The new corten steel and glazed entrance vestibule will require a solid foundation. The last week or two has been spent dodging the weather, digging holes, fashioning reinforcement bars and pouring concrete.
First it was necessary to remove nearly two hundred years of workshop debris – a few cattle bones were found amongst an awful lot of sawdust, broken bricks and gravel. The cottage footings go deep into the heavy clay ground, this is quite reassuring. The excavation for the new porch slab is almost complete, note how the top 500mm of the yard surface is made up of broken bricks and gravel, basically made-up ground. The shuttering, DPC and reinforcement all in place awaiting the first concrete pour. It is now possible to appreciate the size of the new extension.Getting the level just right. Finishing off the perimeter up-stand; in due course this will support the massive weight of glass comprising the majority of the extension’s wall, light should flood into the interior.
This is the last bit of serious ground work to be done, the next step will be to get the scaffolding up, remove the concrete roof and cladding before refurbishing the frame and installing the cottage’s more thermally efficient external cladding. It’s not a great time to be working outside, but this is the right time of year to be installing timber cladding.
Leigh Hill Progress 