Monday 3 September
The guys didn't turn up until around 10.30am today, and then only after texting the partner of the man in charge to ask if anyone was coming. When they did eventually arrive, they were mob handed - just come from lifting steel on another site. After standing around for a while looking at the full skip (still waiting to be swapped out) most of them went away again, leaving just two behind to get on and do some work.
However, in spite of the late start, there was progress today. A little bit more of one of the original external walls has been knocked down, giving a slightly better idea of the big open plan space that will be there eventually. But, the rubble is just piled up on the floor until the new skip arrives...
Outside, the catnic lintel has gone up over what will be the new window in the garden elevation of the extension, with a brick soldier course on top, a few courses of brick to the side and blockwork behind. It's looking a bit more 3D now!
The other small thing is that there's another layer of breathable membrane over the extension roof structure, wrapped around the scaffold which was put up yesterday and covering the openings for the roof windows.
The combination of roof covering and scaffold planks is making it seem very dark inside. It will be quite a contrast when the scaffold is removed, the Velux windows installed and the last bits of the old external walls and the original sash window have been taken away!
Tuesday 4 September
I left the builders alone today to go off and have a consultation with a kitchen planner in one of the local builder's merchants. Part of the information gathering exercise to compare costs and select the units for the new kitchen. They were still hard at it when I returned home, so I left them alone to continue and only went to check progress after they had left for the day.
The good news is that the replacement gallows brackets are now installed in the old kitchen.
I hope you can tell from the photos above that the new brackets (top right and below) are so much better and less obtrusive that the brackets that were there before (top left) which had not been fabricated to specification.
There was also some progress on the extension, with more brickwork going up over the soldier course above the opening for the new window.
However the original bricks have not been "toothed out" to tie the new wall in with the old, as previously agreed on site. It should look the image on the right, with new bricks slotted into the gaps created by removing old bricks every other course, continuing the bonding pattern without interruption and visually integrating old and new walls.
In fact, it looks like this, with a straight vertical line separating old and new walls even they are built on the same plane and flush. This is just what I didn't want!
Oh dear, another matter for the man in charge to sort out tomorrow. I don't blame the guy doing the work. It seems like his boss hasn't told him what to do...Goodness knows why not.
Wednesday 5 September
I've asked the man in charge to visit the site to see how we can resolve the "tooth out/in" problem with the brickwork, look at the cracks in the plasterwork upstairs and see for himself how the front door needs to be adjusted so that it will lock securely. Still waiting to hear from him at lunchtime.
In the meantime, the guys are busy taking down the brickwork of the old external walls below the structural steelwork and the skip is beginning to fill up again. I was out for the afternoon but by the time I returned home at the end of the day, one wall had gone completely and the other was half removed.
You can begin to appreciate the space, even though its cluttered with a scaffold, props, water pipes and the drainpipes serving the first floor bathroom and lots of materials and equipment....
No change to the brickwork above the window which will need to be "toothed in" but the area below the cill has now been completed and it's been done properly. It's now quite dark inside as the new window opening has been boarded up temporarily and the scaffold is obstructing light from above, but it won't be long (I hope!) until that changes.
Hmm - I think the old bricks could do with a clean...
Thursday 6 September
A busy day on the house project front. More demolition today; what had been an external wall in the old kitchen has now largely been removed and the space has opened up again!
My front door has also been adjusted so that it closes securely now, which is a relief.
I'm told that the external brickwork will be "toothed in" tomorrow which will visually integrate the extension and the original walls, replacing the hard vertical line of mortar that's there at the moment.
I had a useful meeting with a kitchen designer/fitter this morning. He thinks my layout for the units will work well and made a few helpful suggestions about worktop material and fine tuning details which hadn't occurred to me, for which I'm truly grateful! I hope his quote is financially viable for me...
However, a couple of things did not go quite to plan.
Instead of replacing the joist in the old kitchen (which had been removed to put the steel beam in) with another joist spanning the structural walls/beams, a couple of bits of timber have been attached to the steel beam to support the floor above instead. I'm not happy about that - I'm not convinced that its structurally sound, and this arrangement impacts on plans to re-route the bathroom drain pipe ticked neatly into the concave cavity of the "H" shaped steel beam.
