Grade II New Build With Basement

It is now 2010 and eight months from now we should be moving into our new home!  

Despite the continued thick frost and cold prior to the Christmas break, Seckington & Whitehead, our builders, carried on regardless.  On the day it chucked it down with snow they retreated under their make-shift awning and spent the day chipping away at the old stone, turning it into a format suitable for the facing of the new building. 

Five months into a 13 month build schedule and it seems likely that we are running behind schedule, but as the schedule has never reached paper we watch with interest.  We are assured that after Christmas the building will suddenly “shoot up”.

What have emerged are the steps out of our “nuclear bunker” – we now have a concrete staircase from the back of the basement light well up to garden level.  This will be clad in stone towards the end of the project.  Interestingly, with the recent rain, the water table has also come up around the basement walls – just as well that we are having a couple of pumps under the basement to keep the water moving.

Despite not even having the walls to a kitchen, Alan and I are starting to sort out the kitchen specification, starting with the cooker, which has generated quite a few heated discussions!  We currently enjoy the heat and friendly clattering noises of an old Stanley range in our present kitchen, which runs the water and heating too. It is inefficient, but heats the house well, looks “the part” and is a lovely, warm welcome on a cold evening coming in from work. Alan enjoys parking himself up against it and cannot imagine life without it.  For practical reasons, we also have an electric cooker and gas hob!

Endeavouring to be environmentally friendly, primarily because we don’t want to be completely beholden to Mr. Putin in our old age, we have decided against a Stanley for the new house and will be having underfloor heating.   However, this means no more “warm welcomes” from a clattering Stanley, although with amazing insulation and underfloor heating Alan’s love affair with the multi-skilled Stanley may prove to be a red herring.   So, we have been considering Everhot and Redfyre electric ovens, which are enticing with their warming facility, but little else in my opinion.  Slow to heat up, dials which are hidden or down near your feet, visually challenged and small oven space meant that we were considering installing an electric oven and gas hob in addition... Mr. Putin was rubbing his hands.  

Thankfully, what was turning into stalemate has been resolved by an Aga 6:4 series electric range cooker in claret with gas hob, made possible by  a wonderful friend, who offered us “friends and family” discount, without which it would have been a pipe dream www.aga-web.co.uk/122.htm  And, for those frosty days like today, I understand the warming oven will be set on the timer so that Alan can park up against it in his stocking feet, when coming in from work.