Builders Holiday and a holiday from builders

We finished stage 1 of our building project a week early, and since we don't want to start stage 2 (demolition!) over the festive season (for security reasons) we are having a wonderfull break from building untill the real madness begins on 5 Jan. We are reasonably happy with the work so far.

Shafiq the builder's report card so far:
On the plus side he runs a neat, clean and tight building site; he arrives early and is on site all day; he has met his first deadline. On the down side, he seems to try and get away with cutting any corners he can in the building process, so you have to watch him very closely, and make sure you are informed enough to spot any mistakes! Mmmmm, i'm sure i've heard people say that before about their builders, is this an industry thing? If only we had lots of money and could pay for a project manager and a big building contractor!

O well, whenever I get despondent about our renovation i like to look at the pics of the front of the house when we bought it- the horror!




...and what it looks like now: