week 1: balcony demolition

The cast-in-situ concrete balcony has been removed along with the ground-bearing slab beneath. After the balustrade had been removed, the balcony was cut-off with a wet cutting saw in sections. The plan is to cut the remaining protruding section flush with the face of the brickwork and expose the lintel so that we can plan the steel fabrication works.

The web of the new steel will take the weight of the existing slab (as shown above left), but the sequence will need careful planning as the steel will support the wall structure above too. Furthermore, looks like we have a raft foundation on the lower ground slab, so cutting the slab away may need a bit more planning. We are putting a new steel column at the corner of the house as shown (in green) below.This will require a new concrete base, but we need to sequence the demolition and temporary bracing of the existing house very carefully.

A bit of head scratching at the moment: a number of potential solutions, but probably only one right one. Structural engineer is visiting first thing Tuesday…continues with next week’s update.

 

week 1: clearance and demolition

 

It’s been a long time coming, but finally we make a start on site this week. First couple of days was given to shrub clearance down the side and demolition of the garden (party) wall as shown in the photo above left. Ground levels were lowered at the rear of the property by approx 600mm as shown above right. This will be a future terraced area and the intention is to flush the external level with the internal finished floor.

Day three saw the PVC windows beneath the balcony removed in readiness for the demolition of the balcony. Initial attempts were made to remove them carefully for re-use elsewhere, but with the best will it was not possible due to the amount of adhesive sealant, which meant that the frames warped and twisted as they came out. The solution was to cut them into sections and set aside for collection by a specialist who will process them into chip granulate for re-manufacturing into plastic construction products.

welcome to my fourwalls’ blog

Thanks for visiting. Our building work starts tomorrow, so thought I should launch this blog. I have been building and tinkering with this blog in the background for a little while now. So have a look around at earlier content: pages and posts, that give the project background and some earlier works on the house. It also covers some of the problems so far regarding approvals and costs. Going forward, this blog will contain information about each of the stages, from foundations through to completion and everything in between.

My aim is to update this blog on a weekly basis, usually a Friday evening (I won’t have much of a social life whilst the main building work is happening!). So check back frequently to see how we are progressing and feel free to post comments/ask questions/offer advice.

Happy reading!

Ian