@@marshawargo7238 Yes, it is a joy to watch Andy because of his genuine care and attention to detail. And Mrs Mac getting wholeheartedly involved too. Gladdens my heart🥰 🥳
@@moiragoldsmith7052 I've watched older videos & in a Q&A he said she is Very Involved. Due to learning from her father's business. I think maybe she just doesn't like being in the videos.
This and the main house series has been a great watch, I like how you edit and narrate the episodes, make good TV viewing on the RU-vid app. I can imagine you working with Allan again now you struck gold with a brickie.
I’m comparing apples to pomegranates, but I wonder what the cost difference of this style of construction versus a poured concrete wall/grade-beam, set at a height to directly accept the floor joists? I suspect the frosts in my part of the world would break up this sort of foundation in short order. (Not a criticism, I’m just fascinated by the different techniques employed in different environments around the world.)
Yeah not sure! Very rare for temps to get below -5C in this neck of the woods. Might get the odd day of -7C or so but equally we sometimes get winters with almost no frost at all. 👍
Has your neighbour extended right up to the boundary,? If so it means you have to leave a wider access gap on your side. Quite selfish of people who extend right up to the boundary as it impacts on their next door neighbour. Hopefully this isn't the case with your neighbours extension.
Great to see a local lad with such great content on this topic. You've taught me a lot already and it's such great viewing watching this extension progress. Your attention to detail is admirable, even to the point that backfilling around the perimeter looked satisfyingly neat and tidy! Can't wait for the next episode.
Hi Andy, cutting the channel out of the brickwork to maintain the cavity where the wall starters are positioned seems a bit excessive to me. Okay, you're trying to eliminate a cold spot, but with insulation butted-up against the original wall, surely this cold spot would be minimal? I'd sooner have a slight cold area than weaken considerably the original outside wall.
Alan's blockwork (and brickwork) is superb. Great to see so much care taken on doing it properly. It's so neat I reckon you should forget about plastering and rendering and leave it as is!
Mrs. Mac is a gem of a woman, and you appear to be well suited. You both share a vision of your future and are not afraid to get stuck in together. Lovely to see a good marriage at work in a world of throw away relationships. Cheers!
Bluebell bulbs. Are they British or Spanish. If they’re Spanish (and anything like the ones in my garden) they will spread in a thick blanket everywhere. Which is fine if that’s what you want, but a pain in the ass if you don’t. Years long battle awaits you to get rid of them otherwise. Also, excellent work on the extension!
It’s all looking good for the new build. I have just replaced a lounge floor and joists so a lot of this is relevant but my old boards were 30 mm thick so I had to adjust the levels to suit the new P5 boards. Mine was on dwarf walls as well so at least I had a bit of wiggle room. The entire room had just been painted so the skirting was left in place and a spacer made to let me set the joist height while leaving room for the boards. I used some Propex earlier this year but asa temporary replacement for my sunroof after the glass exploded and I had to wait two months for a new one. It worked well but was very cracked and broke easily when removed, but at least it kept the rainout!
Cheers! Unfortunately I can't use Kathryn Tickell recordings due to copyright... although a friend of mine has worked with the Tickells so I may need to call in a favour. 😉👍
I cannot believe the trouble you are going through under the floor joist! I mean, pouring concrete. Why. You will never see it. Probably never need to access it. Why not just stretch plastic over the dirt and call it done?
Do you know your rough quotes to have just the build above the garage done? We have a double garage we would like to build on top of. The garage doesn’t need knocking down and rebuilding so just a case of building up. I’d say around 50sqm in total
I love the music on this episode what’s it called also I really love watching you videos the content and tips you give also watching your journey with your projects.
You have gone to the trouble of putting in a suspended floor to match the original but building a block outer skin. Could you not match the original bricks?
Considering what you have to pay for Alan's skill as a brickmason, it's a smart thing to do all the preliminary work and setting up so all he has to do is lay brick! Not many construction areas are as neat and tidy as this one. ;-)
Has the neighbors extension come right up to the boundary of their property, are they not obliged to leave space inside their land for maintenance as you have done.
Yup, neighbours are to boundary. It's a bit first-come-first-served with this sort of stuff unfortunately. We didn't need to leave a maintenance gap though - just makes life easier for us. 👍
Merry Christmas, in case you don't get another video in before. Really enjoying this series - another really interesting update. Sounds like your bricky is a good bloke. Always a pleasure to work with people who take pride in their work.
Amazing progress Andy. Really enjoying this series and learning by the shovel full! Quick question on the use of blocks and render, is this much cheaper than brick? I guess they go up faster and are cheaper as a materials but wondered how they compare?
I don't think there's much in it between render / brick. Bricks are more expensive + bricky time but the render costs will be significant. It's nice to have the faster initial build though. 👍
Looking very sharp Andy, and with you all the way on the jim-jam policy! 😂 Seeing how beautifully your walls have been cut to stop cold bridging between the cavities reminds me just how sh…. (Rubbish) my builders were 😠
Great series Andy and another interesting episode. Good catch securing Alan’s services, he very clearly has a pride in his work - not always so evident in the trades today. All the best for the season to you and the family.🎄👍🍺
Great stuff as usual Andy. Its really starting to take shape. Fair play to Mrs Mac for getting stuck in there too! Merry Christmas to you and the family!
Off the top of my head I think it was about £800 and that includes all inspections throughout the build plus initial approval of plans etc. Not cheap but there's quite a few visits for that price. 👍 But yes, price varies depending on what's being inspected.
