According to the BBC a record number of homeowners had solar panels installed this month, according to energy regulator Ofgem. The devices have been fitted to 2,257 homes so far during August, up from 1,700 in July and 1,400 in June. More than 6,688 homes have had solar panels fitted since April, when the government’s scheme to reward people who generate their own energy altered.

The feed-in tariff system now enables homeowners to receive 41.3p for every unit of energy they generate.

After the panels are installed, the tariff is paid for 25 years and increased in line with inflation. In addition, people could make about £25 to £30 through selling unused energy back to the National Grid.

At last the summer hols have ended and its back to school.

Meanwhile the interior of the house has now been finished (bar some minor snagging). Pictures soon but before then its soft furnishing and the like.

The outside has at long last been rendered in three coats of lime render.

Now you see the mesh…..

Here you can see how the render looks going onto the mesh.

And here the render coming around to the front of the house.

This shows the second coat applied ready for the last smooth application.

This shows the render close up with the second coat to be of a 10mm thickness and scored in a diamond pattern.

And here we see the final smooth render waiting for painting.

So with the interior finished and the outside rendered we can paint the outside of the house and then its just the balconies to construct and we are finished.

Well I say finished we still need to put up the solar panels but there appears to be a delay on inverters so we are in the queue and hope that we get something on the roof soon.

So the sands of time have yet again slipped away. We are at the stage where there is so little to do inside the house but we are very nearly there. All of the decorating has been completed and what a stunning job. The walls look fabulous and the glossing just finishes the job perfectly, photos to come soon.

We have moved in at last and started off by living in the new downstairs bedrooms while the upstairs was finished. I will post interior photos when we have moved the furniture etc back in, not quite there yet. Being home has made a great difference and it has been great watching the final stages of the house come together. What has been noticeable is the effect of the underfloor heating. We have had a constant 20 degrees downstairs for the past 4 weeks with the thermostats set to 20 despite the outside temperature varying from -1 to about 28 degrees. And that is just the underfloor heating as the wood burners are not yet installed. Not only that but I have been keeping an eye on the electricity meter readings and the energy use is very low about 20 – 23 units a day over a three week period. This includes our day to day use of the TV, oven, fridge etc and works out at about £1.80 / day.

The kitchen is complete and working including a fantastic engineered oak floor which runs throughout the entire upstairs. All doors are in and the bathrooms fully installed. The tiling has also been of a very high standard and we are delighted with the results.

Meanwhile the outside.

The next stage of the outside thermal cladding is underway with the breathable membrane going up and the meshing ready for the lime rendering.

Here you can see a good cross section showing the original house wall and just how thick the cladding is. Holding the cladding in place are the wooden battens and onto this goes the membrane and then the mesh.

You get a really good idea of the layers in this picture.

The mesh is tightly attached to the cladding.

All ready for the rendering.

Once the final screed floor had dried it was time for the stone tiles to go down.

The tiler ensured that the tiles were level and flat. The entire downstairs floor was tiled ready for the electrician to wire in the thermostats and turn the underfloor heating on.

The underfloor heating was finally turned on and what a difference. The stone tiles look fantastic providing and excellent and warm walking surface. The thermostats have to be set quite high until the screed has properly warmed up and then they can be set to the correct settings.

Now the tiles are down we have been able to get on with final carpentry such as the door frames and start final plumbing and installation of the bathrooms.

As you can see the tiles have started to go up on the walls and the bath and toilets have been plumbed in.

Final electrics were carried out ensuring all plugs, sockets, light fittings and entertainment fixings had been installed.

And so we have finally reached the stage where the whole house had been more or less decorated and you really get a very good sense of what the end result will look like. The light neutral paint work and large south facing windows brings in the natural light creating a bright, light spacious warm feeling. The quality of work has been of a very high standard which becomes very apparent as the inside work comes to an end.

The on suite bathroom has been finished and looks wonderful.

The Kitchen has been completely finished with exception to the wooden floors which will go down last of all. the kitchen walls have been beautifully tiled and painted and all the kitchen appliances are now in place and working.

