Complete loft conversions has started another side to our existing company CLC, as we kept getting asked to build more garden rooms and cart lodges in and around the Ipswich Suffolk area, we decided to have a dedicated arm just building cart lodges and  car barns.

Our new business is called CLS, short for Cart Lodges Suffolk and will be part of the Combination group of companies, which will specialise in traditional Oak Crucked frames built with traditional tendon joints with Oak pegs mixed with modern building techniques.

CLS will carry out all of the work as a complete service this will include the brick work, carpentry , plumbing, electrics, heating systems, roofing, all in one place.

We will also specialise in garden rooms and outdoor spaces including cedar, larch, composite cladding, hardiplank, accoya, render and any other suitable outside material you wish to use to clad your garden room with.

We are currently offering the following sizes in garden rooms as an off the peg solution these include the following sizes.

  • Widths: 2.4m to 8.4m
  • Depths: 2.4m to 4.5m
  • External Height up to: 2.5m

We can excavate and install your concrete base for your cart lodge or garden room using the following methods.

  • Trench foundation (suitable for cart lodges)
  • Concrete base (suitable for garden rooms and cart lodges)
  • Existing base (suitable for garden rooms)
  • Precast concrete plinths (suitable for garden rooms)
  • Concrete piles (suitable for garden rooms and cart lodges)

We can work off your drawings or we can assist you with drawings most garden rooms will come under permitted development and will not need planning or building control because they are not considered as permanent structures.

Most cart lodges, car barns and granny annexes are carried out under permitted development but because they are over 2.5m high, and are permanent structures you will need to submit plans to your local authority and you will need building control from your local authority as this will be a permanent structure and will need drainage and possibly living areas will need insolation lighting heating and other services all of which can be carried out, by our accredited employees and contractors on behalf of CLS.

We carry out the following types of car barns, cart lodges and granny annexes.

  • One bay cart lodge (With no accommodation)
  • Two bay cart lodge (With no accommodation)
  • Three bay cart lodge (With accommodation)
  • Three bay cart lodge (With accommodation and gym)
  • Garden room home gym
  • Garden room with office

We can build any type of timber framed building or barn using Oak or just timber frame with sheathing OSB these can be to your exact specification or following one of our existing designs.

If you wish to make an inquiry about any of our services or wish to have a site visit regarding your property and the suitability of either a cart lodge or garden room please visit Cart Lodges Suffolk for more information.

 

 

We have been busy as ever, but managed to fit in this lovely letter porch extension with external cladding to either side, this modernised the whole look of this 1960s detached house.

We were commissioned to build the porch bay extension, but ended up changing the construction method to timber frame from block and brick for a few reasons which included.

 

  • Quicker to erect
  • More installation could be installed
  • Services would be easier to install
  • Better grounding for the triple glazed windows
  • Simplicity of build

We started by pouring the foundations but these had to be poured into a DMP because of nearby tree roots.

NOTE: If you are thinking of building and extension please be aware that any leylandii trees may need to be removed if they are within ten meters of you new build.

Then as we can see from the image below we build a cavity wall with 100mm thermalites up to damp course.

Cavity wall on foundation
Cavity wall on foundation

We then attached the damp course to the underside of the 180mm cls and fixed with sleeved fixings to create our sole plate.

Sole plate for timber frame
Sole plate for timber frame

As we can see from the image above all the construction took place without the need to expose the inside of the building unnecessarily, we also used 180mm timber so we could reach the U values with 180mm celotex.

We then constructed the timber frame with is clad with sterling board and breathable membrane this is for the windows to sit on as we can see by the image below.

Foundation brickwork and timber frame
Foundation brickwork and timber frame

We then had to wait for the windows to be built and fitted, then we could continue with the build by erecting the roof which sits on a plate at the top and a 75 mm cls on the window frame.

Hand cut double hipped roof
Hand cut double hipped roof

We then have the basic construction of the roof which was then membraned and tiled we also clad the timber frame and the sides  of the extension with hardiplank could sail cloth for the modern look, we also added a cant brick plinth with lead flashing which was not on the drawing as this looks better.

Completed bay with cladding
Completed bay with cladding

The existing windows inside were removed and the dwarf wall cut away to make the new bay inside the main front room.

We can now see the finished article apart from some tidying up and below is the inside where we were asked to install a brushed oak hardwood floor.

