Home improvements - time the house had some TLC!

[JhnBssll]

We had our house on the market for around 7 months last year and for one reason or another the right people didnt walk through the door, so we're still here. Rather than sit on our laurels we decided to put a planning application in, to see if we could make the house work for us for a while longer. In Feb this year the planning was granted, along with permission to drop the kerb at the front and make a second driveway to complement the existing one to the rear by the garage.

COVID has caused some headaches, but I've finally got my arse in gear

The plan:

Refresh/repair woodwork around the eaves
Paint soffits and fascias
Install air conditioning to master bedroom
Replace existing windows
Build small single storey front extension (1m x 3m)
Knock through existing front wall in to the extension and re-partition the new, larger hallway to give us a downstairs toilet.
Move exisiting soil stack and drain inc. inspection chamber to suit new downstairs toilet, plus make way for a conservatory in phase 2

So far we have ticked off items one to three and we have had the first 3 windows replaced for item four. We've gone with grey UPVC frames and laminated acoustic glass to minimise road noise. There have been fairly frequent diversions past ours overnight recently which send articulated lorries heading for Felixstowe thundering past which isn't ideal but the windows have made a massive difference This means we also have to have the windows closed in summer, hence the air conditioning unit, which has also made a massive difference. We're getting a better nights sleep now than we have for years

Anyway, this week I've had building control out to check my plans and a structural engineer to do the steel calculations. I've started digging the foundations and generally making a mess, so of course now the weather has got red hot I aim to dig more out tomorrow, but there are three layers of concrete to go through so it's slow going Under the assumption that one day I'll have them ready, I brought this little beasty home with me today

Should make a good project, I just hope I don't make my house fall over

 

[classic33]

We had our house on the market for around 7 months last year and for one reason or another the right people didnt walk through the door, so we're still here. Rather than sit on our laurels we decided to put a planning application in, to see if we could make the house work for us for a while longer. In Feb this year the planning was granted, along with permission to drop the kerb at the front and make a second driveway to complement the existing one to the rear by the garage.

COVID has caused some headaches, but I've finally got my arse in gear

The plan:

Refresh/repair woodwork around the eaves
Paint soffits and fascias
Install air conditioning to master bedroom
Replace existing windows
Build small single storey front extension (1m x 3m)
Knock through existing front wall in to the extension and re-partition the new, larger hallway to give us a downstairs toilet.
Move exisiting soil stack and drain inc. inspection chamber to suit new downstairs toilet, plus make way for a conservatory in phase 2

So far we have ticked off items one to three and we have had the first 3 windows replaced for item four. We've gone with grey UPVC frames and laminated acoustic glass to minimise road noise. There have been fairly frequent diversions past ours overnight recently which send articulated lorries heading for Felixstowe thundering past which isn't ideal but the windows have made a massive difference This means we also have to have the windows closed in summer, hence the air conditioning unit, which has also made a massive difference. We're getting a better nights sleep now than we have for years

Anyway, this week I've had building control out to check my plans and a structural engineer to do the steel calculations. I've started digging the foundations and generally making a mess, so of course now the weather has got red hot I aim to dig more out tomorrow, but there are three layers of concrete to go through so it's slow going Under the assumption that one day I'll have them ready, I brought this little beasty home with me today

View attachment 539139

Should make a good project, I just hope I don't make my house fall over

You manage that, and you can just add it to your "to do list".

 

[raleighnut]

Sounds like a plan

 

[Drago]

I love watching someone else working.

 

[JhnBssll]

Heres what it looks like now before I start for the day - just a small test pit that the building inspector viewed on Thursday Today i'll be breaking up the rest of the concrete and slabs up to the edge of the front door, where the new extension will be going I'll leave the rest for now to try and prevent the hole collapsing too much before I get a chance to pour the concrete Its only little, but because our front hall is already quite large it will give us plenty of room for a decent sized downstairs loo

Once the extension is up i'll have to take the rest patio up, front and back, so i can update the drainage and prep for the new driveway

 

[screenman]

I love playing with houses, we will looking out for another one soon to mess around with.

 

[JhnBssll]

Its bloomin' hot out there, I've made some progress with the breaker and retreated to the air conditioned bedroom to cool down for a few minutes

I've got 4x 500ml bottles of coke zero in the fridge, but judging by the fact I've lost about a litre of sweat already that might not be enough Now putting some suncream on and going back out

 

[JhnBssll]

I'm down to approx full width and depth for the first side and corner, now making my way along the front Well, actually I'm cooling down in the bedroom again with another bottle of coke from the fridge

I'm going to be able to build a mighty fine dirt castle once I'm done digging

 

[JhnBssll]

I'm done for the day In fact I might be done for the week

The digging is nearly finished, its hard going in places with lots of rubble buried in pockets so the breaker has been getting some use

I've shifted a decent amount, no wonder my arms ache - I'm used to an air conditioned office

I might carry on tomorrow but it rather depends how I feel in the morning

 

[Levo-Lon]

Fair play to you, it's not easy learning to dig in hard ground.

 

[Levo-Lon]

Do you have a asphalt cutter / spade for the breaker?
Get one if you haven't,makes life a hell of a lot easier

 

[JhnBssll]

No I've just got a spike and a chisel, might look into it - thanks for the heads up

 

[JhnBssll]

Finished the trench off this evening I've just emailed building control so they can come and check it before I fill it in again The phone line will end up coming up in the cavity so shouldn't need moving. The clay pipe is a section of rainwater drain that's now redundant so I'll wait to see what building control want me to do with it. I presume they'll want it cutting and capping.

You can see under the pipe the different layers of debris I've been digging through but fortunately the bottom of the trench seems to be back to the normal sandy gravel thats common in the area, and why we have so many fishing lakes nearby

Ive just ordered up a load of ballast and cement, should arrive on Friday ready for the next phase where I get to try out my mixer

 

[JhnBssll]

Unfortunately the weather has been holding this up - it's just been far too hot for me to contemplate mixing and pouring the concrete for the footings. Until today that is 😊 I have been keeping an eye on the weather and booked the day off work. I started setting up at about 8.30am morning and by 12pm I had the concrete in place and everything tidied away again I got through just under 2 tons of ballast and 8 bags of cement in the 16 mixes that were needed to fill the trench to the right height After the 3rd mix I started to wonder if I'd bitten off more than I could chew, but fortunately the aches didn't get any worse as the morning went on

I'm absolutely knackered now though

I've just ordered some bricks and blocks to get up to damp course level, they'll be here on Thursday so I've got some time to rest until then

 

[Beebo]

Unfortunately the weather has been holding this up - it's just been far too hot for me to contemplate mixing and pouring the concrete for the footings. Until today that is 😊 I have been keeping an eye on the weather and booked the day off work. I started setting up at about 8.30am morning and by 12pm I had the concrete in place and everything tidied away again I got through just under 2 tons of ballast and 8 bags of cement in the 16 mixes that were needed to fill the trench to the right height After the 3rd mix I started to wonder if I'd bitten off more than I could chew, but fortunately the aches didn't get any worse as the morning went on

I'm absolutely knackered now though

I've just ordered some bricks and blocks to get up to damp course level, they'll be here on Thursday so I've got some time to rest until then

Brave man.
did you look into getting a ready mixed delivery? Was it much more expensive? There is a reason why builders get ready mixed concrete.