My New Project...Life After Cammo

Owen824

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I have now gotten over the fact that my partner and I designed our dream home only then for the economy to turn upside down and forced us to have to rethink. The Cammo Estate project (thread here) was a great one and would have loved to have lived there but life is funny like that. Anyways, I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason and back in July a house came up that we fell in love with. It was just what we were looking for...a complete dump!

We offered the asking price which was well below the value and we got the keys at end of August. This is where the fun begins. I thought I would wait till I had progressed a load of the work before starting a thread.

The house is a semi detached house overlooking Edinburgh West with great views to the Pentlands. It consisted of Large lounge, 3 bedrooms (1 large, 1 normal and 1 small single), 1 bathroom and 1 wc and a kitchen and a few cupboards. The great thing about this house is that it is built on a steep hill and the undercroft is unused.

Our plans are to do a two storey side extension where the old garage is and convert the basement area and extend out the back turning it into a 4 bedroom, 3 bathrooms (1 en-suite), large living room, open plan kitchen/dining/living room, utility room and plenty of cupbiard space :D

Planning permission has been granted for all work and the work is well underway with myself undertaking all work with help here and there but for the most part (mainly due to a massively tight budget) it is a one man team...me!

The techie stuff
The large living room kit is in my sig and I still have to buy some more for the rest of the house. I have my 900+ dvd collection (stored on HP X510) distributed around the house via various playon!hd's and pcs and music via sonos (not yet installed) to the bedrooms, master en-suiute, and the kitchen/dining/living. The large living room will become the main cinema room with the living room off the kitchen being for everyday viewing. There will be wireless network access as well as wired network points throughout the 3 floors. Think that covers the general gist if what I am aiming to do.

Attached is the layout for the existing and then the new layout.

Pics to follow...
 

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Some pics of what the place looked like the day I got the keys...:eek:

The front

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The entrance hall

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The large lounge

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the kitchen

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master bedroom

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view from master

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middle bedroom

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smallest bedroom

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bathroom

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the back of the house and where the extension to the side, the basement and extension out the back will go.

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more pics to follow as soon as they are uploaded...:smashin:
 
I did not take many photos of the actual work of the existing house as it was mainly stripping wallpaper and removing wardrobes. here is the few i did take...

cinema wall

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stripped back to expose brick wall in lounge

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master bedroom stripped out

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bathroom refitted

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middle bedroom stripped

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kitchen ripped out and partitions formed for utility, cupboard and bathroom

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the basement and foundation work next...:smashin:
 
the foundations have been a horrendous job mainly becuase i was digging them in january and had to carry everything up the side stairs to a skip via yellow gorilla buckets as the side stair is too small for a wheelbarrow!

shifted around 90-100 tons so far. taken me the best part of 2 months to clear out underneath...

the extension foundation being dug

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foundations dug and poured and blocks ready to be laid and hatches cut to start digging underneath

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strip foundation finished outside

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one half of the basement dug out and wall removed. have to pour a new foundation slab and rebuild retaining wall

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slab poured and retaining wall ready to go in

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3.5 ton of hand mixed concrete in this little old slab

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half the retaining wall built and the inside is ready for the steel structural supports

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bay window ready for steel support as well

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steel in underneath. beams ranged from 150kgs to 600kgs!

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the mother of all beams weighing in at just over a cool ton. It was a very difficult job considering I could not get any cranes or proper equipment to hoist into place. Was good old man power that got it there in the end!

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You have to wonder sometimes if engineers think about what they say to put in or if they just go with what the software kicks out...

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anyways, that is where I am at now and hoping to get slab poured soon and get the kit up and really get moving. will update when things have moved on a bit more. Have the brickies coming in this weekend to finish cutting out the openings and putting lentils in.
 
reserved for finished room photos...

Main lounge

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Utility (definitely not finsihed!!!) house the server, broadband coming in to the house, router, phone etc.

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Kitchen for a laugh (what i have been using...seriously!). This will eventually be ground floor shower room.

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Hallway (Still have stairs to go down the way underneath these following the same profile and the vestibule door and wall to be removed so will swap pics once it is done)

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from the landing
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view to the bedrooms and bathroom
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Bathroom
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Middle Bedroom (currently our main clothes storage room hence the rack)
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Current Master bedroom (will be second largest when finished)
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Master Bedroom and En-suite (There will be an opening at the end their to the bedroom when the extension goes up)
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Just starting on master en-suite as I need a shower, this taking baths every day malarky is killing me :D
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:smashin: Will be watching this, that house has so much potential, I can see why you went for it. Shortly starting something similar myself but on a much smaller scale.
 
Looking good mate, always wanted to do a fixer upper or new build myself as I helped a mate of mine do a fixxer upper years ago and he made into a lovely house.

The basement conversion will be smashing once done - still amazes me that most house builders these days don't maximise the living space by putting a basement in ! Plenty of thread on here about basement conversions might be an idea to have a look for some ideas.

