From the ground up!
In 2008 I built a single story home extention.
I trained with Taylor Woodrow in Carpentry and Joinery, and they also sent me to college for a city and guilds qualification (unlike current training methods, and I am not that old yet...). They covered all aspects of building, and on leaving I worked for many years on site and in the Joinery shop. I then decided to specialise in finer Carpentry and Locksmithing.
Sadly Today they rush training, and some come fresh from college with no real work experiance and very little Knowledge of how older buildings are made. Also there is the temptation to go for an imported tradesperson with no knowledge of how buildings are made here in the UK. What people overlook is Europeon building regs are not anywhere near British standards. However, when we look far back in history, some of the work that was done hundreds of years ago all over the world is far better than what we build today.
A true Carpenter should be able to adapt himself to every woodwork skill, be it ground work, shuttering (the forming of concrete), roofing, joinery, wardrobes, fitting of locks, doors, windows, skirting boards, tables, etc. And as my old tutor use to say, it is only the Carpenter that is involved in the building from the ground up, until the building is finished and may even have to stay on in snagging works (finale finishes after the building is handed over). He will work closely with other trades, and see all trades come and go.
So why not pay that little extra for a lot more experience.
I am putting this page up to share with you my experience, and to show I am up to date with new buiding regulations, not to get work in building home extensions.
I hope you find it interesting and helpful.
Peter Corti
Feb 2008 before comencement..Digging starts, with some hired help from my neighbour (gardener) and his mini digger,which was great for breaking the back of it. But sadly it was in an awkward spot for machinery. So we had to dig the trench foundations by hand, with a little help from my good friend John. Oh dear our first obstacle, the drains are where the wall needs to be. Unfortunately, because of the way the pipes run it can not be moved..Not a major problem, I was asked by the building inspector to hand him a drawing of what I plan to do. I will just have to shutter some form work around the drain pipes and replace the old clay with pvc.Could smell a bit..
I made some form work to get ready for pouring the concrete foundations. Concrete pump arrives and here goes... I got some friends here to help, but they ended up watching most the time as pumping was so easy.
Concrete now dry ready for the bricklayer. Class B engerneering bricks laid. The building inspector authorises the next steps. The concrete slab. More heavy work for me :().As I can not afford another pump, so will mix by hand.:( In goes the m.o.t gravel, I wacked it down with the wacker plate to level it, building regs state that I will have to lay 70 -100 mm insulation on top of sand, then lay the pvc membrane and cut into dpc level on the brick work. Then a 100mm concrete slab, plus a 70mm fine mix for the finished floor.
My girlfriend mucks in and helps.. Making groove for damp proof membrane to sit in. Insalation laid.Time for more pouring,mmm, could do with a hand..who owes me a favour. oh yes my old friend Marek..And below, finally levelling the concrete slab.
The bricklayer gets the shell and the retaining wall up for the patio area. Now time for me to start making the roof. There are no prefabricated roofs avalible for home extentions, so I will have to go back to basics and bespoke a roof to match the existing suroundings.
The rafters and sofit boards are now fitted, I also hand cut the code 4 lead flashing and cut a groove in the brick morter for the lead to sit in. Next step, guttering, felt, battern and tiles.
Tiles now laid, I also fitted the combination upvc French door & window set. With new building reg low E glass, which have energy saving value and uva filters.
I would love to finish the outside and re landscape the Garden before the Winter, but fitting all this in between my work is getting very tough...:)
As we would also like to finish the inside before Christmas. We will see... It does not look like there is much left to do, but there is still allot to do inside. Part p electrics, and corgi plumbing, with the help of my electrician pal, the electrics will be fine, but I have been waiting for 2 months for the plumber to start. I have done all of the non corgi plumbing. However we have to move the existing boiler due to the flu being now in the new room. My boiler is old and not worth repairing, so I have decided to install a new combi A rated boiler and move it the loft. It is corgi only, and beyond my skills. You may think Locksmiths are expensive, well I have had about 4 estimates for the mentioned corgi work, I can not believe how much they want for a maximum of three days labour, it is a two man job but some of them wanted nearly £5000, what a rip off materials will cost about £1200 max, that makes it over a £1000 a day......Luckily I have managed to find a reasonable estimate and he seems to know what he is talking about, just hope he turns up eventfully...
Of course there is also plastering and decoration too:(
Well the plumber finaly came to remove the boiler and fit an A rated combi system in the loft. So now we can push ahead.
There was now a window in an internal wall! So I made a glass block feature from it. Now it is soundblock plasterboarded and insulated. Ready for the plasterer.
We finished! Christmas 2008.
