This will be the side alley wall, complete with holes for the gas and electric meters that will be moved from the existing side wall.
Friday 31 July 2009
Day 26 - Utility gaps
More wall progress today
This will be the side alley wall, complete with holes for the gas and electric meters that will be moved from the existing side wall.
This will be the side alley wall, complete with holes for the gas and electric meters that will be moved from the existing side wall.
Thursday 30 July 2009
Day 25 - Walls
The concrete has dried and it stopped raining long enough to get more more walls up - or in this case corners...
and some inner porch wall
and some inner porch wall
Wednesday 29 July 2009
It's gonna be expensive
More details to follow but rough costs from Shaun to work around the bloody waste pipe is £5K - eeek
Monday 27 July 2009
Day 22 - Wet Concrete
The builders are now very limited with what they can do until the hole situation is resolved.
So today we got a new concrete floor base for the side extension
I was very tempted to walk across it!
So today we got a new concrete floor base for the side extension
I was very tempted to walk across it!
Saturday 25 July 2009
Day 20 - Shiny covering for the rubble
We didn't realise the guys were coming today so it was a pleasant surprise to see some hi-tech looking insulation over the rubble. The new house is going to be so toasty!
Not finished at the back...
Not finished at the back...
Friday 24 July 2009
Day 19 - Cavity wall insulation
Today's visible change is insulation between the outer wall and the breeze blocks
Thursday 23 July 2009
Day 18 - The hole gets bigger
First up, rubble - we now have a rubble base for the extension
Poor Luke in the hole, hand digging it out - it didn't smell good down there at all...
Poor Luke in the hole, hand digging it out - it didn't smell good down there at all...
Monday 20 July 2009
Day 15 - Bad News
Late today Shaun called with bad news, the big concrete mystery hole is live mains drainage. It's the drain for the big house 3 doors down.
The boys had carried on digging today when one of them broke through and got covered in "effluent" - yuk! Although Shaun may have used another term!
The water at the bottom of the hole which they had assumed was just the water table, wasn't!
So this means more complication and expense. Tomorrow the drain will have to be surveyed (£200) with a 30 metre camera and the building inspector (Gail) will have to approve the solution.
The boys had carried on digging today when one of them broke through and got covered in "effluent" - yuk! Although Shaun may have used another term!
The water at the bottom of the hole which they had assumed was just the water table, wasn't!
So this means more complication and expense. Tomorrow the drain will have to be surveyed (£200) with a 30 metre camera and the building inspector (Gail) will have to approve the solution.
Friday 17 July 2009
Day 12 - Channel tunnel?
Today, between the heavy rain, they've dug out this channel next to the existing wall, not sure what it's for!
Thursday 16 July 2009
Wednesday 15 July 2009
Day 10 - Walls!
The first bricks have gone up - exciting!
Looking down the side of the house
Thankfully the bricks seem to match the existing house pretty well at this point.
And here's the very long and deep soakaway
Looking down the side of the house
Thankfully the bricks seem to match the existing house pretty well at this point.
And here's the very long and deep soakaway
Tuesday 14 July 2009
Day 9 - Rubble and mess
The back garden
The pile of garage floor rubble waiting to go in the mystery hole.
Where the garage floor used to be
The mystery hole
The pile of garage floor rubble waiting to go in the mystery hole.
Where the garage floor used to be
The mystery hole
Monday 13 July 2009
Day 7/8 - Landscaping is hard
Decisions, decisions. Shaun has told us it'll be much cheaper/easier if we can decide on the hard landscaping before Tuesday while the digger is still here and access to the back is easy.
So Sunday we spent planning the back & front landscaping measuring what we hope will be an adequate patio without losing all the remaining garden, given that a big chunk of the garden will be taken up by the greenhouse and the trampoline.
We decided that the cherry tree out the front can go, the birds ate all the cherries anyhow and we planned the front borders.
On Monday the cherry tree came down
and the first load of bricks arrived
So Sunday we spent planning the back & front landscaping measuring what we hope will be an adequate patio without losing all the remaining garden, given that a big chunk of the garden will be taken up by the greenhouse and the trampoline.
We decided that the cherry tree out the front can go, the birds ate all the cherries anyhow and we planned the front borders.
On Monday the cherry tree came down
and the first load of bricks arrived
Sunday 12 July 2009
Day 6/7 - Moving out
Saturday was the excitement of the concrete followed by a lot of intense house planning. We'd accumulated a number of notes on our original list of requirements plus all the things I'd been writing in the notebook from the first week with the builders.
So we spent several hours sitting in the dining room confirming, discussing and making plans for the patio, boys bedroom, power sockets, AV planning etc.
By Sunday the concrete was pretty set
I spotted this rather forlorn bulb looking lonely on the foundations. The foundations have butted up to what used to be the bulb section of the garden and this one decided to make a run for it.
This is the structure the builders constructed to protect the mystery concrete pipe from the foundation pouring.
So we spent several hours sitting in the dining room confirming, discussing and making plans for the patio, boys bedroom, power sockets, AV planning etc.
By Sunday the concrete was pretty set
I spotted this rather forlorn bulb looking lonely on the foundations. The foundations have butted up to what used to be the bulb section of the garden and this one decided to make a run for it.
This is the structure the builders constructed to protect the mystery concrete pipe from the foundation pouring.
Saturday 11 July 2009
Day 6 - Foaming Concrete
The concrete lorry arrives bright and early on Saturday morning
Master Concrete smiles for the camera - he seemed amused that we were taking pics of the concrete!
Shaun swooshes the concrete along the footings towards the back. It was like thick grey porridge.