As regards your comment about shifting soil by gorilla/tub trugs, i know EXACTLY how that feels !!! I did some work in the garden last summer which involved digging out an old garden flower bed and then backfilling with hardcore and then concreting it. Must have made about 100 odd trips with tub trugs to the car then drive to the amenity site and throw them into a large skip. Damn near gave myself a hernia doing it.

Good luck with the build !!

:thumbsup:

Shady
 
Excellent - really looking forward to this taking shape. The more projects I see like this (taking over a house that needs 'TLC' at best!) the better I feel about the place we're heopfully securing. I've had many a crisis of faith (back of mind thinking we should've moved further out but somewhere you can just plonk yourselves right into) but then I see the confidence in all these threads and I'm fired back up again :)

Love the pic of the half demolished kitchen but with the posh Brabantia bin looking resplendent!
 
Thread bookmarked!
The Cammo thread was epic, shame it didn't pan out for you, but if its not to be, its just not meant to be....

I'm looking forward to vicariously watching you work your magic here.
Good luck.
 
WOW!:eek: Another massive project. Loving it. I'd love to get stuck into something like this. We've got a single storey rear extension starting next month. I'm taking out the bay on the groundfloor and extending the room out. Having a structural engineer over to advise on the steelwork.
Looking forward to the progress pics of this one. Bookmarked!
 
lets hope your engineer has his sensible hat on when he visits as mine sure didn't as you can see from the size of the beams! the outside beam is a 254x254x107 UC beamand the inside is the same with a slightly lower grade of 89! :eek:

I had not used this engineer before and wish I had stuck with the one we used on the previous project but as I am using a new architect i thought i would use the guy he works with. a mistake on my part but needed to get moving...:suicide:

anyways it is in and things are moving along nicely. really enjoying this week of warm weather we have had here to work in.
 
Busy day shifting remaining rubble and earth that was piled up underneath from removing the old walls to make way for the new retaining. Tomorrow the brickies come to finish the stairwell retaining wall and to finish the openings to the extension. :smashin:

A few pics of the room cleared out. Nice to finally see the general size and feel of the room! I have also added some pics to the finished pictures space i reserved in post 3. :smashin:

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The two openings you can see here are the ones that are getting finished tomorrow. Will be much more open by tomorrow afternoon.
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Thanks for the response to my question above. Think your engineer was taking a belt and braces approach with that beam! My engineer (as recommended by my uncle architect) is visiting next month. We've not even discussed costs.Could i ask for an indication as to roughly how much your engineer charged for the calculations? Please feel free to pm me the response as i know some including myself, dont always feel comfortable discussing figures here on the forums.

You must be damn fit to be doing this all on your own. Such a huge project, particularly when you can't always see the light at the end of the tunnel. Since you've been there done that with your last awesome project i'm guessing you're very comfortable with the scale of the project? Are you a builder by trade?

By the way this thread is a very enjoyable read for diy geeks like me. I've read it a couple of times over so far. Your cammo project is one of my reference threads on here :smashin:
 
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Thanks for the response to my question above. Think your engineer was taking a belt and braces approach with that beam! My engineer (as recommended by my uncle architect) is visiting next month. We've not even discussed costs.Could i ask for an indication as to roughly how much your engineer charged for the calculations? Please feel free to pm me the response as i know some including myself, dont always feel comfortable discussing figures here on the forums.

You must be damn fit to be doing this all on your own. Such a huge project, particularly when you can't always see the light at the end of the tunnel. Since you've been there done that with your last awesome project i'm guessing your very comfortable with the scale of the project? Are you a builder by trade?

By the way this thread is a very enjoyable read for diy geeks like me. I've read it a couple of times over so far. Your cammo project is one of my reference threads on here :smashin:

Each job is different and engineers generally all have the same sliding scale for costs. Some are more than others but with all the engineers I have dealt with, they all come in roughly the same but some cost you more by specifying higher level materials. All structural calculations work for that area below and the main house and rear extension was £1k.

I am definitely a lot fitter than I was before and it was a good idea quitting the gym! £75/mo to david lloyd to not get anywhere and 6 months at this and I have never been this fit in my life! I am only 32 though so that is not saying much! Working down there was a long dark tunnel, I can tell you when everything had to be lifted up front by hand by myself with the occasional help from a mate or two on some weekends.

To be honest this project is proving much more difficult than the last one as I had the man power then and it was just simply building a new house. Always more difficult renovating. I am not a builder by trade, have an MA in Management and Marketing but worked with a joiner throughout university and learned the rest as I went along. I just got fed up sitting in an office so decided to go full time on this. :smashin:

Glad you are enjoying this thread. I will try not ramble too much and keep it to the point! Anyone else has any questions feel free to ask as that is the point of these threads...to inspire :D
 
Owen824,

Wow, it this is anything like the Cammo project this place will be stunning. I remember following that thread with great interest.

Looking forwards to this one...

