[Closed] The front of my house just fell off too.

"I'm sat in a pile of rubble and broken wood as my house has just fallen down. Just thought I should post this. lol." @myhouseisdead

Belt'n braces stuff...love it!

Was going to comment on the state of the garden, but don't know where to start...although the bike tyres look a bit big 😉

I live in a wooden bungalow

Your mother obviously never told you the story of the Three Little Pigs.

I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in.

That's next weeks MTG's photochallenge sorted then....

.... "Take a photo of your bike in front of your blue wooden house"

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The front (nor back) of ours hasn't fallen down as yet though 😉

(Get brushing with some algicide on that cladding man!)

Why too many things wrong with the garden/ground/walls etc. Don't even know where to start with the traditional.
Umm, window sills need painting...

Yes, the garden is a bit of a mess at the moment isn't it ?
Do you think mowing the lawn might help ?

I think napalming the lawn might help.

I live in a [s]wooden bungalow[/s] big shed on brick pillars.

I think you're sexing up the bungalow bit I think.

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And breath and start again, might get the crow at the same time.

you got a banjo by any chance, Graham ?
😯

Mol has a banjo you can borrow if you need one to complete your 'look' you've got the rickety wicker rocking chair out front (or what was out front right)?

Pull the lot down and start again?

That would be a proper project!
Is that your permanent home?

It looks liek you put the winch in about 3 years ago to do this job and then lost interest until yesterday.

um, you might want to put some concrete in the trenches asap before the whole house collapses. especially if it starts raining.

i'm hoping hte pillars on the remainder of the house go down deper then the trench you have dug.

quality epic bodging.

MTG - there's still time to get your house nominated for Shed of the Year along with mcmoonter's pool palace.

Or you could get mcmoonter in to do the "building" work on your place....

That shed in the background looks more habitable than your 'bungalow' 😉
Looking forward to seeing the progress on the rebuilding work though, I'd love to do some quality bodging like this.

I haven't got a rocking chair, although I did have a verandah until I pulled it down to gain access to the front wall.

I'm not allowed to pull it down and start again as there are strange rules covering chalets in the Wyre Forest. I'm allowed to "clad" it with a self supporting cladding on a brick plinth, so that is what I am doing.
Yes, I live here permanently.

The pillars are all about the same. It looks a bit a bodge, but it's stood for at least 60 years like that. I don't know when it was built, probably shortly after the second world war, although I've heard that some were built shortly after the first world war.

Was there a big bad wolf seen in the vicinity of your house yesterday?

The shed should look better than the bungalow, I only built it a few weeks ago.

Half finished.
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With barge and door.
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As you can see from the pictures, it's chaos round here at the moment, there's no room to move.

Apart from the fact that the shiplap on the entrance wall of shed doesn't line up with the shiplap on the side, that shed looks ace.......well done ! 8)

That banking behind your shed could do with a bit of support! The weight of that collapsing could wipe out your lovely shed.

Ah, there's a reason for that...

The timber supplier I used doesn't stock treated shiplap, but they have got there own pressure treater, so I bought regular timber and got them to treat it.
When I collected it it was still soaking wet.
I guessed it would shrink when it dried, so I just tacked it on with a couple of nails in each length.
After a couple of weeks it had dried and all the gaps had opened up.
I pulled all the boards back off the front, slid them down to close up the gaps, and cut them all to fit round the door and gable end so I could fit the barge.
I can't get to the sides to do them yet.

The banks been like that for years and not moved. It's a lot more solid than it looks.

Is that your permanent home?

I think "permanent" is a bit optimistic.

Keep the updates coming. I love a DIY building project.

Would agree that you want to get some concrete in that trench pretty sharpish though.

Location, location ,location.

I think it all looks very interesting (A tad cold in winter? ) Keep us up to date with the progress 🙂

One of them sheds is quite nice

I love this place 😐 "I'm still paying in pints of blood to a crippling mortgage for the souless barratt box on an identikit estate in a drab new town, and lack the ability to hang a picture myself, so I must mock your abode in order to supress my profound envy."

