Day 9 - Digging Foundations

This morning I noticed that the trench for the back of the garage (that connects back to the existing house) was dug slightly in the wrong place. It had made the garage longer but reduced the size of the kitchen. I brought this to the attention of the workers and once the main contractor was on site, it was resolved quickly. They would shutter the trench, back-fill it, and dig the new trench.

Photo 1
There was unexpected rain on Wednesday afternoon which as shown in Photo 1, filled up some of the trench.
Photo 2
Due to the rains, the trench was starting to collapse, (as can be seen in Photo 2 near the bottom right), so the builders decided to pour the concrete into what was dug. The BCO had also visited and was happy with the depth.

Photo 3
Photo 4
Photo 5

Photo 6

Photo 7
Photo 8
Photo 9
Photo 10
Photos 3 to 10 show the concrete being poured into the trench and checking levels.

Photo 11
Photo 12
Photo 13
Photos 11 to 13 above show the floor removed from the existing cloakroom. You can see where the mains electric cable enters the property and the location of the meter and fuse box. I'm considering to have this moved to within the garage as this cloakroom will also be having a shower added to it.
Photo 14
 Photo 14 shows the floor of the small shower room being removed. The shower was never used but this had the mains water pipe entering the property. The window will be blocked by the garage.
Photo 15

Photo 16
 Photos 15 and 16 show the hallway floor having been dug out.
Photo 17
Photo 17 shows the trench for the drain as it begin from outside the downstairs cloakroom.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Windows and Doors

Image
So as we await for planning consent and quotes from builders, we thought it was good to use the time to start looking at the style of windows we would want installed. The intention is to replace all the single glazed windows with double glazing at some point but this will depend on the cost. The existing windows of the house are single glazed timber sliding sash, with Georgian bars in the upper half. Front Elevation  The rear windows are simple sliding sash with the ones on the ground floor having Georgian bars. Rear Elevation The extension will consist of 2 windows in the kitchen area, followed by another in the utility area. Then there is a small window for the small toilet and 2 windows above the garage (front and rear). There is also a single door from the utility into the garden and 2 sets of bi-folding doors. In total then we have over 30 windows. We would like to replace the existing windows with something similar that keeps the character of the property but sl
Read more

Day 59 - Brickwork

Image
Once again nothing much to report on except the few courses of bricks have been laid. Photo 1  Photo 2 Working with black mortar is a lot more difficult as its easier to ruin the brickwork. So far I think the brickwork is looking pretty good. While waiting for the brickwork to be built, I thought it would be good to make a start on preparing the rooms on the inside. Photo 3 Photo 4 Started to remove the plaster from the exterior walls where I want to add insulation. Previous Next
Read more

Day 2 - Site Clearance

Image
The builders were on-site this morning and were going to continue clearing the site. The weather is looking quite grim and there is rain expected all day so not sure how much progress they will make. The kitchen has also been knocked down now but it seems rain halted proceeding much like the second day at Lord's in the Ashes. Bricks piled up for later use. We also had a response back from the builder controller about the depth of the foundations. Unfortunately, due to the eucalyptus tree at the front of the property, the foundations would need to be 2.1m below ground level. Having the tree removed would only require a depth of 1m. Now we're faced with the dilemma of losing this quite lovely looking tree that provides some privacy to the property or paying more than double for the foundation - having already costing more than we budgeted. Previous Next
Read more