Very little work on site this weeks im sorry to say, had to put some long hours in at the work bench catching up on some tight deadline commissions in the workshop.
We do now have all our drawings for the new steel work required for the replacement roofs, so hopefully we can get the ball rolling fast on that. I am obviously very keen to get the old roof off and new on and water tight again while we enjoy our reliable Cumbria summer - its surely due any day now... i think we're having it on a Tuesday this year.
Thursday 27 August 2015
Week 5 - Soil pipe
This week we have started installing the new soil pipes for the building. For those not in the know, dont think of soil in the garden, think more along the lines of soiled pants - that's right guys we're talking poo! Of which i thankfully managed to completely avoid touching or getting on me in any way (Ben however did not... my bad)
I was working with the skilled and talented Mr Ben Lane of 'Puddle Lane Plumbing', so at least one of us knew what we were doing.
There is currently a soil pipe connected to mains drainage right in the front corner of the building serving a singe toilet and sink. The new layout however has multiple water and drainage points throughout so we needed to channel new piping into the concrete floor slab to where they are needed.
Cutting into concrete to a depth of up to half a meter required the use of some VERY manly power tools indeed. My inner 8 year old self was virtually wetting his spider-man pants with excitement.
The tools did not disappoint... well not for the first 10 mins or so anyway. A jack hammer is essentially a hardcore Pogo-Stick designed less for bounce and fun but more noise and destruction. By the time Id spent 3 days on it my body felt rather pulverized.
As you can see in the photos below the battle between man and concrete was won and the pipes are in place. We are now waiting for building control to sign it off before we concrete them over.
1st job was to cut through the slab to revel where the mains drainage connects. The old soil pipe in the building just did a 90 degree bend from here and went straight up the wall. We have more grand plans...
Starting to cut into the ground floor slab to run the new pipes underneath, as you can see it make a LOT of concrete dust, so much so in fact passers buy were worried the building was on fire!
The urge to wave a revving petrol powered saw above your head like a crazed mad-man was very strong and we both succumbed - we limited ourselves to only once each though (Ok fine, twice!)
Making progress
The finished laid pipes for downstairs first fix plumbing, complete with inspection camber - in case you forget what it looks like
I was working with the skilled and talented Mr Ben Lane of 'Puddle Lane Plumbing', so at least one of us knew what we were doing.
There is currently a soil pipe connected to mains drainage right in the front corner of the building serving a singe toilet and sink. The new layout however has multiple water and drainage points throughout so we needed to channel new piping into the concrete floor slab to where they are needed.
Cutting into concrete to a depth of up to half a meter required the use of some VERY manly power tools indeed. My inner 8 year old self was virtually wetting his spider-man pants with excitement.
The tools did not disappoint... well not for the first 10 mins or so anyway. A jack hammer is essentially a hardcore Pogo-Stick designed less for bounce and fun but more noise and destruction. By the time Id spent 3 days on it my body felt rather pulverized.
As you can see in the photos below the battle between man and concrete was won and the pipes are in place. We are now waiting for building control to sign it off before we concrete them over.
Week 4 - Rebuilding road side external walls
The asbestos guys had their second visit to site on Monday this week, to remove all the asbestos external wall cladding from the road frontage. To do this, and to rebuild the walls afterwards we need scaffolding - or as i like to think of it: my new 30 foot climbing frame. It even has some monkey bars (sort off).
There was two off them and they were in and out, taking all the asbestos with them by lunchtime. Which was nice, although it does make the cost of it seem all the more eye watering.
So as you can see we now have no external walls on the road side - so better get building then really!
The frame stud work you can see went up very quickly and it has been very nice to be putting materials back into the building rather than just throwing stuff out. looks good and sturdy too, just the two walls you can see in the photo below swallowed up over 300 meters of timber.
New stud work going in (above) lower workshop wall, no windows in this section. (Below) wall to road side at gallery level, there will be double glass doors (Juliet balcony) on the right and large multi pain window on the right.
There was two off them and they were in and out, taking all the asbestos with them by lunchtime. Which was nice, although it does make the cost of it seem all the more eye watering.
So as you can see we now have no external walls on the road side - so better get building then really!