I'm also not happy that a mix of floorboards and ply sheet have been used to cover the long hole in the floor above where the original floorboards were cut and removed. Plus the hardboard/cork which had been on top of the original floorboards has not been put back in its entirety, so the surface isn't level to replace the carpet.
It may be that this is just a temporary arrangement, in which case its not a problem. I'll find out tomorrow when the man in charge is due to visit the site.
There has also been another storm in a teacup with my disgruntled neighbours about the incident last Friday when a builder disconnected the pipe serving the toilet and wash basin in the loft without telling me first. In blissful ignorance that this had happened, I flushed the loo and washed my hands while the pipe was still disconnected and the waste water did not go where it was supposed to go, to the surprise of the builder who apparently was holding the pipe in his hand at the time. I has no idea that it had happened until I went downstairs afterwards to see how the builders were doing and the pipe was still dripping. The builder was fine and everything else seemed to be OK so I thought no more about it.
Today, a week later, there was an email from my neighbour referring to the incident and asking whether it was a waste pipe that has been disconnected. She was naturally concerned about potential health issues when her young grand children visited, as water coming out of the pipe had sprayed/splashed on to her house. I explained what had happened, but said that I hadn't realised that there had been a spillage on her side of the boundary. While I could understand her concern about possible health risks, I couldn't understand why she had waited a week to raise the issue rather than saying something at the time so it could be cleared up straightaway.
Later in the day she replied, said she had contacted Environmental Health who had put her mind to rest and as far as she was concerned it was an accident and the matter was closed. They (my neighbours) had cleaned up and disinfected all areas just in case. Her only complaint was that I hadn't told her straight away, at the time, that the spillage had come from a waste pipe.
In response, I could only say that had I known at the time that the waste water spillage had affected her property, I would have alerted her and ask permission for the builders to go over and clean up at once. But I wasn't aware that her property had been affected by the spillage until today, which is why I hadn't alerted her when it happened. However, I was pleased she realised it was an accident and that the matter was now closed for both of us. Let's hope that has drawn a line under the matter.
Friday 7 and Saturday 8 September
A day and a half of demolition and digging out....the remains of the walls between the extension and the main house have come down, the suspended floor in the old kitchen has been removed and the areas of solid floor at the far end of the old kitchen (originally a scullery and an outside WC) have been dug up.
All this work is by way of preparation for putting in the floor slab which will span the entire width of the old kitchen and new extension, ready for insulation and installation of underfloor heating.
Although still cluttered with a scaffold, drainpipes from the first floor bathroom, building materials, equipment and debris, the big open plan space is much easier appreciated now. Just think how much brighter and lighter it will be when the roof lights, new window (currently blocked by a sheet of ply) and taller, wider garden doors are installed and everything is plastered and painted....
At long last, work has started on the below ground drainage; a trench has been dug and the drain pipe is resting in it, ready to be connected up to the main drainage system which runs under the house.
My neighbours (the ones who aren't complaining) have asked whether, when the work on the loft roof is finished, the guys can put up the scaffold ladder at the rear of our houses to remove the ivy which is once again threatening to take over. I have no objection...seems like a good idea for me! However, whether there will be space to put up the ladder on my side of the fence is a moot point. This part of the garden is being used as a building materials store at the moment. We'll have to see how things look at the time.
I've passed the neighbours request on to the man in charge and wait to see the response...
The man in charge didn't come today as planned, but his partner came instead so we could talk through various matters.
I'm still waiting for the man in charge to give me the revised programme of works #2 so I have a realistic idea of when to order the kitchen and book the kitchen fitters. Still waiting for the "toothing in" of brickwork above the extension window opening to be carried out. There's an unresolved issue relating to the replacement of a joist removed to install one of the steel beams and, relating to that, the position of the drain pipe from the first floor bathroom. Plus "padstones" have yet to be installed under the ends of the steel beams, which should have happened when the breams were lifted into place. However, there has been more visible progress on site this week so it feels like things are speeding up at last!
Now to check the latest valuation and pay the next instalment...
