Category Archives: extension
We have plastered about 75% of the older part of the property and have started plastering the new extension. This week we have plastered the two ensuites, the dressing room and the master bedroom. With this much plastering, the building can get damp very quickly – plastering the walls in wet plaster introduces a lot of water in the building. Although the ground source heat pump is up and running, we have also left a dehumidifer running to accelerate the drying process.
Next week we will make a start on plastering the kitchen. My guess is that it will take most of the week to get the ktichen plastered.
The plasterers have made good progress this week. The two ensuites, dressing room and the master bedroom have been completely plastered. With the ground source heat pump running, the plaster is drying out fairly quickly. To accelerate the drying process we are using a dehumidifer.
We have started constructing the canopy on the front elevation of the extension. This runs from the master bedroom and across the top of the large square oak window. It is made of marine ply with a section of wooden gutter inserted towards the front edge. This will then be covered in Sarnafil (an alternative to lead) to make it waterproof. Originally, there wasn’t going to be a gutter in this canopy, howcver, since it is outside the master bedroom, we decided that one was needed to stop water dripping off it during the night. The drain pipe will run down the centre of the pillar and then into a land drain.
Up close, you can see that the pillar that is carrying the end of the oak beam has been pointed (only yesterday). The canopy will continue across and cover the large square oak window.
There is a canopy over the bi-folding doors in the master bedroom. The canopy will be made from plywood with a section of wooden gutter towards the front (the spars have been notched to accomodate the wooden gutter). The canopy will be covered in Sarnafil (a lead alternative).
We have 14 workmen onsite today – 2 plumbers, 3 builders, 2 heating engineers, 2 plasterers, 3 electricians, 1 joiner and 1 roofer. And me.
Trying to make sure that everyone has enough space to work is the main problem, but everyone seems to be getting along (just). The car (or van) parking situation is causing a little bit of a problem, but with the wet weather recently, it is jsut to muddy to get vehicles into the back field.
However, it does mean that we are making a lot of progress.
Only the ridge tiles to go on the kitchen roof and some lead flashings, then the roof is all done. Even as it is, it is water-tight.
We have made quite a bit of progress this week:
- The ground source heat pump arrived on Monday and, fingers crossed, we hope to have it up and running by the end of the week. It will be good to get some heat in the house to start drying out the walls and floors;
- The plasterers are back. We need to get the old part of the building finished off so that the decorators can start after Christmas;
- We have started pointing the stonework. We are going to have to pick the days carefully as this can only be done in dry weather (otherwise, the rain will wash the pointing out);
- We have almost finished the upstairs bathroom. It will be good to get this one put to bed before Christmas. If the ground source heat pump is turned on at the end of the week, we may have some hot and cold water in the old house.
The roof is nearing completion and by the end of the day, there is only two courses of slates plus the ridge tiles left to do. We should have this all sorted before the end of the week.
Now the stonework has been sandblasted, we can start on the pointing. This is a slow process. We are using a lime based render. It will probably take a couple of weeks to get all the pointing done.
Now the scaffolding has been removed, we can sandblast the stonework on the new extension. We tend to do the sandblasting at the weekend because it is so noisy and messy. It just makes it to difficult to work on the site while the sandblasting is going on.
The next stage will be to point the stonework. We will be using the same lime and Nosterfield River sand mortar that we used on the original part of the property.
All of this stone has been brought in from offsite and is the closest match the we could find. The one exception are the quoins (the large corner stones) on the porch. These originally form part of the barn that was where the kitchen is now.
This is the back of the porch. The small window is for the downstairs cloakroom.
Although the roof is still to go on, serious progress has been made on the porch this week. The canopy is built using oak similar to the internal roof trusses.
The stonework on the new extension and porch were sandblasted today. This effectively removes a loose dirt or paint from the surface of the stone. By the time that it is pointed, it will be close match to the existing cottages. The roof of the porch and kitchen will be finished off next week.
The rear of the extension has also been sandblasted. Even the small gable end in the kitchen has been cleaned. The white box next to the utility window houses the new (three phase) electricity meter. I do wish they came in colours other than white!
Yup. This is the compressor that is used to clean the stone. It is a pretty noisy and sandy business. Definitely not for the faint hearted!
