The next step with the garage was digging the footings, which fortunately were not that deep due to the ground conditions being good. They are still around a foot deeper than the foundations on the existing house though, which are only around 6 inches of concrete. The garage is having 12 inches of steel reinforced concrete!
Next step is more excavation of the slab area, as I need space for 75mm of insulation and 200mm of reinforced concrete. Oh, and 25 tonnes of compacted crushed limestone and 4 tonnes of sand...
Wow the footings are shallow, bit of luck though it saves pouring loads of concrete/pound notes in the ground! we did a small extention on the house last year 4mtrs by 6mtrs single storey and one end we had to go down 1.7mtrs as there were trees about 8mtrs away, when we dug the footings we didn't find a single root though!
Your older neighbours remind me of when I was a kid and we moved just down the road to a bigger house. Me being 4 and sister being 6 we would have friends around and be out playing on the back garden a lot so very noisy. Mr & Mrs Cartwright were in their late 80’s I would guess so Mum thought she’d best apologise for all the noise as they liked to sit out in their immaculate garden. They were absolutely great and said how much they enjoyed hearing us playing and laughing. 45 years on and I can still see them now. Lovely people.
Your older neighbours remind me of when I was a kid and we moved just down the road to a bigger house. Me being 4 and sister being 6 we would have friends around and be out playing on the back garden a lot so very noisy. Mr & Mrs Cartwright were in their late 80’s I would guess so Mum thought she’d best apologise for all the noise as they liked to sit out in their immaculate garden. They were absolutely great and said how much they enjoyed hearing us playing and laughing. 45 years on and I can still see them now. Lovely people.
Growing up I had a stellar older couple next door. At the age of 4 I found the lost wedding ring in the garden and that cemented the relationship. They had a Austin 1100, then a triumph acclaim. Always got cake, I'd intentionally kick the ball over the fence,i dont think they minded.
Good neighbours are a blessing. We've recently moved from a 1970s semi-detached bungalow to an early 1700s cottage, which is the middle of a terrace of three. Our old neighbour was not happy with our extension at the old place, and ended up not speaking to us for the last three years, but our new neighbours are great. They've both got double garages and I've only got a single though, so a bit of envy going on!
I like the plans for the new garage, it looks great. Have you considered some form of divider between the "games room" and the other half? Might keep dust and whatever down when working on projects. My classroom workshop is huge but its so hard to keep clean.
Wow the footings are shallow, bit of luck though it saves pouring loads of concrete/pound notes in the ground! we did a small extention on the house last year 4mtrs by 6mtrs single storey and one end we had to go down 1.7mtrs as there were trees about 8mtrs away, when we dug the footings we didn't find a single root though!
I had a few roots, but nothing over 15mm or so. I made sure there was no sign of anything when the trenches were inspected! I also cut down three trees and ripped the stumps out in preparation for the work...
Your older neighbours remind me of when I was a kid and we moved just down the road to a bigger house. Me being 4 and sister being 6 we would have friends around and be out playing on the back garden a lot so very noisy. Mr & Mrs Cartwright were in their late 80’s I would guess so Mum thought she’d best apologise for all the noise as they liked to sit out in their immaculate garden. They were absolutely great and said how much they enjoyed hearing us playing and laughing. 45 years on and I can still see them now. Lovely people.
Sounds very similar. The elderly couple come and say hello most weekend days and have a look at what I'm up to. Lovely people. The lady on the other side still hasn't spoken to me again...
Your older neighbours remind me of when I was a kid and we moved just down the road to a bigger house. Me being 4 and sister being 6 we would have friends around and be out playing on the back garden a lot so very noisy. Mr & Mrs Cartwright were in their late 80’s I would guess so Mum thought she’d best apologise for all the noise as they liked to sit out in their immaculate garden. They were absolutely great and said how much they enjoyed hearing us playing and laughing. 45 years on and I can still see them now. Lovely people.
Growing up I had a stellar older couple next door. At the age of 4 I found the lost wedding ring in the garden and that cemented the relationship. They had a Austin 1100, then a triumph acclaim. Always got cake, I'd intentionally kick the ball over the fence,i dont think they minded.
Next door have a garage but I haven't managed to see if they have anything interesting inside it.
Good neighbours are a blessing. We've recently moved from a 1970s semi-detached bungalow to an early 1700s cottage, which is the middle of a terrace of three. Our old neighbour was not happy with our extension at the old place, and ended up not speaking to us for the last three years, but our new neighbours are great. They've both got double garages and I've only got a single though, so a bit of envy going on!
I like the plans for the new garage, it looks great. Have you considered some form of divider between the "games room" and the other half? Might keep dust and whatever down when working on projects. My classroom workshop is huge but its so hard to keep clean.
I've been looking at dividers a lot actually, great minds and all that. I think the best solution would be a roller shutter door, but I think some sort of a curtain made from some sort of fire retardant screen would be more realistic. Any other suggestions gratefully received!
Next it took a whole day with the digger to excavate the slab and remove another load of rubble, soil and clay.
And then start moving and compacting 25 tonnes of 40mm to dust limestone. In the meantime the brickwork at the back could be started as the two small rooms at the back are having a suspended timber floor for a variety of reasons.
Then the sand went down, again well compacted.
Building Regulations up here require a membrane under the insulation, and then a further membrane above the insulation. I didn't insulate the last garage floor and always regretted it. The insulation cost a bloody fortune though.
I then had to run a few rows of common bricks across the front to hold in the slab, and these will be broken out and replaced with a drainage channel in due course.
After the second membrane went in me and my 4 year old had a lot of fun with our Tamiya Lunchbox, just like the one I had when I was little.
The steel went down next, and then I hired a concrete pump (££££) to get the concrete down as there wasn't a sensible alternative given the size of the slab and the physical layout of the build.
We got a lovely finish on the concrete, but then we got a rain shower (very heavy droplets) that wasn't forecast, which damaged the finish a little which was a shame. It means I will be giving it a light grind before final finish, which isn't the end of the work.
On the plus side I lost over a stone by this point...
Nice job, it certainly feels like your just throwing cash in the ground to get to that stage!
Well worth insulating, you cant do it after and it really does make a big difference!
I'll agree with that - when we built our kitchen extension at the last house we insulated the floor really well, and fitted electric underfloor heating, and no radiators at all. It stayed pleasant all year round, with the slab acting like a giant storage heater. New house is much older and the kitchen and porch are direct onto the ground - by crikey they're cold underfoot!
Nice job, it certainly feels like your just throwing cash in the ground to get to that stage!
Well worth insulating, you cant do it after and it really does make a big difference!
That's exactly how it feels. I hadn't budgeted for the concrete pump, or the volume of excavated material to remove.
I am sure I won't regret the cost of the insulation, and it effectively could add a lot of value to the house as it leaves the door open to converting it to habitable space without too much of an issue. There is room at the other side of the house for a a similar sized (freestanding) garage, but I really wanted it to be part of the house to help with the winter evenings when it's hard to find the motivation to go outside sometimes.
Nice job, it certainly feels like your just throwing cash in the ground to get to that stage!
Well worth insulating, you cant do it after and it really does make a big difference!
I'll agree with that - when we built our kitchen extension at the last house we insulated the floor really well, and fitted electric underfloor heating, and no radiators at all. It stayed pleasant all year round, with the slab acting like a giant storage heater. New house is much older and the kitchen and porch are direct onto the ground - by crikey they're cold underfoot!
I would have loved to have UFH. We had wet UFH at the old house which was amazing, and hopefully we will have it in at least half of the downstairs of the house. I had to draw the line at the garage. I have made provision for a gas supply to the garage as I intend fitting a combi boiler and radiators in the garage, which I reckon I can do for under a grand given I've got the radiators from the house that will be fine to use again once they've been properly cleaned out.
The next part of the build is brick / block work and a lot of it.
Irritatingly the building supply company I am using sent a variety of makes of concrete blocks, meaning there is a different in size and colour. The size shouldn't be noticeable on the inside, but I will definitely have to at least paint the inside now. Which to be fair I would almost certainly have done anyway.
I think the recent shortage of building materials has lead to a drop in quality. I went as far as rejecting some packs of blocks as you could see that virtually every block was damaged in some way. Much more of an issue with a garage that won't be drylined than a house build.
Wood has also increased in price massively over the last three months.
So far I am around £3k over budget at what is probably approaching the half way point. Not a massive issue, but possibly the difference between a slate roof and no slate roof...
Coming nicely, I think someone is making money out of this beerbug shortage thing as a lot of prices have increased, you can get some nice concrete or clay tiles?!
Coming nicely, I think someone is making money out of this beerbug shortage thing as a lot of prices have increased, you can get some nice concrete or clay tiles?!
Thanks!
I have always wanted a house with a slate roof, and given the location of the house and the fact it desperately needs an entire new roof, I thought now was a good time to do it. I could not bring myself to use concrete tiles. I'll find a way of paying for the huge amount of slates needed.
Anyone want to buy a low mileage (and mint) 944 S2?
A boy I came through Uni with would be one of the family who own Creagh concrete, once the first lockdown came in they shut up shop for their construction manufacturing; overnight cutting their output by about 95%. Quinn group in Fermanagh and Larson's both did the exact same. Most of them are all back up and running but it's the effect of those closures months ago that is now being felt and more often than not being felt by small buyers, the big firms all have standing orders that have to be filled at the agreed price.
Garage will look well once its all done and when you are inside sure you'll not be worrying what the roof looks like
Coming nicely, I think someone is making money out of this beerbug shortage thing as a lot of prices have increased, you can get some nice concrete or clay tiles?!
No such thing as a nice concrete tile.
My house used to be two semis and is now one house, half my roof is slate and half is concrete.
It is very annoying but currently hasn't annoyed me enough for me to stump up the multiple thousands of pounds required to rectify it.
Good progress going on there. Maybe ask the neighbour when your done about planting something that would grow onto the trellis at the top of the wall? Offer to pay and plant it on her side. She’ will be so happy she won’t realise it’s now up to her to maintain it 🤣🤣🤣
Your older neighbours remind me of when I was a kid and we moved just down the road to a bigger house. Me being 4 and sister being 6 we would have friends around and be out playing on the back garden a lot so very noisy. Mr & Mrs Cartwright were in their late 80’s I would guess so Mum thought she’d best apologise for all the noise as they liked to sit out in their immaculate garden. They were absolutely great and said how much they enjoyed hearing us playing and laughing. 45 years on and I can still see them now. Lovely people.
I had Mr Bailey. Grumpy old git that gave me a barrel of rock salt in my Glutemus maximus as I scarpered over the wall, mouth and pockets full of the apples I had just relieved his trees of. Learnt an important lesson that day. Never say “ what you going to do about it you old *%@&” , to a man holding a shotgun loaded with rock salt. Too scared to tell me Mum as I would have had a pre hiding hiding from her before Dad came home and gave me a proper hiding. So I sat in the swimming pool for a couple of hours in absolute agony as it slowly dissolved.
Mr Bailey ,by this stage was absolutely bricking himself ,realising the enormity of what he had just done. The fact that I didn’t grass him up, really impressed him.“ Johnny,you and I got off on the wrong foot. You are alright you are. Took your punishment like a man “. He was the best neighbour to have after that, used to have free reign of his three acre garden and use of his tennis court. Just the proffered Apples from him never tasted the same 🤣🤣🤣