Builders Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire. Professional Builders in Stoke on Trent

Fitting underfloor heating in a extension

Macey — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 08:42:01 +0000

Its quite common over the last few years for people to want underfloor heating retro fitted to the home.
In this project we have a beam and block floor that has been infilled with polystyrene block as opposed to concrete blocks.
this poses a problem with height, as we will require 100mm of insulation, plus our 90mm of screed to cover the heating pipes. We are now removing the beams so that we can fit a new concrete subfloor from which to start building up our heated floor onto.
Nothing that phases us this time….not after this RSJ’s we are still having dreams about!

Ready for Roof on our Extension in Penkridge, Staffordshire

Macey — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 07:46:08 +0000

We will all be glad when the roof is on this one!,fitting the rsj’s were somewhat of a challenge!
now we are almost ready for the roof, and our next challenge is taking out the ground floors in preparation for the underfloor heating!
When you are looking for a builder in stoke on trent, staffordshire or cheshire, and you want a professional that can handle the entire job from start to finish – call Mason & Mason Construction!

Phase 2 at Abbey Doctors Surgery

Macey — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 11:08:57 +0000

with Phase one now complete and the Doctor in his new surgery, we now commence phase 2 which comprises and new entrance to the surgery and internal alterations to the waiting room area.

Quick Trip around the Peak District on The KTM

Macey — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 11:02:27 +0000

As you know i quite like my action and adventure ( slash danger! ) and seeing as the weather has been a little bit unconducive to paramotoring i decided to dust off the KTM 400exc and go for a bit of sightseeing in the peak district…..Following legal rights of way to motor vehicles ( but not ones that you could ever get a car up!) we travel across the peaks taking in the views and reach places that are only accessible by walking….As you can see….the odd tumble is a hazard of the sport!..but worth it!

How To Renovate a Terraced Home Part 3 – Windows, Roof and 1st Fixes

Macey — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 10:03:23 +0000

Now we have carried out all of the basic damp treatment, we have a clean sheet internally to work with and we can progress with the internal 1t fixes. You can see that we are now installing a complete new central heating system, using a special calculator we measure each room, consider its heat losses through windows, walls and ceilings and a heat loss calculation is carried out to determine the size of radiator required to heat each room. Consideration is also given to the electrical layout, ie. TV positions, sockets and lighting requirements, at this point we also fit mains operated smoke and heat detectors to provide an early warning system in the event of a fire. The detectors are fitted with a battery backup should the fire cut the electricity supply to the detector.
Whilst carrying out the internal first fixes we also proceed with the window replacements, again consideration has to be given to means of escape in the case of a fire, and all first floor habitable room windows are fitted with fire escape windows with special hinges to allow the egress of a person in the event of a fire, the windows are also fitted with background trickle ventilation to help with the circulation of fresh air in the property ( thus assisting with the avoidance of damp and condensation ) Our Windows are BFRC “A” Energy rated.
Once the windows are fitted ( preferably not in this order, but restrictions on gaining a scaffold permit gave us a slight delay ) we commenced with a full overhaul of the roof. Not a simple task on this one!, the roof was fitted with slates dating back to probably when the property was built, These slates are random widths and thicknesses due to them being a natural material, Each row of slates was taken off individually and numbered according to their location to enable their repositioning back on the roof. the roof was fitted with a fully breathable roofing membrane -again to assist with ventilation of the roof void and future damp / rot worries, The roof space will then be insulated with 300mm of Rockwool ( or similar ) Loft space insulation. This roof didn’t have any flashings around the chimneys ( well not if you don’t count a few biscuit tins and pieces of lino! ) it had the old cement haunchings in place – Whilst overhauling the roof we will replace all cement haunchings with lead soakers and stepped flashings around the chimneys and into the valley at the rear as this is one of the most common causes of damp at first floor level. Whilst we are here, we will also take the opportunity to replace th sold timber gutters at the rear, and clean out all moss and debris elsewhere.

Next — Plastering!

