Roof off (or at least a bit of it!)
With the glazing a conservatory roof gone we had left an area which used to house the wet room and kitchen.
This needs to be completely demolished before we can begin any of the new build. The first area to go was the slate tiles on the roof. I was intending to save these but unfortunately those that aren't broken or cracked are mostly shot. They simply crumble in the hand. Not a huge issue as there are no where near enough to cover what will be the new roof and the almost certainly would not tie in with the new slates in any case.
With slates gone the roof timbers were next. This wasn't too tricky as these joists were not fixed at all well at the top and simply lifted away . . . .
Having taken off the roof joists there remained a very large supporting beam at the bottom of the roof structure to be removed. A small section of wall that seemed to be supporting this was doing no such thing. I'm still wondering how it was still standing - I barely touched and the whole thing fell down!
As with all these jobs you need some sort of supervision. . . . .
Glazing down
Next step after removing the insides of the conservatory was to remove walls and roof.
Roof was a bit tricky and needed the help of the father-in-law. You can't really tell from the pics but the roof was re-inforced glass -the kind with a wire mesh buried inside. This means it doesn't shatter but also means they're very heavy. Second problem was with the way that it had been fixed. The glass had been slid into rebated channels in roof beams. These had then been covered with lead, silicone and all sorts of other muck. Finally screws through the lot held it together. After a few expletives and some digging to find the screws the roof started to come off:
Next down were the glazing units at either end. We did this carefully so that the units can either be re-used or sold. They're actually in good condition - a rarity on this house. Removal was straightforward, unscrewed some frame anchors and foam was about all that was holding them up.
This left one side of glazing holding up some roof beams.
Quick coupla cuts with the reciprocating saw through the roof beams and all was done. . . . . .for now . . .
Conservatory Stripped Bare
Time for a bit more demolition. Everything inside the 'conservatory' and kitchen area has been removed.
Towards the back of this area the outside ground level is about 2 feet above the internal floor level and nothing was done in construction to prevent damp. Therefore we had some truly minging mould etc when removing cabinets and lifting the carpet.
With everything removed a reasonable floor slab was revealed - it'll have to go though as the floor level is not right.
A view back into what was once the 'wet room'.
