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flanagaj

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Blog Entries posted by flanagaj

  1. flanagaj
    So after 6 months of delay due to one shoddy bricklayer and another one who was shoddy with a massive 'I'm the best' ego, it is finally third time lucky and the two guys we waited 6 weeks to start, take pride in their work and are really approachable when you want to ask a question or raise an issue.  Just how it should be.

    Being behind is a pain though, as it will mean I will be cutting the roof and installing the standing seam roofing most likely in November.  But so long as it doesn't get too wet, it might be ok.

    Here are a few photos.  I made a jig up to cut the insulation at the angle of the cavity tray and I was chuffed how it turned out.  A rather laborious task though, but I said I would get the trays and insulation all ready for them

    I also knocked up probably 12 different mixes over the last few months.  We tried 5 different sands, grey cement, white cement and lime ...., but non of them really worked and they were either too grey or too yellow, but we kept searching and finally found a local firm in Thatcham who had some sand from a quarry a long distance away.  The colour looked like it would work and as soon as I mixed up the 5 sand, 1 white cement and 1 lime mix, we both said "that's it".  Sand cost us about £90/ton, which is not cheap, but I didn't want to be looking at the house thinking "I don't like the mortar colour".   Here are a few pictures of progress from the last two weeks.

     






  2. flanagaj

    Heidelberg Easyflow 😂

    By flanagaj,


    Ground bearing slabs
    So after Cemex failed to add micro fibres to our last batch of self compacting concrete and their subsequent lack of interest in sending out a tech chap to look at the plastic shrinkage or help remediate their error, i decided to take my custom elsewhere.  Heidelberg and their ‘Easyflow SCC’ to be precise.  
     
    I stood momentarily in shock, ignorantly thinking.  “Maybe it’s magic stuff and it will suddenly turn into the porridge consistency it should be”.  Hence to say.  Said magic never happened 😂
     
    The driver said he spoke to the batching plant and it was mixed with a stiff slump as it was for a ramp.  Made me chuckle though as there is a clue in the name ‘Easyflow’ 
     
     

  3. flanagaj
    I love the sunny weather, but sometimes it really is hard work being out there from 8am to 6pm.  Today’s task was supposed to have been finishing the Radon membrane on the garage, laying the XPS 300 insulation and then finishing the remaining slab prep in the house.  As always, I over estimate one’s ability.  Thankfully, I have a good boss who is ok with me taking days off at very short notice.  So I have to get this finished tomorrow.  Install vcl on top of insulation, lay mesh and then finish final slab prep in the house.
     

  4. flanagaj

    Hard graft, but can see the finish

    By flanagaj,


    Slab preparation
    Block and beam?  No!  Ground bearing slabs.  A decision that has given me sleepless nights and resulted in some serious hard graft.  We had 60 ton (that’s what we were told 🤔) of Type 1 MOT delivered and had to then proceed to get into the bays and levelled up, before compacting it.  The brickie was an arse as he should have stopped building and said “get your hardcore in and laid”.  His work was rather shit, so I knocked some of it down to enable me to get a dumper in distribute the piles to make levelling it quicker.  Building control were fine with me using grano dust as the top layer.  This compacts nicely and gives a much harder surface than sand.
     
    Below are a few pictures.  Hoping to get everything finished by tomorrow.  I’ll breath a sigh of relief that it’s done and dusted.
     
     








  5. flanagaj

    Onwards and upwards

    By flanagaj,


    Self build
    After the debacle of the last builder, who just couldn’t admit his work was rough, I decided to get https://www.tmcoatesjcbplanthire.co.uk/
    back in to dig down the oversite ready for the next brickie that we have managed to get on board.  Tim is an absolute legend and goes above and beyond when it comes to excavation tasks!
     
    here is a picture of our site (I’ve demolished the abomination left by the last incumbent)
     
     




  6. flanagaj

    Finally in

    By flanagaj,


    Static caravan
    After a full on week of getting the following jobs done.  We’ve finally moved in.  Given we have to hand the keys back to the rental on Monday, it’s been cutting it fine.
     
