Day 38 (51) - Rained Off

No updates today due to the consistent downpours throughout the night and into this morning.

A bit disappointing as the brickies were due to come yesterday, bank holiday Monday, and it was a dry sunny day. Very different from today and the outlook for the rest of the week. Perhaps it'll be slightly better tomorrow.

Fingers crossed.

Day 35 (47) - Water, water everywhere...

Today was pretty much a washout.
The brickies laid as much aircrete blocks as possible at the rear and then as many bricks as they could in between torrential downpours of rain.
The scaffolders also came and raised the scaffolding up to 1st floor level at the side - in torrential rain and high speed gusts of wind.
In the end we called it a day at 3pm.

On the upside, they'll be coming back on Monday, even though it's a bank holiday.
Will try and post some more pics tomorrow when the sun will hopefully be shining.

Hasta mañana, amigos.

Day 34 (46) - The Only Way Is Up!

Apologies for not blogging yesterday but I was a little sidetracked.
Anyhoo...just a short update today.

Yesterday we had the pleasure of both Clive and Darran laying the floor joists to both the side and rear 1st floor. These are laid at 400mm intervals and will support the floor.

Darran starts positioning the joists on the rear extension

The finished result.
The soil stack on the left hand side will be removed and re-positioned on the side extension.

By the end of the day, Clive and Darran had completed laying all the floor joists for the side and rear extensions, and a bloody good job they did too.

Side extension looking out towards the Green

 



 

 

 

Today (Thursday 23rd May), was a short day due to persistent downpours throughout the day. However, the brickies managed to put up a fair few aircrete blocks to the rear 1st floor (see below). Hopefully tomorrow we'll have better weather and we may even see some bricks being laid.

 

Until tomorrow!

Rear blockwork going up on the 1st floor rear extension

Day 32 (44) - A marvellous erection...of steel beams!

Darran, Callum and Steve on site today to get the steels up for the side extension.

After a fiddly bit of masonry work on the existing side wall and then a bit of bricklaying of engineering bricks at the far end of the extension, all was ready for the first of the 5 steel beams to be hauled into place.

Although the 'Lift Genies' would bear the brunt of the work, the 450kgs of steel still had to be man-handled onto them before they could be cranked upwards.

Steve (L) and Callum (R) positioning the first of the steels onto
the engineering bricks 'pad' within the existing wall.

The first two of the smaller steels were lifted into place; one at the rear of the side extension, the other at the front above the entrance to the garage.
To these two steels, the main steel would then be bolted into place. The positioning of these steels could not be more that a couple of millimetres out and of course had to be level.

Callum making sure the positioning is just right.
You can see the two 'Lift Genies' supporting the centre of the steel beam.

To the front and back steels another steel is then bolted into place with spacers in between to allow for the insulation to be inserted.

Lined up and bolted into place. Lovely.

Just as the boys were finishing of bolting the steels into place, the delivery of timber for the floor joists arrived. The floor will be cut-in tomorrow.

Steel beams with spacers bolted into place

Day 31 (43) - More bricks, block & beams

True to form, Paul, Aidy and Ian arrived bang on 7.15am as has been customary when they are on site. They're a funny breed, bricklayers. Not that I'm one to stereotype, but they just get on with the job in hand. No idle chat, no messing about. They know what they have to do and they just get on with it.
The three of them are all very different personalities; Paul is the big friendly giant who doesn't say much but is leading from the front. Ian is also pretty quiet, keeps himself to himself and just cracks on and is very particular about having just half a teaspoon of sugar in his tea - no more, no less. Finally there's Aidy. He's a like a dynamo; very industrious. The way he moves around the scaffolding with a fully laden hod of bricks is an impressive sight to behold by anyone's standards.
By 3.30pm they had done their bit finishing the brickwork up to the level where the steels will fit in to support the 1st floor both for the side and rear of the house.



Inside of garage with WC & Utility room at the rear







 

And talking of steels...

 

...Shortly after 4pm the final batch of steels arrived...

