Build thread - bungalow to house
Discussion
End of week 8 and we are now waterproof.
After surviving the storms for the last 3 weeks with tarps and strategically placed buckets, they have made the most of the dry weather this week and got the new roof on.
Still need to build the front dormer, but very happy with progress
it also gave us a really good example of the old roof line vs new
as well as lots of timbers and trusses going in, one of the big steels went in this week that supports the rear wall and the bi-folds underneath. It’s also good to see that we will have a loft in the new house - more room to store crap!
and the scary doll keeps appearing in random places - mainly to scare the cr*p out of one of the builders 😂
After surviving the storms for the last 3 weeks with tarps and strategically placed buckets, they have made the most of the dry weather this week and got the new roof on.
Still need to build the front dormer, but very happy with progress
it also gave us a really good example of the old roof line vs new
as well as lots of timbers and trusses going in, one of the big steels went in this week that supports the rear wall and the bi-folds underneath. It’s also good to see that we will have a loft in the new house - more room to store crap!
and the scary doll keeps appearing in random places - mainly to scare the cr*p out of one of the builders 😂
dhutch said:
Did it hold up the plasterboard well enough for the last x decades? Happy days then, save the trees!
That is a hell of a hot cylinder? Is it going to have solar input up something, or just mammoth size?
No solar, builder decided to put the biggest in he could find - we’re not complaining!That is a hell of a hot cylinder? Is it going to have solar input up something, or just mammoth size?
The new roof timbers really are a work of art, we ended up with a mix of trusses and hand cut by our builder and he’s done an excellent job.
It will be a shame that all this will get covered up now, it really is such an improvement over the original roof we found hidden behind the plasterboard
It will be a shame that all this will get covered up now, it really is such an improvement over the original roof we found hidden behind the plasterboard
Week 9 - Covid-19 or not, the builders are still turning up (at the moment!)
This week has mainly been roof work, getting the battens on and all the soffits and fascia's. With the design specified by the Architect to increase shadow lines, the soffits are quite large, which means there isn't a lot of room on the scaffold in some areas.
Tiles are going on which is a good start, we chose Redland mini stone wold in Slate Grey....
At the front, the new dormer for the bathroom has been built and we finally decided the design of the porch, which has given the builder plenty to scratch his head over as he works out the angles etc
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/5pI326TA.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/GhHEVP6E" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/GhHEVP6E.jpg)
Had a few people around to help themselves to the old timbers and offcuts for their log burners, but still a massive pile left, along with the remains of the downed conifer and hedging that had to be taken down to allow the delivery trucks to get in. This has now all gone via a proper big man fire!
|https://thumbsnap.com/X5dIZMdM[/url]
And lastly, i've been getting on with my own little restoration project - the new front doors. I've sanded them back, removed all the old furntiure, locks etc, filled all the holes that weren't needed with timber and epoxy filler, sanded them down, sanded again and primed. Actually ended up with 3 coats of primer on each side to get a nice finish, sanding between each coat. White on the inside and grey primer on the outside as the doors will be a dark charcoal gloss. Also spent a small fortune on shiny new chrome locks and bolts ready for fitting. I plan to do the top coats once the doors are installed and the scaffolding has gone.
Very pleased that you can't see any outline of the old letterbox in the door i filled as that was always the biggest concern.
The scary doll still remains upstairs - it properly freaks out one of the builders, so it gets moved around at night to different places, just to frighten him. Although this week, the doll got too close and ended up worse off
But don't worry, scary doll lives again, and will be continuing to haunt him for the rest of the build![url]
This week has mainly been roof work, getting the battens on and all the soffits and fascia's. With the design specified by the Architect to increase shadow lines, the soffits are quite large, which means there isn't a lot of room on the scaffold in some areas.
Tiles are going on which is a good start, we chose Redland mini stone wold in Slate Grey....
