Day 4 and the workers dug more holes and removed the last of the bricks from the interior walls. Hooray! A lintel has been installed at the east end. We now have a true sense of the size of the space.
Yesterday marked Day 1 of ‘the build’. A small crew from Vic Restorations arrived early (just after 7) to prepare for a day of wall and cement floor removal. By the end of the day the end wall was down and much of the back floor had been broken up. Today they continued the work, removing the rest of the floor and the old loft. As you can see from the photos they have begun the east wall. Next week they intend to make inroads with the subfloor. We are told things will move quickly now. If the first two days are anything to go by we’ll be at the end before we know it (TFIC – tongue firmly in cheek).
After toiling away with the jackhammer we finally reached a point where we could bring someone in to cut up the concrete. Then it was a matter of removing the ‘giant pavers’. That’s where Ash Bannerman and his Vermeer s600tx rubber track mini loader burst into action.
As my Dad always says – “You just need the right tool for the job!”
In an attempt to save some money the team decided to remove the cement floor themselves. It is an excellent example of the false economy one can experience when renovating. This task has included the hire and use of an electric jackhammer (great tool but no match for the thickest of the cement), 3 hours work by a professional cement saw operator ($400 blade worn through), four trailer loads of cement to ASQ for recycling (and counting), the removal and stacking of 100+ bricks and several appointments to the chiropractor. The finish is in sight, well at least for this particular chapter of the build – or should that be preparation for the build.
Using the hammer drill with the chisel bit we’ve managed to excavate down to the footings of the north wall. It appears that the footings are solid and well-formed. Hopefully that’s the case right the way around. Amazing to work through the most recent ‘cement pour’ to discover two earlier examples of cement floors. When all the cement is removed there should be plenty of space for air to flow underneath the building – and help manage any moisture around the site.
Archaeological dig to the footings
One hammer deep - of cement
I ache all over. My shoulders have an awful tingly sensation. Obviously a clear sign that I did too much work on removing the cement render off the walls over the long weekend. My co-worker and I keep reminding each other “It will look worse before it looks better.” The two ‘apprentices’ found great amusement in being able to look at each other through the gaps of the double-brick walls. Once they tired of that they were somewhat helpful in removing the rubble.
Chipping away the cement render
The Cordial Factory 