So, what next? Well there are various bits and pieces to do inside before the wooden floors go down. More importantly we have moved back in, albeit downstairs only. The underfloor heating is working a treat and makes an amazing difference.

Upstairs we are waiting for the wood burners to go in and all the doors and then we are pretty much there. The outside is another matter.

We hope to complete the inside within the next week but outside requires at least another couple of months. The cladding needs finishing and then the whole outside of the house can be rendered. The balconies and bridge to the front door still need constructing and vast amounts of earth and top soil need moving.

As for the solar panels we are waiting for the house to be finished and anticipate then going up in July.

So far so good.

First of all back to the underfloor heating, after the first layer of concrete had dried we were able to get the electrician back in to lay the electrical underfloor cables throughout the ground floor. Each room is zoned to have its own thermostat.

Here is the cabling laid in the master bedroom.

And in the spare bedroom, notice that the cabling goes beyond the concreting. This was because we were unable to dig the floor out up to the walls in the older part of the house because there are no foundations.

The next stage is to now lay another layer of screed on top of the cables. Once this is complete we can finish of the downstairs rooms.

In the second bedroom the windows have gone in, this paves the way to finishing the outside thermal cladding meaning the outside of the house will be ready for final rendering.

The screed floor has now gone down and is drying ready for tiling.

The plasterer  has been able to get in and finish off the downstair rooms.

And the rooms have been undercoated ready for completion of the electrical work, tiling and decorating.

Moving upstairs work is coming on very nicely.

The open landing has been undercoated.

And the kitchen has started to be installed.

Our next immediate tasks include final plumbing and installing the bathrooms, upstairs toilet and utility room, laying the oak flooring throughout the upstairs, installing the wood burners, final fix electrics and decorating.

Nearly all of the plastering has now been completed and in the kitchen diner area white undercoat has also been applied. The space is light and airy ready for the kitchen units to be installed.

This shows what the kitchen will look like once we have installed the units, oak floor and appliances.

The landing has also come on. The old bathroom has gone, there is plaster on walls and great natural light pouring in though the large new window.

Here we can see one side of the living room. You can see the new depth of the windows giving an idea of just how much difference the insulation makes.

So great progress but it is March and there is still a lot more to do. In the next three weeks we should hopefully see the underfloor heating completed, the kitchen installed, all plastering and undercoating finished, second fix electrics and plumbing completed and the bathrooms in.

The bay windows are now almost completed ready for final rendering.

Once the external cladding is completed around the bay windows the final external rendering can begin.

At last the snow stopped and much of the external work continued. The house is all bar a couple of windows finally sealed. However, there is still much to do before we can move back in.

One major step forward was the first stage of the underfloor heating, as mentioned earlier the ground floor was dug out and then filled with a layer of hardcore, damp-proof-membrane and insulation. We were then able to add the first layer of concrete throughout the ground floor.

This has made a huge difference to the feel of the project allowing a much better sense of the space.

The next stage will see the electrical cables being laid, wired up and the final layer of screed laid. Then we can get on with the stone tiles.

Now the first layer has dried the plumper has been able to complete his first fix especially in the bathrooms.

Well it started to snow the week before Christmas and they are still forecasting more to come and its Jan 12th. This has meant no work. So we have lost about 4 weeks but as soon as normal weather resumes work will continue, lets just hope we are in soon.

With the diner now completed and the windows going in we are now able to tackle the cladding. The fixings have been finally sourced and the cladding finally goes up.

As you can see the original rendering had to be stripped off the walls before the cladding went up. Also as the cladding was fixed the new windows were installed. As I have mentioned in addition to gluing and fixing the individual blocks of cladding, wooden battens are also required to hold the cladding tight to the wall.

Finally the bay windows went in almost sealing the house. The battens have all been attached ready for the mesh and final rendering.

There is just one wall to go but this has to wait until the electricity bracket has been moved. Now most of the cladding is up the house is ready for the internal work to move on. We should be able to see the plaster board going up in preparation for plastering.

And yes indeed plastering has started in the new kitchen area. But now the weather is closing in and the days are shorter. This has meant that the muddy churned up driveway will need a spot of work if we are going to be able to get lorries down.