Weather beaten

Day 19 (Thursday 26th March) Well there is little to write today as the rain eventually caught up with us! This flooded the plastic sheet used to cover the work but it DID keep the garage below dry. The electrician came and made some runners down the wall in preperation for the electrical sockets and switches and some block work was built up above the back door.

Day 20 (Friday 27th March) We decided yesterdays rain was enough for the year and we switched the rain clouds off leaving us with a nice bright day. The wall above the back door was taken down again (yes the one he built yesterday) and a new lintel was put in. The window was outlined on the inside and the block work built back up again. A lot was done today as the inner wall on the second level was built up to head height.

Stack it up

Day 16 (Monday 23rd March) The block work on the upper floor began, some to the front of the building and some to the side, it went up pretty fast. The batons on the right picture are not for the wall but for our brilliantly designed foolproof water resistant cover, sometimes known as, a sheet of plastic.

Day 17 (Tuesday 24th March)
Things just seem to be going too smoothly at the moment as we had yet another day of great weather. More blocks were going up today, yes there are a lot of blocks to go! Because the scaffolding isn't very wide all the blocks were dropped on the drive and then had to be hauled up the scaffold , shifting 5 packs of blocks takes time.
The dampproof and leading was also put in under the window to make sure well, erm, we dont get damp. Someone once said a happy team is a productive team so our builder tries to keep up the morale!
Day 18 (Wednesday 25th March) We are supposed to get some rain over the next three days but for now luckily it is still holding off, so it may soon be time to really test my polythene roof. As predicted by you all, more blocks went up to the front and the last joists went up at the back of the house. We also had a visit from the electrician who set to work on getting wires in place for the sockets on the ground floor.

Flushed Away!

I really need to try and update this on the day I take the pictures or they all just blend into one day.
Day 14 (Thursday 19th March) I told you the polythene would be water tight (ok I did have to go back up there and nail it on some more AND it didn't rain, but still). Quite a lot got done today but I forgot to take pictures as it was actually happening, so you have a sort of before and after.

First order of the day was to take the outer blockwork down you can see on the right, on the picture above. The builders told us not to use the bathroom on the other side anymore as they are removing the pipework. No problem I said, of course Jo also says no problem and then goes off upstairs CLEANS the toilet we are not supposed to use and then flushes it! So not only was the toilet nice and clean but the garage ceiling also had a nice bleach smell and so did the plans. The ceiling then came down, along with the old joists and all the blockwork.

Day 15 (Friday 20th March) Things are coming along really well now and the weather has been just great, if it wasn't for the chill in the wind you would think it was summer. This is good news for us as it is all going at a good pace and the new joists were due today, once these go up things start to look more housey.

The chippie came early in the morning and fixed the board to the side of the house (after about 3 attempts and trips to Selco). After he went Andy our builder still had to tighten the bolts up (as seen on the right). Once it was done properly the joists started to go up, we also had a delivery of another 6 packs of blocks. More updates to come soon.

Day 11(Monday 16th March) A great start to the week with some very nice weather, the blockwork continued to go up. With a bit of cursing and grumbling from our builder the decorative stone was also built up and as we are moving the electric meter forward it was built around a new box too. It took some time to do the decorative stuff as it had to be cleaned off and then all cut to fit.

Day 12 (Tuesday 17th March) Scaffolding here we come! now its starting to look like a real buidling site (well even more so than before) as the scaffolding went up today, not a lot to report though, the blockwork was finished up to the first floor level and so was the stonework.

Day 13 (Wednesday 18th March) Smashing day! Another "de"constructive day, with the scaffolding up it meant we could get to the roof and start taking it apart, so off came the tiles from above the garage.

Once the tiles were all off we then ripped off the felt and started hacking at the roof beams. It didn't take too long to get them down leaving us with a nice big hole above the garage. A bit extreme for a sky light I know. After that the day was coming to an end so we stuck some water tight polythene over the top (10 year guarentee)

Face Off!