That's some fair grubbing to get those stumps out, fair play. I'm sure you will prevail.

Apart from the fact that the shiplap on the entrance wall of shed doesn't line up with the shiplap on the side, that shed looks ace.......well done !

Poor muddypuddle - she's made of stern stuff.

Nice shed btw.

I would move into the shed, looks far nicer!

If you look closely at the shed, the boards are level at the bottom with a 30mm error at the top. Each board has shrunk by about 2mm over it's width.
Once I've moved all that stuff piled up against it, I'll slide the side boards down to match the front ones, they are only tacked on at the moment.

Anyway, I've moved on to bricklaying now.
The plan is to get the back wall finished, the trench backfilled and the concrete made good up to the wall. This will give me more room to work and unload and store materials.

The first course of blocks. These will be hidden below ground level.
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Only three courses high at the back, enough to keep the timber wall at least 150mm off the ground.
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English bond, two courses of reds with a course of blue plinth headers and blue corners.
[img] [/img]

I do like running water that comes through a pipe and tap, rather than through the roof

Must be romantic though for the odd night 🙂

MTG - will you be rennovating the actual house a bit? It does look a bit fally downy

[i]"If you look closely at the shed, the boards are level at the bottom with a 30mm error at the top. Each board has shrunk by about 2mm over it's width.
Once I've moved all that stuff piled up against it, I'll slide the side boards down to match the front ones, they are only tacked on at the moment."[/i]
Don't forget that the timber will swell back as summer turns to autumn and we get some decent rain - have seen far too many dry timber boards nailed down tight in the summer which have then decided to make a break for it in the winter once they've sucked in some moisture and expanded.

Diane, yes I'll be building what any normal person would call new walls around the existing walls, however, to meet the planning regulations, I will be calling it a "self supporting cladding".

Tony, yes, I've heard of that happening too. The boards really were soaking wet when I collected them. I butted the front ones up tight a few weeks ago and nailed them after they had dried out a bit. I just had a look now after we've had a couple of weeks of hot, mostly dry weather and they have got slight gaps between them again. I think I've hit the happy medium.

Each board has shrunk by about 2mm over it's width.
Once I've moved all that stuff piled up against it, I'll slide the side boards down to match the front ones

Despite my leg-pulling, based on the fact that I couldn't find anything else wrong with it, I really wouldn't worry about about a 2mm shrinkage in the shiplap - that's the point of shiplap, it can shrink without affecting its performance. And its a bleedin' shed ffs......your house needs more sorting out !

Although if ever you build another simular shed you might consider putting vertical battens on the corners - it will take the eye away from any possible misalignment, and cap the end-grain and any potential gaps caused by the shiplap's profile - I can't see from the pic any detail or how it's turned out.

That would have looked tidier wouldn't it.
One day, when I'm not so busy, I might go back and trim 25mm off the ends of the front boards with a tenon saw and put a strip of 25x15 vertically up each corner.

My first attempt at bricklaying.
[img] [/img]

They only had 15 plinth bricks in stock, I'll finish that course when I get the rest.
Priority now is to get the front pillars shored up before we get any significant rain.
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Once I've got them secure, I'll start on the sides.
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Re the wall picture, I jiggled the dimensions a bit and made the wall 8090mm long so it works out as whole bricks with no cuts.
While I was bricklaying, MuddyPuddle was working on the spoil heap, backfilling the trench with the soil and putting the stones on the track.
I've now got part of my track covered in natural Worcestershire sandstone that looks like it would cost £150 a tonne from a garden centre. 😀

All is safe now, or it will be by the morning when the concrete has fully set.

The shuttering.
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The trench was a bit deeper at this end, which meant the sides of the shuttering were steeper so the concrete started to slump. I had to shutter the top as I went to keep it in.
[img] [/img]

All four buttresses in place. The pillar at this end came out with the stump. The corner of the building is currently cantilevered off the next two pillars.
[img] [/img]

The buttresses are not just relying on mass, they go the full width of the trench to brace against the hard packed stony clay the other side.

