Melksham Building Project – all Local Suppliers

By sashahes | Monday, October 03, 2011, 13:23

Now the lovely weather is passing Melksham by, maybe it's time to turn to those inside jobs that have been preying on your mind all summer. There's nothing like a spot of DIY to get the brain stirring. Shelves to put up? Painting the back bedroom to do? Or how about building a whole new room?

From this Melksham ruin ...
... to this

That's what George Meer and Jim Baker, local Melksham craftsmen, did. They turned an over-sized coal bunker at the back of a local house into a truly fabulous room with an equally ab fab view over fields at the rear.

To be as economical and eco-friendly as possible, everything that could be reused found a new purpose in the new room. All products were sourced locally wherever possible. This is how Jim and George did it:

- Clear out three years' worth of accumulated rubbish from the room, which is about 20 ft by 18 ft. All throw-away rubbish was recycled at Bowerhill. Salveable junks was passed on or given to charity shops.

- Erect scaffolding around the exterior of the room. Strip the triple roman tiles off the roof. Tiles were put aside for reuse.

- Carefully take down the brickwork in the gable end. Bricks were put aside for reuse.

- Dig out the Wiltshire stone slabs that made the floor. They went to form the hearth in the new room and a slabbed path in the garden.

- Put in roof framework and new purlings. Retile the roof, with some additional triple romans and some new ridge tiles. Put on the lead flashing. Felting and battening inside the new roof.

- The new gable end erected inside a timber frame. New floor joists built in. Bifold oak doors fitted.

- Walls and floor insulated. Oak flooring installed.

- First fix electrics. Walls plasterboarded.

- Woodburner installed.

- Second fix electrics. Decorated. Furnished

Suppliers:

Purlings and waney edge board for decoration on gable end:

Honey Street Saw Mills

Joists, oak flooring, lead for flashing, inslutation, plaster board, timber for the roof: Buildbase

Ridge tiles, roman tiles, woodburner: Beechfield Reclamation

Scaffolding: Jeng Scaffolding, 01373 302 365

Scaffolding tower for gable end: Absolute Power Tools