Northfield House Renovation

Temperature is starting to get close to freezing now so hoping our brickie can finish the brickwork soon. Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 The brickwork has reached the corner between the bi-folds and patio doors. This side of the extension doesn't have a lot of brickwork so hopefully it doesn't take the brickie too long. Photo 4 Photo 5 Due to the falling temperatures, the brickwork has to be covered with this hessian cloth to protect it from frost. Previous Next

Remember the toilet window having to be adjusted as it didn't match the brick gauge and consequently the head and cill that was ordered had to be put on hold? Well when I phoned the company I was told that the head and cill were already cast and changing the size would require manufacturing new ones at additional cost. Not good news. As the cill has stools at each end for the brick to sit on, we can't simply shorten them but cutting them at one end, we would need to cut them through the middle and then create a join. The other option would be to have odd size brick cuts which wouldn't look nice either. Fortunately, the people at Amberprecast, especially project coordinator Emma Wardman were gracious enough to supply the modified head and cill at no additional cost. Now I just needed our bricklayer to confirm the size of the new cill. Photo 1 Photo 2 . Photo 3 Photo 3 shows the wall where the toilet window will be situated. Previous Next

Unfortunately due to recent bad weather and our unreliable bricklayer, progress has been very slow. This week we managed to get a couple of consecutive days work from our bricklayer but its really testing my patience. Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Photo 4 Photo 5 The kitchen wall is starting to come up but there's still a long way to go. We were hoping to have the walls built up by Christmas but that is looking highly unlikely. In addition to the lack of progress, while trying to transfer salvaged bricks from the back of the garden to the front of the garage, I managed to puncture the wheelbarrow which meant replacing the wheel. Fortunately Wickes sell one for a reasonable price. Another issue which the bricklayer identified was that the utility toilet window which is designed to be 600mm wide, doesn't quite work with the brick gauge and needs to be 550mm ideally to avoid having odd brick cuts. Reducing the window isn't a problem but it means the stone h...

Unfortunately there hasn't been much progress of late. Bricklayer didn't turn up for most of the week and today when he did arrive, his labourer failed to show. The lintels were delivered and we managed to load out some bricks in preparation for laying bricks. The bricklayer also built a shelter to facilitate working in slightly wet conditions. Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Photo 4 Photo 5 These photos were taken yesterday when the bricklayer failed to turn up and you can see that it was raining a little in photo 4 but some communication would have been appreciated. Photo 6 Photo 7 Photo 8 Photo 7 shows the shelter constructed and then we carried it round the front of the property to its position in Photo 8. We then used the sheets from the old conservatory as roofing with plastic ties to secure them. Previous Next

Unfortunately our brickie didn't turn up yesterday so we missed a day of good weather. Spent some time cleaning bricks which must be one of the worst jobs in the world! Photo 1 Photo 2  Cleaned a few bricks... Photo 3 ... just one of many piles left to clean. Photo 4 The raised blocks indicate the position of the windows. We spent a long time debating where these windows should be positioned. Initially they were going to go equidistant from the centre of the wall. Then it was decided that the centre point shouldn't be the centre of the wall but offset by the depth of the kitchen cabinets that will run along the side (adjacent to the garage, left wall in above photo). Eventually we decided that the windows would be visually better if they were equidistant from the centre of the kitchen island. Photo 5 The edge of the window is aligned with the post. The original plan would have meant the window was further to the right with the post obstructing the s...

Brickies were on site today and started with the blockwork. It took a while to get things set such as door positions and materials moved but by close of play, we had the beginnings of walls up. Photo 1 Photo 2 We also had a delivery of the cavity insulation. Photo 3 By the end of the day the walls were starting to take shape. Photo 4  Looking from the kitchen towards the utility room. Photo 5 This photo is looking into the kitchen area. Previous Next

Groundworkers need to finish off leveling the ground and pouring concrete for the post and cloakroom. Unfortunately they haven't been on site for a few days now, having to chase them to know when they are going to complete. Meanwhile, I've taken delivery of the materials for the brickwork. Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3  When ordering the materials, no time-slot was given so this delivery arrived while I was still on the morning school run but driver was good to wait for half an hour. Due to the tree branches, the crane wasn't able to drop the materials where I was hoping, instead the driver managed to reverse into the driveway and drop the materials into the middle. Photo 4 Photo 5 The bricks also arrived and I wanted them to be dropped towards the back as the new bricks will be used for the extension, with existing bricks being used at the front on the garage. Unfortunately, as the groundworkers will require access to finish leveling off the groun...

Today was spent mostly cleaning up and tidying the brickwork around then structural beams. Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Got a lot of bricks to clean. Previous Next