The concrete man standing in his lorry
The builders have blocked off the mystery concrete structure round the back so the foundations don't fill that far.
Master Concrete smiles for the camera - he seemed amused that we were taking pics of the concrete!
Shaun swooshes the concrete along the footings towards the back. It was like thick grey porridge.
The concrete man standing in his lorry
The builders have blocked off the mystery concrete structure round the back so the foundations don't fill that far.
Friday 10 July 2009
Day 5 - the Mystery Concrete Structure
While digging the footings the builder's have found this
It's some kind of round concrete structure
They don't know what it is yet but its' location is bad news. It's right under the main exterior wall and where the new wall will come out from.
The (real) Building Inspector came round today and she has to approve the footings before they can be filled. Unfortunately she's not happy with filling this as it is so the guys will have to dig deeper to find out what it is.
On a much more exciting note - the concrete comes tomorrow - on a Satuday!
It's some kind of round concrete structure
They don't know what it is yet but its' location is bad news. It's right under the main exterior wall and where the new wall will come out from.
The (real) Building Inspector came round today and she has to approve the footings before they can be filled. Unfortunately she's not happy with filling this as it is so the guys will have to dig deeper to find out what it is.
On a much more exciting note - the concrete comes tomorrow - on a Satuday!
Day 5 - Plunged into darkness..
Today the french windows in the lounge had to be boarded up so they can be built/bricked up to.
This meant clearing the lounge furniture away from the windows. Lee, the youngest builder, who also gets to make more tea, was tasked with this. I gave him a hand but lived to regret it. I was moving the exercise bike when I managed to bang into the DVD shelves, in a comedy moment worthy of a bad sitcom a collection of heavy things on top of the shelves wobbled and then fell - onto the back of my head. I was too dazed to see exactly what had hit me but it was either a green ceramic vase, a wooden game board or one of four marble eggs! Boy did it hurt, I saw stars and felt very naseous. And poor Lee was very worried, it's not good when the client nearly knocks herself out when she's helping you! Of course it was my own stupid fault - both for knocking and for keeping that stuff up there in the first place!
Chatting with Shaun, the foreman, about what was planned for the windows I spotted a dead bug that had been under the sofa. One of those crunchy flying bugs about an inch long, a bit beetle like, but they fly? (after some research on the interwebs it was a May bug although you may prefer it's real name, a cockchafer! It's also known as a Billy Witch or Spang beetle) Martha likes to bring them in from the garden and then chase/bat them around until she's bored. Either she'd batted him under or he'd limped under there to die in peace. I picked it up and Shaun took 3 steps backwards. Turns out he's a builder who doesn't like bugs or spiders!! Surely they must encouter them on a regular basis?!
I decided to throw the bug out into the footings so he could be a permanent part of the new extension - he did not die in vain.
Nursing a killer headache I snapped some final pics of the french windows and the view before the darkness descended.
This meant clearing the lounge furniture away from the windows. Lee, the youngest builder, who also gets to make more tea, was tasked with this. I gave him a hand but lived to regret it. I was moving the exercise bike when I managed to bang into the DVD shelves, in a comedy moment worthy of a bad sitcom a collection of heavy things on top of the shelves wobbled and then fell - onto the back of my head. I was too dazed to see exactly what had hit me but it was either a green ceramic vase, a wooden game board or one of four marble eggs! Boy did it hurt, I saw stars and felt very naseous. And poor Lee was very worried, it's not good when the client nearly knocks herself out when she's helping you! Of course it was my own stupid fault - both for knocking and for keeping that stuff up there in the first place!
Chatting with Shaun, the foreman, about what was planned for the windows I spotted a dead bug that had been under the sofa. One of those crunchy flying bugs about an inch long, a bit beetle like, but they fly? (after some research on the interwebs it was a May bug although you may prefer it's real name, a cockchafer! It's also known as a Billy Witch or Spang beetle) Martha likes to bring them in from the garden and then chase/bat them around until she's bored. Either she'd batted him under or he'd limped under there to die in peace. I picked it up and Shaun took 3 steps backwards. Turns out he's a builder who doesn't like bugs or spiders!! Surely they must encouter them on a regular basis?!
I decided to throw the bug out into the footings so he could be a permanent part of the new extension - he did not die in vain.
Nursing a killer headache I snapped some final pics of the french windows and the view before the darkness descended.
Thursday 9 July 2009
Day 4 - The feline Buildings Inspector calls...
She checks out the fittings and boarding for interesting smells
And the giant shed
Day 4 - No Dead Squirrels here
Here's the back of the house now the garage has completely gone
And what's left of the chimney
Yesterday Ern shared a horrible tale from a colleague who had maggots (eeuuuwwhh) dropping into their fireplace which turned out to be from a dead squirrel rotting in their chimney.
Day 4 - Branded a Fool
I wasn't at home today, early start and late back from an exhausting trip to Shrewsbury. But I arrived back to find we'd been branded!
Ignoring all the safety and hard hat warnings I grabbed some more pics...
The footings are looking very deep now
That's an old water pipe across the channel - not sure if it's live or not so it's staying put.
The digging has exposed a layer of asbestos!
Thankfully it's going to be covered by the concrete and so doesn't have to be removed. Presume it's from the previous single house that was on the plot.
View through the new 'gate'
Ignoring all the safety and hard hat warnings I grabbed some more pics...
The footings are looking very deep now
That's an old water pipe across the channel - not sure if it's live or not so it's staying put.
The digging has exposed a layer of asbestos!
Thankfully it's going to be covered by the concrete and so doesn't have to be removed. Presume it's from the previous single house that was on the plot.
View through the new 'gate'
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