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Mike's ext'n & renovation (sunroom stone floor & plinth)

This is where we don't want anything but evidence of your finest wood butchering in all its glorious, and photograph laden glory. Bring your finished products or WIP's, we love them all, so long as there's pictures, and plenty of 'em!

Re: Mike's extension & renovation (retaining walls part 4)

Postby Mike G » 23 May 2017, 13:46

It's mainly to lock the wall onto the foundation. Retaining walls are often pushed off their foundation, or rotate around the point the wall meets the foundation. This way the whole thing is firmly locked together as one.
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Re: Mike's extension & renovation (retaining walls part 4)

Postby paulrees1 » 23 May 2017, 16:06

That makes a lot of sense, thanks, and something I'll be copying

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Re: Mike's extension & renovation (retaining walls part 4)

Postby Mike G » 23 May 2017, 20:32

I completed the retaining wall brickwork to the left of the stair pier (excluding the capping course), and built a second pier for the steps:

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I pause brickwork now to get the surface water drainage sorted, which is part of what sets the level of the patio. Until I have that worked out, I can't build any of the three sets of steps.
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Re: Mike's extension & renovation (retaining walls part 4)

Postby Jimmy Mack » 24 May 2017, 09:40

That's a lovely looking wall Mike, tidy brickwork.

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Re: Mike's extension & renovation (retaining walls part 4)

Postby Mike G » 24 May 2017, 11:42

Thanks Jim. Without being able to use a line, it's really slow going.
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Re: Mike's extension & renovation (retaining walls part 4)

Postby Tusses » 25 May 2017, 15:13

Mike G wrote:Thanks Jim. Without being able to use a line, it's really slow going.


could you use the template as a line ?
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Re: Mike's extension & renovation (retaining walls part 4)

Postby Andyp » 25 May 2017, 20:33

Tusses wrote:
Mike G wrote:Thanks Jim. Without being able to use a line, it's really slow going.


could you use the template as a line ?


Or one of those spinney laser level thingies?
I do not think therefore I do not am.

cheers
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Re: Mike's extension & renovation (retaining walls part 4)

Postby Phil » 26 May 2017, 16:18

Andyp wrote:
Tusses wrote:
Mike G wrote:Thanks Jim. Without being able to use a line, it's really slow going.


could you use the template as a line ?


Or one of those spinney laser level thingies?



I wanted to ask the same question about lasers, but was afraid MG would attack with his bat! :lol:
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Re: Mike's extension & renovation (retaining walls part 4)

Postby Robert » 26 May 2017, 19:55

I posted a thread once on doing my daughters kitchen and took plenty of pictures. The thread went with the old forum but I have all the pictures. They have just been a big help reminding me how the heating pipes run from the boiler as I'm getting quotes for a replacement boiler.

It occurred to me what a great resource all the pictures you have taken along the way on your build will be if you ever need to go back to something.

Oh and nice walls btw :)

You are certainly not scared of hard work!
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Re: Mike's extension & renovation (retaining walls part 4)

Postby Mike G » 30 May 2017, 20:40

You're dead right about the photos. I have gone back many a time to see where a piece of wood is in a wall, or check on some other detail. The only thing is, with 3000+ photos to check through, finding the right one can take a few minutes.
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Re: Mike's extension & renovation (retaining walls part 4)

Postby Malc2098 » 30 May 2017, 21:12

Mike G wrote:You're dead right about the photos. I have gone back many a time to see where a piece of wood is in a wall, or check on some other detail. The only thing is, with 3000+ photos to check through, finding the right one can take a few minutes.



I'm told by the younger generation that that's where tagging come in to its own! :)
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Re: Mike's extension & renovation (retaining walls part 4)

Postby Mike G » 31 May 2017, 08:53

Tagging? Isn't that something you do with sheep's ears?
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Re: Mike's extension & renovation (retaining walls part 4)

Postby Phil » 31 May 2017, 11:50

Mike G wrote:Tagging? Isn't that something you do with sheep's ears?



Yip, thats why you have so many lopsided sheep. The meat also tends to be tougher on the one side. :lol:

I have got my hat and coat and going ..............
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Re: Mike's extension & renovation (retaining walls part 4)

Postby Mike G » 06 Jun 2017, 10:23

Too much drawing lately, not enough brick laying.

