Raasay House: November 2008

Friday, November 28, 2008

Towards the End of November

Another month has come and gone and work at Raasay House is progressing well now with paint and lightfittings now getting put up. No walls though!

The contractors reckon that they are 85% of the way through the project so all being well they should have everything apart from the outside grounds done for February which is just a little behind schedule.

We are trying to source beds and kitchens and kayaks and string from all over the place so if anybody has a spare 7 tonne truck let us know!

The New build is getting on and should be finished next week.

All the windows and doors in the house have been taken off and refurbished. The West Wing has been used as the carpenters workshop and does have a great smell of wood when you go up the stairs.

Outside the house in the grounds, there is a lot of equipment and scrap lying about. Part of the job I guess. No doubt within a couple of months this will all be sorted and gone. Where is Kev when you need him?!

A new car park has been built at the north east entrance near to the cemetery/ farm. with the main reception now welcoming guests through what was the old scullery at the East end of the house.

The scaffolding is slowly coming down and the great job that has been done to rejuvenate the building is becoming more evident.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Where has the year gone......

Its hard to believe that it is November already, where has the year gone? Winter is fast approaching and we have already had a good sprinkling of snow on the Cullins.

Its been a busy year with most of out clients enjoying their time at Comrie Croft, albeit missing the magic that is Raasay. Thankfully the House is coming along nicely and it won't be too long before we can welcome everyone back to a freshly renovated Raasay House.

Their has been a huge amount of activity at the site over the last couple of weeks, as you can see by the last post the 'new build' arrived on the island and is being put together at a remarkable rate. The roof is finished and they are starting to attach the cladding onto the building.

The new gas tanks for the house have been installed and all of the associated pipe work laid, this will enable ROK to finally install and connect the boilers that will serve the houses heating system. It will be great to be able to step into a warm and cosy building once we take it back in Feburary.

The east wing of the house is nearing completion, radiators have been installed, walls painted, final stage of electrics are being installed and all of the bathroom fittings arrived yesterday.

The builders are now concentrating on finishing off the middle and west wings of the house. The won't take as long to renovate.....hopefully. We are still expecting to take the building back in early February and be open and ready for business at the beginning of April.

Its not just the interior of the house that is having a wee face lift, the grounds of the house will be having a wee bit of work done to them. This will mainly involve the areas immediately surrounding the building. The contractors have started their exterior works and their first job is to reset all of the front curb stones. Not particularly easy when you see the size of each of the curb stones. They have to manually lift every stone into place then reset each one at the right level.

The new ferry terminal is also coming along, not sure if they are on schedule or not but it they are working on it whenever they can. Due to the weather they can't work when the wind picks up...the joys of health and safety regulations.

I hope you enjoy the pictures....