What a difference a day makes……
Conservatory Re-Build – Day 7
Tag: conservatory
Conservatory Re-Build – Day 6
Not much to report for yesterdays progress. The brickwork at the utility room end is up to the level where the new back door will be fitted.
At the opposite end, adjacent to the back door where the old conservatory had pulled the bungalow brickwork out of the vertical, repair work is almost complete.
The repairs would have been completed, were it not for the super hard screws used to secure the bedroom window. There were two and they seemed impervious to both of my hack saws, even with new blades fitted. Craig arrived early this morning and made short work of the screws using a mini disc cutter.
In the picture you can see that two different types of bricks are being used. Those nearest the door will not be seen when work is finished as the interior walls are being plastered. For those nearest the window frame and down they are reusing the original bricks as they are exterior to the conservatory and will be visible.
This picture shows how Barratt Homes fit doors in timber frame houses. Obviously it is robust enough but to my untrained eye it seems a little flimsy. After all it is plastic, not metal.
Bob and Anton are back this morning and are now, much to everyone’s surprise, to be assisted by Simon, another bricky. So the brickwork should progress quite nicely.
Conservatory Re-Build – Day 5
Here are just a few pictures to show progress so far. Nothing much to say as the day was event free. The guys just got on and laid bricks and blocks.
We had a sprinkling of rain towards the end of the day, thankfully not enough to stop work. By close of play yesterday they were up to the DPC.
Apparently, todays main task is the end wall which is full height cavity with no doors or windows to break up the brick runs.
More later.
First Footings
Day four and the guys have worked really hard. A little bit of hand digging to finish off the footings trench then it was on to preparing the steel reinforcements.
The picture above also shows the first barrow load of concrete poured into the trench.
The guys had to barrow all the concrete round from the front of the house to the back.
Two deliveries later and the footings were complete…
In between concrete deliveries the grab truck returned to remove the last of the spoil and the mini digger was collected and taken away. We have also had a delivery of bricks.
The guys now have a the weekend off. Back on Monday morning to start laying the brick base.
“Where’s yer stop-cock Bob?”
The ground preparation for the conservatory build carries on apace. The digger arrived early yesterday morning and, along with a pneumatic drill, was soon put to work digging out the old footings.
However, proceedings came to an abrupt halt when the kitchen drain was discovered and the pipe cracked.
This was duly repaired and the work continued.
Continued, that is, until lunch-time when I was asked … “where’s yer stop-cock Bob ?” Apparently the guy with the pneumatic drill had managed to crack both of the water pipes which supplied the old utility room.
Work once again stopped while parts were obtained from the local hardware store and repairs made. With the water supply made secure and cold water feed once more live my wife and I headed off out to lunch.
After a very pleasant, leisurely, lunch with my granddaughter and great-granddaughter at The Pavillion Tearoom, Stansted House we returned home.
What a difference a couple of hours can make. The guys were pretty much finished for the day, just tidying up. The digger had been put to good use and apart from some hand digging the footings were dug.
The picture doesn’t really show the actual depth but the trench is around four feet deep.
During the afternoon, while we were out, a grab truck had arrived and taken away a load of the spoil from the trench. A second visit is scheduled for later today.
What the picture also doesn’t show is that the guys managed to break up another drain pipe during the excavations. This one being the drain for the washing machine and sink in the old utility room. This one will be made good once the new build and plumbing begins.
Apparently, this last drain was not the only casualty of the day as while using the digger the step under the garage door was caught and the brickwork knocked back. A piece of brick was dislodged and landed on the head of one of the guys. He is fine but does have a mark on his head.
The great British workman is a tough breed. I would have had to go lie down in a darkened room.
And so work continues. The steel reinforcing mesh was delivered yesterday and the guys are going get that in place ready for concrete to be poured. Let’s see how they get on.
Further Adventures In Conservatory Land
The longer we delve into the construction of our old conservatory, the more we find out just how crap a job was carried out by the previous contractor all those years ago.
I guess we are lucky that it stood for twenty-five years.
Based on this mornings investigations it has been decided that the old footings will have to be dug out completely. I’m guessing that is probably the best course of action.
So, to keep up the momentum a mechanical digger is being brought in to dig out the new footings. Also a “grab truck” has been booked to take away the spoils.
To get the mechanical digger round to our back garden we have had to remove my neighbours fence. Thankfully we have good neighbours.
The holes in the garage wall are as a result of the original builders keying the conservatory wall into the existing garage wall. When the conservatory shifted over the last twenty-five years it snapped quite a few bricks. They will have to be replaced as part of the new build.
Tomorrow will be another fun day in Conservatory Land.
Resurrection – A Tale Of Two Conservatories
Over the last couple of years I have been posting under the banner “View From The Conservatory”.
I thought it was probably time I showed you where my observations originated from. My main reason for this is the fact that we are knocking it down. To be replaced with a new bright shiny one.
Here is a picture to give you some idea……
This structure was built around twenty-five years ago. The company that built it had not, so we found out later, done a very good job. Unfortunately, they also went bust before it was completed. The build was completed under the supervision of the “Official Receiver” and needless to say the “10 year warranty” never materialised.
Over the following twenty-five years the conservatory has been slowly falling down, due to the poor preparation of the ground and subsidence of the footings. The conservatory has been slowly trying to pull away from our house and worse, one corner in particular, has been dropping presumably due to the clay base of the soil. Needless to say we also suffered leaks, sometimes emulating waterfalls, and draughts.
The photo above is the last view of the inside with all the carpets and most of the furniture removed. The patchwork on the floor is as a result of my trying to level the floor. You can just see that the two doors are out of alignment if you look at the handles and to the left you can just see the ivy which is constantly trying to invade.
The doors haven’t, until a couple of weeks ago, been opened for something like three years. Primarily because they were such a job to close again. Also, I had stuck gaffer tape all round the frames to cut down the draughts coming through the gaps. The seals were so out of alignment I could get my fingers through to the outside world.
Anyway, that is all in the past, as the next photos show.
Tasks for day two – knock down the remaining end wall, start exploring existing footings to see if they can stay or if the whole existing base has to come up. Either way new strengthening and stabilising footings have to be created before any new build can be started.
Stay tuned for the next steps.
View From The Conservatory
I don’t know what it is that I put in our meals but the one thing you can be sure of is this. If I throw any out for the birds, our neighbour’s cats will come round and fill up.
On the menu today was a mix of rice, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms and onions. No meat !!! As you can see from the photo, the latest scavenger is not some skinny, starving waif.
View From The Conservatory
Today the post is more of a View In The Conservatory.
Over the last few days, with the glorious weather that we have been “suffering” (tongue firmly in cheek), the temperatures have been as high as 41 degrees. While that is far, far too high for a wilting pansy such as myself there has been at least one plant that likes the conditions.
We have three orchids that we have, so far, failed to kill following their initial blooming. In fact we one plant with two fresh shoots growing rapidly and we have this one which is just gorgeous.
You can see why I have entitled the photo “Pretty Maids All In A Row”.
WrAnTz 