Monday 4th June 2012 / 12:21
As part of the Jubilee celebrations Trev and I are bashing more brickwork down and Trev’s taking the last brick down now.
Chimney removal
Friday 1st June 2012 / 13:16
The chimney that the boiler’s flue comes out of needs to be taken down. It is supported by a concrete lintel in the old kitchen at the intersection of two walls, one of which is to be knocked down.
William came round last night and brought a mini tower round so that I could have a platform to work from to remove the chimney. The mini tower is great, it’s made of aluminium so is really light and fits together easily.
I’ve removed tiles every now and then so that I can climb up the roof and I’m taking the chimney down brick by brick. My neighbour Bert is standing on the tower catching the bricks as I slide them down the tarpaulin.
Chimney removal
Friday 1st June 2012 / 13:16
Chimney taken down to just below roof height with flu from boiler poking out.
Chimney removal
Sunday 3rd June 2012 / 13:39
Dismantling the chimney below roof height in the loft.
Chimney removal
Sunday 3rd June 2012 / 15:19
Chimney dismantled down to floor of loft. Flue still poking out. For some reason it smells of ammonia.
Chimney removal
Saturday 2nd June 2012 / 11:00
Managed to get the tiles back on the roof and William’s tower down by 8pm last night, in time to go to the Southampton Beer Festival.
Guttering
Thursday 7th June 2012 / 07:35
Yesterday the gutters were put up. They’ve re-used some of the old gutters which I cleaned up a while ago and used new fittings. Just a couple of end caps left to put on now. I’m really pleased to see it up there, especially as it’s going to rain for ages now.
Bathroom floor removal
Tuesday 5th June 2012 / 10:24
Trev came round at 9 this morning so we could move the bath and get the rest of the bathroom floor broken up and into the skip.
Bathroom temporary arrangement
Tuesday 5th June 2012 / 18:34
I’ve now done some temporary plumbing so I can keep having baths. I used plastic piping and push fit connectors which I’m not usually a fan of, but they’re ok for this. The old floor concrete is all broken out except the bit where the toilet is, which will stay until the day the concrete is poured.
Plasterboarding 2
Friday 31 May 2013 / 19:29
Holes are cut for the socket back boxes.
Old kitchen floor concrete breaking
Friday 18th May 2012 / 16:51
After advice from William I’ve come to the difficult decision to completely replace the old kitchen and bathroom floor. It’s slightly too high on one side, has no insulation and no damp proof membrane in. I am going to do all the preparation and then William and co will run a whacker plate over and pour concrete with some reinforcement in. I’ll probably help with this too.
William came round last night to deliver the DeWalt breaker and transformer. He and the others have not been around today as it’s Ben’s wedding. I’ve managed to break just under a third of the concrete and barrow into the skip. I’ve also got the skip changed.
Concrete removed
Saturday 19th May 2012 / 19:03
A long day drilling out concrete and barrowing it to the skip, but I’ve got all the concrete out. I’ve made a temporary walk way so I don’t get my feet dirty when I go to have my bath. Off to the pub for some beers with Tony and Colin now.
Removal of kitchen floor
Saturday 19th May 2012 / 17:09
Tonnes of concrete, soil and other detritus is barrowed out through the front door and up a plank into the skip.
Old kitchen floor removed
Sunday 20th May 2012 / 16:05
After a Friday, Saturday and Sunday session of back breaking work I’ve removed the concrete and several inches of the rubble which was underneath it. It filled a 6 yard skip.
Windows and doors
Saturday 21st April 2012 / 09:49
Yesterday they started installing the windows and doors. I wasn’t too enthusiastic about UPVC at first when we went Central Windows to see them being made, but now they’re starting to install them I’m finding that I rather like them. They seem good quality and aesthetically they’re quite good. Just as well really as they’re not cheap.
Steel 3
Wed 25th April 2012 / 20:05
A milestone has been reached. The final steel (#3) is now in position. Today the padstone on the outside wall was cemented in and the steel beam hoisted into position. It’s been wheeled into position using the custom built trolley (see inset) and then manhandled and hoisted using a chain hoist into position.
4 Brickwork under floor
Friday 3rd April 2015 / 16:57
The remains of the riser wall below the floor are built back up with a few courses bricks.
Kitchen removal 1
Sunday 1st April 2012 / 14:44
Now the supporting pier is built the last steel can go in which means partial removal of the wall to the right of this picture so I’ve started removing the kitchen cupboards.
1
Friday 9th March 2012 / 10:10
To support the end of steel #3 the structural engineers have asked for a pier to be built at the intersection of two walls.
The first thing to do is to support the lintel that currently bears on the wall, fold back the carpet, cut some floor boards and joists out and then knock out enough brick work at the base of the walls to gain access to where the hole needs to be dug for the foundation concrete.
The foundation is to be a piece of concrete 750 square and set 1 metre into the ground.
2
Friday 9th March 2012 / 10:43
The quarry tiles I laid in the kitchen eleven years ago are pretty hard wearing, but they’re no match for this breaker.