I wish I could get away with those foundations on my extension, to meet building regs I have to go down 2.5 metres for a singlestory 🙁

Good luck with the project.

Keep posting with pics, this is great stuff.
Thanks

Do you live in a swamp ?
There's only about 200 - 300mm of top soil here, below that is dense, hard packed clay with more and more 25 - 150mm stones in it the deeper you go.

Do I live in a swamp, no, I live in civilisation & they want things to last 😉

I'd be hand wrapping them buttresses in carbon fibre wrap and tea spoons if I was you, just to be safe like

It does look a bit fally downy

😆

Gotta love technical terms like that...

*s****s*

No sign of kevin McCloud yet then!

very interesting chuck - i'd be terrified of things going 'pear shaped'.

Any updates? It didn't did it.................?

Yeah, come on there must be progress of some sort to report.

Er, Erlestoke 12, cracked frame, Bristolbike Fest...
There's been a bit of slippage on the project completion date. 😳

Oh that's OK - as long as the gale force winds didn't 'get you' 😀

Not much progress over the last couple of weeks.
Currently clearing some of the spoil from the footings excavations.

[img] [/img]

Got a catwalk off a lorry as a grid to separate the larger stones from the soil.
Soil's going to build up an embankment nearby, stones are going on my track.

MTG, this is an excellent thread and im dissapointed i've only just found it. I would say its bodgemanship of the highest calibre but your finished wall actually looks really good...atleast to a non brickie who nevers laid a brick in their lives.

edit: did i say wall? I mean self supporting cladding.

allthegearnoidea - Member
I have to go down 2.5 metres for a singlestory

allthegearnoidea - Member
Do I live in a swamp, no, I live in civilisation & they want things to last

There is making it last then 8' footings!

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A bit of progress.

Unloading sand & gravel for concreting with my engine crane.

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The back wall's finished now.

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Footings at the front and one corner built.

[img] [/img]

I hope it lines up when it meets in the middle.

[img] [/img]

Hmm, he seems to know what he's doing does MidlandTrailquestsGraham, doesn't he?

Doesn't look quite so 'fally downy' now. 😀

The wall outshines the house at present 😀

I think we can term the wall 'standy uppy'

You clearly have a lot of time on your hands. For God's sake be careful with that crane. I don't think it will take 20kN...?

What's with the lifestyle? It's very interesting, looks fun, engaging and healthy, pray tell us more?

Well, the wall's still standing this morning. 😀

[i]"You clearly have a lot of time on your hands"[/i]

I work full time, including some Saturdays, although I've just had a week off as holiday to try and get ahead with all this. I'm lucky that I work shifts as it means that I can work at home in daylight and get to the builder's merchants while they're open.
I was hoping to get the whole job finished this Summer, but I'm way behind schedule and I don't think there's any chance of that now. I'll just keep plodding on and do what I can.

It's a 2 tonne engine crane with the boom on the 1 tonne hole. I can't roll it with weight on, I have to just lift the bag, drive the Land Rover forwards, then lower it where it is.

There's about [url= http://apps.wyreforestdc.gov.uk/wfdc_html/planning/local_plan/html/CHAPTER7_chal.HTM ]380 of these chalets in the Wyre Forest[/url], plus a few more scattered along the Severn valley towards Bridgnorth.
I bought one nearly 30 years ago for £4500. They really were that cheap back then. A few years later, I part exchanged it for a slightly more remote one for £5500.
They were originally intended as holiday homes, most have got an 11 months occupancy limit, although a few of them, including mine, are permanently occupied. I don't know why, I think it's because I was living here before they got more strict on the rules and I've got a sort of Grandfather's Rights now.

That's fantastic! Great to see that a bit of fairly alternative lifestyling is still possible in the heart of the uk. Nice one 🙂

Just out of interest, if there's any builders reading this, what's the generally accepted tolerances for out of square and so on in the building trade ?