The guys didn't turn up until around 10.30am today, and then only after texting the partner of the man in charge to ask if anyone was coming. When they did eventually arrive, they were mob handed - just come from lifting steel on another site. After standing around for a while looking at the full skip (still waiting to be swapped out) most of them went away again, leaving just two behind to get on and do some work.
However, in spite of the late start, there was progress today. A little bit more of one of the original external walls has been knocked down, giving a slightly better idea of the big open plan space that will be there eventually. But, the rubble is just piled up on the floor until the new skip arrives...
Outside, the catnic lintel has gone up over what will be the new window in the garden elevation of the extension, with a brick soldier course on top, a few courses of brick to the side and blockwork behind. It's looking a bit more 3D now!
The other small thing is that there's another layer of breathable membrane over the extension roof structure, wrapped around the scaffold which was put up yesterday and covering the openings for the roof windows.
The combination of roof covering and scaffold planks is making it seem very dark inside. It will be quite a contrast when the scaffold is removed, the Velux windows installed and the last bits of the old external walls and the original sash window have been taken away!
Tuesday 4 September
I left the builders alone today to go off and have a consultation with a kitchen planner in one of the local builder's merchants. Part of the information gathering exercise to compare costs and select the units for the new kitchen. They were still hard at it when I returned home, so I left them alone to continue and only went to check progress after they had left for the day.
The good news is that the replacement gallows brackets are now installed in the old kitchen.
I hope you can tell from the photos above that the new brackets (top right and below) are so much better and less obtrusive that the brackets that were there before (top left) which had not been fabricated to specification.
There was also some progress on the extension, with more brickwork going up over the soldier course above the opening for the new window.However the original bricks have not been "toothed out" to tie the new wall in with the old, as previously agreed on site. It should look the image on the right, with new bricks slotted into the gaps created by removing old bricks every other course, continuing the bonding pattern without interruption and visually integrating old and new walls.
In fact, it looks like this, with a straight vertical line separating old and new walls even they are built on the same plane and flush. This is just what I didn't want!
Oh dear, another matter for the man in charge to sort out tomorrow. I don't blame the guy doing the work. It seems like his boss hasn't told him what to do...Goodness knows why not.
Wednesday 5 September
I've asked the man in charge to visit the site to see how we can resolve the "tooth out/in" problem with the brickwork, look at the cracks in the plasterwork upstairs and see for himself how the front door needs to be adjusted so that it will lock securely. Still waiting to hear from him at lunchtime.
In the meantime, the guys are busy taking down the brickwork of the old external walls below the structural steelwork and the skip is beginning to fill up again. I was out for the afternoon but by the time I returned home at the end of the day, one wall had gone completely and the other was half removed.
You can begin to appreciate the space, even though its cluttered with a scaffold, props, water pipes and the drainpipes serving the first floor bathroom and lots of materials and equipment....
No change to the brickwork above the window which will need to be "toothed in" but the area below the cill has now been completed and it's been done properly. It's now quite dark inside as the new window opening has been boarded up temporarily and the scaffold is obstructing light from above, but it won't be long (I hope!) until that changes.
Hmm - I think the old bricks could do with a clean...
Thursday 6 September
A busy day on the house project front. More demolition today; what had been an external wall in the old kitchen has now largely been removed and the space has opened up again!
My front door has also been adjusted so that it closes securely now, which is a relief.
I'm told that the external brickwork will be "toothed in" tomorrow which will visually integrate the extension and the original walls, replacing the hard vertical line of mortar that's there at the moment.
I had a useful meeting with a kitchen designer/fitter this morning. He thinks my layout for the units will work well and made a few helpful suggestions about worktop material and fine tuning details which hadn't occurred to me, for which I'm truly grateful! I hope his quote is financially viable for me...
However, a couple of things did not go quite to plan.
Instead of replacing the joist in the old kitchen (which had been removed to put the steel beam in) with another joist spanning the structural walls/beams, a couple of bits of timber have been attached to the steel beam to support the floor above instead. I'm not happy about that - I'm not convinced that its structurally sound, and this arrangement impacts on plans to re-route the bathroom drain pipe ticked neatly into the concave cavity of the "H" shaped steel beam.