The frame stud work you can see went up very quickly and it has been very nice to be putting materials back into the building rather than just throwing stuff out. looks good and sturdy too, just the two walls you can see in the photo below swallowed up over 300 meters of timber.
New stud work going in (above) lower workshop wall, no windows in this section. (Below) wall to road side at gallery level, there will be double glass doors (Juliet balcony) on the right and large multi pain window on the right.
Week 1 to 3 - Gutting out of building
It doesnt take much more than a fleeting glance for anyone to reach the conclusion that this place is a wreck, and i say that with the least offence possible, because after all, I'm the mug that bought it!
So we need to get the place completely cleared out and stripped down to see the core structure and actually know where stage one of the build will land - therefore i am referring to this stage as stage zero (which is a little depressing as it took 3 weeks and an eye watering cost in skips)
Four 16 qubic yrd skips were needed in total to get it to the stage you see below and the roof is yet to be touched.
Probably the best part of which (from a spectators point of view at least) was ripping down the ceiling of the ground floor. Pulling down a plasterboard ceiling is not a bad job, but when 50 years worth of sawdust from the floor above comes along for the ride it becomes less enjoyable. The 12 inch (30cm) deep joist gap between the downstairs ceiling and upper floor was completely (and i do mean completely) filled with years of sawdust. This accounted for over 100 square meters of 30cm deep sawdust to shower down on your head each time you pulled down a section of plasterboard. It not only filled nearly half a skip on its own, but also filled every other orifice in my body (and then the shower drain when i got home), good times had by all.
What will eventually be the main entrance to the building
Ground floor workshop space
Ground floor workshop space
Top floor, standing in what will one day be a kitchen
So we need to get the place completely cleared out and stripped down to see the core structure and actually know where stage one of the build will land - therefore i am referring to this stage as stage zero (which is a little depressing as it took 3 weeks and an eye watering cost in skips)
Four 16 qubic yrd skips were needed in total to get it to the stage you see below and the roof is yet to be touched.
Probably the best part of which (from a spectators point of view at least) was ripping down the ceiling of the ground floor. Pulling down a plasterboard ceiling is not a bad job, but when 50 years worth of sawdust from the floor above comes along for the ride it becomes less enjoyable. The 12 inch (30cm) deep joist gap between the downstairs ceiling and upper floor was completely (and i do mean completely) filled with years of sawdust. This accounted for over 100 square meters of 30cm deep sawdust to shower down on your head each time you pulled down a section of plasterboard. It not only filled nearly half a skip on its own, but also filled every other orifice in my body (and then the shower drain when i got home), good times had by all.
2nd floor gallery/exhibition space
2nd floor gallery/exhibition space
Intro
We have recently started the renovation/development of the old 'Stanley's Joinery' workshops on the banks of the river Greta, Keswick, in the beautiful Lake District National Park.
Once completed this will be the new premises of MOS Bespoke Furniture (www.mosfurniture.co.uk), the finished building will house a large furniture workshop, 2/3 further craft studios, (to be rented as work space to other local art/design professionals) all arranged around a central gallery space to display and sell their work from. There will then be residential accommodation on the top floor.
Other local specialist tradesman will be employed on this project, but the vast majority of the work will be carried out by MOS Furniture ourselves - think of it as the largest commission taken on to date: a huge 400 square meter piece of furniture, to house all our toys (machinery) and designs.
At the start of the project we're currently running at about a 70/30 'excited' vs 'daunted' scenario, lets hope it stays that strong! So it begins....
Once completed this will be the new premises of MOS Bespoke Furniture (www.mosfurniture.co.uk), the finished building will house a large furniture workshop, 2/3 further craft studios, (to be rented as work space to other local art/design professionals) all arranged around a central gallery space to display and sell their work from. There will then be residential accommodation on the top floor.
Other local specialist tradesman will be employed on this project, but the vast majority of the work will be carried out by MOS Furniture ourselves - think of it as the largest commission taken on to date: a huge 400 square meter piece of furniture, to house all our toys (machinery) and designs.
At the start of the project we're currently running at about a 70/30 'excited' vs 'daunted' scenario, lets hope it stays that strong! So it begins....
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