Big Bonus
Enlarging the window opening for a future front door was a massive part of this phase of the work. It also brought me a couple of Brucie bonus benefits.
I can now use the new opening in the wall to get the floorboards out. Plus, I could start to remove all of the floor joists as well.
All this work I could actually do myself. I needed to get the building clear and prepped, ready for the next part of the process to start.
The plan was to strip the space out entirely. For now, I had to temporarily store the floorboards and (some potentially reusable) joists outside.
To protect from the elements, they got wrapped in tarpaulin and weighted down with some of the many rocks from inside the building.
Obviously, there were more rusty nails to extract, adding to my ever-growing collection. Strangely, I do have plans for these as well… though I’m beginning to wonder if I might have a few too many plans for my own good sometimes!
Sweet Spot
Vital first steps. Establishing a datum or reference point for the new finished floor level. Unbelievably critical to the project. Builder’s tech to the rescue.
The finished floor-to-ceiling heights of my design are tight. Very tight. If the mezzanine is going to fit with usable heights, these levels have to be spot on.
Being a little under this, not so much of a problem, possibly a little helpful. It would give me a bit more height above and below to play with.
Going over, however, would be a big NO on all fronts! Completely unthinkable in every way possible. Especially as I’m over 6′ tall! So yes, very vital.
No pressure on this little screw then. It’s the datum reference point for the final finished floor level of the building. Everything kind of depends on this.
Mean Machines
The real big bonus of the wall opening, however, wasn’t just what I could then remove from the building. More importantly, it was what it also allowed me to bring into the building.
Enter a man who can. I had previously used Dandas’s services to transform access and off-road parking for the building. It was great to be able to call on his services and experience once again.
This time, he was bringing some more mechanical marvels to the site.
Diddy digger
But not just on site. The idea was to get one inside the building itself, whilst its big brother helped outside, passing stuff through the gap.
So enough of my manual graft. Way too much like hard work. Time for the mechanical muscle to get to work. There was a lot of debris in the building that now needed to be cleared out.
Rubble from the new wall opening, the broken-up concrete from the porch floor, plus all the rocks (ollaghs) from the joist supports.
Good job, I’m not house proud, as it’s all got a bit beyond a quick dust and hoover round to tidy things up inside.
At least now I don’t really need to worry about Hoovering or making a mess on the floor anymore. There is no floor!
A house is a machine for living in
― Le Corbusier
Maybe I should update this to a ‘house is for using a machine in’.
Firm footing
It may be a mini machine, but in Danda’s skilful hands, it was mighty useful within the confines of the building. First task: clear out the debris and rubble.
Next up, start creating a firm footing. The topsoil needed to be scraped back to a solid base level.
The excess soil got piled up, ready for the mini digger’s big brother to reach in and remove. Mechanical teamwork in action.
With Danda’s expertise and understanding of the local ground conditions, he soon established the required base level to be taken out in all directions across the building’s footprint.
This was the new ground zero. From here, work can soon begin on the construction of the new insulated reinforced concrete floor slab.
Yes, you read that right, construction time is finally on the way!
Derelict dream
Regular readers might remember when I first got the building way back when.
I bought it blind. It was located in a place I’d never even been to. An island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the Northwest coast of Scotland.
I’m old enough to have known better, really. Anyway, it’s now ‘progressed’ from this…
to this… the eagle-eyed amongst you might spot the odd difference or two?
Things are pretty much as low as they can get now. I’ve no floor, more of a mud-based paddling pool, that and a gaping hole in the wall.
On the plus side, I suppose you can now get to park a mini digger inside the building. Yeah, I really am living the dream!
Rock bottom
I suppose progress is really a matter of perspective.
From here, things can finally leave the demolition phase. Time to enter a whole new realm of construction – actually building rather than tearing down.
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Rest assured, there’s absolutely no AI-generated churn here; it’s just my own quirky outworking of ideas and dreams, as I look to renovate a derelict Small Mission Hall in the Outer Hebrides.
