Giles and Paula Add a Room Onto the Side of The House

[Giles]

Well, there is a condition on the build (well, there are lots, but this one is specific to bricks):

"No build above DPC level is to start before gaining written approval from the council."

But (and I am sure this is the same as it is in the USA), It's all a game.

8th May - Meet planning officer onsite, and I have 20 brick types for him to choose from…"Nah, don't like any of them"

15th May - Meet planning officer onsite and I have 4 brick types for him to choose from (may include some he has already seen  but I could not possibly comment). "Yes, love that one, send me details and I will approve"

[Aetas]

Sounds like you have to become an expert in handmade bricks right now G. .

[Giles]

Today was choosing flooring:

Portland stone slabs for inside (originally cladding on London buildings - was twice as thick as this, but these guys saw it in half so it is more manageable)…

And for new terrace outside the kitchen York flags (finger not meant to be in photo :P)….

[twin]

@Giles  twin bobby would like to stop by and see this. ( Rock hound )

[twin]

@Aetas  Are the bricks being made in York PA.?

[Chris]

Nope, original recipe York- the British one.

[Giles]

Since the last photo, I have had one course of engineering bricks laid…..Long story.  I have the threshold (Portland stone), cills, gauged arches, door and windows just about sorted.  Once I've done that then, I'm hoping that the brickie who said he will do the work, will actually do the work!

[Giles]

The current state of my nation.

2 rows of engineering bricks and 3 rows of handmade bricks.  Laid by the ground-workers, and will have to be redone by someone who knows what they are doing.  The ground-workers clearly did not know how to lay Flemish bond properly…..That should start to happen next week, the laying out will take some time as we have 2 blind windows, 1 real window and large french doors, so there will be quite some math required to work out the queen closer positioning.  This is a classic case of an architect not really knowing what he was doing and mandating door and window opening widths, in reality, these openings need to be dictated by the brickie....to be fair though, laying Flemish bond is really a style suited to a solid 9" wall whereas modern building regs required a cavity (4.5" brick, 5" cavity 4" block)....

[Giles]

In comes the shit….

[Giles]

So, compared to @Clint_D 's scheme, our is very traditional and probably a bit boring.  But we live in a "Listed" building in a conservation zone, so our options are limited.  But hey, in many ways I am a traditionalist, so I'm not bitching too much…..

[Chris]

Looks great!  And I'm sure you'll adjust to the smaller square footage pretty quickly, especially with that much yard to play in.

I hope the move goes well- it's always a miserable process, and doing it in August is going to suuuuck.

[Finn666]

great stuff everybody! love the details on the planning and everything @Giles hope you’re going to share more and more with us. pics of the progress would also be dope!
same goes for you @Clint_D can’t wait to see the progress mate!

@organisys and @Appfaff congrats on the new place guys! each place looks wonderful and i’m sure the move will got exactly as planned! i know you guys are going to love the place the more and more you’ll get used to the new circumstances that a smaller house brings with it!

@Graeme if you got more pictures like that, please share

[Giles]

I'm taking this thing in (enforced!) small steps, but this is a big step for me.  The Brickies mate (Michael) laid out the blocks for the Bricky (Andy) today.  These are for the inner skin of the cavity wall.

Tomorrow, the plan is that Andy knocks up a few test courses of bricks with different mortars, so that the planning officer can "help" me choose, the correct colour mortar…..

[neph93]

Progress! Have they fixed the issue with the queen closers?

Edit: Looking at the pic it would appear they've not. Still, progress! I'm exited to see how this goes, not least the how the joining doorway from the main house develops.

[Giles]

YES!!!

Above ground building has started…

And just look at the stretcher, half brick and queen closer detail….

[img alt="File 31-07-2018, 18 47 27.jpeg"]https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/ihf-images/5234/1/755c1888-a74b-40d5-b64e-815d049f2983.jpeg

[neph93]

@Giles:

And just look at the stretcher, half brick and queen closer detail….

[img alt="File 31-07-2018, 18 47 27.jpeg"]https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/ihf-images/5234/1/755c1888-a74b-40d5-b64e-815d049f2983.jpeg

Looks beautifully done. The bricks are lovely too [emoji8]

[Giles]

I'm looking for a well done, but slightly wabi sabi finish.  I could not be happier….

[Steffen]

These Bricks are really cool, the asossiaction is great. Is it hard in your Part of England to find someone to do this quality of Brick laying?

[Giles]

It's hard to find a good bricklayer, they are like hens teeth….

[Steffen]

So no different then on the other Side of the Water, what a shame, I start to think that I maybe toss the Masters Degree and go for a solid Handyman Job, those Guys get rarer and rarer these days. The Craftsman I talk to basiclly all say that they really like to teach someone their Craft but the Young People prefer to work at a Factory or a Supermarket or something along those lines  :-\