Week 8, day 4: Breakthrough!
26th June 2014
At last, the day we have been waiting for, came. The steel was scheduled to arrive at lunchtime, and so the morning would be spent removing the wall. Then, once the steel arrived, it would be moved and fixed into place. There were 4 guys there to get the job done today, starting at 7.30am.
I arrived home at 3.30pm, and everything had gone to plan. The wall had come out well, although the inside wall was tough. There had been a huge pile of rubble covering the floor, but once the old skip had been collected, the room was cleared extremely well. The steel uprights had been brought into place, and the first huge length of steel was being taken up when I arrived. It was exceedingly heavy - 350kg. Once the first one was inside the bedroom, the process started again with length number 2.
Photos 1-8: First up, the steel had to be raised up so that one end was on the scaffolding, and then pushed inside the extension.
Photos 9-11: Then the steel had to be hauled inside - pushing from the bottom initially, which led to some intimate moments...
Photos 12-14: And then pulling from inside when the lower end was too high to push anymore, always ensuring enough weight was resting on the inside to prevent it sliding all the way back down again:
Photos 15-18: Once inside, the steels had to be raised and bolted into the uprights, first one and then the second in place next to it:
Photos 19-20: Finally, the two lengths had to be bolted together with spacers in between, a tricky little job requiring little hands (I didn't offer...). This also led to some intimate moments, as the heavy steels required lifting ever so slightly to help wiggle the bolts in:
Photo 21: The last jobs of the day (after 6pm), were to attach the tarpaulin (finished moments before it started to rain), and fix the steel in place with some straps to prevent it falling on us in the night:
Photo 22: The finished article. This will hold up our house now for many years to come. Fingers crossed that the building inspector likes it!
I arrived home at 3.30pm, and everything had gone to plan. The wall had come out well, although the inside wall was tough. There had been a huge pile of rubble covering the floor, but once the old skip had been collected, the room was cleared extremely well. The steel uprights had been brought into place, and the first huge length of steel was being taken up when I arrived. It was exceedingly heavy - 350kg. Once the first one was inside the bedroom, the process started again with length number 2.
Photos 1-8: First up, the steel had to be raised up so that one end was on the scaffolding, and then pushed inside the extension.
Photos 9-11: Then the steel had to be hauled inside - pushing from the bottom initially, which led to some intimate moments...
Photos 12-14: And then pulling from inside when the lower end was too high to push anymore, always ensuring enough weight was resting on the inside to prevent it sliding all the way back down again:
Photos 15-18: Once inside, the steels had to be raised and bolted into the uprights, first one and then the second in place next to it:
Photos 19-20: Finally, the two lengths had to be bolted together with spacers in between, a tricky little job requiring little hands (I didn't offer...). This also led to some intimate moments, as the heavy steels required lifting ever so slightly to help wiggle the bolts in:
Photo 21: The last jobs of the day (after 6pm), were to attach the tarpaulin (finished moments before it started to rain), and fix the steel in place with some straps to prevent it falling on us in the night:
Photo 22: The finished article. This will hold up our house now for many years to come. Fingers crossed that the building inspector likes it!