C O N S E R V A T O R Y   B L O G
J u n e   2 0 0 5

A real Square   (stage 4)

In the last few days I've made a Triangle with a right angled 'square' corner - very important if you want to have dwarf walls at 90° to your house - which I do!

The Triangle is made with the help of our old friend Trigonometry - a2 + b2 = c2 (see below)! Ah yes, I knew all that schooling was for a good reason. Didn't take too long to knock this triangle into shape. The triangle will be used to accurately measure out where the walls will be built on the foundations.

Next on the agenda was ordering the bricks. In this case, London Bricks 'Cotswold' variety. And they're not cheap either! We ordered approx half the total we'll eventually need as the dwarf wall is going up in two stages.

The first stage is four courses high. This matches the level of the damp proof course of the house and will be the level of the floor of the conservatory.

The second phase (some way off yet) is to build the remaining 7 courses - remembering the gap for the double door frame! The dwarf wall is made of two walls, with a cavity in-between (50mm)

The pallet of 390 bricks were dumped unceremoniously by Jewsons of Woolston on our drive on Tuesday. I spent most of the evening moving them all to their current resting position - outside the back door.

I aim to start building the first 4 courses of the wall on the w/e of 2/3 July - which is probably when the next update to this blog will be!

Today's pearl of wisdom: Know your Trig; a2 + b2 = c2

Solid Foundations    (stage 4)

The ready mix cement mixer turned up 20 minutes early at 07:40 on Saturday. After some deliberation as to whether our drive would take the weight of the truck, I got going with the shifting the c.4 tonnes (1.8m3) of ready mix.

Less than an hour later and with the aid of a neighbours wheelbarrow, I'd shifted the lot. Ros was busy redistributing the barrow loads in the trench while I was shifting the mix. Once it was all in, started levelling it off - this is where the shuttering is vital. Using a hefty plank, it didn't take long to tamp down the mix and attain a smooth(ish), level finish.

The longer concrete takes to go off, the stronger it is, so keeping it covered and out of direct sun light is vital in the early stages. We covered it with tarpaulin and went for a round of golf!

Today's pearl of wisdom: Don't skimp and save on tools (i.e. wheelbarrows!), the right tool for the job pays dividends!

Ready and waiting   (stage 3)

Got the shuttering finished this evening. Last couple of evenings were taken up with finishing the digging and continuing the shuttering. Now we just need the concrete.

We've ordered 1.8cubic meters of Ready Mix to be delivered Saturday at 08:00. I was talked into the ready mix option by Ros and my folks, having preferred the idea (and lower cost) of mixing it myself. Still, it will probably save two hard days work getting it delivered, even though the cost is going to be a fair bit higher.

More Shuttering    (stage 3)

Continued with digging out the final leg of the footing this evening and also put in more shuttering. Also checked out a web site on ready mix concrete, so I'm going to give them a call tomorrow and find out how expensive convenience is!

Also had the skip removed while I was at work, so Ros has her drive back for the car :o)

Help!   (stage 3)

Lots has happened since the last post, so here goes… Firstly, the skip was removed on Tuesday. This was good as it made way for a new larger skip (6 cubic yards), which came on Wednesday morning (narrowly missing the neighbours new Fiesta!).

In the evening, it didn't take me long to shift the earth sitting in the garage from Bank Holiday Monday. Thursday evening, I started Back on the main site and shifted most of the remaining earth to bring the level of the whole site down to 350mm below the DPC of the house.

Started digging the footings for the foundations first thing Saturday. These have to be another 400mm down from the main site level - a whopping 750mm below the DPC of the house. Nightmare stuff.

My Dad came over for the w/e and picked up my uncle's cement mixer, which he kindly offered us the use of. Don't think we'll get to use it this w/e, but I hope to have all the cement foundations in by the end of next w/e (11/12 May).

After two long days digging, we've got about 85% of the footings dug. We also persuaded a wall I put up last year to come down (with the aid of Mr Sledgehammer!). The wall was erected to prevent our cats from physically interacting with the neighbours dog (Lisa). Pulling it down meant replacing it with some crudely stuck up timber. Still, should do the job of separating the beasts until the foundations are in and the dwarf wall is built (see Exhibit A on the picture below)..

Lastly, I started on the shuttering which boarders the footings and enables the cement to be easily levelled. Setting the shuttering in place is a tricky job as it all has to be at the correct height - requires extensive use of a builders spirit level (see Exhibit B on the picture below).

Synopsis for the week ahead: 1) Get rid of the skip 2) Finish the remaining footings - any earth that comes out after the skip's gone can be used for filling in other areas. 3) Finish the shuttering all round.

Image on the right below has been enhanced with white lines to accentuate the edges of the footings (it was difficult to see them otherwise)