Our new project House (and rock cave houses)
Discussion
Good evening all!
As 2023 draws to a close, I thought it might be a good time to do a final year end update.
I think I documented in this thread that all I ever wanted to do once the house was finished, was sit in the shower, have a glass of single malt, and sit there until the stress had washed away.
There were so many times where we thought that was just a pipe dream. Financial woes, Bob the blundering builder, to name but a few….
But, as we prep for a group of friends to join us for New Year’s Eve partying….
So,
p
And
A huge thank you from Mrs CTO and I, to all of you, for your support, encouragement, advice and good humour over the last few years.
Wishing you all a very happy and healthy 2024!
Best wishes all,
CTO and Mrs CTO x
As 2023 draws to a close, I thought it might be a good time to do a final year end update.
I think I documented in this thread that all I ever wanted to do once the house was finished, was sit in the shower, have a glass of single malt, and sit there until the stress had washed away.
There were so many times where we thought that was just a pipe dream. Financial woes, Bob the blundering builder, to name but a few….
But, as we prep for a group of friends to join us for New Year’s Eve partying….
So,
pAnd
A huge thank you from Mrs CTO and I, to all of you, for your support, encouragement, advice and good humour over the last few years.
Wishing you all a very happy and healthy 2024!
Best wishes all,
CTO and Mrs CTO x
Edited by CTO on Monday 1st January 17:27
CTO said:
Good evening all!
As 2023 draws to a close, I thought it might be a good time to do a final year end update.
I think I documented in this thread that all I ever wanted to do once the house was finished, was sit in the shower, have a glass of single malt, and sit there until the stress had washed away.
There were so many times where we thought that was just a pipe dream. Financial woes, Bob the blundering builder, to name but a few….
But, as we prep for a group of friends to join us for New Year’s Eve partying….
So,
And
A huge thank you from Mrs CTO and I, to all of you, for your support, encouragement, advice and good humour over the last few years.
Wishing you all a very happy and healthy 2024!
Best wishes all,
CTO and Mrs CTO x
Congratulations dude, and HNY to all at your end too! The shelf in the shower is a great idea. Placement for bath bits, and (presuming it has the strength to allow as much) somewhere to sit if you've had a tough day and your legs are weak. As 2023 draws to a close, I thought it might be a good time to do a final year end update.
I think I documented in this thread that all I ever wanted to do once the house was finished, was sit in the shower, have a glass of single malt, and sit there until the stress had washed away.
There were so many times where we thought that was just a pipe dream. Financial woes, Bob the blundering builder, to name but a few….
But, as we prep for a group of friends to join us for New Year’s Eve partying….
So,
And
A huge thank you from Mrs CTO and I, to all of you, for your support, encouragement, advice and good humour over the last few years.
Wishing you all a very happy and healthy 2024!
Best wishes all,
CTO and Mrs CTO x
Edited by Fermit on Sunday 31st December 19:58
Didn't really want to bump the thread and was waiting for the next update but a quick question for when you have time CTO
The heated skirting - how is that working out for you - I've got one room in my house that is longer than wide with a rad at one end - the rad is more than capable of getting the room to temp but it doesn't do it as quickly as all the other rooms in the house.
I was considering adding another rad at the other end to balance out the heat input but wall space is at a premium and there is a double french door taking up most of the other short wall so I'm really hampered by the layout of the room.
I remembered you'd fitted heating skirting and I wondered if that might be a way forward for me.
The heated skirting - how is that working out for you - I've got one room in my house that is longer than wide with a rad at one end - the rad is more than capable of getting the room to temp but it doesn't do it as quickly as all the other rooms in the house.
I was considering adding another rad at the other end to balance out the heat input but wall space is at a premium and there is a double french door taking up most of the other short wall so I'm really hampered by the layout of the room.
I remembered you'd fitted heating skirting and I wondered if that might be a way forward for me.
Hey BC!
Sorry I missed your post
Re the Thermaskirt, couldn’t be happier with it TBH.
Out lounge is reasonable size, maybe between 9 or ten long and maybe four and half to five metres wide, and the thermaskirt heats it up quickly and keeps it warm.
There are some minor oddities, it makes a few “banging noises” when you first switch it on and the whole skirting board moves a bit with the heat, but it settles down quickly and is quiet as can be.
I was a bit dubious about it, reviews are very much YMMV, but for us it made total sense re maximising the wall space and I can definitely say we are happy with it.
