Car park and kitchen

Even more activity this week as the pace really picks up. Joe Davis and Kerry Vaughn (SWT West Suffolk staff) started work resurfacing the car park while the plumber started work on the kitchen and toilets.

An access area at the front of the wood adjoining the main parking area is being resurfaced with a base layer of waste stone and then dressed with 20mm gravel to create several additional spaces, while all the remaining car park area will also be surface dressed with gravel. The car park work will include the creation of a dedicated disabled parking space.

The office will include a few kitchen units and a sink.

The outside toilet will have full disabled access. The plumbing is being kept very simple with hot water being provided by 'heat on demand' electric heaters. Because the demand for hot water is likely to be quite erratic it was decided that this would be more efficient than continually heating a hot water tank ready for use.

The roofing company finished more quickly than they initially said and apart from not picking up all the little off-cuts of zinc sheeting they left all over the place, did a reasonable job. The flue for the woodstove is in although has yet to be extended to its full height. The thin section of wall between the over-lapping sections of roof has still to be clad. We cannot use the western red cedar for this area as any water running off the cedar onto the zinc would be slightly acidic and i time would eat through the zinc. Instead, larch boards will be used as these don't create the same problem and will almost perfectly match the cedar.

A small area of the floorboards that were salvaged from the barn at Foxburrow Farm have been sanded down to reveal a wonderful red colour and very attractive grain. Once the floor in the main teaching room has been given the same treatment it should look quite spectacular.

The most significant event of the last week was the delivery of the first batch of windows and doors on Friday. Had the windows been delivered late that could have thrown all the opening plans into complete chaos! All being well we should finish just in the nick of time.