I'm setting all this out on my own on a sloping site, around an existing building which means I can't check the diagonals.
I seem to get a different measurement every time I check it. 😕
It's an 8090x6740 building and I reckon I'm within 5mm for level, using a water level.
How does 20mm over 8m sound for out of square ? That's my worst measurement and works out at 1:400.
Are proper modern houses built that accurately ?

Today's progress.

[img] [/img]

It's not going to be done by Winter at this rate. 😐
The errors in my bricklaying are starting to show up now as well. I think I'll plant a shrubbery in front of that wall when I've finished. 😉

Doesn't look too shabby now.

Well I think your efforts are admirable!

Just out of interest, if there's any builders reading this, what's the generally accepted tolerances for out of square and so on in the building trade ?

I'm setting all this out on my own on a sloping site, around an existing building which means I can't check the diagonals.
I seem to get a different measurement every time I check it.
It's an 8090x6740 building and I reckon I'm within 5mm for level, using a water level.
How does 20mm over 8m sound for out of square ? That's my worst measurement and works out at 1:400.
Are proper modern houses built that accurately ?

If you send me an email address I will send you the British Standard for building tolerances.

You`ve got 4 brick/blocks ending on the same bond....... 🙁

Trailertrash, thanks for that, but I'm OK now. I asked on [url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/any-builders-in-what-are-the-tolerances-on-levels-squares-and-lengths ]another thread[/url] and ended up downloading BS5606.

tp26, yes, it's not ideal. I'm laying the bricks English Bond, as you can see, so I'll stagger the back course by half a brick to span the joint. That's the full height of the wall up to that plinth brick on the corner, so I don't think it's going to be a problem.
In fact, I'll probably do a sort of fake English Bond for the next three courses.
Bricks are 23p each, blocks are 60p, so I'll lay one course of blocks at the back and three courses of bricks at the front, using half bricks for headers and making sure a block spans that joint.

looking good G.

Out of interest, what woudl the regs be on replacing the entire structure as opposed to cladding with your self supporting skin?

I made some preliminary enquiries with the planning department, not a formal planning application.
I'm definitely not allowed to knock it down and build a new one.
I can build a "Self supporting cladding" up to 300mm from the existing walls without a planning application.
I can then extend the existing roof over that cladding, but I can't build a new roof supported by the cladding without planning permission.

so if the "holiday home" were to become uninhabitable, youd have to apply for planning permission to refurb/replace?

pretty harsh.

It's all a bit vague really.
At the informal meeting I had with the planning department, the one guy was referring to some guidelines they work to.
I asked for a copy, but they wouldn't even let me read his copy myself.
I haven't even got the 300mm thing in writing.

There's some legalese here, if you can be bothered to wade through it.
http://apps.wyreforestdc.gov.uk/wfdc_html/planning/local_plan/html/CHAPTER7_chal.HTM

I own the building and pay ground rent.
I was talking to someone further up the river in a similar bungalow who owns the land and building outright.
He said he had loads of trouble with Wyre Forest District Council getting permission to rebuild his, yet a friend of his with another similar bungalow had no trouble at all because he was even further up the river in the Bridgnorth Council area.

One end wall finished.

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The top of the longer section is the internal floor level. The step is to give me three bricks height between ground level and the timber wall where the ground level rises at the back.

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I've set out the last corner, I haven't pointed it yet.

[img] [/img]

I'll be building the front wall in blocks as they're cheaper and they will be hidden by the verandah. I've used timber noggins to support the bricks on the corner for now.

good work fella. Respect for getting that mortar level and straight. Im doing my barbecue and it look slike Im using 8 differnt sizes of brick the mortar beds are all different sizes, coins are thin or very thick. I maintain it's "rustic looking" 🙂

When you planning on doing the cladding frame then?

Wasn't going to ask this on a public forum, curiosity gotton too great, but wouldn't be insulted if you ignored the question (to avoid informing the authorities)

Once your cladding is done and roof extended, whats to stop you removing the old external walls? (obviously leaving supports for the roof as necessary)

i'm lost here. are those walls being built to hold new walls to the house ?