Day 18 - Floorboards

A delivery of insulation, wood and floorboards arrived this morning followed by the delivery of the new stairs which are now cluttering up the hall until they are installed.

The main job for today was floorboards. These are now down everywhere (including in the eaves cupboards) but not secured down in the bathroom so that the plumbers can do the second fix later in the job. Not much else to say really!

Day 7 - Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve 2008.  Time to wrap up work for a week or so and take a well-earned break!  Simon was here first, very early - just as I left for work - and they were down to work straight away.  We haven't been up there today, but they took some photos for us to show progress.  The uprights for the purlin wall in the study are in place, and the rafters are tied together at the top.  That really brings down the ceiling height, and defines the width we're going to have there.  They've taken out the temporary supports and the old piece of wood that used to span the loft at chest height, getting in the way.  So it's all open, if a little low.

They tidied up well and knocked off at midday.  They've left it so that I can get in fairly easily for my aerial project (and to take a look!), but they've put the tiles back more securely than normal so as to avoid an leaks while they're on holiday.  I think they're going to be away, so there won't be an option to call them in if we start getting drips through the bedroom ceiling.  I'd better be careful putting those tiles back again!  Here are some of the pictures they took:

Day 2 - Building Inspector

I'd asked Marcus for a site meeting on Tuesday morning, so he was here bright and early before 08:00 to discuss some details.  They then got busy making more noise, completing the jobs that Simon had started the previous day.

The building inspector had booked a visit today.  This is early in a job, but as he hasn't worked with Elite before, he wanted to meet Marcus.  His main concern was the lack of a structural wall to support the new floor in one area - but Marcus was ahead of him and had already ordered an extra steel beam to take the load.  Inspector was very happy with that - he's a very nice man.  They also discussed insulation and agreed how it was going to be done (each council has their own preferences for insulating a loft conversion).  There was, however, a slight fly in the ointment, so to speak.  Our plans for a separate, closed off study seem to meet with disapproval under the fire safety regulations.  The study would be classed as an "inner room" as you have to go through the bedroom to reach the stairs.  That is not allowed in 2nd storey room as in the case of a fire in the bedroom, you could be trapped in the study. (Until last year a fire escape window would have overcome this problem, but the regulations have changed and it's no longer allowed.)  Marcus is putting such a window in anyway, because he always does.  The building inspector says he'll check if there's any other option, but we may have to leave the study area open-plan to the bedroom - i.e. make it all one room.

After the inspector left they went off to buy some spreader plates for the steels to rest on (which weren't strictly required, but Marcus seems to be a perfectionist)  and came back and bedded them in.  They then cut some more joists, which seems to have left them worried about the support for the roof - they put in some extra props (see picture above) before finishing for the day.  This entails tidying up the loft, sweeping the stairs carpet and returning all coffee mugs to the kitchen.  Very impressive!  They're taking tomorrow off while they wait for the arrival of the steels on Thursday - there's no more that can be done until they're in.

Day 1

Monday morning and Simon turned up before 08:00, just as expected. As they had been on Friday to leave tools, he didn't have to mess around setting up before he started. By 08:10 he was making holes in the party wall. We had been warned that this would be the noisy bit, but it's difficult to be prepared for exactly how noisy. As soon as he started, the whole house started to vibrate. There was nowhere in the building that we could go to get away from it. Every time he stopped using whatever tool it was, we could hear debris falling down inside the cavity walls. I had warned the neighbours that this was happening and they had decided to extend their weekend and stay with friends on Sunday night, so they weren't in. That was a very wise decision.

Having made three nice neat holes in the party wall, they then proceeded to do matching holes on the external wall on the other side of the loft. This time he didn't stop at the cavity. These holes go right through to the fresh air outside. That is how they will getting the steel beams into the loft. However, while we are waiting for those to be delivered, we have big holes in the wall - so they filled them up with the most abundant substance in the loft - insulation. He then proceeded to cut a channel through the ceiling joists so that the steel can sit lower and give us a lower floor and therefore more headroom. Having completed this, Simon left the loft looking like this for the night...