ON SITE DIARY
Self-building two oak cottages side by side, couples Charlie and Helen, and Craig and LB, discuss making on site-decisions
The two couples have reached the second fix stage: bathrooms and electrics
This was a very exciting time in our self-build journey. Our walls were painted but we still had wires and pipes ungracefully hanging out which needed to be connected to the mains. Unfortunately, we discovered that Western Power don’t fit meters and we had T-minus 11 days to resolve this… Thankfully Eon came to the rescue with a seven-day turnaround for our meter which was fantastic, as others were quoting up to a month. Phew!
We used one company to install both the plumbing and electrics so there was a seamless connection between the two services, and as they worked closely together, we felt this was a good move. As our light fittings, plugs and switches were going in, so were our taps, sinks, showers and bath from Burlington Bathrooms; our new cottage was evolving before our eyes by the second. An opportunity arose when our plumber, who was of an average height, initially felt that the height of the shower over our family bath was suitable. However, I [Charlie] am considerably taller, so when I got in to test this out, it was clear it was not going to work! The resolution was to drop the bath to gain more height, which involved some tiling amendments but was for the best.
Once we had finished plastering and mist coating, it was time for second-fix plumbing and electrics. The majority of our bathroom fittings came from Burlington Bathrooms, as we had taken advantage of their annual sale, enabling us to get the best we could afford. We tiled the bathrooms and then our plumbers were brought back in to fit the sanitaryware.
Second fix electrics were fairly straightforward in terms of logistics but we went back and forth on whether to go for white plastic switches or brushed satin. The cost saving represented by the white plastic was huge, but it made us a little sad. We met halfway and decided to go for a mix downstairs: brushed satin for all the light switches and sockets that would be on show (such as in the kitchen) and white sockets where they could be hidden by furniture.we asked our families for John Lewis vouchers for Christmas and managed to get most of our light fittings in the Christmas sales, which certainly helped with our budget!