Finished inside with oak floor
Finished inside with oak floor

This project came in on time and with budget although, as always we were asked to do lots of extra work which was not on the drawing which we are always happy to do.

 

Haven’t posted for a while as been extremely busy with a large flat roof dormer on a Victorian detached property in Foxhall Road Ipswich for an extremely pleasant client and there family below we can see the front of property.

We were commissioned to convert the current three bedroom home, into a four bed-roomed three storey loft conversion with stunning views over Ipswich.

We have currently installed the new floor stairs, steel flat roof and clad the cheeks of the dormers with finer cent slate which can be vertically hung.

 

.Double wind stairs installed

 

The loft conversion will incompass a large bedroom with good sized en-suite and a custom built walk in wardrobe over 30 square meters of conversion with side and fold rear doors to a stylish glass Juliet balcony we have also installed three velux and reproofed the entire front of the property with the existing welsh slate.

 

As we can see from the picture the whole roof has been stripped of slate for the rear dormer and from the front to be  membraned as there was no felt

Flat-dormer-construction
Flat-dormer-construction

Below we can see the main room of the conversion from the bifold door postion

We have also insulated the flat cold roof with 160mm celotex and the exterior walls with 100mm and the internal walls with 70mm.

timber-floor-installed
timber-floor-installed

 

Complete loft conversion have started another conversion on a one hundred year old property for our new clients the loft will have three velux roof windows in the front and a huge dormer window at the back.

I haven’t posted for a while because  we have had issues with the website and Talk Talk who were handling our business broad band (badly) I would not recommend them in a million years.

Anyway we are still converting lofts in and around the Ipswich Suffolk area along with other projects including Foxhall rd which we have installed new floor, stairs and steels ready for the massive 6 meters dormer clad with slate on the back of the property.

The floors concept of 8×2 C24 timbers sitting on the external walls and the internal load bearing walls to accept the 22mm caber floor.

As we can see from the images the loft is a hand cut roof with no felt so the whole of the roof is being membraned while the scaffold is up.

Loft insulated with multifoil

As the property is over 100 years old and the chimney stack is still in use we needed to provide a 90mm x 90mm post to hold the ridge beam up.

For more on information on New regulations for loft insulation please follow this link.

We will keep updating the site with more info once we break into the roof.

 

 

 

 

Complete loft conversions Ipswich have completed another loft conversion this one was a large 5 meter dormer construction with one roof window and fully kitted out en-suite.

Below we can see the glulams being installed and the ashler walls erected before taking out the finik trusses.

glulams-installed
glulams-installed

Here we can see the next stage of construction the joists between the gluelams and the chipboard floor being installed.

timber-floor-installed
timber-floor-installed

After the timber floor is installed we installed the stair case to gain complete access to the loft.

Fitting-of-stair-case
Fitting-of-stair-case

Once the stair case has been fitted the the internal walls can be erected.

Internal-walls-erected
Internal-walls-erected

Once the internal work is completed we erect the scaffold and break through the roof and create the flat dormer as seen below.

Building-flat-dormer
Building-flat-dormer

We then build the dormer and dormer cheeks and put the facias and soft on then we also cald the top deck and felt the roof so we are water tight.

Flat-dormer-construction
Flat-dormer-construction

As we can see below the dormer is built and water tight but not clad we need to put in the windows which and take a month on order before doing the cladding.

Dormer-built-but-not-clad
Dormer-built-but-not-clad

We also needed to put in a velux and ventilation for the cold roof above the dormer to keep the air flowing around the roof space.

velux-installed
velux-installed

We then set about installing the insulation which was 70mm celotex fitted tightly between the joists and rafters and taped with foil tape to stop cold spots.

Foil-backed-insulation-installed
Foil-backed-insulation-installed

We also celotexed the celing and around the dormer cheeks.

Celotex-around-dormer
Celotex-around-dormer

We then put space blanket equivalent to 200mm celotex to get the U values for the build and the 25mm battens over to take the plasterboard.

Space-blanket-over-25mm-battens-for-vapour-barrier-and-more-insulation
Space-blanket-over-25mm-battens-for-vapour-barrier-and-more-insulation

Now with all the plumbing and electrics tested and checked the whole loft space is plasterboarded and plastered.

