Alfa haven

[155'Ringman]

I know, it became obvious that I just wasn't going to get the time to do much at it myself as I work away during the week.

In more good news, had a builder who is currently building a house for my brother price it to take it up to roof level and he has come in with a fantastic price so I've given him the nod this evening.

I'll be buying the materials myself and getting them delivered so he'll just be supplying labour. Hopefully starting within a week or so.

 

[155'Ringman]

1st delivery of materials, now just waiting on him to turn up.

 

[chicane]

love this GTV

Same here.

 

[155'Ringman]

Got these pics from my Mrs earlier as I'm away working..

 

[155'Ringman]

Ordered the beams to support the roof yesterday as they will have to be built into the top of the walls. I have to fill in alongside the walls at the current height to bring it all up to ground level this weekend to allow the builder to come back in and take the walls up next week.
Also have to visit a local joinery works tomorrow to talk to them about the front doors. Starting to cost proper money now but still way cheaper than getting a builder in to do the whole thing.

 

[155'Ringman]

Spent a bit of yesterday afternoon and all of today filling in alongside the foundation walls so the builder can get back onsite and take the walls on up.
Used the stones that were separated from the clay that was excavated out of the trenches and that did the job nicely. Still got a bit to fill on the outside of the walls but all the inner trenches are filled which means my builder can get back on site. :thubuo:
Now that the large pile of stones is out of the way, you can get a sense of the finished size..

 

[155'Ringman]

My builder has been back on site this week and only lost one day due to rain so he has made good progress getting the blockwork up..
I had my local joinery works up to measure for some solid wooden doors as I've been completely sick of the very thin roller door on the current garage taking heat out of the building and being drafty. I know I could have had an insulated door but I like the look and feel of a nice solid wooden door.
Myself and my son will be lifting the steel beams into position tomorrow hopefully and doing some other small jobs to prepare for the roof going on in the next week or so. Then we can have the masons back to fill in the gaps up on the gable wall before the felt, batons and tiles go on.
Good to see some proper progress though.

Monday:






Tuesday was rained off, so Wednesday:







Thursday:







Today, he pretty much topped out the gable and set the padstones for the steels to go in. Also cut out the house and current garage for the head which will span that gap.
I'll get more pics up tomorrow of where we are now if anyone is interested as it's already dark here..

 

[bonecrrusher]

Are you connecting the new structure to the existing garage out back?

 

[155'Ringman]

Yes I am, the current garage is 20' x 20' and the extension is around 32' long with a slightly narrower width.

 

[155'Ringman]

Took some more photos earlier, the blockwork is up to the ridge height and we have to put in the beams this weekend.
It was raining today so we didn't want to risk manhanding them around too much as they were wet / slippery so we're going to leave that till tomorrow.
We used the sack barrow to take one of them in from where they had been dumped by the lorry so that was much easier than trying to lift them that distance.
Also went and bought the head for the gap between the house and the garage and got it lifted into position.

 

[155'Ringman]

Myself and my son lifted the beams into position today. Each one is just over 180kg / 396lb so pretty heavy and unwieldy but we used a sack truck to wheel them into the garage and then used tressles / scaffold to make stage lifts where we both lifted one end and then stepped the other end up etc. Took a while but we got them up there OK.

Beam wheeling system..


First one up


Second one on the way up


And a bit further up


And up in place


From another angle


Third one in.


All three

 

[Sunbimmer]

You're making good progress, looking good

 

[155'Ringman]

Thank you, I'm completely chuffed with how it's going after so long trying to get the time to do it myself.

 

[Sunbimmer]

....trying to get the time to do it myself.

I know how you feel that's my problem too, I want to do everything myself. Also I keep adding plans to my build so ever more work and less time

 

[155'Ringman]

Yes, decided that I couldn't let this go another winter so it's getting done now come hell or high water.
Once it's up, normal service will resume and I will get back to doing things myself...

 

[155'Ringman]

We had a difficult / slow weekend last week. Really suffering with the lack of light.
We spent ages measuring up the rafters and the walls on Saturday and had to go in for a long lunch because it was pouring down and everything was soaking. We had to spend ages putting up extra scaffolding under the beams so we had a platform at the right height but we were freezing cold and wet.
Got all the wallplates onto the beams (Hilti guns are fun) and the front wall.
The two top beams are way out of position which caused no end of confusion and delays. Builder put the padstones where he thought it was right but to be fair, he didn't have much to go off and you really need to lay in a couple of rafters to set it all correctly. We got 3 pairs of rafters in and the ridgeboard last Sunday after having to take big chunks out of the gable wall to move the front beam rearwards.

The builder was here during the week and built in the ends of the beams and lined up the gable to the rafter line so we are ready to move on and fill in the rest of the gaps in the main roof and do the second roof over the gap between the garage and the house.
Weather is looking decidedly changeable so who knows if we'll get a full day at it tomorrow.

 

[GBsnoopy]

Coming on strong now. Thats going to be one nice sized garage when finished.

 

[155'Ringman]

Yes, working away as much as the weather and light will allow us.
Went to see the new doors this morning, they are beautiful made from iroko, can't wait to get them on. That took a little time this morning but was worth it as a morale booster.
We got all the rafters on the front side of the roof cut and in this morning and all the rear side this afternoon but there was no light to take a photo of them all in once we were done.
Hopefully we will get the rest of the joists and hangers done tomorrow, weather permitting.

