Will post a couple more pictures tomorow now that the roof is also on and attached.
I was supposed to start this thread months ago showing the progress but it never kicked off, but now it's done i can sort of go backwards and show you what i've been upto.
This is the original "before picture" showing the rear area as it was more of less since we bought the house.
You cant really tell how much of a jungle there was back there behind the Beetle, and land that was simply being wasted.
Right at the back was huge conifer which was easy enough to cut down.
Removing the 100+ year old root was a different matter altogether! Here's the root in all its glory. Apparently, it weighed 1 ton.
With all the trees and the jungle well out of the way and in the chipper, the next phase was to try and establish some sort of clear area and work out how big an area we have to lay a concrete base...
Taking boundaries etc into account, we've managed to get an area of about 18 x 22 feet.
Next was to flatten then area and as it was on a slope, not as straight forward (pardon the pun) as it sounds, and harder when the workmen don’t turn up the day they are supposed to and then their own workmen don’t turn up / lorries axles break etc etc. Not a major thing i guess but it all adds days and weeks to a simple operation.
In with the hardcore
and more hardcore.... and then it rained leaving a nice moat all the way around.
There's Tom the Diggerman aka "The Jiggerman" forming the square.
Had to hire these rubbish road forms. Only one place in Leicester does them, and they are rubbish and not cheap. Still managed to make them do the job!
At last a turning point! Actually felt like things were taking shape and gave us a good idea of how things will look.
With the hardcore ready, we covered it in sand to stop any sharp bits and them covered that in thick polythene to act as a damp-proof membrane. Also put the heavy steel mesh in at the bottom about an inch and a half off the bottom.
All ready and set for the big pour...
Next day, with after two huge loads of RC30 concrete mix, here we are...
One concrete base all ready and waiting to go off, ready for the garage to come in a few weeks time.
and all of that was a few weeks ago.
Yesterday, the garage turned up!
They don’t hang about once they start slotting the panels in place!
And by the end of the day its was looking pretty much as it's going to look.
All that was left was to come back today to put the roof on and final bits and pieces - Which is now done. Will take a couple of pictures of the finished article tonight and post them up.
As you can see from the state of the garden, there is still loads more back-breaking work to do...
...never heard that one before ...not 