is being bashed inside out is no real hardship, and with the Yorkshire Dales as our playground- we have nothing to complain about.
Have a brilliant week,
Richard & Jackie
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