Roof and Floor

Week Four turns out to be another busy week. On Friday last the breatherable membrane went on to the new roof trusses. By Tuesday this week nearly all the tiles went back on, by Thursday the Velux windows were added and remaining tiles fixed in place. The roof looks perfect. By Saturday the scaffolding will be removed giving us a better view of the complete roof including  new soffit, fascias, gutters and down pipes.

The new corner steel post and lintels supporting the roof over the porch have gone in .


Whilst all of this was going on above the plumbing team were busy laying insulation and running pipes for the Underfloor Heating plus the hot and cold pipes to the taps and machines. So many Pipes! No to mention my controls in the coat cupboard! Do you think a glass door to view it would be going too far? 

Membrane On

 The end of week three and the team are pressing ahead and we fortunately have the breathable membrane on before the weekend. This will help the inside to dry out over the weekend before the underfloor insulation goes down on Monday, this is the start of the next stage the plumbers first fix. The internal scaffolding disappeared this morning as a precursor to this next stage starting. The plumbers first fix includes laying all the pipe work over the insulation from and to where its needed. This include the pipes for the underfloor heating but also all of the hot and cold services from the mains to the boiler and to the kitchen and wetroom. The pipes will then be covered in 3 inches of concrete screed.

Talking of concrete this huge wagon turned up this afternoon with all the raw ingredients to mix just the right amount of concrete for the footing of the the new retaining wall of the patio in the back garden and a new slab for the porch. Certainly stopped the traffic.

Week3

So where are we? Halfway through the second week and things are looking good. The weather hasn't been as good as the first weeks but the rain hasn't deterred the guys from MAS construction. With the tiles being off the roof, rain isn't perfect.    
However there is nothing inside the bungalow to spoil, there is not plaster work left on the walls or decorative woodwork. Unfortunately the roof timber will be exposed to the elements for another weekend. The roofing membrane will go on Monday and be tiled later in the week. 


Above Paul is putting the finishing touches to the roof timbers. Below, Mark puts the finishing touched to the bi-fold door opening.


 A key milestone this Friday is the completion of the new openings of doors and windows in time for the window company Stormclad to undertake detailed measurements. These will be manufactured in the coming weeks 
and installed weeks commencing 15 August.  
 Next week will be first fix for the plumbers. The underfloor heating along with the hot and cold services through out the house will be laid and covered with a cement screed.

Steel Time

Friday of the second week was steel time! Two metal post were cut to size bolted to the concrete pads poured last week. These two upright steels support the large ridge steel that holds up the roof. A further post and beam support the trusses of the original hip roof. 

New Roof!

In the space of a week the new timbers for the bungalow roof have been fitted! And today the steels to support them will move in to place.......

Right, view of the new roof from South Ave. Below left, view from neighbors bedroom window. Below right, view from the scaffolding over front door thought to kitchen Velux. Bottom, view of openings for Velux windows over the kitchen. 

No Roof

The start of week 2 and all the roof tiles are removed along with the roof trusses over the new living space. Bet the neighbors wonder what on earth we are doing!  Because we are having underfloor heating we would be stealing about 3 inches off the height of the rooms, we therefore decided to steal the wasted roof space over the living spaces. So the hall, living room and kitchen ceiling will be vaulted. 

First Week

End of the first week. The ceilings, the internal walls ,all the plaster via several skips find there way to a landfill somewhere! The electrics & plumbing have all been stripped out and have gone to be recycled via the scrap yard. The shuttering is in place for the foundation of the new steels. The water service  moved to its new location and all ground works for new drains are in place. A lot of hard work completed by the small team that is MAS Construction.

What can we look forward too in week two of the renovation. Well on Thursday the scaffold team came to town encircling the bungalow. The roof tiles will be removed along with over half of the roof timbers. New roof timbers put in place supported by steels to create an amazing living space.

We've Started!

Where do we begin? Well it is 5 July and the builders moved in last Thursday. But don't get me wrong this wasn't the beginning maybe the end of the beginning.

The project started last November when we sold our 4 bed detached house and started looking for the house that would last us for the rest of our lives. Yes we've reach the age for downsizing. Who needs three spare bedrooms when no one visits!

We've decided to replace the plaster on the outside walls with insulated plasterboard. So this picture is of what was the headboard wall of the maater bedroom and the "Box Room". The pipe in the foreground is the stench pipe for the loo where the bathroom used to be!

I popped in today and most of the walls have gone I'm going back shortly to check if the guys have any questions as they mark out the new walls.

Let me know if you are interested in hearing the story to date. That might include deciding to sell and what to buy, our reasoning behind it all, architect or builder,  what do we want,. what we can afford and how do we start.... Otherwise I'll just document the day by day, week by week progress!