Front side rafters done.

 

[155'Ringman]

Was out at it again today after a slow start in deference to the people still sleeping inside the house.. :roll:
After doing a few other chores like trying to fit winter tyres to rims for my wife's car but bending the bead breaker on my manual changer.. We spent a right few hours cutting, levering and beating the old gable ladder out before getting the final two new rafters in against the house gable. We worked past dark again but it was a lovely clear dry night so it wasn't too bad. I had been very nervous doing this as we had to try not to disturb the current roof tiles but it worked out well with the judicious use of a 7lb sledgehammer and a noggin to knock the new rafter into position with minimal damage. Happy.

Some pics from this morning of the full rack of rafters in





And later on when we were putting the rafters in

 

[155'Ringman]

Today's progress..
Getting a limited amount done due to lack of light but got all the joists on the main roof done and the gable ladders just before we lost the light.
That's the main roof all but done structurally and tomorrow we'll be onto the garage roof and joining the two roofs together.
Dunno that we'll get it all done tomorrow but we'll give it a bash..

 

[155'Ringman]

Back at this yesterday. Had to take last weekend off as one of my old uncles died so it was an old fashioned wake in the farmhouse he had lived in all his life. Good chance to catch up with all the cousins I never see.

Got the old gable ladders stripped out of the front of the existing garage, measured up / cut the new rafters and set the ridge board. Was getting a bit cold as there was snow forecast here for today but we got 2 pairs of rafters up and the ridge board anchored in. Progress. 8)
It was past dark before we finished but I took a couple of photos this morning. Rain / sleet stopped play today fairly early so hopefully the weather isn't too bad next week

 

[miamivice]

Very cool, look forward to seeing this completed!

 

[155'Ringman]

Thanks guys, hopefully will keep at it weather permitting next weekend.

 

[CJUDGE]

Very Cool. Garage build and the Alfa's.

 

[155'Ringman]

Thanks for the kind comments, much appreciated.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[gtr cook]

Loving the space and more importantly, the work going inside.

Great job

 

[155'Ringman]

Well not much work going on inside at the moment!
The weather is holding me back right now but I'll hopefully get onto it over the christmas break. Cheers for stopping by.

 

[GBsnoopy]

I was wondering how it was going and expected the onset of the winter weather was holding your back.

 

[155'Ringman]

Yes, the last week or so has been wet, windy and cold so not great at all.
We just need a few clear dry days to get the roof structure completed.

 

[155'Ringman]

OK, New Year, a bit of progress on team garage..
Weather over Christmas has been wet and wild to put it mildly but it was dry during the last two days so we had a chance to sort out almost all of the rear roof and we are into the smaller finishing jobs on the structure. I've started putting on the wall straps to hold it on and we should be in a position to book the tilers by the end of the week, weather permitting.


Rafters trimmed at the front.


Rear roof just missing one rafter as we ran out of wood Not bad to be that close on quantities on this size of roof though.


Chris trimming up the existing fascia boards to install the valley boards.


Getting there..

Happy New Year!!

 

[Cris B]

Looking good. The weather's been wet on this side of the Irish Sea and you'd have had a horrible job trying to get that done here. Very impressive estimation on the timber front. In hindsight would you still do all the carpentry yourself again?

 

[155'Ringman]

Thanks for the comments!
Yes, it has been wet here too but we grabbed two dry days to try and get it done. The carpentry has been fun and I wanted to do it with my son as a joint project as he's a site carpentry apprentice. I'd do it again but not in the winter!! Bad planning / luck on my part as I spent most of my summer holidays sorting out my main car after having paid someone to re-pipe the brake lines last year only to find that they had to be re-done as they were touching the body or each other in multiple places.. That took a lot longer than it should have as I had to remove lots of siezed parts to get a few of the routes done correctly and clipped safely.

 

[155'Ringman]

Got the new front doors fitted yesterday..

 

[Boosted1]

Wow! Those doors are awesome.

 

[GBsnoopy]

Thats one nice looking door. Im glad the weathers holding out for you.

 

[Martin XJ]

Excellent build and superb doors,looking forward to seeing the interior fit out.


My thread http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=271477

 

[roger440]

Nice doors indeed

And properly weathertight ones too by the look of it. Can you say who the manufacturer was?

 

[155'Ringman]

Yes, I hope they are weather tight as that was the spec I gave the carpentry works! They are lovely doors, solid cored with exterior ply with Iroko frame and T&G panels. The weather strips slot into rebates around the three 'opening' sides and then the fourth side is on the frame to prevent distortion of the weather strip.

I got them made by a local works close to me although they do bespoke work all over the UK and Ireland. Rea Timber Craft (RTC) is the company. For those who know their motorbikes, they have a long association with motorcycle racing.

Thanks for the comments! Just need a roof now, got the tiles delivered today so i'll be trying to get the tiler booked in asap.

 

[T.E.D. Jordan]

Fantastic build.

I spotted a Fiat Stilo and Fiat bravo. I come from a family whose well into their fiats and Alfas. Nice little motors.

The doors look incredible, they really ooze quality. Looking forward to seeing this roofed and the next fun stage starting - fitting out!

Jordan

 

[dhubbard422]

Beautiful doors!