House Extension Concrete Pad Foundations take shape

The first phase of laying the concrete pad foundations for the house extension is complete.

Over the last two days, the up-sized excavator dug two very deep 2.4 metre trenches to be filled to form two large concrete pads, on which the foundations can continue to be built.

The photos below show the digging of the 2.4 metre deep foundation trenches and the trenches partially filled with concrete.

The weather has been fair for Wednesday and Thursday this week already allowing good progress with Friday to go.

Digging to the recommended depth for concrete pad foundations.

The foundation plans now require two large 2.4 metre holes to be dug which will contain two large concrete pad foundation pads to support the weight of the rear of the house.

The concrete pads will support a steel ring beam foundation on top of which the load of the house extension will rest.

The diagram here shows how the house extension requires a much deeper (2.4 metre) concrete pad foundation depth. The diagram is a cross section of the rear of the house.

(Right side is rear wall of the property).

It is easier for the builders to dig the holes for the concrete pad foundations by a slightly larger digger. So today's main task is to have the smaller digger collected and a larger one would be delivered the following day.

This is the moment when the guy collecting the digger almost 'rolled' the digger when dropping down some improvised steps made of breezeblocks. There was a moment when the poor man's face was pure fear but fair play to him, he managed it.

He didn't fancy using the same approach to attempt to get the larger digger into the garden so he just delivered it here instead.

Foundation exploration confirms type of foundations needed

It's the end of the first week of the house extension build (demolition).

We hit a minor problem with how the house foundations need to be put down for the extension.

As the extension will bear the weight of the side of the house, the building regulations for the type of foundations required are crucial.

Long story short, the structural engineer has to specify the type of foundations needed which then require approval by the local (Poole borough council) building control department.

This has caused a delay of several days of work but is a common scenario. Until the foundations have been excavated and explored - the type of foundations cannot be determined.

These photos show the hole used to examine the existing foundations of the house.

This photo shows that water is now below the depth at which it is able to soak through permeable earth. At the depth the water is now, the ground does not allow it to soak away.

Excavation, drainage and foundation exploration

To the excitement of the children, a small excavator arrived to begin excavation and exploration of our house foundations.

The builders and building inspector need to understand the depth to which the extension foundations need to be dug.

Now that the existing house foundations can be examined, the building inspector will arrive and determine the depth to which the house extension foundations need to be dug. This also takes into consideration the type of trees within proximity of where the foundations will be dug.

If certain types of trees are within x metres, because they can take in excess of 100 litres out of the ground per day, this directly affects the type of foundations required on a house extension or new build.

This should be possible, if it stops raining! I think it's rained all day here today.

The pictures below show the house foundation exploration and a raised 'soak away' drainage pipe.