Lots going on both inside and outside yesterday. The 24hour rainfall we've had is a reminder of the testing conditions for a house in an exposed location. There is a little water seepage under the doors on the SW corner so we've contacted the supplier to get a maintenance bod out. It is clearly a window issue rather than a building one but strong winds driving rain at that corner are as testing as you would expect in the UK.
Outside we've got a local contractor ripping up the concrete which formed the base of the old dairy shed, its an area of approx 28m x 8m and is being carted off to use as hardcore somewhere else. After its bashed down we'll be buying a lorryload of gravel to finish it.
The builder's groundworks crew have dug the trench which will carry the LPG pipe and the elec cable from the woodstore to the house. We are only using LPG for cooking but wanted the bottle away from the house (for visual reasons) and the cable is for the solar PV to connect into the house. The 1.08kw solar PV array will be mounted on the south facing roof of the woodstore and the roof is being constructed to a 36deg pitch to maximise production. The theory is to take your latitude (ours being 56degN) and subtract 20degrees. Work starts on the construction of the woodstore today and is being done by a local joiner using wood we have salvaged from the old house. They are setting up a workshop in one of the barns.


As you can see the staircase is in place and the slate flooring continues (picture of the dining area)