Time for some drains. These are next because the height of the gully grill at the far end of the drain run is what sets the height of the patio, and thus the starting point for the steps, and thus the rise of the steps. So, drains first:

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The falls were tight. Just slightly better than 1 in 100 on the main run. The lower I could get the furthest gully the better the fall I will be able to get on the patio.

Next job was to surround the access chamber and yard gully sumps with concrete:

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Note the concrete blocks and slabs (and wheelbarrow) on the pipes to weight them down. We had a series of heavy downpours, and pipes will float out of the ground if they can. Note also the level of the top of the grill in the last photo. That is the level of the patio slabs, so generally, there will be between 2 and 3 bricks of the retaining wall below finished ground level.

Finally I had the levels to enable me to start the steps. I could do two, but not the main ones into the garden because I have to build some more retaining wall first. So, here are the steps up from the round patio area up to the path to my workshop:

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I couldn't go any further as I ran out of ballast for concrete (some more has just been delivered now). Essentially the process is: concrete......wait......brickwork for 1st step, concrete..........wait.........brickwork for 2nd step, concrete..........wait.........brickwork for 3rd step, concrete..... wait.

Here are the steps by the back (utility room) door. These are much lower, being an annoying choice of one very tall step (225mm = 9") or 2 shallow steps of half that. I chose the latter:

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That last photo shows that I chose to build a pier to end the retaining wall. I don't like to see walls just "stop". I feel they should stop against something, and a pier works well here because I'll make another one as an entrance to the garden. This is the foundation for it. Note the sand marking the position of a pipe from the oil tank. The pier foundation is overly large because it is spanning the trench that the pipe sits in, so needed a bit of extra bearing:

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More rain:

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Second step brickwork in place, ready for concrete. The (temporary) drain sticking straight up is to take the discharge (condensate) from the boiler. This is a foul drain, not surface water, so in the final version there will need to be some sort of trap or seal to prevent the escape of odour from the sewerage system. Hence me keeping the concrete well back from the pipe:

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Finally I ran in some brick-on-edge coping along the top of the retaining walls:

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Re: Mike's extension & renovation (SW drains, steps, coping)

Postby Rod » 06 Jun 2017, 12:01

Looking good
What are your plans re the lawn?
So much for flamin' June - our CH came on this morning (automatically)!

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Re: Mike's extension & renovation (SW drains, steps, coping)

Postby Mike G » 06 Jun 2017, 15:02

The lawn is a tough one. I badly don't want formal lawn everywhere. I wanted a wildflower meadow for most of the area away from the elliptical lawn in front of the main steps, but the soil is so fertile that the delicate meadow plants wouldn't stand a chance ahead of the more rigorous grasses and weeds. We're investigating stripping the top few inches and replacing with sand and a poorer soil, then seeding with a "flowering lawn" mix for a spring & summer meadow look, but which only grows some 4 to 6 inches high as compared with the 2 foot of a typical wildflower meadow.

Most of the wall will have planting above it, with flea-bane and other pretty dangling stuff softening the harsh look of new brick.
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Re: Mike's extension & renovation (SW drains, steps, coping)

Postby Deejay » 06 Jun 2017, 15:48

Afternoon Mike

the soil is so fertile that the delicate meadow plants wouldn't stand a chance ahead of the more rigorous grasses and weeds.

Worth a look ...

https://wildseed.co.uk/page/using-yello ... -diversity

Cheers

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Re: Mike's extension & renovation (SW drains, steps, coping)

Postby Mike G » 06 Jun 2017, 16:00

Oh yes, whatever we plant, yellow rattle will be first on the list, otherwise the grasses will have the place to themselves again in short order.
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Re: Mike's extension & renovation (SW drains, steps, coping)

Postby the bear » 06 Jun 2017, 17:48

Mike

Great work as always, . I have a question if I may. How high would you be prepared to build a retaining wall before you would want to get a structural engineer involved? Probably a lot of variables I guess, but any type of guide?

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Re: Mike's extension & renovation (SW drains, steps, coping)

Postby Mike G » 06 Jun 2017, 18:10

Ooooh, interesting......