I need a digger for a few other jobs so if I can time things right I'll use that, but it now looks like we might not need a drain over that side anyway. Hope yours is progressing well and you're not too delayed by the weather! 👍
Just discovered this series, well timed as I'm buying a bungalow in Northumberland (authentic local accent bonny lad) and hope to complete a single storey extension in the next couple of years. Can I ask waht made you want to stick with a voided floor? Ive lived with squeeky floorboards and draughty voided floors my whole life and thought concrete would be the way to go in future. What are my pros and cons?
Hi Andy ........here there is a planning limit on the depth of an extension 3M, yours looks deeper, or is it a perspective error, it looks deeper. Will you insulate underfloor ? looking forward to watch you and your wife working. How are the costs coming along , have you noticed any great change since Brexit. Have you costed rendering against cladding ? what will the internal wall finishes be ? dot and dab. with internal walls so well finished you could use a proprietary internal wall finish paint.
You can build any size you like with planning permission 😁👍. You might be thinking of permitted development with the 3m thing? Yes, insulating under floor. Haven't noticed anything specifically due to Brexit but obviously the pandemic caused price increases and material shortages across the globe unfortunately. 👍
Great video - thanks. Thinking ahead - that's the way to avoid stress! Just one quick question - you've got 100 mm concrete blocks with 100 mm full fill cavity. Is that going to meet thermal conductivity requirements? Or is something else planned?
Lovely brick and blockwork there by Alan the bricky 👌🏼 It’s a good size extension too .Thanks for the propped tip too , we will definitely be investing in some of that , cheers and a happy new year 🥳🧱👍🏼
Cheers bud! It's so handy to have around. Unfortunately we had to take a lot of it down when Storm Arwen hit since the winds were too high - so the cavities got wet regardless 🙄. But in non-storm conditions it's great 😂. Merry Christmas to you guys and the family too! Love your channel. 👍🎄
Andy, love your channel albeit a recent subscriber I have being doing a bit of catch up 👍 Question, with the remote chance of flooding would the over site for the extension be better with the sub base as is, rather than with visqueen and concrete, to allow for natural drainage? I’m not a builder, just curious?
Another interesting video Andy.....Alan the bricky wouldn't travel to the North West would he ?..... fancy getting a tradesman who actually turns up when he says he will 😁
Devil's advocate, why do you want good air flow under your floor, but you have got cavity wall insulation in the walls, the house is like mine 100y old, it's never had any damp or condensation problems , unlike new houses , air needs to blow through those cavities , what's your view ?, Great vid lad.
Be a shame to cover that block work Andy haha. Two different experiences comparing the brickwork completed on the garden room ey! Keep it up, inspiring stuff.
You Brits have strange building methods. Two free standing non interlinking walls with thin termite blocks stacked on edge. That would get so many red flags over here across the pond, it would drive a bull crazy.
The walls are tied together with wall ties. 300mm total wall thickness (1ft). Bear in mind these are very dense solid concrete blocks - about 17kg each... although you do get houses built with low density aerated blocks, but I can't stand them.
Great stuff its lovely when you can do the work your self especially the labouring you can learn a lot that way. I'm really enjoying your videos. Doe stir tricky travel to Birmingham, could do with a good brick. Look forward to the next video. Regards Karamat
Great video looking good and ur involved so you know it's done well . But the music was shiteeee sorry but brought me down mate lol. Merry Xmas to you and ur family .
I would have still done party wall agreements and spanned off neighbouring properties, just putting in insulation and blocks, even if needed a single brick internal wall for a covered passage through.
Great brickwork - perps look perfect. Shouldn't there be an air gap between the outer wall and the insulation? If damp gets in it will travel to the inside wall. At least use closed cell so it doesn't absorb?
Looking great. I see your neighbour has an extension. Whats the plan with rendering the wall facing the extension? or have you left quite a gap for access?
I appreciate the slate boxing in the airbrick vent chamber - we had cavity wall insulation - (little grey polystyrene balls ) added later and it is forever spilling out of the air brick vent into the yard. Not good
Sterling work so far Andy. Your brickie is doing a proper job for you. My dad is a brickie and helped me build my single storey extension. Brick laying is an art and it is captivating watching a professional work.
Did you consider making void under new joists into a deeper crawl space? My bungalow has sufficient depth under floor that made it possible to retro insulate between joists and repair a few dodgy joists without ripping up floor.Entry via an access panel in floor at corner of room.I would suppose that you hopefully never need to do this.Just a thought!
It would be a bit of a gamble due to the river. The water levels have never come up that high before but I wouldn't want to go any deeper without a fully tanked basement with sump pumps etc. 👍
Not a builder but enjoying your videos. Wondered why you shuttered off the area of the main drain. I presume you put foundations over it on top of the celotex seen in this video, bit why not do that first and go over in one continuous foundation?
Yeah, so lintel over the drains - spec'd by the water board. The Celotex is probably overkill but I read somewhere about shoving some compressible material in there for added protection for the drains. But there's no weight at all on the drains.
Looking good sir , your Mr Alan is definitely going the extra mile very neat work . I bet he appreciates you stacking his blocks for him , obviously you’re saving him time but also a lot of effort . I think your a project manager in the making , a lot of people are keen to handover building works to someone else so might be a future option to consider . It’s more a case of organising the work rather than being totally onboard with every trade . And what I seen so far on your channel is , you definitely know how to organise .