Just Like The Egyptians!, Fitting Huge RSJ’s into a project at Penkridge

Macey — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 09:40:30 +0000

To move the huge steels round to the rear we lay steel rollers on the floor and slid each piece round…Due to the incredible weight of the steels we commissioned our structural engineer to design 2 joints into each piece enabling us to split the huge 8m span into more manageable bite size chunks!…even then they were hard work, Big thank you goes to the team for managing this feat of strength whilst i had my nails done at the local nail salon…i couldn’t get out of the appointment sorry team!
Joking apart, you can see the inner RSJ in place here, and this isn’t the end of it, we have to bolt another one to the face of it ( not the steel spacers ) and then two more perpendicular to it to carry the external 2 storey extension, and one more internally to carry an internal load bearing wall.

Thankyou team!

Building maintenance at VOSA

Macey — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 12:12:01 +0000

Our staffordshire, cheshire and shropshire building services don’t just extend to extensions and refurbishments!
When approached by VOSA to make safe disused inspection pits over at cold meece, we were only too happy to assist.
our building and construction services extends to landlords and commercial premises where maintenance and improvements are required.
If you have a commercial requirement please feel free to contact us.

Fitting Huge RSJ’s into a extension to support brickwork, roof and extension loadings

Macey — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 12:06:41 +0000

WOW!, yes we have installed bigger and heavier steel RSJ’s into projects but usually with the assistance of a crane!
Over at penkridge the HUGE 8 metres long 457 x 191 x 98kg/m steels are posing a challenge!
Due to access arrangements and the on-site practicalities i have instructed the structural engineer to redesign the steels incorporating joints to split the steels into 3 along the length. The steels in conjunction with heavy lifting gear and rollers are then being carefully manoeuvred into position. Placement is critical, as is the careful propping of the existing house – the steels will carry the entire width of the property, the new extension and an internal wall too.

wheres anika rice when you need her?

if you can’t find anika either, and you need a builder to undertake a construction project in stoke on trent, staffordshire, cheshire or shropshire, why not try mason and mason instead?

How to renovate a terraced home – part 2 – damp treatment

Macey — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 11:16:34 +0000

One of the most prevalent problems in older properties that you will encounter during a property renovation is Damp.

Damp can rear its head in many ways, rising damp, penetrating damp, and damp caused by condensation.

In this property we encountered them all!, and we treated them as follows:

Damp was found in the ground floor, properties of this age didn’t have the luxury of a visqueen membrane beneath the floor, quite often quarry tiles were laid over a thin cement based screed, which was then laid over ash, or sometimes just soil ( some properties have a timber ground floor which can be susceptible to dry and wet rot too ) in this case, the floors were mainly dry, with the odd isolated patch of moisture and didn’t warrant the floors being removed and re-concreted. However they were out of level somewhat due to settlement over the years. Our treatment was to apply a levelling treatment of mastic asphalt to the low areas, followed by a top levelling coat to improve the levels of the floor. the mastic asphalt is laid in a couple of hours, and can be walked on a couple of hours thereafter, thus saving time on the job and more importantly providing and impermeable membrane to prevent moisture rising through.

Rising damp was not really an issue in this property, however as we had removed all of the plaster it made perfect sense to install a horizontal DPC by means of drilling and injecting the brick / mortar courses with DRYZONE cream a link to their data sheet can be found this data sheet provided by the manufacture also gives instructions on how to install the product. Having used dry zone for years we find it the easiest of products to use, its a low odour product and providing the instructions are followed we have found it to work well.

Penetrating Damp – Often confused as rising damp or condensation, is quite prevalent of the first floors, mainly due to the roof being old and unfelted. The problem with damp, is that after plaster ( introducing more moisture into the property ) the dampness can remain in the bricks and rear its head later as staining or marks on the plaster. To avoid this we applied a tanking mortar to the chimney breasts where flashings have failed on the chimney causing water to run down, and we also applied tanking mortar to the entire property unto 1.00m from the floor to prevent any future problems coming back into the house. Tanking mortar, often used in cellars, swimming pools etc provides a impervious surface which holds back water and damp ingress.

