Building Bristol Home Stay Tuition - the story of a big project

4 Church Lane, Cliftwood, September 2015

Hello everyone, this is the story of my big extension project. This is an interesting way to inform you about what is happening at my school, which is also my home. It's also a great way to record the progress of this adventure.

This week, I finally started a project which has been my dream for many years. I am building a new kitchen and dining room, which will also be the teaching room for my students. It will be an expensive and disruptive activity and because of this, I have now closed the school for the rest of the year.

So, it started on Monday 7th September. The builders arrived promptly at 08.00 in the morning. By 11.30 they had removed all furniture to other rooms, rolled up all the carpets and dismantled my kitchen carefully and moved it to the storage room (my former student's room, for those of you who have studied with me!). As you can see from the photo below, I had to sell my beautiful piano. It has gone to a family with two young girls who will play it. But look! It nearly didn't get out of the house!

Car parked outside my door made it almost impossible to move the piano

It is now the end of the first week and the builders have completely demolished the bathroom, which will now form part of the new kitchen/dining room. The builders have to collect everything in bags and then carry them out of the front door, to deposit them in the skip (that is the container to collect all the brick, stones and everything which is rubbish). Because there is no back entrance to my garden, everything has to be done by hand. No machines to help the poor builders.

Demolition of the bathroom

My garden is covered with grey dust and my neighbours have been suffering from the terrible noise of the demolition. Luckily for me, I have got a job and am working at the University of Bristol as a temporary secretarial assistant. This is perfect, as I avoid all the terrible noise and disruption. It is very helpful as I need some income during this period, because obviously I can't have any students or lodgers!

I am living in the rooms upstairs, My bedroom has become my new temporary kitchen. My bathroom is connected to my bedroom and the builders have put a pipe through the wall with a temporary tap. I am sleeping in the room that is usually my lodger's room. I have bought a little electric cooker and a small oven, so I can cook simple meals.

Can you see the temporary tap and my little cooker?

The builder calculates that the project will take about 12 weeks. Everybody tells me that these projects ALWAYS take longer. So I hope to be finished by Christmas, but I expect it to be later. When the builder is finished, it will be ready for me to paint and decorate.

Here is a link to a photo album with more photos:The beginning...