All of the exterior stonework on the extension has been sandblasted so that it matches the existing cottages. There is a lot of stonework here, but it is easily cleaned in a day. The hessian cloth on the ridge of the roof is to prevent the mortar being washed away on the new ridge tiles.
There isn’t much stonework on this elevation, however, the small areas that are here have been sandblasted so that it matches the rest of the property. Unfortunately, we are going to have to wait until the new year for the bi-folding doors to be fitted in the master bedroom. You can see the strip of hessian placed on the ridge tiles to protect the mortar from the wet weather.
We have started to remove the scaffolding from the extension. There is still some work to be completed on the porch, but most of the external building work is drawing to a close.
Taking the scaffolding down has made a tremendous difference to the overall appearance of the property – it is starting to feel like a real house now!
Zep on the hunt for a cornish pasty. None here. In the background is the half truss that will form part of the canopy for the porch. The new kitchen wall is revealed now the scafffolding is down.
The sunken garden has becoming a bit of a dumping ground for scaffolding and other items. The stones wrapped in cling film are the coping stones for the garden wall. I haven’t got around to sorting them out yet!
Not such a nice day today as it was yesterday. Today, it was warm and wet. Very little sun, but mild for this time of the year.
Now the front elevation of the extension roof is nearing completion, you can see how well it matches the existing stone slate roof. It is a shame that the bi-folding doors in the master bedroom were the wrong size, however, these should be fitted early in the new year. There is an oak beam and canopy to be built over the master bedroom.
Well, if you have reclaimed stone slates on the roof, it seems only right that the ridge tiles should also be reclaimed. This ridge tiles are hacked out of solid pieces of stone and probably (at least) a couple of hundred years old.
We have had another fine day here in West Yorkshire. This has allowed the roofers to get on with their job. We have definitely passed the half way mark on the extension roof.
While the rear elevation of the extension roof nears completion, the front elevation is still only half slated. The roof should be finished in the next week or so, but enough has now been done that the scaffolding can be removed.
Another beautiful day in Yorkshire. Bright sunshine. And it is December. Let’s hope there are lots more days to like this to come.
The roof on the rear elevation of the extension is now complete. Attention is now turning to the rear elevation of the kitchen roof. The scaffolding should be taken down by the weekend. This will allow the stonework to be sandblasted over the weekend.
The rear roof elevation is nearing completion and there is only a few odd bits of ashlar left to install.
We are making some good progress on the extension roof. All of the Velux lights in the rear elevation have now been installed. This includes an additional pair that we put into the master bedroom. The master bedroom has bi-folding doors, but no other windows. If you want to sleep with the window open at night, the only option would have been to leave the bi-folding doors open. Probably not a good option on the ground floor.
So we decided to add a pair of Velux lights. We have put them on the rear elevation since most of the bad weather hits the property from the front. We were concerned about the amount of noise that rain would make on these windows in bad weather (not that we get bad weather in Yorkshire!). We will have to get some electric blinds fitted to these as there are about 4m above the bed!
We are using reclaimed stone slates on the new extension roof. These are fairly common in this area on properties on this age. By using reclaimed slates, this roof should match the roof on the existing property. Just because these slates are reclaimed, don’t think that they are cheap. They aren’t! They can also be quite difficult to get hold of, particularly if you are after a reasonable quantity. We were lucky and came across some a couple of months ago. We bought them and stored them offsite on pallets until we needed them.
Probably another day or so on the rear elevation and this part of the roof will be finished.
We have taken down the scaffolding at the front of the extension. This will allow the bi-folding doors to be fitted. This is planned for first thing tomorrow morning.
The sunken garden could also do with a bit of a tidy-up!
We have taken down the scaffolding at the front of the extension. Two sets of bi-folding doors are due to be installed tomorrow morning.
The sunken garden needs a bit of tidying up and the garden wall needs finishing off, but it is starting to take shape.
The weather yesterday was appalling, but unbelievably the roofers continued to work throughout the day. At one point, we thought we might lose all of the felt off the roof however the roofers managed to batten in all down. Later in the afternoon, the wind subsided. By the end of the day, they had installed all of the Veluxes in the back of the property. But they even managed to put a couple of courses of stone slates on the roof. Amazing.
Unbelievably, the roofers carried on their work in the appalling weather yesterday. We lost some of the roofing felt in the bad weather, but it was soon replaced. The roofers continued to work and placed all of the battens on this part of the roof.
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