A Veranda with a View (of a building site)

[00:00:04]So, welcome back to the workshop build series where the plan for this week is to crack on with the front face of the building. So, out the front there is a veranda with four columns. They're going to be done in a similar way to the other structural columns of the building. So, shuttered and poured in place. And then they're also going to work on the outer skin of bricks along the front wall as well.

[00:00:24]So, let's see how they get on.

[00:00:27]>> Awesome.

[00:00:29]I push on.

[00:00:36]Go.

[00:00:38]Oh, no.

[00:00:41]I need that one.

[00:00:44]I know they have to the center.

[00:00:48]Huh?

[00:00:56]It's finished.

[00:00:57]Okay, my skin is not Go.

[00:01:30]Okay.

[00:01:47]Exactly, man.

[00:01:50]Okay?

[00:01:59]Yeah, yeah.

[00:02:04]>> At the beginning of the project, a ground level was established and marked in red on this stake outside the building.

[00:02:10]It was now time to work out the height of the veranda columns, so they first transferred this level mark onto the walls inside the garage.

[00:02:31]From this mark, they could then establish the height of the back wall and the height on the front pillar and therefore know the correct angle for the roof.

[00:03:16]With the height of the front pillar now established, the next step was to build all the formwork to fill it with concrete.

[00:03:52]>> certainly Okay.

[00:05:33]Better Better Better.

[00:07:47]>> Whilst we were busy working in the house, the pillars were all filled with concrete just like the others and then left to dry for a couple of days before the guys returned to un-bail them.

[00:09:11]>> Okay.

[00:09:44]>> What?

[00:09:45]What happened to the veranda?

[00:09:57]Okay.

[00:10:02]Okay.

[00:10:10]After demolding the pillars, they were kept moist for the next few days to help the concrete dry slowly and cure nice and strong.

[00:10:18]And this is a wise move because we were experiencing highs of 37° C throughout the week.

[00:11:19]So now that the pillars are all complete out the front for the veranda, the next step is to work on the front wall and put up the next skin of bricks. And that's going to come up to ring beam height, the same height that we've come up to around the entire building and then in future next week maybe the week after they're going to do a big poured-in-place lintel or beam across the whole front of the building to tie everything together but also to finish creating all of the openings for the garage door, the workshop door, and the window.

[00:11:49]And between the inner skin of brick and the outer skin of brick, there is going to be a gap. It's about 9 cm wide and within that gap is also going to be some insulation.

[00:12:00]So, this is the insulation that is going to be used. It is a rigid foam board.

[00:12:05]It's tongue and groove for easy installation and it is about 6 cm thick.

[00:12:10]So, when we take our 9 cm gap and stuff in 6 cm of insulation, that leaves us a 3 cm gap for air flow around the cavity.

[00:12:20]So, that is what's up next.

[00:13:34]>> Okay.

[00:14:37]How many How many did you love me did you know?

[00:18:53]>> That was a mistake. Don't stand downwind of the hose.

[00:18:56]So, check out those pillars.

[00:18:59]They look kind of cool, huh? It really gives an idea of what Wally is really demonstrating, the use of the veranda over there.

[00:19:06]>> [laughter] >> And I can already see myself sitting in a chair knitting or sipping cocktails.

[00:19:15]>> [laughter] >> So, it'd be nice when it's not just like a view of a building site, but we'll [laughter] be able to sit and >> the trip hazards everywhere.

[00:19:22]>> enjoy.

[00:19:27]>> Yeah, it'll be quite nice here.

[00:19:29]Have to put some more greenery in here, I think.

[00:19:32]>> Yeah.

[00:19:33]>> But, if we can plant a hedge or put your grapes along here, then this will be quite private as well.

[00:19:38]>> Mhm.

[00:19:39]>> And it's nice and deep.

[00:19:42]Which is good.

[00:19:42]>> Yeah, it's a good amount of space, I think.

[00:19:44]>> fit fit a a decent size chair or a sofa.

[00:19:48]Yeah.

[00:19:50]Happy about that.

[00:19:51]>> Mhm.