    1) caravan foul drainage connected to the sewage treatment plant
     
    2) water supply to shed for washing machine
     
    3) installing Starlink.  This was very easy
     
    4). Fitting a skirt to the static from salvaged 18mm shuttering ply
     
    5). Making some steps.  So glad I never burnt the pallets.  They are perfect.

    I won’t miss the hours drive each way and my commute to London is now 45 mins instead of 90 mins, plus our daughter is moving into her first home shortly and she’ll be 7 minutes away.
     
    A new chapter has begun 😃
     
    ps - site currently resembles the Somme
     


  7. flanagaj

    Static caravan on site!

    By flanagaj,


    Static caravan arrival
    This day has been on my mind for months.  We really struggled to find a company that would visit the site and confirm whether we could get a static down the lane.  In the end we took an educated guess and purchased a 2023 37x13 unit from a private seller.
     
    So at 1100hrs today, the wife of the driver (Greg Caravan Haulage) appeared in the driveway telling me I needed to go and cut some low hanging branches.
     
    We got the static on site relatively easy, but then it got bogged down twice whilst reversing it over the type 3 MOT.   We had to Jack it up and then finally decided that sheets of 18mm shuttering ply under the wheels might be the way forward.  In a nutshell , if we’d done that from the start we’d have got it done much quicker.  It’s in position and I just need to get it levelled and on blocks now.
     
    A bit too stressful for my liking, but relieved.  I’ve been more concerned about getting the static on site, than building the house.





  8. flanagaj

    Tank in and nearly ready for the static

    By flanagaj,


    Static caravan site preparation
    So the drainage field is now in and the tank went in today.  It was a bloody deep hole!  Used nearly 20 tons of 10mm shingle to backfill the tank.
     
    just need to finish back filling and then I’ll need to create a couple of concrete bases for the electricity kiosk and the kiosk that will house the compressor for the Graf tank.
     




  9. flanagaj

    And so it begins

    By flanagaj,


    Static caravan site preparation
    I have taken two weeks off work to prepare our site for our static caravan / shipping containers and also installation of the drainage field and Graf treatment plant.
     
    The digger and dumper arrived on Monday and the Kubota was brand spanking new with < 1hr on the clock.
     
    I wanted to tackle this all by myself, but I cannot grade to save my life, so I have enlisted the help of a local ground worker on an hourly rate.  He’s been a god send and made easy work of the required excavation and grading tasks.
     
    Below are a few pictures of week one.  
     
     







  10. flanagaj

    More site clearance

    By flanagaj,


    Demolition
    So I spent 3 days with a 1.5 tonne excavator and a pecker breaking up the huge amount of concrete slab.  Thankfully, it wasn't reinforced and all I can say is that I didn't envy the neighbours.   I am just finishing off pulling up the broken slab with a 3 tonne machine and getting the concrete collected with a grab lorry.   There is about 5-6 loads to collect and that is going to cost me about £700.  I could have hired a concrete crusher, but I calculated that to hire a crusher, 5 tonne excavator would have exceeded this cost.  I also do not have any water on site for the dust suppression, and there was a lot of large lumps, that would have not fitted into the crusher without having to broken up smaller.
     
     




  11. flanagaj

    Clearing the cattery buildings

    By flanagaj,


    Demolition
    There were 28 cattery pens and an office building to get rid of.   We really didn't want to have to pay to have this removed, so we put an advert on Facebook, and were inundated with calls.  We sold the lot for 2.5k and after 3 days of removing the roof structure (didn't want to risk people falling through it), the buyers came and removed it.  They left a complete mess, but I spent a further three days putting the remnants in one 4 yard plasterboard skip and 2 * 10 yard skips.  This meant we were still up 1.5k, so not a bad result.
     
    Pictures of the site before clearance and afterwards.

    The next task is to hire an excavator and break up the masses of concrete slab.  Hoping that it is not reinforced so that I can hire a crusher and recycle the waste into hardcore.
     





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