Home improvements - time the house had some TLC!

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JhnBssll

JhnBssll

Guru
Location
Suffolk
Door and window now specced, unfortunately they won't be manufactured until January which has rather messed up my schedule :laugh: Never mind, I can take my time getting the roof right and perhaps make a start on the driveway and garden 🤔
 

Archie_tect

De Skieven Architek... aka Penfold + Horace
Location
Northumberland
Did you remember the inner leaf dpc, wall ties and the cavity insulation John?
 
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JhnBssll

JhnBssll

Guru
Location
Suffolk
Did you remember the inner leaf dpc, wall ties and the cavity insulation John?

I've got dpc membrane under the slab, all sitting on 4" of insulation board. The dpc membrane comes up and through the inner block work wall, so yes all dpc is present and correct :okay: Wall ties are present in the required places including every course around the openings, and I've made sure they all slope down to the outer leaf. I've used full fill 100mm rockwool for cavity insulation 😊 The building inspector will be round again once the roof is on, he's been keeping a close eye on my efforts :laugh:
 
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JhnBssll

JhnBssll

Guru
Location
Suffolk
I've done a bit more work on the extension this weekend, plus updated my CCTV with a posh new camera at the front thats full colour even in the dark. I don't know how it works but its very impressive! I've also moved the original front camera round the side to cover where the car and car charger will eventually be, when I have a drive :laugh:

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JhnBssll

JhnBssll

Guru
Location
Suffolk
I finished the brickwork under floodlight this evening :becool:

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The soffit boards have gone missing in transit so need to chase those up. Hoping to get the fascia boards up on the sides next then it's ready for the tiles. I need to re-double my efforts on sourcing those as I'm really struggling to get a match - I've got the local reclamation yard contacting me later in the week as they supposedly have some coming inso we'll see what they're like and go from there. I will probably build the steps up to the front door once the roof is sorted :okay:
 
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JhnBssll

JhnBssll

Guru
Location
Suffolk
Weekend progress on my build - I picked up some reclaimed tiles finally. They're a different colour, grey compared to the original terracotta/orange, but the same brand and style. I think they're a close enough match given how dirty the original tiles are :laugh: I've still got some bits to finish on the soffit and fascia then another coat of paint before the guttering can go up but progress none the less!

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I've also got the new house sign and porch lights up and wired in :okay: I've snuck a photoelectric sensor up in the eaves so they turn on at dusk and then run on an a timer so they won't stay on all night. Heres the sensor, not yet screwed up as I still need to paint the soffit :laugh:

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And here is the first photo with the lights on. They came on a bit early, might need to adjust the lux dial on the sensor but I'd already put the ladder away :laugh:

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I'm really pleased with it - there are a few bits I think I could learn from and do better next time, but overall it's coming on rather well :smile: My wife is pleased with it and she's usually my greatest critic so that speaks volumes :laugh:
 

Archie_tect

De Skieven Architek... aka Penfold + Horace
Location
Northumberland
John, might be worth moving the rwp downcomer round the corner or even move to to the party wall so that you aren't collecting the whole of your neighbour's roof and your main roof run-off down onto the porch roof- it'll run straight over the porch gutter otherwise.
 

MontyVeda

a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
Staggering considering this is your first brick wall :notworthy:
 
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JhnBssll

JhnBssll

Guru
Location
Suffolk
John, might be worth moving the rwp downcomer round the corner or even move to to the party wall so that you aren't collecting the whole of your neighbour's roof and your main roof run-off down onto the porch roof- it'll run straight over the porch gutter otherwise.

Thanks, this was a temporary fix until I sort the drainage. The original surface drain ran under where the porch now sits so I cut and capped the drain off underground when I poured the footings. Since I've also lowered the ground level I haven't got the depth to run it back round the extension so suspect I'll have to drop the downpipe down the middle of the house rather than at the end. Bit of a nuisance really :laugh:
 

Archie_tect

De Skieven Architek... aka Penfold + Horace
Location
Northumberland
With any luck the gutter lengths and existing joints can be re-jigged to not have to replace them- hopefully you'll be able to get a decent fall on the gutter down to the relocated drop on the rwp... you only need 1 in 80 fall possibly Building Inspector may let you use 1 in 160. from the central rwp'strapped gulley.
 
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JhnBssll

JhnBssll

Guru
Location
Suffolk
With any luck the gutter lengths and existing joints can be re-jigged to not have to replace them- hopefully you'll be able to get a decent fall on the gutter down to the relocated drop on the rwp... you only need 1 in 80 fall possibly Building Inspector may let you use 1 in 160. from the central rwp'strapped gulley.

Yeah, I think I have some space to play with to raise the end enough to get a good fall. My main problem is the extension roof which now prevents me getting a ladder up to the bit of guttering I need to adjust :laugh: D'oh!
 
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JhnBssll

JhnBssll

Guru
Location
Suffolk
I've not done much lately as I've been mega busy at work and the weather has been crap :laugh: I have managed to clear the front garden of a lot of the building supplies and rubbish that had built up in the last few months. This meant today I was able to dig up the rainwater drain and plan my next move. I was pleased to find a join almost exactly where I had planned to cut the pipe so that's saved me a job, I can simply cut the join out and remove the now redundant short length that runs to the footing and replace it with a few bends to pick up the downpipe once it's in place :okay:

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You'll notice I've also started painting below the damp course - the original building had these bricks painted black although they were very faded. Once they're all done it should be pretty hard to see where the old building finishes and the extension starts :smile:

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Unfortunately an unscheduled rainshower is now washing some of the paint off again so I'll need to go back out shortly for a repair job - fortunately it's only the first of two coats :laugh:
 
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