Day 09 (Thursday 12th March)Today the house was losing its face (the decorative blocks) and that was a slowish process and took all day so not much to report, they came down relatively easy. The front pillars will go back on so were left to one side like a giant puzzle.

Day 10 (Friday 13th March) Sadly we lost the builders due to unfortunate accidents today (Only joking, another uneventful Fri 13th as always!) The blockwork began today and you can now start seeing the shape of the extension, the builders are now building rather than destroying. So far a very nice job has been made of the block work as you can see from the pictures.

Slabtastic!

Day 06 (Monday 9th March): With the weekend over, it was time to get stuck back in with the work. Half the day was spent waiting for the lorry to drop of some ballast (which was meant to come early morning!) It was eventually dropped off at the top of the drive and after a couple (well lots) of runs up and down the drive with the wheelbarrow both trenches were filled to the level we wanted. Using the Wacker plate machine it was all nicely compressed ready for the Cellotex.


Day 07 (Tuesday 10th March): A layer of sand was added first to make a smooth, level base for the Cellotex, then the sheets were cut into size and placed around both the bases. On top of that was placed some plastic lining (reminded me of a nice swimming pool liner. With any more rain it would most likely make a nice swimming pool too) After this there was nothing left to do except wait for tomorrow, the day of the concrete slab. (I was excited and so was the builder, look at his face!)


Day 08 (Wednesday 11th March):There is something about seeing tons of concrete being poured into a hole thats great, you see it on the TV and everyone is gathered around waiting for the cement to ooze all over, it makes you want to just jump in and splash it about. (or maybe thats just me)

The Mini-Mixer turned up with no trouble (even if it was late! bah) and luckily managed to fit on our drive which made it a nice easy job to fill both the holes up. All it needed was a long boom and a magic button that released the mixture. This was all done and dusted by 9am which left the rest of the day to watch it dry. I tell you one thing, the people who made the saying "It's like watching paint dry" have obviously never had to sit around and watch concrete dry.

Unfortunatly there was little else to report for the day, we had to barrow out about 5 loads of concrete as there was too much mixture in there and then a bit of leveling was done and the rest was just waiting. So enjoy the pictures. (click them for slightly bigger picutres)

Weekend Roundup!

After a busy week of unexpected building work and then to Birmingham for Crufts, our first peaceful day without the builders was taken up with packing loads of boxes and getting things out the way for when the walls get smashed in! (yay the fun bit!)

Right well, time to catch up on whats happened with the building so far.

Day 03 (Wednesday 4th March 09) : The digging begins! The Rhino(digger) was revved up and the game of "find that footing" began. We first stood around crossing fingers, toes and everything else we could cross, hoping that none of the important cables or pipes ran where we wanted to dig the trench. Wanting to prolong the agony futher we decided to dig the other side first, and dig they certainly did, by the time we exposed the footings of the garage the hole was over 6ft (190cm) deep! As you can see below, it was a looong way down.

Next was the other trench; luckily the pipes and cables were not in our way and we managed to get down to exposing the footings on this side of the garage. If you thought the first side was deep you were wrong! This trench ended up being over 7ft (225cm) deep, enough room to hide a few unwanted neighbours.

After being assured by several different weather channels that we were not going to get any rain today, you guessed it, it decided to rain on us! Luckily one of the builders came prepared. Unfortunatly the nice 7ft trench we dug decided it didn't want to be so deep, we all watched as one side slowly slid back into the trench.

Day 4 (Thursday 5th March 09) : We were at Crufts (Go Team Rosie) but of course the build carried on, not much happened. They re-dug the trench, the building inspector visited and asked them to put wire mesh in, they dug an extra trench where the garage door will be and then filled all that with concrete (ok so maybe a little happened then)


Day 5 (Friday 6th March 09):
After a long day at crufts we were looking forward to a nice lay in. Of course it was friday and well, we didn't get one! The rain managed to hold off and the work progressed very well, by the end of the day the blockwork was up to the damp course level, ready for the concrete slab on monday.