Cost wise, iirc, supply and fitting (from the pipe tails) so including all the pipe work round the lounge, the “skirting” etc and install, was £1288.43
(I know this level of accuracy because I just asked my wife)
Hope helpful and happy to answer any other queries you may have
Cheers
Sorry I missed your post
Re the Thermaskirt, couldn’t be happier with it TBH.
Out lounge is reasonable size, maybe between 9 or ten long and maybe four and half to five metres wide, and the thermaskirt heats it up quickly and keeps it warm.
There are some minor oddities, it makes a few “banging noises” when you first switch it on and the whole skirting board moves a bit with the heat, but it settles down quickly and is quiet as can be.
I was a bit dubious about it, reviews are very much YMMV, but for us it made total sense re maximising the wall space and I can definitely say we are happy with it.
Cost wise, iirc, supply and fitting (from the pipe tails) so including all the pipe work round the lounge, the “skirting” etc and install, was £1288.43
(I know this level of accuracy because I just asked my wife)
Hope helpful and happy to answer any other queries you may have
Cheers
Good afternoon all,
And…..
Feels like it’s been a while since we all caught up, and hope you are keeping well, and dry…
Dry because it feels like it has rained since November, and it is still fecking raining today.
There have been a few updates to add, nothing too major though, and I have kinda been saving it up until we had something of note to post..
On the few dry days that we did have..
I had a go at digging a path and whittling some wood to weave for the walkway, to the top cave.
Some of you may recall that last year we held a mini Glastonbury by the top cave.. “mini Glastonbury” being a massive reach for what we actually did which was cart a tv up there, light a fire and get absolutely spannered..
It turns out that the path back down, which is off camber and at a funny angle, is a bit treacherous when a man has availed himself of a few light ales… my wife having to rescue me from the bushes at least twice as I fell over and rolled down the hill…
In anticipation of a re run this year, I have started work on a new, wider, flatter and therefore hopefully safer path..
Very much a WIP, but here is the beginning of it
Breaking up the soil
And
And then began digging out the new path route and putting the edging in.
The edging is only cosmetic, and there will eventually be wooden posts on the right hand side, with a rope linking them and lights on each post.
But that will be then, and this is now
Tbh, as a first effort, I think it looks surprisingly ok, I say surprisingly, because I surprised myself
To accompany the above, I have been doing some remedial ground works, taking out the old water feeds for the Chorus MKII 34 (two berth) and re routing them to provide a new water feed and power feed for our latest purchase…
Digging it up
Making it good
Then digging a new trench
And making that good…
Tragically, my face after finishing this bit above, was a bit like this
Eventually all the above will be stripped back and laid to grass, but I needed to get the tails in the right place and heading the right direction for what was coming next…
Which takes us up to today…..
After a few months of gentle discussion and negotiation, we exchanged on Monday, and completed today on the land that adjoins our garden…
What does one need when they have a 4/7ths finished house, a whole load of landscaping to do, a patio to sort, some lawn to seed, and a million other things that makes your head hurt if you think about it too hard…
Some more abandoned rock houses, and a stagnant pond
Got the call at around midday to say the transaction had completed, put the phone down and I’ve ventured down there to get a few early pics..
So, in no particular order, behold our latest headache
And I managed to get a short video of the inside without managing to either a) fall over, or b) Impale myself on one of the rusty old implements lying about
Video is here
https://youtube.com/shorts/5CvzZo-wuvk?feature=sha...
I think it has four separate rooms. Two main rooms and two bedrooms.
It is in worse repair than the rock house in our garden, but I hope will look a lot better once all the rubbish is cleared out and you can walk about it more freely.
To accompany the above, is also another, much more intact and recognisable rock house, and the aforementioned stagnant pond.
I have to head out now to pick up a few bits and pieces.. some shopping, some new shorts for me holiday, and a refreshed stock of optimism and ambition
In the interim, here is a pic of the other rock house.
It remains locked at the moment and my wife has asked for me to wait until she gets home for us to venture in there together..
No key, of course, so the crowbar is coming out
And how it once looked…..
The lady who lived there…
And the account from her son, about his life growing up there… seems like he had a lovely childhood tbh
I’ll get some more pics a bit later on and update the thread, but in the interim, thanks all of you for your continued interest and support as we make it up as we go along
Cheers all,
And…..
Feels like it’s been a while since we all caught up, and hope you are keeping well, and dry…
Dry because it feels like it has rained since November, and it is still fecking raining today.
There have been a few updates to add, nothing too major though, and I have kinda been saving it up until we had something of note to post..
On the few dry days that we did have..