Loft-conversion-plastered
Loft-conversion-plastered

Here we can see the window board radiator and loft nearly complete

Dormer-and-window-plastered
Dormer-and-window-plastered

We also fitted the bathroom to the clients specifications which included walk in shower,mermaid board,sink and toilet.

toilet
Armitage Shanks toilet installed

Complete loft conversions carry out the complete conversion to the last detail

shower
Shower installed

Here we can see the loft conversion with the scaffold down and all of the cladding guttering and lead work complete.

Completed-loft-conversion
Completed-loft-conversion

 

 

 

 

Nationaltradesmen.co.uk is a new website and app based service for the construction industry which provides a platform for construction operatives to find work and for companies to find tradesmen with specific skills and safety qualifications.

Nationaltradesmen has been built by tradesmen for tradesmen and the construction industry it has been engineered for construction workers and employers for building sites and larger construction projects which means the system works as a middle man between employers and employees.

Gregory Nelson founder of Nationaltradesmen.co.uk said: “As a tradesman I always struggled to find construction work in my local area so thought I would try to solve the problem by creating a website and app where tradesmen and companies can meet”

“Being a tradesmen I understood that if you were a tradesmen, you not only need to specify your trade, but the skills associated with that trade because not every carpenter does shuttering, and not every plumber is gas registered, that’s why we have put together a complete skills section for every construction job including what qualifications they hold and what CSCS card they have”.

“Workers can use Nationaltardesmen.co.uk to build a profile of skills and qualifications that be updated as the operative progresses through their career, employers who are registered can search for tradesmen who are registered with us for free and contact them for free”.

“We also offer to registered users free job postings for the first three jobs and thereafter it is only £5 a job”.

Nationaltradesmen.co.uk has also built apps to accompany the website these are available on Apples app store, Google play, Amazon Apps and the Windows store. Through our apps workers can search and apply for jobs in their area and employers can match workers with specialist skills and trades in specific areas.

Nationaltradesmen.co.uk also has also incorporated forums and blogs for those who are registered to post about tools, work or construction courses.

The site also has trade specific areas within the forum for all the different trades with instant messaging, member’s areas and a supplier’s directory for anyone involved in construction to upload their logo and link to their own website.

The website, mobile site and apps are being launched on 02/04/2016 to register you interest please visit our coming soon page here at Nationaltradesmen.co.uk.

Havent posted for a while but thought I would post up a couple of pictures of recent loft conversions the pictures below are of the I joists being installed I joists are a structural beam which negate the need for steels and can be installed by removing the first four rows of tiles and then being slid in to sit on the existing plate, also not the JES (joist end support) to give the joist riggidity when cut to fit in the eaves.

I-joist
I-joist

We can also see the gluelams before installation, gluelams are a structurally graded beam which come in standard and custom sizes the beauty of gluelams is they do the same job as a steel but are lighter stronger and easier to install and fix to and can also be cut on site to requirements.

glulams before install
glulams before install

With beams of this size and nature there is an issue with getting them up to the second floor so we usually hire in a crane and a banks man to help our team with the lifting as we can see below.

Beam-installation-with-crane
Beam-installation-with-crane

As we can see the creation of a new floor above the existing building has begun  once the beams are in place the next of the work can continue the creation of the stair well with gluelams and hangers connecting the old and existing joists to support them around the stair well and the creation of the ashler walls and the ceiling ties to support the new structure before the old fink trusses can be removed as shown below.

 

Before-fink-trusses-removedBefore-fink-trusses-removed
Before-fink-trusses-removed

 

after trusses removed
After trusses removed

So the existing structure is removed the weight is transferred onto the ashler walls which are the small walls in the corner which then transfers the weight onto the new I joists and the gluelams onto the wall plate of the existing building so what next we need light.

dormer under construction
Dormer under construction

As we can see we now need to create natural light by adding dormers by supporting the trusses either side with extra timbers for strength and remove the existing tiles battens and felt carefully before building the pitched roof dormer in this case there will be three so more to come when they are buit ok.

 

We work closely with Russell Douglas who is a fully qualified gas engineer in Ipswich Suffolk he has 20 years experience in boilers and heating system and carries out gas central heating systems through out Ipswich and Suffolk.

Russell also caries out-gas safety certificates for landlords and residential customers including gas fires and kitchen appliances.

If you are looking for a fully qualified gas engineer in the Ipswich area please visit his website and give him a call.

Russell Douglas gas engineer Ipswich Suffolk.

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