The damp proof membrane goes down
17th December 2014
Planning first fix is taking time
4th December 2014
Our scaffold has gone and the building is revealed
16th November 2014
Our north wall is rendered
11th November 2014
Rain is welcome, for once
10th November 2014
Stitching the house to the one next door involves some tricky details
30th October 2014
The brickwork is done, for now
24th October 2014
Tiles line up with the bricks
14th October 2014
The brick skin of the front of the house begins to rise
2nd October 2014
Our front door has nowhere to go
27th September 2014
Our bricks arrive on site
18th September 2014
The roof is finished in style
16th September 2014
Our solar panels are installed
9th September 2014
The roof is going to be a thing of beauty
4th September 2014
The job is quick and transformative
2nd September 2014
The roofers begin work
30th August 2014
The timber frame is complete
26th August 2014
We have a roof - or the beginning of one at least
19th August 2014
Building is hard work but every day you see the difference your labour has made
16th August 2014
The house appears in skeletal form
10th August 2014
A wedding in Copenhagen is a chance to check out the local brickwork.
5th August 2014
It's time for a scaffold
30th July 2014
It's time to lay the I-beams down and use them as their designer first intended.
24th July 2014
We're finally heading skywards
22nd July 2014
Our house arrives on the back of a lorry.
14th July 2014
As we await our timber frame, I'm preparing for the woodwork that will follow it.
6th July 2014
Building our plinth requires some careful blockwork.
1st July 2014
Now I know where all our muck has gone
26th June 2014
The pouring of the slab is a great day
23rd June 2014
The preparation of the reinforcement for the slab requires a change of pace
16th June 2014
The tile making project is going well
13th June 2014
The drain pipes have to go in before the slab.
8th June 2014
It's the weekend and I'm playing in the mud with my cousin
31st May 2014
We're shifting muck again, this time to make way for the slab
27th May 2014
We've been reviewing what should grow in The Orchard
18th May 2014
The piling has begun and the geology is looking good
17th May 2014
I don't mean going for a walk
14th May 2014
My first toilet is upstaged by a blue whale of a rainwater tank.
24th April 2014
At last we are ready to start building. Time for a trip
to the country.
18th April 2014
We've been channelling Edward Burne Jones. Really.
I'm still not building but at least I'm planting.
The sun is out so I’m watching where the shadows fall.
In a world of appearances, we have learnt to be cautious of veneers.
Setting out the garden paths is a chance to soften the four-square lines of the house-to-be.
Despite the lack of a house, our kitchen is coming along nicely.
It takes time to line up the ducks before the main event begins.
Sooner rather than later, we connect to the sewer.
With no house in the way, I seize the opportunity to radically improve the back garden.
Stitching the house to the one next door involves some tricky details