[00:19:53]I think the cats would prefer it to stay a building site.

[00:19:58]So, yeah, it was a pretty busy week.

[00:19:59]What you've just seen took place over 5 working days. We've got the pillars all in and the front wall is now complete with its outer skin of bricks. So, just before we wrap up, there's a couple of things that we can talk about. Let's start with why there are a bunch of holes and some missing bricks at the bottom of the wall.

[00:20:16]So, any ideas?

[00:20:18]>> So, I was thinking maybe with a ventilation brick to allow ventilation in to the cavity.

[00:20:25]>> Mhm.

[00:20:25]>> But, then they should have just laid that at the same time.

[00:20:29]>> Oh, like having the bricks the other way so that the holes are pointing inwards.

[00:20:32]>> Or a purpose-made brick that has holes to allow ventilation.

[00:20:36]>> Mhm. It is not for ventilation.

[00:20:38]>> Okay.

[00:20:39]>> Any other ideas?

[00:20:40]>> Um >> [snorts] >> Going to have lots of cat flaps so that they can all >> [laughter] >> run into the workshop.

[00:20:46]>> No, no cats in the workshop.

[00:20:49]>> Uh no, I don't know. Drainage, but no, that's >> Well, you're actually closer with drainage.

[00:20:54]>> Okay.

[00:20:55]>> So, the reason that they've left holes, I think it's every two or three bricks or something like that. Uh they are going to be filled in in the not-too-distant future, but they leave a gap so So they can hose out any cement that falls down into the cavity so that it doesn't get stuck in there. So essentially it is a clean out port for being able to blast water in with a hose to clean out any of the excess cement.

[00:21:19]Although to be honest, the guy who is doing the bricklaying, David, is so neat almost drops nothing. So maybe this is a bit overkill, but that is the reason for it. It is going to get filled in in the not too distant future.

[00:21:33]>> So I didn't see this while I've been busy elsewhere, but I see that there are bits of rebar that they're using as ties to tie this front face to the pillar.

[00:21:45]>> Yeah.

[00:21:45]>> That's good.

[00:21:46]>> It is.

[00:21:48]>> [laughter] >> Is it every every two layers?

[00:21:51]>> Yeah, we're not familiar with this kind of construction. In the UK we've built extensions with cavity walls, but here it's done quite differently. Here the two skins of bricks are not tied together with wall ties and the reason for that is because there is insulation that goes in the cavity. There's insulation but then also an air gap or a caser the are an air box literally so that there is ventilation throughout the entire cavity and no chance of any mold or humidity or moisture or anything like that. And that also helps to prevent cold bridging. But yeah, every two or three courses of bricks there's a piece of rebar that's hammered into the pillar and then bent into place so that the next course of bricks can sit on top. So it's a very simple solution but one that helps secure everything together which is great.

[00:22:36]>> So we think that the next thing that happens, we [laughter] think, cuz things change, is a massive in place lintel gets poured across the entire front of the building and then from there the ring beam is put on top of it.

[00:22:53]>> Or connects into it. I'm not sure.

[00:22:55]>> does it Yeah.

[00:22:56]>> We'll have to wait and see.

[00:22:57]>> That happens. But we know that there is a big poured in place lintel that goes across the entire front of the building Um and that's next.

[00:23:06]>> Or soon.

[00:23:07]>> Yeah, soon. Maybe this week. [laughter] >> Hopefully this year.

[00:23:11]>> Definitely this year.

[00:23:13]>> So yes, lots more to come on the workshop build. We're at mid-June now, so I don't think it's going to be ready by the end of June, but [laughter] the builder is still optimistic that it's almost finished. Optimism is a good thing.

[00:23:26]Well, that's all we've got for you for this week. Do tune in for the next episode see how progress continues.

[00:23:31]We'll see you then. Bye for now.

[00:23:33]>> Bye-bye.

[00:23:35]Have you seen this oak tree that is growing in our veranda?

[00:23:39]>> Yeah, it's a decorative feature.

[00:23:43]I think it's going to be dug out.

[00:23:44]>> It's going to have to be dug out.