I'm also not happy that a mix of floorboards and ply sheet have been used to cover the long hole in the floor above where the original floorboards were cut and removed. Plus the hardboard/cork which had been on top of the original floorboards has not been put back in its entirety, so the surface isn't level to replace the carpet.
It may be that this is just a temporary arrangement, in which case its not a problem. I'll find out tomorrow when the man in charge is due to visit the site.
There has also been another storm in a teacup with my disgruntled neighbours about the incident last Friday when a builder disconnected the pipe serving the toilet and wash basin in the loft without telling me first. In blissful ignorance that this had happened, I flushed the loo and washed my hands while the pipe was still disconnected and the waste water did not go where it was supposed to go, to the surprise of the builder who apparently was holding the pipe in his hand at the time. I has no idea that it had happened until I went downstairs afterwards to see how the builders were doing and the pipe was still dripping. The builder was fine and everything else seemed to be OK so I thought no more about it.
Today, a week later, there was an email from my neighbour referring to the incident and asking whether it was a waste pipe that has been disconnected. She was naturally concerned about potential health issues when her young grand children visited, as water coming out of the pipe had sprayed/splashed on to her house. I explained what had happened, but said that I hadn't realised that there had been a spillage on her side of the boundary. While I could understand her concern about possible health risks, I couldn't understand why she had waited a week to raise the issue rather than saying something at the time so it could be cleared up straightaway.
Later in the day she replied, said she had contacted Environmental Health who had put her mind to rest and as far as she was concerned it was an accident and the matter was closed. They (my neighbours) had cleaned up and disinfected all areas just in case. Her only complaint was that I hadn't told her straight away, at the time, that the spillage had come from a waste pipe.
In response, I could only say that had I known at the time that the waste water spillage had affected her property, I would have alerted her and ask permission for the builders to go over and clean up at once. But I wasn't aware that her property had been affected by the spillage until today, which is why I hadn't alerted her when it happened. However, I was pleased she realised it was an accident and that the matter was now closed for both of us. Let's hope that has drawn a line under the matter.
Friday 7 and Saturday 8 September
A day and a half of demolition and digging out....the remains of the walls between the extension and the main house have come down, the suspended floor in the old kitchen has been removed and the areas of solid floor at the far end of the old kitchen (originally a scullery and an outside WC) have been dug up.
All this work is by way of preparation for putting in the floor slab which will span the entire width of the old kitchen and new extension, ready for insulation and installation of underfloor heating.
Although still cluttered with a scaffold, drainpipes from the first floor bathroom, building materials, equipment and debris, the big open plan space is much easier appreciated now. Just think how much brighter and lighter it will be when the roof lights, new window (currently blocked by a sheet of ply) and taller, wider garden doors are installed and everything is plastered and painted....
At long last, work has started on the below ground drainage; a trench has been dug and the drain pipe is resting in it, ready to be connected up to the main drainage system which runs under the house.
My neighbours (the ones who aren't complaining) have asked whether, when the work on the loft roof is finished, the guys can put up the scaffold ladder at the rear of our houses to remove the ivy which is once again threatening to take over. I have no objection...seems like a good idea for me! However, whether there will be space to put up the ladder on my side of the fence is a moot point. This part of the garden is being used as a building materials store at the moment. We'll have to see how things look at the time.
I've passed the neighbours request on to the man in charge and wait to see the response...
The man in charge didn't come today as planned, but his partner came instead so we could talk through various matters.
I'm still waiting for the man in charge to give me the revised programme of works #2 so I have a realistic idea of when to order the kitchen and book the kitchen fitters. Still waiting for the "toothing in" of brickwork above the extension window opening to be carried out. There's an unresolved issue relating to the replacement of a joist removed to install one of the steel beams and, relating to that, the position of the drain pipe from the first floor bathroom. Plus "padstones" have yet to be installed under the ends of the steel beams, which should have happened when the breams were lifted into place. However, there has been more visible progress on site this week so it feels like things are speeding up at last!
Now to check the latest valuation and pay the next instalment...
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