For those who have had an extension will know, the first work that needs to be done is piling. Piling makes the ground secure for heavy loads to be built upon it, without it, any extensions that are built can subside and even collapse due to the soft ground underneath.
Here at Rhino Piling, we recently installed piling on a semi-detached property in Oldham. Most semi-detached properties have limited space to construct extensions. These areas are generally back-gardens made up primarily of soil and are usually too unstable for construction without some sort of piling reinforcement.
The first day of work saw all 8 required piles driven to the correct depth. Now the depths were ready for steel support cages to be installed on day 2. As the second day got under way, first we had to protect the soil pipe with bubble wrap before building the support cage around it. The soil pipe was in a position where it passed directly through the trench dug for the piling, so it needed to be well protected for when the concrete was ready to pour in.
Once the piles and support cage were in position, everything was in position for building control to check the work and confirm that everything was safe to continue. It is important that the piles and support cages are well checked and that everything is in order before the concrete is poured, because if it isn’t, then serious faults can occur over time and these faults are much more difficult to amend once it is covered in concrete.
After the building inspector passed our work with flying colours, it was time to pour the concrete. The concrete arrived on site at around 2:00pm and was poured and levelled by 4:00pm.
The job took a total of two days from start to finish, allowing the bricklayers to start work the very next week.
