Insulation
It takes a lot of energy to heat large rooms, and we were determined to keep running costs and energy consumption to a minimum. The underfloorheating was constructed over a slab of insulation, insulated from the external walls and controlled by sophisticated night setback thermostats.
We'd also had the external walls cavity insulated with loose fill insulation. After researching insulation materials for the under roof/ceiling insulation we settled on the Triso 9 insulation, its basically a foil and foam quilt which can be stapled to the ceiling. Unfortunately its not cheap and even when buying 200 square metres the cost was around ten pounds per square metre. At least it was easily installed, although studwork had to be installed underneath it to carry the plasterboard and it makes the place look like the inside of a spaceship!

New Balustrade and Glass Blocks
There were a couple of small jobs left before starting on the plumbing. The first was to creat a small balustrade downstairs using leftover materials from the spiral staircase. The second was to create some light boxes using glass blocks to break up the partition walls upstairs.

Services
All the plumbing and electrics had to be run before the plasterer could start.An electrician spent six weeks lying all the wires and I spent eight days laying on plumbing from the house at the back. I had to run central heating, hot, cold and pumped hot supples front he house. The pumped hot is because there isn't enough water pressure to fill the bath without a shower pump.

The photo on the right shows the nearly finished services cupboard which contains consumer unit, underfloor heating manifold, network switch, broadband modem and audio controller. Thats a lot of cable!

First Fix
First fix was completed around the end of April, the electrician had laid all the wiring and all the bathroom and other water supplies were in. The plasterers took only twelve working days to transfom the place from a bulding site to something resembling a habitable interior. The electrician then returned to fit all the lights and sockets and test the installation. It was then down to us again to complete the final joinery (skirtings, architrave), hang the doors and decorate.

Nearly Second Fix

As of the end of May we're nearly there, we're aiming to move in during June.
The double doors above were one of the first salvage items we bought for the renovation, they look to have been taken out of a school.

Finishing the wooden floorwas a major job, it took three days over easter weekend to sand it back to bare wood and a further full day to seal it. The finished result is a much lighter colour than the old finish.

The brick panel is a reminder of the old brickwork hidden behind the plaster.

The shelves to the left of the services cupboard are for the hi fi. The fireplace and stove are fully connected and ready to use (including the back boiler).

We put blinds up early in May as there was a lot of interest in the room from passers by!

The new kitchen won't be completed until later in the year as I need a break before completing this section. We're planning to get the units made up locally and all the services are already laid on to the room.

The new bathroom is 'cosy' due to the lack of ceiling height. The whirlpool bath fills one side of the room and a glass basin on the other. Its not the most practical of rooms but its intended as an en suite for the master bedroom so this isn't a problem.

I'm in the process of putting in fitted cupbaords under the eaves in both the bedrooms upstairs. This will keep the rooms clear by concealing all the storage in the otherwise useless space under the eaves. Toffs sliding doors of Barnsley supplied all the doors and fittings at trade rates.