Do I need a surveyor?

[Screwdriver]

No. The aperture is the last thing that was done, presumably just after the basement concrete pour and removing the shuttering. It's for a staircase. Incredibly, all of the materials must have gone in/out over that little bridge. I just put up a fence to the next door (because it's next to my garages so there's no way through there.

Thinking about it though, they must have had a substantial structure inside the basement to hold up the shuttering. My guess is they just pulled it out and either left the bridge there or made it up in a rush. It's astonishing to me that only half of the bridge was supported underneath and the left hand edge was 400mm of overhanging plywood!

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Looks like they tried to get the work done on a shoestring and have suffered for their 'thriftiness'.

 

[CompoSimmonite]

By all means help neighbour tidy up back but don't touch the basement as simply not worth the risks. If you need to barrow rubbish over the basement hole then get neighbour to hire a proper walkway for whatever time is needed.
Sometimes you have to step back and realise what you MIGHT be getting involved with when helping others and this is one of those instances.

 

[mike os]

If you want to bridge the hole for access use youngman bridging units, just remember to make sure there is permanant edge protectors on the hole when you are done

 

[slim_boy_fat]

I wonder if the REME would take the job on as an exercise.......

 

[MattF]

He's a decent chap and I'm a good neighbour. I genuinely would like to help him and I am going to recommend a professional builder mate of mine (another neighbour) to ask if he can have a look. ASAP!

I take on board the comments regarding scrap/waste etc. I guess I am a bit blinded by the idea of all that free stuff...

I'm banking it's more to do with the freebies than being neighbourly.

 

[Bobtail4x4]

DONT start pumping water, the flow can erode the ground,
by all means help tidy up but stay well away from the building "alterations" they look very dodgy.

 

[WorkshopChris]

DONT start pumping water, the flow can erode the ground,
by all means help tidy up but stay well away from the building "alterations" they look very dodgy.

From the looks of the site layout i would imagine almost all of the water ingress is from the side that is not covered at the moment,(from the looks of it, it will finally become a light well fitted with glass.)

 

[Screwdriver]

I made a little model. The white bits are exterior hardwood sheets which I am going to build in place. They will eventually be replaced with structural glass skylights.

It's all to scale including the thickness of the steel reinforced walls. Like I said, it's built like a WW2 bunker...

 

[GW8IZR]

I'm banking it's more to do with the freebies than being neighbourly.

I don't know the circumstances here but I've done all manner of stuff for neighbours and friends for now't - its all about getting on with people. Sometimes it pays back in most unexpected ways.

 

[Screwdriver]

This has gone on and on. I now have a massive pile of reclaimed stuff including several tons of rebar with another two piles discovered just today.



Alongside the shed to the right in this picture is where the really long bits are!

Anyway, I did manage to persuade the neighbour to get someone (else) in to shore up that clay wall. It was the original site manager/builder. He took one look at my pile of reclaimed, dug out and hard won rebar and said, "I'm having that". I talked him out of it but he did nab a few other bits I had sorted out from the skip pile but were waiting to be carted home. Dammit.

 

[Screwdriver]

I don't know the circumstances here but I've done all manner of stuff for neighbours and friends for now't - its all about getting on with people. Sometimes it pays back in most unexpected ways.

I have gone the extra mile, working pretty much non stop in between visits to the hospital. Gets me a bit of pocket money (I may be slow but I'm cheap!), I get to recycle, reuse, reclaim a bunch of material that's destined for a skip (I'm half way through my third) and he is very happy with the work I have done.

Draining the basement because of that precarious wall has been the bugbear but that's getting shored up Wednesday. Sadly, the lads he's sending over will be helping themselves to anything left that hasn't hit the skip yet. Hey ho, I'm almost full now anyway. Thank goodness I built another shed with some of the materials

 

[gaz1]

Anyway, I did manage to persuade the neighbour to get someone (else) in to shore up that clay wall. It was the original site manager/builder. He took one look at my pile of reclaimed, dug out and hard won rebar and said, "I'm having that". I talked him out of it but he did nab a few other bits I had sorted out from the skip pile but were waiting to be carted home. Dammit.

sorry but that dosnt add up to me original site manager/builder back on the job after all this time someones telling porkys here

makes me wonder why they did a runner in the first place unless the owners refused to pay

as goes for removing items from the site aint going to happen as they left the site they have no right to the materials whatsoever

there is a last comment to be made to the builder i suspect wouldnt like the comment

 

[Screwdriver]

I just flicked back through the thread and noticed I haven't updated it. I made up a few more rafters with acrow props supporting the centre.

The sides are boxed in supported by the concrete and covering up the rows of exposed rebar (!). The lid is on:



18mm marine ply, water proofed and one coat of yacht varnish. Needs to last a year ish.

 

[Screwdriver]

Oh yeah. Forgot I said "thats what it looks like" and really, that is what it looked like. Things are not always how they seem and I have not pressed my neighbour for a detailed explanation! Not my business, I'm just happy for the work, I'm actually having a bit of a tricky time with my health.

Getting old.

 

[gaz1]

Oh yeah. Forgot I said "thats what it looks like" and really, that is what it looked like. Things are not always how they seem and I have not pressed my neighbour for a detailed explanation! Not my business, I'm just happy for the work, I'm actually having a bit of a tricky time with my health.

Getting old.

ive watched this thread as kinda seen it all to often where builders have done a runner through a job sometimes it does make you wonder why when you take a job on and yes you do think about the reasons why the last builder did it

1, done a runner after getting the full payment to complete
2, the owner has refused to pay anymore towards the completion or funds have run out
3, owner keeps adding extra jobs to the job you bill for them as agreed but owner refuses to pay for them

mostly its number one but ive seen 2 and 3 often had to finish complete shells of buildings half finished and 1/4 built and hearing owner complain builder has run off with the money

3, is my bug bear added extras all for freebies i make it clear its to pay for and get it under written authorisation and its then clearly to be paid for and seperate to the main job

 

[Olderisbetter]

Should just get Josef Fritzl to do it, Yes he is a sick criminal but he would be cheap.

 

[Migmac]

The dog doesnt look to happy that you’ve covered his hole over! Your a better neighbour than me, I would of ran from that.

 

[Screwdriver]

The dog doesnt look to happy that you’ve covered his hole over! Your a better neighbour than me, I would of ran from that.

It's interesting. I heard that phrase a lot.

I've always been the sort to run headlong into situations like this.

 

[Screwdriver]

Well it's done...

For now anyway, plenty more jobs on site but I am quite pleased that way the door came out.

It is a hinged lid and just managed to squeeze it into one sheet albeit with some odd angles.

There's a flap on the front to block the fox/dog/cat hole and the supporting structure covers up the exposed rebar. The 4x2 members rest on supports so the whole sheet is super strong when down and not too heavy to lift.

Lots of odd angles to contend with but there's enough headroom to still use the stairs.

...and after I drained the basement, the original builders turned up to shore up the exposed clay wall. Might not be a brilliant job but if anything goes wrong, it's not my fault!

I am tempted to do a before and after but...

Trust me, it was a lot worse before I got to work on it.


S.