BARNES BUILD

		This project was started in September 2003. Its in Milton Keynes a very nice village called Loughton. The site is small but with good ground conditions, the vegitation meant that we were required to excavate footings to a couple of meters on the left of this picture.
		Here we see the concrete has been poured in the footings and we are begining to set out for brickwork. The handsome chap in the picture is Stu, we came to know him as "Squeeky" this is because no matter what work he does, he always is squeeky clean. Good bloke though!
		I thought this was a good angle which showed some of the work which eventually is below ground. This work is invisible to the finished product and yet is fundamental to the successful outcome of the final project.
		The picture is a bit dark but shows the materials below a concrete base. The first layer is 100ml of crushed concrete or hardcore, this is then covered with sand to produce a smooth surface, its called "blinding." A 1000gr of polythene membrane goes on next then a 100 ml of polystyrene thermal insulation is installed. Finally, 100 ml of concrete is laid to produce the basic cover, near to the end of the job, a 50ml finished floor screed is applied. And you thought it was "Just" a concrete floor/
		Here is the finished level which we call the "oversite" The bit on the right is lower than the rest because it will eventually become floor level of the integral garage. You may notice that the brickwork is very rough at this stage, this is because the outer brickwork has not yet been built to avoid "smarming" of the work when the concrete base is poured. One of the things which I think spoils a house is staining caused by spillage of concrete and splashes of mortar.
		Like most infill sites, it is awkward. The problem is getting the maximum size on a site, this will nearly always impact on how scaffolding is positioned without causing problems with nieghbours. This is a front view from the road.
		This is a four bedroom detached house we have raised the scaffolding and are getting close to the fitting of floor joists. This is a view from the back garden.
		Probably a better picture, the cherry tree produced the most wonderful cherries, I picked about 16 pounds in one hour, we had jam coming out our ears! On the right of this picture we erected a lovely conservatory.
		In keeping with property in the street, the planning people required that the the house be brickwork on ground level and rendered 1st floor. Here we are on the second lift, almost at wall plate level for roof.
		The small bit on the side will become the entrance hall.
		A view from the side. This pathway was a public path to a very pleasant and private park. You can see how tight the site was, my scaffolding overhangs the fence and onto the planting edge beside the path.
		The house was quite spacious which is hard to believe when looking at the oversite, but I have often noticed this at the begining of a development. This view shows the lounge dinningroom. The opening on the right becomes an entrance into a lovely conservatory.
		Here you can see that we are very nearly ready to install the roof trusses. These are engineered trusses they have the great advantage of speed of erection, the disadvantage is in the available space in the attic.
		Eventually we remove all the overgrown foliage and landscape front and back. I build a great garden room at the far end of the 120 foot rear garden. I dont think I have a pic of that!
		We begin to fit the roof trusses.
		If you look closely you can see that we have begun to erect the roof. Just a little point here. We have our own scaffolding and therefore do not have to rely on sub-contractors to come in. This save quite a lot of time as normally the scaffolders will come back at least three times and it is not uncommon to loose a week in build time over a project of this size.
		Now we have the roof felt and battoned. In fact the term "felt" is a hangover from old times. Now days a breathable material is used which is much superior to the old bitumin type. This prevents build up of condensation in the attic.
		I'm on top of the world!
		We have begun to fit the roof tiles. This roof has four hips which are tiled using bonnetts. I think this looks so much better than hip or ridge tiles. More symetrical.
		Here is an internal view of the lounge diner. The  flu for the fireplace is cleverly hidden within the cavity, thus saving valuable living space. The fumes are evactuated through a special ridge tile thus removing the need for a chimney.
		A view from what will become the kitchin into the integral garage. A stud wall is to be built beside the staircase to separate the rooms.
		A view from the entrance lobby into the lounge diner.
		The roof is finished and the windows are installed and fully glazed. The house is weather proof!
		A view from the back garden.
		We have now rendered the blockwork and dismantled the top section of scaffolding.
		From the front.
		We are begining to cover the render with a high build tectured finish. its begining to look like a house.
		From the rear.
		At last the scaffold is gone! If you look at the top of the roof you can see the special vent tile used to vent the chimney.
		We are fitting the guttering and downpipes. Its getting close to finish.