Northfield House Renovation

Work continued on the foundation masonry today after last Friday was a complete washout. We are expecting heavy downpours over the next few days so not sure how much we are going to progress. Photo 1 Photo 2 Photos 1 and 2 show the garage. The drainage pipe adjacent to the gas meter will take rainwater from a down-pipe and connect into the main drain via the inspection chamber. The bend visible inside the garage will take the foul-water from the en-suite above the garage. The pipe coming down from the en-suite will need to be boxed in but being in the corner of the garage is an acceptable compromise. Photo 3 Photo 4 Photos 3 and 4 show the kitchen area. The diagonal waste pipe is to take the waste-water from the sink and dishwasher that will be situated within the kitchen island. Photo 5 Photo 6 Photos 5 and 6 show the new dining area but a part of it will be partitioned for the utility area. Previous Next

The concrete was dry enough to walk on today. Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 The concrete was also poured into the new living room (former dining room). Photo 4 Photo 5 The small shower room was also concreted. The walls on either side will be removed once the structural steels are installed. Photo 6 The foundation masonry also commenced on the garage. After weeks of seeing just soil, trenches and rubble, the structure is finally beginning to emerge. Previous Next

Today the concrete was scheduled to arrive in the morning and 09:30 the lorry pulled. Photo 1 The guys had to wheelbarrow the concrete into the house. Photo 2 Photo 3 Photo 4 Photo 5 Photos 3 to 5 show the concrete poured into the hallways and kitchen extension. We decided to leave a step inside when entering from the garage (Photo 5) to save having to raise the door, adjust the arched brickwork and add an additional step down into the garage. Photo 6 Photo 7 Where the BCO allows blocks to be used to build up the foundations, the cavities need to be filled with concrete. Photo 8 Photo 8 shows the enormous hole that has been created from removing the base of the shed. We didn't expect the foundations of the shed to be so deep! Photo 9 In hindsight it may have been better to leave the shed base as it may have been useful in the future as a platform for the bricklayers to use. Previous Next

Unfortunately today was a washout as it rained heavily all day. The plan was to finish off the blockwork but that had to be postponed. The guys prepared the internal floor for the concrete. Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Both the internal back rooms and the hallway have been covered with the damp-proof membrane after a layer of sand. Photo 4 Engineering bricks have also been delivered to continue the foundation masonry. Photo 5 The base of the shed was also broken up. We also made a visit to the showroom of a window company. Photo 6 The window on the left is made of uPVC whilst the one on the right is made of aluminium. These are casement windows. Photo 7 These are the same windows as seen in photo 6 but viewed from the inside. You can see that the aluminium frame is a lot slimmer and provides better sight-lines, but the uPVC has the softer looking ovolo (rounded) beading. Photo 8 Photo 8 shows the same uPVC window as in photos 6 and 7 but with a more

Today was mainly spent demolishing the large garden shed. Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 The shed was pretty big and once the internal boards were removed, it exposed the metallic structure used to construct it. It didn't take the guys long to bring it down. Photo 4 Photo 5 Photo 6 We discovered this old oil tank which I'm assuming was used as a fuel before the property was connected to the mains gas network. Photo 7 Photo 7 shows the area dug around the corner of the existing property in preparation of the underpinning. Previous Next

The patio area was cleared and built up to match the floor level with the extension.  Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Photo 4 Photo 5 Photo 6 Photo 7 The blockwork for the utility room didn't take long to put up. I can see why many extensions are built using blockwork and then rendered. Its so much faster than bricklaying. Photo 8 Photo 9 Photo 10 Photos 9 and 10 show the wall for the new kitchen. Photo 11 Previous Next

Today was planned for starting on the masonry blockwork but I noticed that we had forgotten the drainage for the rainwater pipes at the front of the garage. So a little more digging was required and additional connections were added, Photo 1 Photo 1 shows the garage with 2 markings for rainwater pipes and 1 marking inside the garage for the foul waste from the en-suite located above. Photo 2 The rainwater pipe will come down just beside the new gas meter. Photo 3 These are the new connections to the inspection chamber. The ones at the back will take the rainwater. The one nearest will take the foul waste. Photo 4 Photo 5 Photo 6 Photo 6 The footings were exposed in preparation for the blockwork and now the outline can be visualised once again after being covered in soil. I'm hoping things will begin to progress much more rapidly from tomorrow. Previous Next