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Dwarf Walls    (stage 7)

Weather held good today, so the brick layer came and put the remaining seven courses down. This would have taken me & my dad at least 3 weeks at our speed, but he was finished in a little under 6 hours!

He arrived at 8am, but I needed to get another 100 bricks and 16 breeze blocks before he could finish the job, so I spent the morning driving between B&Q, Jewsons and home picking up materials.

Next up is wooden in-fill frame between the house and the conservatory that fills the gap below the roof overhang (see stage 8), which we're looking to do a week today.

Concrete Floor    (stage 6)

Another hard days work. This time mixing the concrete and getting it in and level. We had two huge 1 ton bags of sand delivered during the week from B &Q. I spend so much there I'm thinking of taking shares out in them!

The day started early with putting in the Damp Proof Membrane (DPM - not to be confused with Damp Proof Course - DPC). This is basically just a layer of thick plastic to stop the damp coming up from the ground beneath. The polystyrene insulation blocks form the next 5cm layer, leaving just 10cm for the concrete. This brings it all level with the fourth course of the bricks and DPC of the house.

It took my dad and I all day to mix the concrete and barrow it into the base, levelling it down with a tamping plank.

The concrete base will form the floor of the conservatory, which we eventually aim to put tiles down on.

Next stage is to get the brick layer in to build us the remaining seven courses - leaving a gap for the double doors! All being well, this will happen Saturday, but the weather is not forecast to stay dry this w/e, so we'll have to wait and see.

Rubble, Rubble, Toil & Trouble   (stage 6)

My weekend felt like I was doing time! I spent both days breaking up hardcore in the baking sun. The only thing I was missing were the shackles and stripy coat.

I managed to get all the hardcore broken up and into the base area. In fact, I put too much in and will have to remove some before putting the Damp Proof Membrane, Insulation and concrete in. I've taken Thursday off work & my dad down to help get the concrete in.

Bricks & Mortar   (stage 5)

My Dad came down to help this w/e and we got building nice and early Saturday morning. As I mentioned last update, the dwarf wall is actually two walls with a cavity. We decided breeze block would be better for the inner wall.

This is partly because the four courses we aimed to complete this weekend will all be below the Damp Proof Membrane (DPM) level, so it doesn't really matter whether the inner course is brick or breeze block.

Aside from that, we decided to use breeze blocks for all of the inner wall anyway, then plaster over once we've finished. Breeze blocks are under 1/3 the price (88p) and are much faster to lay, than six bricks - which is the equivalent volume.

The downside to them is their weight! They weigh a ton and it took two cars to shift the 16 we needed from B&Q.

Well, even though we were using breeze blocks for the inner wall, we still only managed to lay just over three courses of inner and outer wall in two days. Still, less than one course to go now and we can get the hardcore, sand, DPM and cement in - which will form the floor.

Today's pearl of wisdom: Buy a box of disposable pvc gloves for handling cement - they're cheap and will keep your hands in tact!