SOME DIY PROJECTS
I specialise in upside down building - most people start from the ground and work up - I tend to start around head height and work down!
BASEMENT DIG OUT
A muppet builder digs up the basement floor of half of your £2.5m house in Hampstead so that the footings are exposed. Half of the house starts sinking into the ground, the spine wall starts sinking, all the floors go squiffy. Who ya gona call.
The footings are shored up temporarily with lean mix and props hold the floors while the architect and structural engineer come up with a plan of 33 pins and retaining walls.
For each pin we dig down aproximately 1.5m and cast a large and deep pin. The footing is knocked off the wall and we shutter from the pin up to the wall and cast a retaining wall finished off with dry pack.
Towards the begining of the job - the original foor was about 0.6m above where we were standing
A huge concrete retaining wall and some brickwork to support the chimney breast above
Mr Merick shutters up for the nib wall which will replace the spine wall
35 x 8 yard builder skips later (1 every 5 hours) everything is pinned. An elaborate steel frame is put in to support the spine wall and the ground floor (I think about 9 steel beams). We can safely dig out the floor as our friend from up north intended.
The Iranians dig down another 1 metre throughout the work area (62 sq m)
Another 10 skips later we are ready to cast our 200mm reinforced concrete floor in 2 stages. 30 tons of very high slump premix comes flooding through the window and into 5 wheelbarrows, very comical!
Blinding sand down, level shutters, DPM, Reinforcement steel cut ready. Waiting for 6m2 of concrete
First section complete, 2nd all ready. Note reinforcement tie bars in first slab
Second sections complete.
Once finished we just install a sump pump to get rid of the 200 litres that floods the basement on an average day. The customer now has 62sqm of beautiful underground space, they just have to save up to 1st & 2nd fix it.
1 GRUBBY HOUSE INTO 4 HI SPEC. FLATS
A proper extension - how to remove 1/3rd of the ground floor (the entire rear wall and half of the flank wall) of a house without it falling down - this isn't done very often, most people are happy with a 2'6" door into their extension!
Needles support the upper walls and floor to allow insertion of the steels.
All of the steel in place and the walls bricked up above and the roof/terrace joists going in.
Only the copings, floor, roof, windows, electrics, plumbing, plaster and carpentry to go
OUR FLAT
Still work in progress but at least the floors are back down, the ceilings are back up and we now have walls, doors and windows and many other useful things.
The Living Room with solid prime maple single planks - this stuff actually grows on trees
The Kitchen waiting for it's cabinets and a couple of slabs of Nero Absoluto
My designer windows - rather pleased with them
SOME BITS OF MDF I KNOCKED UP
MDF doesn't have to look as if Handy Andy have hacked it up with a chain saw and a couple of chip board screws, especially if you get it veneered.
One of a pair of classic bookcases for a flat in Hampstead
The bottom of our bookcases
A CD/Video case to fit under the stairs of a flat in the West End
Cocktail cabinet with mirror & lighting - made from Oak faced MDF
Cupboard from more Oak MDF with American Red Cherry door
MDF Video Cabinet for a flat in Notting Hill
Some of 8 matched cherry wardrobe doors into a cherry bathroom
WWW FOR ROBIN SPENCE
www.dynamic-display.co.uk
www.dynamicdisplay.org
www.dynamicdisplay.info
www.dyna-vision.co.uk
www.ledscreen.co.uk
www.ledmovingmessages.co.uk
www.ledmegavision.co.uk
www.dynamicdynavision.co.uk
www.dynamicnoticeboard.co.uk
www.queuesystem.co.uk
www.queue-system.com
www.queue-system.co.uk
www.dynamicdisplay.co.uk
www.robinspence.co.uk
www.dynamiclicence.co.uk
www.onlinelicence.co.uk
www.clevertips.com
www.medicaldisplay.co.uk
www.andondisplay.co.uk
www.timetempdisplay.co.uk
www.timetemperature.co.uk
www.dynamicoutpatient.co.uk
www.timetemp.co.uk
www.dynamicoutpatient.com
EMAIL FOR ROBIN SPENCE
rspence@dynamic-display.co.uk
rspence@dynamicdisplay.org
rspence@dynamicdisplay.info
rspence@dyna-vision.co.uk
rspence@ledscreen.co.uk
rspence@ledmovingmessages.co.uk
rspence@ledmegavision.co.uk
rspence@dynamicdynavision.co.uk
rspence@dynamicnoticeboard.co.uk
rspence@queuesystem.co.uk
rspence@queue-system.com
rspence@queue-system.co.uk
rspence@dynamicdisplay.co.uk
rspence@robinspence.co.uk
rspence@dynamiclicence.co.uk
rspence@onlinelicence.co.uk
rspence@clevertips.com
rspence@medicaldisplay.co.uk
rspence@andondisplay.co.uk
rspence@timetempdisplay.co.uk
rspence@timetemperature.co.uk
rspence@dynamicoutpatient.co.uk
rspence@timetemp.co.uk
rspence@dynamicoutpatient.com
NET MEETING FOR ROBIN SPENCE
conf.dynamicdisplay.org