I had a go at digging a path and whittling some wood to weave for the walkway, to the top cave.
Some of you may recall that last year we held a mini Glastonbury by the top cave.. “mini Glastonbury” being a massive reach for what we actually did which was cart a tv up there, light a fire and get absolutely spannered..
It turns out that the path back down, which is off camber and at a funny angle, is a bit treacherous when a man has availed himself of a few light ales… my wife having to rescue me from the bushes at least twice as I fell over and rolled down the hill…
In anticipation of a re run this year, I have started work on a new, wider, flatter and therefore hopefully safer path..
Very much a WIP, but here is the beginning of it
Breaking up the soil
And
And then began digging out the new path route and putting the edging in.
The edging is only cosmetic, and there will eventually be wooden posts on the right hand side, with a rope linking them and lights on each post.
But that will be then, and this is now
Tbh, as a first effort, I think it looks surprisingly ok, I say surprisingly, because I surprised myself
To accompany the above, I have been doing some remedial ground works, taking out the old water feeds for the Chorus MKII 34 (two berth) and re routing them to provide a new water feed and power feed for our latest purchase…
Digging it up
Making it good
Then digging a new trench
And making that good…
Tragically, my face after finishing this bit above, was a bit like this
Eventually all the above will be stripped back and laid to grass, but I needed to get the tails in the right place and heading the right direction for what was coming next…
Which takes us up to today…..
After a few months of gentle discussion and negotiation, we exchanged on Monday, and completed today on the land that adjoins our garden…
What does one need when they have a 4/7ths finished house, a whole load of landscaping to do, a patio to sort, some lawn to seed, and a million other things that makes your head hurt if you think about it too hard…
Some more abandoned rock houses, and a stagnant pond
Got the call at around midday to say the transaction had completed, put the phone down and I’ve ventured down there to get a few early pics..
So, in no particular order, behold our latest headache
And I managed to get a short video of the inside without managing to either a) fall over, or b) Impale myself on one of the rusty old implements lying about
Video is here
https://youtube.com/shorts/5CvzZo-wuvk?feature=sha...
I think it has four separate rooms. Two main rooms and two bedrooms.
It is in worse repair than the rock house in our garden, but I hope will look a lot better once all the rubbish is cleared out and you can walk about it more freely.
To accompany the above, is also another, much more intact and recognisable rock house, and the aforementioned stagnant pond.
I have to head out now to pick up a few bits and pieces.. some shopping, some new shorts for me holiday, and a refreshed stock of optimism and ambition
In the interim, here is a pic of the other rock house.
It remains locked at the moment and my wife has asked for me to wait until she gets home for us to venture in there together..
No key, of course, so the crowbar is coming out
And how it once looked…..
The lady who lived there…
And the account from her son, about his life growing up there… seems like he had a lovely childhood tbh
I’ll get some more pics a bit later on and update the thread, but in the interim, thanks all of you for your continued interest and support as we make it up as we go along
Cheers all,
CTO said:
Hey BC!
Sorry I missed your post
I missed yours - till now................ Thank you for that I shall read it again and digest the contents however my attention was drawn to the latest post and my only comment is WOW and good luck with the hobit village you appear to have purchased.......Sorry I missed your post
I know I have a very understanding Mrs BC who puts up with my car habit but I think you have a keeper in Mrs CTO as she seems to be amenable to serial currently uninhabitable hobit house purchases
Alex Z said:
Nice bit of additional madness.
Seeing them in that state reminds me of climbing all over the ones that the National Trust own, long before they were restored.
Same here. I was talking to one of the NT volunteers about them and casually mentioned how we used to climb up onto the top of them. She looked a bit shocked Seeing them in that state reminds me of climbing all over the ones that the National Trust own, long before they were restored.
Wow - be careful if Drakelow tunnels ever come up for sale - I doubt you could resist
I remember as a child going to the lawnmower repair man who worked out of a cave in Clent so it’s not far back in the memory that these places were occupied (I’m barely 50).
Well done on the purchase. I can’t say I’d have a clue how to value that; the National Trust are the obvious alternative buyer and they presumably don’t really pay for their acquisitions. So it’s good to know there are some proper caves with a potential future.
I remember as a child going to the lawnmower repair man who worked out of a cave in Clent so it’s not far back in the memory that these places were occupied (I’m barely 50).
Well done on the purchase. I can’t say I’d have a clue how to value that; the National Trust are the obvious alternative buyer and they presumably don’t really pay for their acquisitions. So it’s good to know there are some proper caves with a potential future.
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