August to mid September 2018

Footings Creation to DPC

Having hired a professional concrete mixer from Gedimat, which was a boom, the footings foundation was poured and levelled to the correct point to take account of the differing Ground Level that sloped away from West to East by up to 15cm.  I had to take into account the new internal floor level that we wanted to be the same as the Utility Room Floor, which is 2cm lower than the current rear door level, which is itself 20cm above the Salon and Kitchen floor level.

I also had to take into consideration the need to install the Concrete Bridge to protect the Fosse and this resulted in me concluding I needed to lay 3 blocks or 600mm above the DPC level after the first layer of 200x200x500 concrete blocks. (which were very heavy to work with!!)

Having laid the first layer of Blocks, I was able to dig out the floor foundation to a depth of 400mm and lay 200mm of hardcore and then 50mm of sand and then place the DPC level and two coats or Bitumeux.

Floor Insulation
Perhaps the easiest part of the job was laying the 4cm of Insulation. This was T&G'd and was the perfect length., so no cutting was needed!













Floor Foundation
Leaving a couple of days for this to settle and the DPC to dry, as well as deciding I needed more sand and gravel, we then mixed and poured the concrete floor.  This was more difficult than I had expected and I found out this is most certainly a 2 or even 3 person task and exhausting work.
Linda undertook the task of moving and tampering down the poured concrete and i could have done with a 3rd or even 4th person to mix and load the material.
I turned out to be an 8 hour task and tough.  it was not as perfect as I had hoped, but is an excellent job in hindsight.  A few low points, but will be sorted when we put down a screed.

 

Block Wall Level
As mentioned above, 3 layers of blocks were laid to come 600mm above the DPC Level and the went all around the new walls, leaving space for the new Rear Door to be installed, with the associated wood supports and the Roof Supports that would rest on top.

This Low wall will be rendered on the rear, where the windows will be installed and covered with Western Cedar on the East Side where the door will be installed and left to go naturally grey.

So this concluded the Summer 2018 work and as you will see we have a large pile of stone from the excavation work, much of which will be used to create a low 300mm  wall on the west side where a herb garden will be planted and a low 500mm wall od the east garden side to create a courtyard feel at the rear of the garden room that will look out to the garden and the next project, the 'Piggery'.

July to mid August 2018 Work Completed

Stone Pile

Small Pile of Stone that will quadruple

Having removed the base of the old outside loo, the work generated a useful pile of stone that has been saved and will be useful for future projects.

In fact, I have already decided to use some on the West Side of the rear for a low wall to retain some of the soil to be removed and create a shrub bed.

I will also use some to create a low stone wall on the East Side of the new Garden Room overlooking the garden and making a courtyard at the back.




Exposed Wall
Initially, I thought it an unnecessary task but Nick my architect persuaded me to remove the side Barn Wall and Rear wall concrete render as shown opposite.

I was concerned having tried to remove some of this compound type of concrete on the internal kitchen wall.





As seen opposite, I removed all the concrete render and it was easier than expected using my jack hammer, but I suspect it was because it was onto the stone wall and not a cement render wall as well, as in the kitchen.

Nevertheless, yet again having the right tools even cheap ones can make the task so much easier.

 Floor Foundation Creation

I marked out the new Garden Room using pegs, a laser and checking the corner with a 3, 4 and 5 metre measure test I saw on the internet.

Fosse Waste Pipe Install and Connection.
An access hole was created in the rear wall to enable both the downstairs Loo and Bathroom waste and water to flow to the Fosse and I dug the trench to the Fosse, laid pipe and connected to the fosse inlet and covered with gravel to protect the pipe.

 Kitchen Utility Water Waste
Ta trench was then created for the downstairs water waste from kitchen and utility room was installed and connected to the internal water waste pipe installed.

Footings and Foundation

Having marked out where the footings would run i then dug down to 800mm below Ground Level to prepare the footings and shuttered the sides.