Giles and Paula Add a Room Onto the Side of The House

[Seul]

@Giles:

^Not big enough

[dylantbmayes]

Adding on to my room?

[Giles]

Nope, new kitchen….Sorry....

[dylantbmayes]

That's awesome!

You can cook a mighty feast in the current one, looking forward to taste what you cook in this one!

[Giles]

I am pretty sure this is a boy thing - well the two women I have shown these photos too have been singularly unimpressed - but I am excited….

First of the bricks (hand-made, so they cost a bloody fortune, but had to go this route as our house is "listed") arrive.....

[sabergirl]

Well, I certainly think that's impressive. I love watching big machines do their work.

[Chris]

Aside from the exorbitant cost, how can you tell they're handmade?

[Giles]

To a heathen like me, no fekking idea.  Apart from the cost that is 

Oh, and they are imperial sized, not metric.  Not that that makes feck load of difference as to whether they are handmade or not….

[Chris]

So normal sized.

How does the council know you're not using tatty modern bricks?

[Aetas]

Handmade bricks have the same appeal, as handmade cloth has.   

[Giles]

Well, there is a condition on the build (well, there are lots, but this one is specific to bricks):

"No build above DPC level is to start before gaining written approval from the council."

But (and I am sure this is the same as it is in the USA), It's all a game.

8th May - Meet planning officer onsite, and I have 20 brick types for him to choose from…"Nah, don't like any of them"

15th May - Meet planning officer onsite and I have 4 brick types for him to choose from (may include some he has already seen  but I could not possibly comment). "Yes, love that one, send me details and I will approve"

[Aetas]

Sounds like you have to become an expert in handmade bricks right now G. .

[Giles]

Today was choosing flooring:

Portland stone slabs for inside (originally cladding on London buildings - was twice as thick as this, but these guys saw it in half so it is more manageable)…

And for new terrace outside the kitchen York flags (finger not meant to be in photo :P)….

[twin]

@Giles  twin bobby would like to stop by and see this. ( Rock hound )

[twin]

@Aetas  Are the bricks being made in York PA.?

[Chris]

Nope, original recipe York- the British one.

[Giles]

Since the last photo, I have had one course of engineering bricks laid…..Long story.  I have the threshold (Portland stone), cills, gauged arches, door and windows just about sorted.  Once I've done that then, I'm hoping that the brickie who said he will do the work, will actually do the work!

[Giles]

The current state of my nation.

2 rows of engineering bricks and 3 rows of handmade bricks.  Laid by the ground-workers, and will have to be redone by someone who knows what they are doing.  The ground-workers clearly did not know how to lay Flemish bond properly…..That should start to happen next week, the laying out will take some time as we have 2 blind windows, 1 real window and large french doors, so there will be quite some math required to work out the queen closer positioning.  This is a classic case of an architect not really knowing what he was doing and mandating door and window opening widths, in reality, these openings need to be dictated by the brickie....to be fair though, laying Flemish bond is really a style suited to a solid 9" wall whereas modern building regs required a cavity (4.5" brick, 5" cavity 4" block)....

[Giles]

In comes the shit….

[Giles]

So, compared to @Clint_D 's scheme, our is very traditional and probably a bit boring.  But we live in a "Listed" building in a conservation zone, so our options are limited.  But hey, in many ways I am a traditionalist, so I'm not bitching too much…..