Steel Ring Beam Foundations for the House Extension

Yesterday and today the building team have been focussing on creating a solid steel ring beam foundation structure on which the load of the house extension will rely on.

There has been a lot of concrete filling and drying since my last post.

These photographs clearly show the outline of the house extension by way of the the steel beams laid on the concrete pads.

The house extension foundation should be very strong as they are reinforced with steel beams on 2.4 metre depth concrete pads.

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.

House extension build - Day one

At the end of the first day we have lost the bay completely. The bay windows could not be salvaged. In place of the void created by the demolition of the bay windows, the builders created a temporary stud wall complete with door.

Some house extension building materials were delivered through the rear property access.

Some aerated breezeblocks lay in wait in the garden...mind my grass!

House extension build - Day two. Where have our bay windows gone!

I left for work this morning and I received an alarming image on my phone of the work that has taken place just in the first few hours!

The dining room bay windows and roof have undergone some demolition work.

I have mixed feelings about returning home to this today!

The house extension building work begins!

To provide suitable works access for the builders to enter the garden and access the rear of the house we agreed to remove a fence panel.

This allows the builders direct access to deliver building materials for the house extension and to remove significant amounts of rubble.

Builders usually factor in 'how easy it is to access the property' in their quotations. Building an extension would usually cost more if the building area cannot be easily accessed with machinery, tools and materials.

First of all, the builders move the obstructing apple tree.

Re planting the apple tree, let's see if it survives!

This will make it very easy for builders to access the property with building materials.

Before the house extension building starts...

As requested by our builders, the areas involved in the building work should be clear so the house extension building work can truly commence on the agreed start date.

The 'Before' Photos

Who is that running across the photo!

We spent many hours clearing the dining room, moving the furniture to other rooms and ensuring the outside patio area was clear for the work to start on 10th June 2013.

We ensured that the windows and blinds were photographed ready to go on to Gumtree to sell.

The clearing carried on after the sun went down.

Removing the blinds

I recommend trying to sell these types of items rather than throw them in the skip as you can save some money and it all helps.

I even managed to salvage some of our 'Cotswold' decorative gravel and put it to one side.

Our House Extension Building Project Description

Our aim is to have an extension built knock through the wall between our kitchen and dining room to create a large open plan kitchen / family room.

We wanted a very functional kitchen and also a great family space for every day living and entertaining. We felt that knocking through would not create enough space so we decided to have an extension built to create a much larger space.

We are going to keep this site updated with the latest on the project so check back for updates!

See below the rear view of the property and also the ground floor layout so you can try to visualise the project.