At the front, the new dormer for the bathroom has been built and we finally decided the design of the porch, which has given the builder plenty to scratch his head over as he works out the angles etc
Had a few people around to help themselves to the old timbers and offcuts for their log burners, but still a massive pile left, along with the remains of the downed conifer and hedging that had to be taken down to allow the delivery trucks to get in. This has now all gone via a proper big man fire!
|https://thumbsnap.com/X5dIZMdM[/url]And lastly, i've been getting on with my own little restoration project - the new front doors. I've sanded them back, removed all the old furntiure, locks etc, filled all the holes that weren't needed with timber and epoxy filler, sanded them down, sanded again and primed. Actually ended up with 3 coats of primer on each side to get a nice finish, sanding between each coat. White on the inside and grey primer on the outside as the doors will be a dark charcoal gloss. Also spent a small fortune on shiny new chrome locks and bolts ready for fitting. I plan to do the top coats once the doors are installed and the scaffolding has gone.
Very pleased that you can't see any outline of the old letterbox in the door i filled as that was always the biggest concern.
The scary doll still remains upstairs - it properly freaks out one of the builders, so it gets moved around at night to different places, just to frighten him. Although this week, the doll got too close and ended up worse off
But don't worry, scary doll lives again, and will be continuing to haunt him for the rest of the build!
[url]Edited by mattman on Friday 20th March 16:35
All stop for us now - builders turned up this morning to make sure everything was secure and watertight and have now left until further notice.
It could be a lot worse, at least we have heat and hot water.
Will have to continue my little projects such as the front doors the best i can and look at tidying up the garden
It could be a lot worse, at least we have heat and hot water.
Will have to continue my little projects such as the front doors the best i can and look at tidying up the garden
Drainage dig team turned up this morning as blocked sewer pipes are classed as essential services.
Has taken them all morning to find the pipe, it wasn't under the tree that the 1st dig team told us needed to be removed, it goes under the one next to it - however it also turns out that the pipe is damaged before the tree line and the pipe going under the trees is actually ok.
Its taken hours to find it, eventually found nearly 2m down
to find that tree roots were responsible, squashing the pipes and actually getting into them as well - they are now having to dig back to find the extent of where the root is no longer in the pipe. But these pictures give you an idea of the issue. The blocked off connector is rammed full of roots
This is as the pipe came out of the ground, its amazing anything has been getting through to be honest
Has taken them all morning to find the pipe, it wasn't under the tree that the 1st dig team told us needed to be removed, it goes under the one next to it - however it also turns out that the pipe is damaged before the tree line and the pipe going under the trees is actually ok.
Its taken hours to find it, eventually found nearly 2m down
to find that tree roots were responsible, squashing the pipes and actually getting into them as well - they are now having to dig back to find the extent of where the root is no longer in the pipe. But these pictures give you an idea of the issue. The blocked off connector is rammed full of roots
This is as the pipe came out of the ground, its amazing anything has been getting through to be honest
Week 10 update - not a lot happening, but i'm bored so thought i may as well keep the progress updated!
The drainage team left a bit of a mess - when they said it would be leveled out, i didn't think they meant just level enough to get the digger out!
Sunday morning i had to do battle with the broken fence panel and get that back in place - i didn't realise quite how heavy the concrete gravel boards are, trying to get that between the 2 posts on my own was a bit of a battle. Equally trying to secure the broken panel in the wind was "fun"
Before i started, the site manager came to inspect - didn't do any digging though!
With just a shovel, fork and a rake, it took most of the day, but eventually got everything relatively level and tidy - will eventually seed it when the weather warms up again and will let the soil settle a bit before another rake. The plan is to make this a mini-orchard area with perhaps 3-4 fruit trees of different types to go with the existing old apple tree we already have.
Also took the opportunity to tidy and sweep up the site after the builders left site - strangely satisfying and the builders won't be able to find anything when they come back
The drainage team left a bit of a mess - when they said it would be leveled out, i didn't think they meant just level enough to get the digger out!
