Building a new house

So, it's been a while, but not an official holiday. The last couple of weeks have seen the birth of Stella, when we were on sibling duty in Manchester, the gradual ending of the heat wave, and a few days enjoying the company of Chris and Katie and their children in Devon. It felt good to get the work clothes on and crank up the Land Rover this morning - it's been a real bonus to have a vehicle in which I can keep all my tools (except the big stuff which I have been protecting under a tarpaulin at the site). I was just getting going on the remaining cap stones (another 20 placed today) when Michael came out to ask if I would carry on round the corner of their wall into the driveway with the same pattern of stones, assuming I could rescue a suitable number (about 30, I think) from my stockpile. So before I had my lunch break I went foraging and laid out a collection which will do the job. I will also need to build up the wall a bit on the corner to make things level. I guess ...

Another long morning at the site. At the Britlands' request, I cut down their remaining metal gatepost with the angle grinder and removed the section of metal fence from their wall by the splayed entrance. Then I put the diamond disc on and trimmed one of the stones in the wall which was standing proud. Two cement mixer mixes produced enough mortar for me to fix about 40 more top stones on the wall. There are just about as many more to do, along with flaunching the back of the wall to tidy it up. A break in service now - we are off to Manchester to provide support as Lyndsay's C-section is scheduled for tomorrow - grandchild number 10 in the offing!

So after a few days off (jobs at Emma and Ian's) I was pleased to start construction work on the wall at Plas Coch Bach after a number of work sessions of demolition. The efficient delivery service of TP Denbigh brought me a bulk bag of sharp sand and 3 bags of cement as promised at 8.15, and I started by filling in the dips in the wall where I had had to go below the level at which the header stones go back on. Then I fiddled around to drop the level of the wall with a sequence of descents before starting the regular high/low pattern which will go all the way to the driveway. I mixed the sand and cement 5 to 1, and made and used three mixes by lunchtime. Then, after a dry and hot period which goes all the way back to our purchase of the plot, the promised heavy rain showers arrived and I covered up the work I had done, the mixer, etc, and headed for home.

My third sunny and hot early start this week, and the preparation is now a well oiled machine - wheelbarrows out from behind the bushes; generator from under the tarpaulin; breaker drill, extension cable, spade, yardbrush, gloves, protective glasses and water bottle from the Land Rover, and we're away. No problems this morning, none of the blocks so big as to need splitting before transportation (unlike Thursday) and less than three hours saw this stage of the work finished. I left some small blocks on the wall as there is some levelling to do before the soldier stones go back. I met some more neighbours this morning, one of whom encouraged me to talk to the farmer to see if he wanted to sell some of the adjacent field. There would be planning limitations if we did, but it might be nice to have some extra breathing (or chicken) space around the plot. I went to TP in Denbigh on the way home to arrange a delivery of sand and cement for next Friday as we are having a jobs trip t...

The weather has remained bright and sunny, and promises to do so for at least another week. So I reckon a morning's hard physical work is enough, fortified by a couple of litres of water. One of the stones I took off the wall this morning was so large I had no chance of lifting it, but luckily it broke into two neat pieces when I attacked it with the sledgehammer, so I did manage to add it to the growing pile of stone on the plot. Probably done two thirds of the wall reduction now. I have had to remove some stones which dropped below the desired level so some building up will be needed before the headers are replaced.

A hot day. So I planned a morning's work at the plot with some child-minding for Maddy planned for the afternoon. I started by trimming the front hedge (which will eventually have to be reduced in height to comply with the highways part of the planning permission). Then the generator came out, the big SDS drill was engaged, and I started to reduce the height of the wall, down to about 600mm to allow for the replacement of the soldier stones within the height limit of 900mm. I used two barrows, one for the dressed stones and one for the infill stones. These had to be transported to add to the existing piles on the plot. I had had enough after 4 hours. I'd drunk a couple of litres of water, and the thermometer on the Land Rover (the sensor for which admittedly isn't in the shade) showed over 40 degrees. I had done a third of the demolition job, so I should probably allow for 5 or 6 more similar sessions to finish the job, including the replacement in mortar...