If it was me designing and building a wall for me, then I reckon that I'd be pretty confident up to say 1.5 metres or so. If it was for a client, then anything over 600 or 700 high would get me toddling off to an engineer, I reckon. Fact is, there is almost always an engineer involved anyway, and so a quick check of my design ('coz that's the way it works) isn't going to cost the client more than a few pounds, and it keeps everyone's insurers happy.
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Re: Mike's extension & renovation (SW drains, steps, coping)

Postby Rod » 06 Jun 2017, 19:36

There was a feature on Gardener's World where the expert said what ever you do if there's an existing lawn, rotavate or get rid of it before sowing wild meadow seed. Lawn grasses are very persistent and will take over from the wild flowers.

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Re: Mike's extension & renovation (SW drains, steps, coping)

Postby Mike G » 06 Jun 2017, 20:09

He's dead right......but not quite right enough in this case. Here, we've been told to get rid of 12 to 15 inches of the topsoil if we want a wildflower meadow, which over 200 square metres would be something of an effort and expense. The thing is, it was managed as a small holding for 40 or 50 years with veggies grown everywhere, so the soil is incredibly rich. Thus taking off the top 2 inches, spraying off the weeds then bringing in some sand and poorer soil is only a compromise, and we'll then have a half and half solution.........weaker grasses, with some low growing natives, mown to 4 inches or so every fortnight. Not wild, but not a formal lawn either.

This is the type of seed mix suggested. We won't be buying that one, because dandelions are out, and we want yellow rattle, but we might well buy the individual seeds and mix it ourselves.
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Re: Mike's extension & renovation (SW drains, steps, coping)

Postby wallace » 08 Jun 2017, 09:13

I really like the wild flower approach, I've done it a few times in a big flower bed. My local council have started to put it on roundabouts and verges which looks good
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Re: Mike's extension & renovation (steps, coping, bog)

Postby Mike G » 20 Jun 2017, 08:40

I feel like such a part-timer at the moment. It's weekends and evenings at the moment. Anyway, here is a quick bog garden done over a couple of evenings:

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We needed a bit of shade over the pond to help suppress algal growth, so decided on a gunnera manicata. These grow in damp, boggy conditions, so I dug the hole to suit a piece of spare EPDM pond liner I had. It will soon be filled with hostas, ferns, alums and so on. The pipe (with slits in the sides) leads water direct to the roots of the gunnera.

Anyway, on with the building.

I finished the little steps, bar the stone slabs:

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Also the back door steps, and the piers defining the entrance to the garden:

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I also finished the coping (soldier course) around the circular patio:

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Over to the greenhouse. You may recall my reluctance to build the spine wall any taller until it was braced. Well, I started the plinth walls of the greenhouse, which will secure the main spine wall as it gets taller:

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Here's a puzzle for you. See the hole in the second from last of the above photos? In the third course up from the slab? Well. why would I be leaving a hole about 3-1/2" square in a greenhouse wall ? It's not for services.

Back to the patio. I've been concreting over the drains, bit by bit:

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Now, the main "show" steps up from the back of the house to the garden level. These are going to be quite dramatic.

For a start, I needed to build a bit of the wall to the right of the RH pier:

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Because of all the embankment in the way, I couldn't lay out my big template for this wall. so I made this jig up to transfer the design from one side to the other:

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That's a piece of scrap plasterboard. Flip it over, and mark out the wall on the other side of the steps:

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Then, I built the bit wall I needed:

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Next I set up the central pivot point for these arc steps, and made a quick jig to transfer the first curve to the ground for the foundation:

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Now, remember that it's 33 or 34 degrees (93F for you Americans) here at the moment. The ground was baked so hard that I needed a hammer and bolster to cut the edges of this little trench, and a pick to dig it, even though it was only about 3 inches deep. So, blister time:

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It took me more than an hour to work out the levels. This is highly complex, with curves meeting curves and the paving laid to fall away from the house. I set a datum peg, and made a gauge rod for the rest of the steps. The gauge will be set on top of the datum peg when checking:

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This foundation is mainly above ground, so I had to put up some temporary shoring. That's rather a fancy title for lining up some blocks. Note, too, that I concreted in the drain pipe:

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I don't think I'll get back outside until the weekend, but after that, I should be back to building just about full time. You might see the pace of work pick up somewhat.
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Re: Mike's extension & renovation (steps, coping, bog)

Postby Malc2098 » 20 Jun 2017, 09:23

Stunning, stirling work, Mike. Me and my uncle just did about 30 m minutes at a time because there was no breeze.


The hole? A grape vine.
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