New Home–The changes begin!

This is the front of the house and very attractive it is too. However, the steps up to the front door were very steep – dangerously steep and probably illegal.

Not only did I struggle with my little legs but so did Mike, the postman ( who said he hated them) and most of our visitors.  We had to bite the bullet and get them changed a.s.a.p.

We called in our builder friend Paul who contacted his bricklayer Glen and between us all we redesigned the steps.

All building work seems, ironically, to start with demolition!

The building begins where the bottom of the old steps were.

The new spiral steps taking shape.

How much better is this? Note the pillar – beautifully finished to match the others but Jean spots a problem. Yes, it would be me wouldn’t it!

 

A wrought iron railing is needed to prevent people falling over the edge between the pillar and the wall but …………………

it will be higher than the pillar – O No!

So, the top of the pillar is knocked down and rebuilt straight up to be level with the railing.

Here is the taller pillar and you can now see where the railings will be between the wall and the pillar just on the left – hand side.

Looks a bit tall but will look OK when finished.

A word about Glen – what a worker. He arrived just after 8 most mornings, only stopped for a quick lunch and then continued until about 4. He worked entirely on his own mixing his own  cement and measuring everything as he went along. Due to poor weather the last couple of days he went over budget and over time but he still finished it in 12 days. A brilliant worker and we would recommend him to anyone.

Just need to wait until the walls are dry and then Mike can paint them.