Day 30 - goodbye chimney

Watch out below!

The chimney...well part of it came down today.

I decided to be out the house for this and came back to a pile of rubble and a bird that didn't want to leave home!

The house looks a bit naked with out the chimney but it had to go.

Day 29 - the roof work begins

We are pretty much there for the walls so roof works have begun.

The bifold door lintel has now been put in and scaffold on the chimney to start to remove it. That's going to be messy.

Its shaping up now...

Day 28 - 1st floor walls

The first of the supporting beams went in to support the first floor in the new section.

The walls continue to grow higher and from the front you can see the opening for the bedroom window.

Day 27 - floorboards

There was a hive of activity today, the side of the house was cut back ready for the floorboards to go on.

The skip has landed, so we only have one drive space now.

Day 26 - the next level

Lots of banging and drilling happened today and all it was a small hole to match the floor joist.

The first half of the day we had a mini tower scaffold and then in the afternoon, the main scaffold was erected ready for the upstairs.

The rest of the supports we're added to the toilet window and the front door.

We had a delivery for the new floor boards but the picture actually shows the wood for the roof.

Day 25 - there's a window

Work continue on the walls today, getting it ready for the next floor.

Lots of loud noises on the existing house, finding the floor joist to connect with the new section.

Supports were put in for the windows before getting bricked up.

Day 24 - where's the fence?

The side wall has now reached a height that it feels like a building as you can't see past it from the front door.

With this week finished, lets hope we are back on track.

Scaffold will be up next week, it's all coming together.

Day 23 - internal wall

The house is starting to take shape, window and door openings. The size of the room, the dark bricks are the outer wall and the lighter colour are the internal walls.

The building inspector came and was happy with the extra damp proofing at the back of the house.

You can already imagine it feeling warmer in the new section.

Hopefully we should be on to the first floor by the end of the week.

Day 22 - a back wall

Each day we see more and more bricks go up, the house is starting to feel like a house now.

The back is joined to existing house and you can see the openings for the back window and bifolds.

Day 21 - building the walls

The day started with some loud drilling as the builder removed render from our existing house ready to join the new with the old.

Our garden slopes up but it's not visible until you see our new section of the house is deeper at the back than the front.

Day 20 - back on track

The brick layer arrived today and will start building up the walls.

The last few days including this morning were spent deciding on the hall space and front door openings. It's a big headache and we end up reducing the side lights to compromise on space.

They have set the bricks for the damp course, and before we know it the walls will be up!

Day 19 - delivery

Day 17 - 2nd round of inspection passed

We had another check up today on the site and there was some minor changes to the drainage required by adding another sink hole.

Goods have been ordered ready for the brick layers which are arriving tomorrow.

Otherwise no real changes happening.

Day 16 - down tools

Feels strange that no one is here working, slightly disappointing as with everything you want it done ASAP. Have to be patient as all good things come to those who wait.

We are due another inspection tomorrow on the drains and groundwork, we should pass it ok.

In the meantime I'm looking at finalising bits and pieces.

I had originally decided on upvc windows due to cost but in an recent researching search, there is a strong possibility we may now go with aluminuim...

Day 15 - finishing the floor

Work on the floor continued so lots more sawing noises. It's now getting the the site ready for the brick layers. Unfortunately they are working on another project which has been held up by bad weather so it looks like there isn't much work going to be done on our extension for the next week.

For me this means that the project seems to be slowing down from its initial start but I knew there would be peaks and troughs. 

In the meantime, I will hopefully be finalising my purchases.

Day 14 - block and beam floor

The floor is getting done today which means that it will be level with the existing house.

Goodbye hole in ground and hello to the start of the house.

Today's sound has been of sawing, cutting the beams to size. We had drilling sounds earlier this week...