Sunday morning i had to do battle with the broken fence panel and get that back in place - i didn't realise quite how heavy the concrete gravel boards are, trying to get that between the 2 posts on my own was a bit of a battle. Equally trying to secure the broken panel in the wind was "fun"
Before i started, the site manager came to inspect - didn't do any digging though!
With just a shovel, fork and a rake, it took most of the day, but eventually got everything relatively level and tidy - will eventually seed it when the weather warms up again and will let the soil settle a bit before another rake. The plan is to make this a mini-orchard area with perhaps 3-4 fruit trees of different types to go with the existing old apple tree we already have.
Also took the opportunity to tidy and sweep up the site after the builders left site - strangely satisfying and the builders won't be able to find anything when they come back
week 11 update (or is it week 12?)
I'm bored, so thought i may as well update where we are.
Nothing much happening with the build itself as the builders merchants are closed. Our builder did come back for a morning to put a few tiles on to stop the wind getting under the felt - but not really moved forward.
While he was off, the wife gave him a little challenge - a few weeks ago, before lockdown, we saw an unusual dining table at a shop in Harrogate that we both really liked. Some special design that enables you to use different parts of the table depending on how many people you have. All very good, except the price
So the challenge was set - could he replicate it for the new family room area (once its built)
This Saturday, he dropped off his "prototype" - he only had construction grade 4x2 available, so its not the finished article, but now he knows how to make it, once we can get some oak, we can make it properly. We were very impressed, even the legs are chamfered! So we now have a cool garden table as well!
Other than that, this weekend was spent in the garden - leveling the area where the sewer pipe was repaired further, taking lots and lots of chalk, flint, bricks out of the earth, a bit of a tidy up and the first cut of the lawn. Still needs lots of work, but looking a bit more presentable now
Once the build is done, we need to start on the garden layout, it all seems a bit heavy on the right at the moment, need to figure out a way of making it more even without losing the sense of space and size - any ideas welcome!
I'm bored, so thought i may as well update where we are.
Nothing much happening with the build itself as the builders merchants are closed. Our builder did come back for a morning to put a few tiles on to stop the wind getting under the felt - but not really moved forward.
While he was off, the wife gave him a little challenge - a few weeks ago, before lockdown, we saw an unusual dining table at a shop in Harrogate that we both really liked. Some special design that enables you to use different parts of the table depending on how many people you have. All very good, except the price
So the challenge was set - could he replicate it for the new family room area (once its built)
This Saturday, he dropped off his "prototype" - he only had construction grade 4x2 available, so its not the finished article, but now he knows how to make it, once we can get some oak, we can make it properly. We were very impressed, even the legs are chamfered! So we now have a cool garden table as well!
Other than that, this weekend was spent in the garden - leveling the area where the sewer pipe was repaired further, taking lots and lots of chalk, flint, bricks out of the earth, a bit of a tidy up and the first cut of the lawn. Still needs lots of work, but looking a bit more presentable now
Once the build is done, we need to start on the garden layout, it all seems a bit heavy on the right at the moment, need to figure out a way of making it more even without losing the sense of space and size - any ideas welcome!
Week 12 Update
Not a huge amount happening as lack of materials due to closed builders merchants is taking effect. The building team have been able to close off the existing staircase by cutting the top off and blocking it in, so we are now completely separate to them.
Scary doll has made a comeback as well - we found this the other night after they had gone
They have been able to source some floorboards - however before they were able to lay them, it was found that the existing floor was all over the place with different levels, so had to spend most of a day just trying to get it level.
They were then able to get the walls laid out to confirm thats where they needed to be, and we got our first view of the new room sizes
Not a huge amount happening as lack of materials due to closed builders merchants is taking effect. The building team have been able to close off the existing staircase by cutting the top off and blocking it in, so we are now completely separate to them.
Scary doll has made a comeback as well - we found this the other night after they had gone
They have been able to source some floorboards - however before they were able to lay them, it was found that the existing floor was all over the place with different levels, so had to spend most of a day just trying to get it level.
They were then able to get the walls laid out to confirm thats where they needed to be, and we got our first view of the new room sizes
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff