2 Storey Side Extension with Lift!

[Chris0655]

WEEK 7

Work continues in the garage with the internal leaf block wall.

Blockwork almost done. ET has left his bike.

The Steel for the media room floor is ready to be placed in position. It will sit in the recess behind the bike.

We have reused the steel above the garage door. It has been lowered to form the new door lintel. Another steel will be put in about 1.2m directly above this one to form the roof plate.

 

[Chris0655]

The view from the side.

Now with garage window removed....

The existing window to the garage has been made smaller. It will sit at floor level to the media room, and will be the alternate fire escape route. We had 3 options for dealing with Fire Reg. requirements for the media room:

1. Install a sprinkler system to protect the stairs and escape route through the breakfast room - too expensive - c.£3k
2. Build permanent steps under a skylight in the media room roof, to meet requirement of 1100mm max sill height. - too intrusive in the room space
3. Use the existing window as shown above - will provide more light as well, although we will use obscure safety glazing.

 

[Chris0655]

WEEK 8

Beam 2, Which supports the media room floor, has been put in.

Nice blockwork, and floor made good...

 

[Chris0655]

Scaffolding has gone up so work can start on the 2nd storey.

The diagonal wooden batten shows the line of the new roof, at the front. Scaffolding goes all the way round to the rear extension.

And the view from inside shows the utility wall outer leaf has been removed. The whole wall will eventually go, once the rear extension is watertight and secure.

The house was built in 1973. The blocks used were 4 inch, hollow clinker blocks.


Beam 4 to support 2nd story at the rear of the house has also been installed.

The beam is 2 "C" section steels bolted together with spacers. Unfortunately the original cavity wall is only 267mm wide so we have had to narrow the beam slightly to match the existing wall. We may have to put some celotex board insulation on the inside of the new cavity wall above to meet the building reg thermal requirements.

The perimeter of the flat roof has been cut away so that the external walls can be built up. Temporary stud work has been installed to support the joists of the flat roof.

More deliveries with the HIAB

 

[Chris0655]

WEEK 9

Meanwhile, up on the garage roof, it's all set for a massive game of Jenga.

Shame to lose the view.

The roof profile is now taking shape.

 

[eddieed]

Thanks for all the updates - can I ask a question and I don't mean to be rude, maybe its the lighting or camera. Are you planning on rendering the extension - the match on the brick work is a bit out, maybe they will fade and blend, wondering who did your brick matching.

 

[Chris0655]

The honest answer is that the brick matching is a bit disappointing. We had various sample bricks and selected what we thought was a good match. However, the reality is that they are quite a different shade from the existing 1973 bricks. They will mellow in over time and the existing ones are darkened by mildew and other aging. They existing bricks will look lighter after a good jet wash.

I will give it a year, and then if I still find that the match is too uncomfortable I will look at rendering the rear extension. The side wall to the extension is rarely seen so I'm not too bothered about that.

 

[Ian H]

There is some stuff called Liquid Weather that claims to age new bricks, could be worth a try on a loose one.

 

[Chris0655]

Thanks Ian. That's a good suggestion. I'll get one of their tester pots and give it a try. I'll post pictures for all to see. The Builder had suggested using a natural alternative of gutter gunge and water.

 

[Chris0655]

Progress viewed from the side...

The outer bricks piled up are a different batch from those already used, with much greater contrast between reds and orange.

 

[Chris0655]

WEEK 11

And it continues to grow...

With another level of scaffold.

 

[Chris0655]

WEEK 12

Steel Beam no.1 is delivered.

And put in place. The roof is starting to take shape.

From inside to see the ridgeboard and sidewall apex..

More deliveries. This time the rafters. Mind my car!

 

[Chris0655]

WEEK 13

The roof is starting to take shape.

long Legged Joist hangers will be added to the junction with the beam.

 

[Chris0655]

Work has started on the lift shaft.

The lift runs on vertical rails, powered by a hydraulic jack. The rails need to have solid fixings as there will be significant rotational moment forces applied. The existing wall bricks are a silica type and a bit soft/crumbly so the lift engineer advised us to install a concrete block wall to take the rail.

The blocks specified are 10.4N, 440mm x 140mm. Bl**dy heavy! 28Kg each. The new wall is tied into the existing with 3 columns of wall starter ties.

The remainder of the shaft can use thermalite 3.6N blocks.

 

[Chris0655]

The media room floor/garage ceiling is now in place. As seen from below...

And from above....

The original garage flat roof is still in place and being used as a working platform for the new roof. Hence the 6x2 support struts.