Regards

Phil.
 
Stunning as always mate - well done so far!

I took some of your advice from the Camo project too - and this will be no different! IIRC it was your good lady who had the fine eye for colour and interior design - which I presume is the case here?? P.S. I am STILL looking for a sofa like the L shaped M&S one you had before (we got confused and exchanged PMs on the Natuzzi one before!!lol!)

Would you mind finding out what colour and make of paint is on the stair way wall (this is the colour I would like for my lounge!) and the wallpaper on the TV wall?
 
Hi Owen, I've just had a gander through your old Cammo thread - cracking stuff. I live about 5 minutes away from the Cammo estate myself, love it. Those properties are utterly amazing, kudos on a job well done.

The view from your new project looks distinctly like a vantage point from Corstorphine Hill if I'm not mistaken! :)
 
Stunning as always mate - well done so far!

I took some of your advice from the Camo project too - and this will be no different! IIRC it was your good lady who had the fine eye for colour and interior design - which I presume is the case here?? P.S. I am STILL looking for a sofa like the L shaped M&S one you had before (we got confused and exchanged PMs on the Natuzzi one before!!lol!)

Would you mind finding out what colour and make of paint is on the stair way wall (this is the colour I would like for my lounge!) and the wallpaper on the TV wall?

I will get paint colour asap. The couich was Ligne Roset and not Natuzzi...:D The couch is still in Marks if you are talking about the L shaped browny-grey one....?

The wall paper is no problem either, you shall have both names tomorrow...:smashin:
Hi Owen, I've just had a gander through your old Cammo thread - cracking stuff. I live about 5 minutes away from the Cammo estate myself, love it. Those properties are utterly amazing, kudos on a job well done.

The view from your new project looks distinctly like a vantage point from Corstorphine Hill if I'm not mistaken! :)

You mighht be correct my friend...:D
 
I will get paint colour asap. The couich was Ligne Roset and not Natuzzi...:D The couch is still in Marks if you are talking about the L shaped browny-grey one....?

The wall paper is no problem either, you shall have both names tomorrow...:smashin:


You mighht be correct my friend...:D

My parents' old house had the very same view :smashin:
 
Would you mind finding out what colour and make of paint is on the stair way wall (this is the colour I would like for my lounge!) and the wallpaper on the TV wall?

The paint is Dusted Moss 1 from Dulux trade counter. Get them to mix it.

The paper is Harlequin Seagrass....link

:smashin:
 
"All structural calculations work for that area below and the main house and rear extension was £1k. "

Seems quite cheap to me, I'm a consulting engineer, and you wouldn't get a whole lot of in-depth calcs out of me for 1K. I'm from a different discipline (fire engineering) and a different arena (offshore oil and gas) though. To my eyes the 89 RHS looks a bit skimpy, but I'm used to seeing mutiple safety factors applied, with steel utilisation seldom approaching 0.6 (using 60% of the strength) by design.
If your SE is chartered, and the calc has been signed off by a similar, I'd be happpy.
 
Seems quite cheap to me, I'm a consulting engineer, and you wouldn't get a whole lot of in-depth calcs out of me for 1K. I'm from a different discipline (fire engineering) and a different arena (offshore oil and gas) though. To my eyes the 89 RHS looks a bit skimpy, but I'm used to seeing mutiple safety factors applied, with steel utilisation seldom approaching 0.6 (using 60% of the strength) by design.
If your SE is chartered, and the calc has been signed off by a similar, I'd be happpy.

Big difference between offshore and residential housing hence the reason you would not be doing much for £1k. Thats an hourly wage in that area isn't it...:D I have quite a few friends that work in the oil industry and what I wouldn't do to get a steady pay like those buggers!

My SE is chartered and I do not think the steel is comig even closing to 30% utilistation. That beam under neath is only holding the two small walls above (you can see in the lounge pic, the space between that was taken out before we bought the house) and then it is only a small wall above that so all in all with all walls being tied together and being a single skim of brick you would think 254 wide steel beam is overkill.

I am just going by previous jobs where we have had bigger and larger spans and never even come close to using this size of steel! All engineers were SE chartered and jobs signed off so just goes to show they dont follow a general rule of thumb, wish they would though would ,make my job a lot easier!
 
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Yeah, the 254 PFC looks like overkill in terms of strength, and a bit incongruous againt the 89 RHS perhaps its more of a steelwork geometery thing? But structures aren't really my bag, your SE has done his sums and I guess you have to go with it. Especially now that its installed.:)

Definitely different design considerations between my field and the domestic arenas. IME, the only rule of thumb that applies is... if it doesn't look right, challenge it.
 
Thanks very much mate I appreciate the help once again! oops linge roset your quite correct! I thought m&s stopped that sofa design will have a gander today :thumbsup:

Love the seagrass wallpaper texture and colour saw it in a boutique hotel and have been keeping my eyes out for it.

Looking forward to the rest of the build-thread subscribed!
 

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