We are about to fit PVCu windows to the property, a lot of homes had windows replaced with PVC, but unfortunatley what this appeared to do was to make the home a lot more “sealed”, and didn’t allow any background ventilation into the home. This coupled with the fact that the properties were thermally inefficient in many other areas led to a build up of condensation within the home – this may appear as mildew, beading of water around the windows, and general dampness in the home. To prevent condensation damp from appearing in the future all of our windows are fitted with trickle ventilation, This allows a background ventilation to the rooms and permits air changes in the home therefore assisting with the avoidance of condensation.

Look out soon for the window installation, the roof replacement and first fixes electrically, plumbing and joinery!

if you are thinking of carrying out a home renovation in stoke on trent, staffordshire, cheshire or shropshire, feel free to call us for advice or a free quotation on your home renovation.

How to renovate or modernise a terraced home….

Macey — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 10:45:39 +0000

Getting back to grass roots!…well it seems like an age since this was my primary business, carrying out around 250 back to brick renovations on terraced homes prior to selling them on with 5% deposit, legal fees, carpets etc etc all paid…..those were the days eh!
It makes a pleasant change from our core business to get back to basics again with this terraced house renovation in macclesfield on behalf of a landlord…That in itself makes a pleasant change, most landlord enquiries we get involve the superficial tarting up to get ready for the next tenant, needless to say we don’t blogg those ones!

Obviously the correct way to modernise a property to this extent would be to employ the services of a builder, and if you wish to modernise a property in stoke on trent, cheshire, staffordshire or shropshire we would be only to happy to help.

If you are a hands on type, and you want to have a go yourself, then this is how we go about it!

Stage 1 – After carrying out a full assessment of the property it was decided that there wasn’t much left to keep in this one, so the handsome young apprentice joe mason ( heir to the throne ) sets about removing all of the plaster from the walls and most ceilings.
The problem with properties built in this era .. approaching 100yrs old, is that the old rendered plaster has become damp. perished, loose etc…and yes you could spend time repairing and patching, but realistically its better in the long term to start again sometimes.

look out for stage 2 where we start to treat the damp and carry out tanking the walls.

Mason & Mason on TV!

Macey — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:03:54 +0000

Well we have made magazine history ( see our previous blog posts ) now one of our projects has made the big screen! Well almost! ,

Our project at Lightwood is soon to be featured on britains empty homes, with filming now complete, the show should air around April, Jon and carol were delighted, and we are very grateful for their support and praise!

Thanks carol, thanks Jim, it was a pleasure working for you!!

Watch this space for an update!

Ps, our building services are available though out Staffordshire, Cheshire and Shropshire, call us to discuss your project when you are ready!

Oak Framed Extension Case Study Added

Macey — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:56:40 +0000

Christmas saw the virtual completion of our oak framed extension on a old listed bakehouse, read all about it here

Penkridge Floor Beams and Extension Superstructure Started

Macey — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:17:02 +0000

Despite the weather our intrepid team have worked hard and our extension at penkridge is moving along swiftly, the precast concrete floor beams are fitted, the infill blocks are laid, and the superstructure has commenced… Not the extensive pier that we have constructed to take the sheer weight of the RSJ’s that we will be installing soon!

New Project at Penkridge

Macey — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:34:29 +0000

We are pleased to be involved in the extension and internal refurbishment on this modern family home.
The extension comprises a single story, a 2 storey and a garage conversion, internally we are taking up the existing floors and installing underfloor heating, we have extensive alterations to the existing floor plan including the removal of the entire rear elevation – yes .. All of it! Approx 8.5m long we have 2nr RSJ of 450mm deep, each weighing a tonne! To install!
Our partner company simmer will be installing a amazing kitchen too..

Watch this one, it’s going to be an interesting, not to mention challenging one, as you can see by our novel approach to accessing the rear garden… Through the garage and out the other side!!!

Bbbbrrrrr..Roof Tiling a single storey extension in stoke on trent

Macey — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:29:32 +0000

Brrrrrr, our roofing contractor braves the cold weather to fix roof tiles on our single storey extension to a doctors surgery in stoke on trent..

Thanks Lee!