 

Blatant product placement. Nothing like a bit of  free publicity, is there?

This last batch of steels would be supporting the first floor side extension and roof which is why the main steel, just shy of 6m in length and half a tonne in weight, is so big. This steel will sit on the wall of the side extension and then bolted to this main steel will be 4 other steels running along the width of the side extension which will then support the floor joists.

 

Q:How many men does it take to unload a steel?
A: Four - and one to take the photo

Tomorrow we'll have Callum and Steve back on site to prep the walls and position the steels before Clive and Darran come on site later in the day to hoist them into place.

 

Looking forward to tomorrow.

 

Sleeping giants

 

Day 29 (39) - Bricks, Blocks and Beams

Well, first off, apologies for not updating the blog lately but work has taken over of late and I've not had much time to give a day by day account of all the work that's been taking place since my last update.
So without further ado, here's a summary with photos of the progress that's taken place in the last couple of weeks:

Removal of remaining windows from rear wall and
preparation for insertion of internal steel beam

 Steel beam in situ and back of house supported by steel props and 'strong boys'
Note re-routed waste pipe

Creative way of diverting the waste pipe around one of the props

Beginnings of the new porch.
The current interior door and glazing will be removed.

Block and brick for side extension (garage) wall

Detail showing cavity and insulation between aircrew blocks and brickwork

"Carry on my good man". Eddie overseeing Aidy mixing the mortar

Rear wall being "toothed" in with new Heather bricks to match existing

Not all hoodies are thugs and delinquents

Corner bricks finally being laid after a delay in getting them from the manufacturer. Now the brickwork could start on the rear of the side extension along with the aircrete blocks.

The bonded corner bricks

Quality bricklaying...

...same wall from the inside

An almost complete rear side extension.
To the left will be a door allowing access to Utility Room from the garden.

Rear wall built up with steel beam in place. The steel weighs 450kgs, almost half a tonne.
The opening will house 4-panel bi-fold doors leading into the kitchen diner.

Detail showing engineering bricks, cavity and external brickwork of rear wall

The scaffolding goes up Friday 17th May
rear (top photo) and front (above)

We did have a bit of a delay with the brickwork going up on one of the piers which will support a steel beam across the top of the garage door opening. Because of the positioning of the electric supply, the bricklayers were unable to continue up, so the electrics had to be repositioned on a new board approximately 4 inches to the left.

The finished result.
Electric supply moved over allowing for the remaining engineering bricks to be laid

Next week will be a really busy week; more bricks, more steels and the only way is up!

Day 20 (25) - Where has the last week gone?

Four weeks into the build and the demolition continues, this time it's the existing rear extension.
When we bought our house almost three and a half years ago, the kitchen was always the biggest compromise. It was small, received very little natural daylight and only had one physical door out of the three rooms it connected with; this being the utility room.
Ironically, it was as a result of wanting a larger kitchen that we now find ourselves a third of the way in to our extension and we can already start to imagine what it will be like in terms of natural daylight, once the room is opened up.
Originally, the kitchen was at the rear of the property, looking out onto the garden. Next to the kitchen was the dining room. In recent years, previous owners had 'extended' across the back, adding a 'sun room' and a utility room. It was probably done on the cheap and not well thought out or constructed. Still, the only upside is that they laid deep foundations which has meant our builders are able to build up into the first floor without having to underpin (saving us a few £1000's)
So anyway, this last week has seen the removal of the flat roof, electrics, guttering and windows from the existing extension, in preparation for the delivery of the steels next Tuesday.



Utility Room looking in towards kitchen and hallway beyond

Utility room minus roof.
Note original rear window which had simply been boarded up with plywood



Existing rear wall.
Part of this will be bricked up and the rest will feature 4m bi-fold doors

Existing 'sun room' minus roof. Note entrance to dining room boarded up.

It's a Bank Holiday weekend and the weather is meant to be good so the wife and I will make the most of it and use Monday to do some DIY demolition by taking down the wall in between the utility room and dining room.

More photos to follow...